Oden Falls

This Rat Tide lasted for two days and two nights.

Wano Country paid a heavy price, with the death toll reaching 600,000.

At first, they were able to hold their own, but as their strength waned, it became a complete massacre.

There was absolutely no time to rest during those two days.

And later on, the force weakened, while more and more Nezumi leaked out from the front.

Large numbers of Wano Country's residents and samurai were killed and devoured by Nezumi.

They underestimated the severity of the Rat Plague; from the very beginning, confronting the Rat Tide head-on was an extremely foolish idea.

For any power facing such a disaster, the best course of action is to avoid it and find the most suitable way to deal with it, resolving the disaster with minimal cost.

The sacrifice of 600,000 people, including many samurai, is a price few forces can afford.

The ground was littered with the corpses of Nezumi, and most of the bodies of Wano Country's residents had been covered up.

The corpses of Nezumi piled up like mountains, a battlefield forged in blood.

Countless Nezumi have died.

After two days and two nights of slaughter, everyone was exhausted. Very few samurai could still stand at this point; most had collapsed to the ground.

The Rat Tide ended, and thanks to overwhelming force and heavy casualties, at least 90% of the Nezumi in Wano Country were wiped out.

Many of the samurai's bodies were incomplete, because they had explosives strapped to their bodies and perished along with numerous Nezumi in their final moments.

During the war, explosions rang out constantly, each one representing the death of a citizen of Wano Country.

It looks heroic, but to many people it seems incredibly foolish.

Explosives are very effective against these Nezumi. If a large amount of explosives were buried underground on the battlefield, more Nezumi could be eliminated with fewer casualties.

Wano Country didn't think of this; they only thought of sacrificing their lives for Wano Country, dying together with it.

Is it stubbornness or a limitation of thought?

Even though images were transmitted to Wano Country remains the same Wano Country. Although there have been some changes, the culture and mindset have not changed much.

How could centuries of confinement be broken in just a few short years? Moreover, Wano Country's currency is different from that of the outside world, and images circulate more among the upper echelons of Wano Country.

When Wano Country wanted the Night Pirates to send a batch of explosives, they assumed the pirates would bury them underground, and the Night Pirates even sent extra.

But unexpectedly, the explosives ended up wrapped around his body.

It was almost laughable. Although the explosives killed quite a few rats, they didn't achieve their maximum effect. The quantity and density of explosives in the same area only reach their maximum during Rat Plague infestation.

According to the Night Pirates, the casualties from the explosion were at least several dozen times greater than the final number.

It's important to know that the Night Pirates delivered a staggering thousand tons of explosives.

That's enough to handle at least half of the Rat Tide.

This outcome can only be attributed to Wano Country's own fault; they were hopelessly stupid.

Of the remaining approximately 200,000 people, countless were injured or disabled. Less than a third remained intact. Even Kozuki Oden had some Nezumi bites on his body.

Although he was strong, he was under the most pressure and his physical strength was depleted the fastest. In the end, he was fighting entirely with his willpower. He had to ensure that a large number of Nezumi were killed or wounded to relieve the pressure on the warriors behind him.

At this moment, he regretted that he had placed too much emphasis on the power of the samurai and had underestimated the Devil Fruit.

On the high seas, he had also encountered many Devil Fruit User, including Whitebeard's Tremor-Tremor Fruit and the current Three Admirals, all of whom possessed terrifying power and wide-range destructive capabilities.

If they possessed similar abilities, they could definitely reduce casualties, alleviate stress, and eliminate the Rat Plague much faster.

There are a few Devil Fruit in Wano Country, but due to the need to preserve the purity of swordsmanship and the prevailing mindset within Wano Country, no one eats them.

Because Wano Country doesn't have Devil Fruit Encyclopedia, it's impossible to identify the specific abilities of Devil Fruit.

The massive casualties, including the evacuated residents of Wano Country, have reduced the Wano Country's total population to half of its original size.

The casualties of two million people in just a few weeks are unimaginable.

The total casualties were greater than in any war in recent years.

However, one thing remains unchanged: the Rat Plague has not disappeared. There are still tens of millions of Nezumi, and if it is not addressed soon, the Nezumi population will rapidly increase and recover within a few months.

