Rat Tide

The Rat Plague infestation, which ravaged the Wano Country's food supplies, inflicted indelible damage.

This also means that the Rat Plague's attacks on Wano Country's base will escalate further.

Underground, in the area inhabited by Nezumi, there are countless interconnected tunnels.

Every now and then, the ground would suddenly collapse, and the next moment, countless Nezumi would swarm out of their holes and attack the residents of Wano Country.

Even if you block it, it won't help; another hole will soon appear on the other side.

This is a great disaster for Wano Country.

Countless people are watching Wano Country's situation with amusement, wondering how they will deal with this Rat Plague.

Seeing this once dominant force in the New World fall into its current predicament, while no one took advantage of its misfortune, it was a sight many would gladly accept.

Even ordinary people rarely have a sense of compassion. That's just how the world is. It's not that people are heartless, but they don't care too much about the lives of others.

The third wave of Wano Country residents evacuated quickly, and they left just as fast.

Since this was the last time, Wano Country allowed as many residents as possible to land on the island and board the ship.

The two island warships, along with hundreds of other ships, carried away a full 600,000 residents of Wano Country. This was already the limit, as the original capacity was much greater.

At this point, approximately 1.6 million people from Wano Country will be relocated to the Night Sea Domain.

Among them were their daily necessities, as well as some of the property that Wano Country had given them for living in the Night Sea Domain.

Once they reach the Night Sea Domain, it's impossible to rely on the Night Pirates for everything; they need to live on their own, so providing them with some wealth is essential.

If not, simply distribute a portion of the treasure to them.

The Rat Plague infestation did not cause many casualties. Currently, Wano Country has a military force of eight or nine hundred thousand, including samurai and able-bodied men.

In addition to the Night Sea Domain, some residents of Wano Country also relocated to islands in the surrounding waters, numbering approximately 100,000.

Those who remained were all capable of fighting; even the elderly took up arms.

After all, they have many powerful swordsmen among them, and they have also developed some methods to deal with the Rat Plague in recent days.

By diverting seawater, a large amount of seawater was brought into the burrows, flooding them and killing many Nezumi, thus preventing Nezumi from attacking from underground.

Flame-wielding swordsmen have become more common because fire is very effective against these Nezumi.

Even without knowing the fire-based techniques, as long as you master some skills, you can still unleash flames and kill a large number of Nezumi with a single strike.

Thus, Capital of Flowers, Reiko, and Hakumai formed a stable triangle, jointly resisting the attacking Nezumi and even taking the initiative to attack.

After most of the residents of the Capital of Flowers moved to Hakumai and Reiko, the numerous samurai led by Kozuki Oden had no more scruples, and they didn't care even if some Nezumi invaded the Capital of Flowers.

The proactive attack killed even more Nezumi.

If this drags on, it will only be disadvantageous for them.

They knew how prolific Nezumi were; if left unchecked, no matter how many they killed, the Rat Plague population wouldn't decrease, but would actually increase.

With ample resources, the Nezumi's reproductive capacity was maximized.

Moreover, they have no natural enemies; even the strongest beasts will be killed by these Nezumi.

Wano Country hasn't found the right way to solve the Rat Plague. If they could get support from the Night Pirates, Enel alone could solve the Rat Plague, given some time.

However, Wano Country had no intention of seeking help from outside forces, or rather, they never even considered it; they simply wanted to solve the Rat Plague on their own.

All parties are paying close attention to Wano Country, and the World Government is also becoming impatient, so it has begun its next move.

This also shows the immense power of Wano Country; the sheer number of Great Swordmaster and the sheer number of Swordmaster make their overall strength truly terrifying.

It instilled deep fear in the World Government; if it were to retaliate, even the World Government would be crippled.

This situation forced the World Government to find ways to weaken Wano Country's high-end combat capabilities.

After all, the strength of a force depends primarily on its high-end combat capabilities.

The vast majority of those who died from the Rat Plague were ordinary residents, Wano Country was not actually damaged.

However, the decrease in the total population has completely reduced Wano Country's development potential.

Such effects occurred many years later.

The real plan hasn't even started yet, and the World Government has already come up with a temporary plan to deal with Wano Country.

The Rat Plague was difficult to control, but in the absence of order, it did not escalate into a terrible Rat Tide.

Just as the World Government caused Rat Plague, although it could not control it, it could guide the emergence of Rat Tide.

"Is that so? Leave it to me. I still have some energy left." Due to the Rat Plague infestation, the caravan under the protection of the Withered Snake suffered severe damage and was no longer considered merchants.

