Subjugating Totto Land

Katakuri nodded slightly.

"Knew."

Yashiro didn't say anything more, turned around and walked towards the port.

Tekka followed beside him, while Taoho put away the booklet behind them. Several Night Owl Guard squad leaders had already dispersed and gone in different directions from the port to count the ships and people.

Katakuri stood still, watching the gray-white figures disperse in the harbor.

Behind him, Perospero finally couldn't hold back any longer and spoke in a low voice, "Katakuri, is that all? Our Totto Land is just like that..."

"Mom nodded." Katakuri didn't turn around. "This is Mom's decision."

Perospero pulled the lollipop out of his mouth, stared at the back of Katakuri for a few moments, and finally put the candy back in his mouth, crunching it loudly.

At the port, Yashiro had already reached the front of the first row of moored ships. He glanced up at the Big Mom Pirate Flag still flying on the mast, then turned to one of his Night Owl Guard and said, "Don't move the flag yet. Let's wait until Kai returns and confirms."

The Night Owl Guard responded and went to stand by the ship.

The morning light from the East Blue had just climbed over the walls of that port kingdom.

When the Nightingale Guard ' pale gold uniforms appeared at the city gate, the guards didn't even have time to level their spears.

Three Nightingale Guard walked at the front, the nightingale patterns on their cuffs shimmering in the morning light. Their scarlet Sharingan swept across the city gate, and the guards' hands froze in mid-air.

They didn't make a move.

They simply walked over, at a leisurely pace, heading straight towards the palace.

The nobles had already gathered in the square in front of the palace.

They were summoned.

The Uchiha Clan's order arrived the day before, and it was very simple: abolish noble titles, cancel hereditary territories, and punish all nobles and commoners the same way.

The order was signed by the Uchiha Clan's Steward Hall and bore the Uchiha Clan crest.

The square was bustling with noise.

An elderly nobleman dressed in a formal suit embroidered with gold thread stood on the steps, leaning on a cane that thumped against the stone slabs.

"My great-grandfather was the founding duke! Every inch of this kingdom is stained with my family's blood! How dare you abolish it so easily?" Several young nobles beside him echoed, some patting their chests and proclaiming their family names, others waving their fists and shouting, "Our ancestors are above us, we will never bow down!"

The leader of the Nightingale Guard was a man in his early thirties, surnamed Uchiha, named Qingchuan. He stood at the edge of the square, his pale gold uniform fluttering gently in the wind.

He listened to the nobles' shouts for a while, his face expressionless.

He turned to a member of his clan and said, "Make a note of this. The one leading them, from the Duke of Jian's family. And those shouting the loudest behind him, make a note of that too."

The tribesman took out a booklet from his sleeve, turned to a page, and wrote a few lines with charcoal.

The old nobleman became even more excited when he saw them like this.

He took a step forward, leaning on his cane, his chin held high.

"Your Uchiha Clan are nothing but outsiders! The rules of this sea are none of your business! I'm telling you, I'll go contact the other kingdoms right now—"

Qingchuan raised his hand.

The old nobleman's words trailed off.

His mouth was still open, and his eyes were still wide open, but no sound came out.

He was still conscious; he could see his own comical, open-mouthed expression and feel his body frozen in place, but he just couldn't move.

Not only him, but the young nobles behind him who had been shouting the loudest also froze one by one. One of them was still in the position of throwing a punch, his fist raised in the air, motionless.

Qingchuan lowered his hand.

"Genjutsu. Mild. They can hear and see, but they can't move."

He turned to his clansmen beside him and said, "Let the Heavenly Star Guard in."

The Heavenly Star Guard arrived very quickly.

The tribesmen in light gray uniforms marched in from the direction of the city gate, their steps orderly, the long swords at their waists gleaming coldly in the morning light.

The leader was a Uchiha clansman in his forties, named Uchiha. He was not tall, but Tieyan walked with heavy steps.

He led ten men to the center of the square, glanced at the nobles frozen in place, and turned to Qingchuan, saying, "That's all?"

"That's all," Qingchuan said. "The one who led the chant is from the Duke of Jian Guo's family. The rest are just following along. Those who aren't making a fuss are just watching from the sidelines."

Tieyan glanced at the nobles huddled at the back of the square.

Those people didn't jump out like the ones on the steps, but they stood very close together, and the expressions on their faces said a lot.

Tieyan didn't ask any further questions, but simply made a hand gesture to the Heavenly Star Guard behind him.

"Line up."

The members of the Heavenly Star Guard stepped forward, picked up the nobles who were frozen in place by the Genjutsu spell one by one, and pushed them to the center of the square, lining them up in a row.

When the old nobleman was lifted up, his eyes were wide open and his lips twitched slightly, as if he wanted to say something, but the Genjutsu sealed his mouth shut.

The young nobles beside him were either rolling their eyes or sweating, but none of them could move an inch.

More and more civilians gathered around the square.

The square in front of the palace is a lively place. People who come to the market in the morning, pass by, or set up stalls all come over to see what's going on.

At first there were only a few dozen people, then it grew to hundreds, and later the square was surrounded by layers of people.

There were fish vendors, people carrying loads on shoulder poles, and people holding children, all looking up at the center of the square.

Tieyan drew his knife.

The blade gleamed for a moment in the morning light.

Without saying a word, he walked behind the first nobleman, and with a swift stroke of his sword, the man's head rolled onto the stone floor.

The square fell silent for a moment, then several barely suppressed screams rang out from the crowd.

Some people covered their mouths, while others hugged their children tightly.

Tieyan didn't stop. He walked behind the second nobleman, who also fell down.

Then came the third, the fourth, and the fifth. The rhythm of the knife's rise and fall was very steady, neither too fast nor too slow.

The nobles knelt on the ground, bound by Genjutsu, without even a chance to beg for mercy.

With each fall, the common people in the square let out a low, trembling murmur, but no one dared to shout.

The older nobles were at the back of the line.

When he knelt on the ground, he could still see and hear. He heard the sounds of knives rising and falling, one, two, three.