After all, these Nezumi have no natural enemies on the entire island, except for humans.

Faced with such a massive number, even natural enemies are nothing more than food.

The Rat Plague is not over yet; the peculiar scent continues to attract Nezumi.

With fewer Nezumi remaining, most of the remaining ones invaded the rear settlements.

Within two days, their defenses had been breached, and even those warriors skilled in Haki suffered numerous casualties.

They need time to rest, but they don't have much time.

The scent attracts Nezumi, and even Nezumi that haven't yet arrived are drawn in, making the Rat Plague easier to control.

There's no need to search for Nezumi deep in the mountains and forests, because they'll come to you on their own. With a target in mind, the problem becomes much easier to solve.

Now, they need time to rest, and after they rest, they will do their best to clean up the Nezumi in Wano Country.

Once these Nezumi are eliminated, everything will be over.

This is no easy task. With the spread of their aura, whether it's Hakumai, Reiko, or Capital of Flowers, these Nezumi will be active in all areas.

This is still a large-scale operation, and it will take a considerable amount of time to eliminate all the Nezumi.

Furthermore, the scent that attracts Nezumi has a limit to its duration. If the problem isn't resolved quickly, the Nezumi's activity area will expand to the entire Wano Country, in all its deep forests. At that point, given enough time, the Rat Plague will break out again.

They were not worried about food, as both Reiko, Hakumai, and Capital of Flowers had temporarily set up granaries.

To prevent Nezumi from stealing from the house again, even the warehouse floor was made of steel, and people were assigned to guard it.

It's worth mentioning that this war against the Rat Tide was arguably the best opportunity for the World Government to seize the Poneglyph, but they did not do so.

Because there is still a considerable force guarding the General's Mansion in order to protect the Poneglyph.

Kozuki Oden was simple-minded and stubborn. As someone who knew everything, he knew his mission: to protect the Poneglyph and hand them over to the person he believed was destined for him.

We must protect it and absolutely not let the Poneglyph fall into the hands of the World Government.

This very idea weakened Wano Country's ability to resist the Rat Tide and prevented the World Government from taking the Poneglyph.

Originally, the World Government were all planning to take action against the Poneglyph.

Even though the Guardians are very powerful, the World Government is still quite confident that it can defeat the Guardians and obtain the Poneglyph.

After all, at this point, Kozuki Oden was completely unable to free up his hands, Wano Country's defensive forces were tied down by more than 90%, making it arguably the weakest state in history.

During this time, all the powerful figures from Wano Country made their moves.

But after some consideration, Gaia ultimately decided against taking the opportunity.

Wano Country's defenses remain strong, even stronger than before. If they were to attack, even if they managed to obtain the Road Sign Stone, they would certainly suffer significant losses.

Today's World Government need to minimize losses.

They may have missed this opportunity, but they certainly won't miss the next one.

The Evil Worm controlled the food supply of the Capital of Flowers, giving them ample time to manipulate the situation. They secretly increased the amount of Grawlin Plant, accelerating the accumulation of medicinal power and ultimately transforming it into a deadly poison.

The flavor is preserved by using special medications to neutralize it.

After two days of fierce fighting, all the warriors needed to replenish their energy.

The body could not be contained, so it had to be burned.

The fire raged, filling the sky, burning countless Nezumi and the corpses of Wano Country's inhabitants to death.

In this situation, there is no time to collect the corpses, which could trigger another outbreak of plague.

During this time, Marco remained in Wano Country, too busy to stop. After reporting to Whitebeard also asked him to help as much as possible.

Marco stayed in Hakumai and played a significant role in resisting the Rat Tide.

Whether it's killing rats or treating diseases.

The Phoenix Blue Flame is a very special flame with healing abilities. It also possesses the high temperature of a flame, and under its control, the flame temperature can be freely controlled to a level that will not harm people.

The war is not over yet, and Marco also has to spend time treating the injuries of the other warriors.

He could only treat the external injuries, given the large number of people.

Moreover, the Phoenix Blue Flame only provides this kind of treatment for outsiders; it can only alleviate internal injuries, and one still needs to rely more on their own recovery ability.

Back at the camp, Nezumi could be seen scurrying about in the street.

