Beasts Pirates' Counterattack! (23)

New World, Wano Country.

Wano Country's independence and its unique terrain gave it ample confidence.

It was an island that rose straight from the sea like a towering peak, its cliffs on all sides and waterfalls reaching into the clouds.

The swift currents brought by the outward-flowing waterfalls formed a ring of ocean-current defenses around the island, much like the Marines' Great Vortex Iron Triangle. The vortex there had been artificially created by blocking the sea currents with the Gate of Justice, while this one was natural.

The current barrier made it impossible for ships to approach. Coupled with the dense reefs, fierce winds, and raging waves nearby, one careless mistake meant shipwreck and death.

And the sheer cliffs forced even ships that managed to get close to leave in frustration. Without the perfect combination of timing, terrain, and luck, there was simply no way up.

For hundreds of years, countless pirates had sought to open Wano Country's gates, only to be stopped outside those two impregnable walls.

Moreover, Wano Country was not the sort of nation that relied solely on its natural defenses to rest easy.

There was a profession here known as "samurai," an honorific title for swordsmen with exceptional swordsmanship.

The samurai formed Wano Country's core defensive force. Under its isolationist policy, whenever invaders appeared, they drove them away to prevent harmful foreign ideas from poisoning Wano Country's people.

Since ancient times, only one group of outsiders had managed to gain a foothold here!

That was the "Beasts Pirates"!

Wano Country's capital, the Flower Capital.

"Waaahhh! Hawkins, you died so horribly!"

Inside an antique Japanese-style tearoom, a gigantic figure sat cross-legged on the tatami mats, wailing loudly.

Huge tears poured down like buckets of water, soaking everyone else's clothes.

The Wano Country samurai who had come to