However, he made preparations in advance, preserving some strength and stockpiling some food.

In Wano Country today, the Withered Snake wields considerable power.

After hanging up the Den Den Mushi, and knowing the purpose of the item the World Government was going to give him, he understood what the World Government wanted to do.

Both items were designed to stimulate Nezumi, but the difference lies in the fact that the items sent by the World Government this time had an unparalleled attraction for the Nezumi.

As long as it is released in the camp, this attraction will draw Nezumi continuously towards it, eventually forming a massive Rat Tide.

This was certainly not to have him take action, as that would easily arouse suspicion. His role was to secretly pass messages to several undetected spies hidden in Wano Country, instructing them to carry out the task.

Even if I die, as long as I succeed, it will all be worth it.

After putting down the Den Den Mushi, he quickly took out another Den Den Mushi and told the Night Pirates the news.

"It's alright, no need to stop them."

The power of Wano Country is indeed terrifying; in terms of their goals, the Night Pirates are aligned with the World Government.

This reassured the Withered Snake, who immediately went to deliver the news.

In the three areas of Capital of Flowers, Reiko, and Hakumai.

Several ordinary residents walked down the street, which was quite crowded, with most people patrolling.

In Wano Country today, it's practically a nation of soldiers, armed to the teeth, ready to charge and kill any Nezumi they spot.

"I'm going over there to take a look; I need to pee."

As we entered a small alley, a resident carrying a samurai sword greeted us and then walked into the alley.

"Then be careful, lest a few Nezumi suddenly run out and gnaw on your private parts," another resident joked.

"Get lost, don't jinx it."

"Ha ha!"

The atmosphere is somewhat oppressive these days; many people are exhausted and have very little time to rest.

It was as if we were constantly at war.

Making a joke now and then can help ease your mood.

The others left first, and the resident who entered the alley suddenly changed his expression. He noticed a subtle mark, or rather a symbol, in the alley that most people wouldn't notice anything wrong with.

Only the person who created it knows its meaning.

Below this symbol, there is a seemingly empty wine bottle leaning against the wall.

Picking up the bottle, he saw, from a peculiar angle, the instructions given to him by his superiors: what he needed to do next.

Holding the bottle, a small amount of turbid liquid is released and sprayed into the bottle. Upon contact with the turbid liquid, the information hidden inside the bottle dissolves and is eliminated within seconds.

I walked out of the alley, quickly caught up with my companion who had already left, and pretended that nothing had happened.

The same scene occurred in several places across three areas.

Then, at different times, they each went to the winery set up by the Withered Snake and took a bottle of wine.

Nezumi don't drink alcohol, but in this situation, the demand for alcohol is huge.

The wealthy merchant disguised as the Withered Snake had a reputation for benevolence and righteousness. He had stockpiled a large quantity of fine wine long ago and was now offering it up for free, but with a limit of one bottle every two days.

He took the bottle back to his temporary lodging, poured out the wine, and flipped the bottle over, revealing a sealed test tube containing an unknown liquid.

This liquid does not need to be poured into a designated place, as the odor will dissipate on its own.

To avoid being discovered, they deliberately lay down in several places around their location.

The spread of the odor first affects the Nezumi that are nearby.

Instinctively, they moved closer to the three areas.

In two or three days, the scent will be enough to spread throughout half of Wano Country.

However, the farther away the smell becomes, the fainter it becomes, which is why these Nezumi are instinctively attracted to it.

The massive Nezumi attack put immense pressure on the many samurai.

Ordinary residents wielding samurai swords can handle a few Nezumi without much trouble, but they are overwhelmed when too many Nezumi swarm them; they simply have no ability to deal with them.

This attraction led to a significant increase in the number of Rat Plague.

A massive Rat Tide appeared.

A few warriors who had mastered Geppo flew through the air, looking down and surveying the Rat Plague infestation.

Geppo is very useful, especially for Wano Country.

Whether it's the Capital of Flowers, Hakumai, or Reiko, everyone is now noticing the severity of the Rat Plague infestation, which seems to escalate every day.

They suspected something big was about to happen, so they sent out some samurai who had learned Geppo to observe the Rat Plague infestation.

What they were seeing now was a shocking scene: swarms of Nezumi, more terrifying than anything they had ever seen before.

This was Rat Tide; endless Nezumi rushed towards Reiko. Looking down, the entire earth was covered by Nezumi, without even a crack.