Next, it's a race against time; they need to recover as quickly as possible and defeat the Nezumi in the shortest amount of time.

The returning samurai and residents ignored them, letting them wreak havoc as they pleased.

Anyone who attempts to attack them will be killed immediately.

The group entered the granary, closed the door tightly, and dealt with some Nezumi that had pounced on them because they were attracted by the smell of grain.

Large numbers of Nezumi were trapped outside the granary and launched a frenzied attack, but they were helpless against the steel walls.

After dealing with all this, many warriors were either healing their wounds or replenishing their energy, and they were all extremely thirsty, craving both food and water.

They desperately needed a lot of food, and they devoured the food that had been prepared for them.

Bread alone is not enough for them; they need hot and cool foods.

Everyone was replenishing their energy, preparing for the next move.

With fewer people, they no longer need to restrain themselves as before and can eat to their heart's content.

Watching the many warriors enjoy the delicious food, the Evil Worm maintained a respectful demeanor.

There was no joy; the air was heavy, for far too many people had died.

After communicating with Hakumai and Reiko, basically only a quarter of the original amount remained; the rest were buried in the Rat Tide and are now engulfed in flames.

Such a loss is unacceptable to anyone, and the pain on Kozuki Oden's face was impossible to hide.

At this point, they all realized that their approach to dealing with the Rat Tide was wrong, but it was too late; there was no way to salvage the situation.

Despite being extremely hungry, Oden had no appetite whatsoever, as if he were suffering from depression. He sat there quietly for a while.

As the shogun of Wano Country, he believed he had an inescapable responsibility.

He must pull himself together as soon as possible, get rid of the Rat Plague quickly, and then complete the reconstruction of Wano Country.

The land is scarred and devastated. It will take at least a hundred years for Wano Country to recover to its former state, both in terms of population and natural environment.

The damage was far too severe, and there are now numerous losses.

Most of those who died were young adults and the elderly.

Thanks to its isolated environment, the elderly make up 30% of Wano Country's total population.

For the next two weeks, most of the Wano Country samurai, except for those who were too badly injured to move, sprang into action to exterminate the Nezumi in their settlements.

There are no open spaces; in these streets and alleys, and even underground, getting rid of these Nezumi is extremely difficult, but there's no other way but to do our best.

Even cleaning up 200,000 Nezumi a day would take several dozen days compared to the massive number of over 10 million.

This amount of time is enough for these Nezumi to reproduce one or two generations.

This is a difficult process.

Having witnessed the horrors of the Rat Plague, they dared not allow the departed citizens of Wano Country to return until the Rat Plague was over.

If we're not careful, the Nezumi population will explode again.

During this process, samurai continued to sacrifice themselves, and if they were unlucky, they would encounter a swarm of Nezumi, hundreds or even thousands of them, which would surround them.

And it even specifically targeted their wounds.

At this point, the goal pursued by the World Government was finally achieved.

Having just finished eating, Kozuki Oden, who was leading some samurai to clean up the Nezumi, stood on a rooftop, looking down into the distance, releasing his Observation Haki to search for traces of the Nezumi.

After a long period of accumulation, the Grawlin Plant in Kozuki Oden's body finally reached its limit, transforming into a terrifying poison.

Kozuki Oden staggered, his head spun, and he suddenly lost control of his body.

And the entire body felt as if it were about to collapse from the inside out, and the excruciating pain of being devoured by a thousand ants erupted.

He knelt on one knee, his long sword planted in the ground for support.

"General!"

"My lord! What's wrong?"

The sudden turn of events threw the other samurai into a panic, some of them finding it hard to believe that Kozuki Oden, who had been perfectly fine, was suddenly in this state.

Kozuki Oden raised his head with some difficulty, wanting to speak, but when he opened his mouth, he couldn't say anything.

He frowned, enduring the intense pain.

His vision was extremely blurry; as he watched the approaching samurai, countless afterimages appeared before his eyes.

Immediately afterwards, his body tilted and he fell off the roof, losing consciousness.

Kin'emon before he fell to the Oden, sensed his Kozuki Oden's current state and looked flustered.

"Quickly, take the lord back and summon the Phoenix. Something has happened to the lord."