Alliance

At the place in Kuri where Shen Fei's group had previously come up through the waterfall, Esdeath and the others had fought a large-scale battle against members of the Beasts Pirates. This place held something extremely important: the Hidden Port.

The entrance to Wano Country required coming up through the waterfall. That was not much of a problem for pirates or a small number of people, but once Wano Country opened its borders, it would become a major issue.

After opening its borders, a huge number of outsiders would inevitably enter Wano Country. Relying solely on the waterfall would severely limit the number of incoming people, and more importantly, merchant ships transporting cargo would find it difficult to get up there.

The waterfall entrance had its limits. Ordinary ships were one thing, but large vessels, such as those of the Whitebeard Pirates or Navy warships, would be almost unable to get up through there.

There was one major difference between Navy warships and pirate ships: in this world, only the Navy possessed steel ships. The ships of all other forces, including the Four Emperors, were made of wood. Unless they seized warships from the Navy, they had no way to build them themselves. Steel shipbuilding technology was firmly controlled by the World Government and the Navy.

In truth, Wano Country's Hidden Port could not meet the demands of opening the country either. While the Hidden Port allowed large cargo ships to enter and leave—for instance, the Beasts Pirates conducted their arms trade through it—it was still far too narrow.

Because Wano Country possessed unique local products, once it opened its borders, merchants from all over the world would surely come in droves. Sea Stone, gold, and other minerals were abundant in Wano Country. Back then, Wano Country had even been