"Quickly inform the Daimyo, a terrorist attack is coming!" Anyone could see how terrifying the Rat Tide, and it stretched endlessly all the way to the point of focus, with no one knowing how many more Nezumi were behind them.

The news spread throughout Wano Country that an even more terrifying Rat Tide was coming, simultaneously attacking the Capital of Flowers, Hakumai, and Reiko.

The number of Nezumi may be ten or twenty times greater than before, or even more.

On the open land, powerful samurai like Kozuki Oden stood in formation, forming a formidable defensive line.

With a single, terrifying slash, countless Nezumi were instantly swallowed up.

At this point, they could act with full force without any scruples, having detected the arrival of the Rat Plague in advance and made ample preparations.

Behind them were some weaker samurai, enough to deal with the small group of Nezumi.

Further back were the ordinary residents, armed with weapons.

The samurai in front couldn't possibly eliminate all the Nezumi; it was up to them in the end.

Through this decreasing triangular formation, Wano Country together resisted the enormous number of Nezumi that were slaughtering them wantonly.

In battle, even the powerful warriors at the front cannot protect the weaker ones at the rear.

If they relax their guard even slightly, a large number of Nezumi will swarm to the rear. They are powerful, and even Rat Plague cannot kill them. They can escape at any time.

But the samurai and ordinary residents behind them couldn't do that; facing hordes of Nezumi, they would die a horrible death.

Now they are facing disaster head-on.

The ordinary residents behind them were not weaklings. As adult men of Wano Country, learning swordsmanship was a basic requirement, and they learned it from a young age.

Some people are able to persevere, while others do not make it their main focus.

Therefore, the power they displayed was far greater than imagined.

In just half an hour, millions of Nezumi died.

It's true that numbers are meaningless in the face of the strong, but Kozuki Oden did not possess the ability to inflict damage over a wide area.

Although his swordsmanship was powerful and included ranged attacks, Kozuki Oden's swordsmanship was not particularly wide-ranging, focusing mostly on lethality.

If it were Genryuusai Shigekuni, the casualties caused by his Flame Flow Swordsmanship would be several times that of Kozuki Oden.

The same scene not only appeared in the Capital of Flowers, but also outside of Hakumai and Reiko.

However, given their numbers, it's difficult to control the Rat Plague in terms of area, as some Nezumi can easily bypass them from both sides.

Wano Country was prepared for this. Powerful samurai took action and, after some time, created long trenches on both sides of the triangular formation, several meters wide and hundreds of meters deep.

Therefore, these Nezumi could only change direction and attack the triangular formation established by Wano Country.

This also puts them under greater pressure.

A raging fire engulfed countless Nezumi, and warriors skilled in fire techniques unleashed their moves, unleashing powerful fiery strikes.

On the ground ahead, they had already prepared a large amount of flammable materials, which they used the Flame Flow Swordsmanship to ignite.

Relying solely on one's own strength to fend off the Rat Tide will eventually lead to exhaustion and death, so external assistance is needed.

In reality, after half an hour of fighting, many samurai were exhausted, especially the ordinary Wano Country residents in the rear, who could only swing their long swords with difficulty.

My arms don't even feel like my own.

The samurai in front were also exhausted.

For them, slashing is not something they can do casually. Slashing once is fine, but slashing ten or twenty times would take a heavy toll on their stamina.

They are also very frugal, only using their slashing technique when faced with large groups of dozens or hundreds of Nezumi.

After all, the Nezumi keep coming in, and we must get rid of Nezumi as quickly as possible, otherwise the number of Nezumi attacking will only increase.

It's worth noting that the dominant factor was the Nezumi's aggressiveness, not the scent that attracted Nezumi; the scent was merely a Nezumi.

Behind them, residents continued to fall, dying at the hands of Nezumi.

This is a frustrating situation; no one is a monster like Oden, whose stamina was rapidly depleted until he lost the ability to resist.

First the residents, then the ordinary samurai.

Aside from unleashing his Conqueror's Haki, Kozuki Oden couldn't offer any further assistance.

The endless Rat Tide had even exhausted him.

With a swing of his arm, a powerful horizontal slash was unleashed.

"One Sword Style: Crescent Slash!"

The silver, crescent-shaped slash flew into the distance, growing larger and covering a wider area as it traveled further.

To reduce physical exertion, they deliberately reduced the power of the attack.

When it comes to killing Nezumi, nothing is more efficient than the Crescent Slash.

As the Rat Tide, the number of survivors is steadily decreasing.

Fifty thousand... one hundred thousand... two hundred thousand...