Lower Your Head Before the Shogun!

"What?"

The four daimyo present were all stunned, unable to understand why Dimon had suddenly killed someone.

Shimotsuki Yasuie's expression darkened. He clenched his fists so tightly that his nails dug deep into his flesh.

He gritted his teeth and asked, "Why did you kill my servant?"

"Are you sure he was your servant?"

Dimon rose and walked past the gathered daimyo. Reaching the corpse, he lifted the man with one hand and pulled Enma free with the other.

"What do you mean?"

Dimon did not answer. His fingers gradually tightened, about to crush Kurozumi Orochi's throat.

"Snake-Snake Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Yamata no Orochi form... Eight lives, right?"

The moment he spoke, the corpse suddenly changed.

Kurozumi Orochi's neck, caught in Dimon's grasp, abruptly swelled and split apart, dividing into seven and turning into seven hideous snake heads.

He broke free from Dimon's hold, the vertical pupils of all seven heads fixed firmly on Dimon.

"Wait... Rocks' remnant, I have a deal to offer!"

He screamed as he rapidly backed away.

Shimotsuki Yasuie stood there with his mouth agape, utterly unaware that Kurozumi Orochi possessed such an ability.

"What kind of sorcery is this?" Fuzuki Miyabi, daimyo of Shimotsuki, asked blankly.

Dimon had no interest in listening to Kurozumi Orochi's nonsense.

In the original storyline, Kaido needed to cooperate with the Kurozumi family because his strength had been roughly equal to Kozuki Oden's at the time, and he needed time to develop the Beasts Pirates.

Dimon did not.

The combined force of him and Kaido was enough to suppress all of Wano Country.

Oden Two-Sword Style: Momozono Ikkai.

Dimon gripped Ame no Habakiri in a reverse hold with his left hand. With a flicker of movement, he instantly swept past Kurozumi Orochi.

Blade light flashed like dancing cherry blossoms.

The next moment, splurt!

All seven snake heads were severed at once. Blood gushed out like a fountain, staining even the reception room's ceiling red.

All eight lives were gone. Kurozumi Orochi reverted from his human-beast form into a headless corpse.

"Someone, throw the body out."

Dimon called out indifferently.

The reception room doors slid open. Abel silently entered, dragged the corpse away, then politely shut the doors again.

The reception room fell silent. The four daimyo had all been intimidated by Dimon's ruthless display.

Dimon flicked the blood from his blade, turned around, and sat back down beside Kaido, his smile returning.

"My apologies. I cleared away a bit of noise."

"You heard what Kurozumi Orochi said just now, didn't you?"

"Let me introduce us again. I'm Dimon, and he's Kaido. We were members of the Rocks Pirates."

Those words were clearly wasted on them.

In isolated Wano Country, none of the daimyo knew what the Rocks Pirates represented.

But they understood one thing: pirates!

Shimotsuki Ushimaru's face sank. "What did you do to Shogun Sukiyaki?"

"He's perfectly fine, in a secret chamber."

Dimon shook his head. "I was the one who summoned you. From today onward, Kaido and I are the shoguns of Wano Country. You need only serve us."

"What kind of joke is this?!" Udon's daimyo angrily spoke up. "We are samurai! We will serve only the Kōzuki Clan!"

"What if the Kōzuki Clan dies out?"

Dimon's single sentence instantly cleared his mind.

Then Dimon smiled again. "Introduce yourselves first."

Through their conversation, Dimon learned their names and the regions under their rule.

Shimotsuki's daimyo, Fuzuki Miyabi.

Udon's daimyo, Uzuki Tempura.

Ringo's daimyo, Shimotsuki Ushimaru.

Hakumai's daimyo, Shimotsuki Yasuie.

Dimon's gaze lingered on Shimotsuki Ushimaru. The longer he looked, the more the man resembled Zoro. He was probably related to that moss-head.

Shimotsuki Village in the East Blue had been founded by Zoro's grandfather after leaving Wano Country. At this point in time, even Zoro's father was still a child.

"Wano Country has five great noble families: Amatsuki, Fuzuki, Uzuki, Shimotsuki, and Kurozumi... Why isn't anyone from the Amatsuki family here?"

Dimon asked.

The Kurozumi family could be set aside for now. They had once attempted to overthrow their superiors, only to be wiped out by the previous shogun, leaving the family in decline.

By Kurozumi Orochi's generation, only a handful of them remained.

The four exchanged glances, and Shimotsuki Ushimaru answered in a deep voice:

"It seems you know Wano Country very well... The Amatsuki family's territory was supposed to be Ringo, where I reside, but they left Wano Country a very, very long time ago."

Dimon felt somewhat regretful upon hearing that.

It seemed the Amatsuki family had left eight hundred years ago. There was no Amatsuki family in Wano Country now.

He had originally planned to treat the Amatsuki family well, support them, and suppress the other families.

Winning over one faction while striking another was an effective method for an outsider like him, but it was impossible now. The entire family was gone.

The main reason he had chosen the Amatsuki family was Toki Amatsuki.

Dimon rather liked that woman. As a user of a time fruit, she would travel from eight hundred years in the past to this era.

However, it was not yet time for her to arrive through time travel.

After pondering for a moment, Dimon simply stated bluntly:

"As long as you obey orders, Kozuki Sukiyaki can stay alive."

"Of course, you may choose to resist."

"I'll give you ten seconds to think it over. Silence means refusal. Kaido, once ten seconds are up, kill them immediately."

Kaido bared his teeth, his vicious gaze fixed on Shimotsuki Ushimaru.

In his senses, this man was the strongest, but he could kill him in a single strike.

Once the time was up, he would act immediately and twist off the man's head.

"Ten..."

"Nine..."

Dimon began the countdown.

Shimotsuki Yasuie abruptly stood up. Dimon thought he was about to resist, but the next second, the man performed a perfect dogeza.

"I, Shimotsuki Yasuie, submit to you on behalf of Hakumai!"

Though he said so, Shimotsuki Yasuie continued to stare fixedly at Dimon.

Dimon's posture remained indifferent. "Lower your head before the shogun."

Shimotsuki Yasuie's forehead struck the floor with a dull thud.

"Yes...!"

"Yasuie!" Shimotsuki Ushimaru's expression turned ugly.

Shimotsuki Yasuie ignored him and said with humiliated resolve, "Please spare Kozuki Sukiyaki, Lord Shogun!"

Kaido could not help laughing. This method of holding the shogun hostage to command the daimyo was so useful. Why had he never thought of it?

Should he read more books in the future? Reading was somewhat useful, wasn't it?

Dimon looked toward the other three and continued counting down.

"Seven..."

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The three looked at one another, then knelt one after another and bowed in submission.

"We pay respects to the two shoguns!"

Only then did Dimon nod, his tone calm.

"Rise. An announcement will be made to the entire country within the next few days."

"However... if rebellion appears in your territories, then for every incident, I'll cut off one of Kozuki Sukiyaki's arms."

"Once his arms are gone, I'll take his legs. Once his legs are gone, I'll take his skin. Once his skin is gone, I'll cut him into pieces... Don't worry, he won't die. I guarantee he'll stay alive."

The four felt a chill in their hearts. They truly were vicious pirates.

But for Kozuki Sukiyaki's life, they did not dare disobey.

"Yes, Lord Shogun!"