Wano Country, Flower Capital.
"How is it? Can you find him?"
Oric sat at the head of the room with a dark expression, while a row of subordinates knelt before him.
At his words, one man shook his head.
"My apologies, Lord Oric."
"We followed the trail for dozens of miles, but we still haven't found Lord Lirisk."
Devil Fruits were not omnipotent. Otherwise, what would Vivre Cards be for?
The subordinates before him each had their own tricks for ordinary manhunts, but if the enemy possessed strong counter-tracking skills or knew their abilities well enough to counter them individually, there was very little they could accomplish.
After all, monstrous scouting abilities like the Sniffle-Sniffle Fruit and the Glint-Glint Fruit were rare even among rarities.
Crack!
Upon hearing the answer, Oric unconsciously tightened his grip and crushed the armrest into powder.
Under his subordinates' terrified gazes, he raised a hand, pinched the bridge of his nose, and waved them off.
"Keep looking until you find him!"
"Otherwise, don't come back to see me!"
"Yes!"
The subordinates nodded repeatedly in relief before leaving the room.
Kurozumi Orochi happened to see this as he entered. Without saying a word, he walked over to his seat, sat down, and gulped down a cup of water.
"It seems you didn't get anything either, did you?"
"Yeah. We did follow some leads and capture a few Resistance members, but none of them knew anything about what happened at Oden Castle."
Kurozumi Orochi took a breath and licked his dry lips.
"I'm even starting to suspect that nobody fought him at all."
"But the battle traces indicate two people, don't they?"
Oric asked calmly.
"Two people is the most likely possibility! With the place wrecked like that, what could anyone possibly find?"
Kurozumi Orochi turned to