The tremors subsided, and the seawater receded.
The sea came into view. Every mink stared blankly at it.
"No way. Zunesha is already..."
"Zunesha carried us for a thousand years..."
The minks began to weep.
"What a naive bunch of little animals. Some things aren't what you imagine."
Werther looked at the minks before him and shook his head.
"Thunder Swordsman, don't think you can fool us."
Cat Viper pointed his trident at Werther, his face contorted with rage.
Zunesha was dead, yet Life Force continued to pour in—and faster than before.
Previously, it had been around ten thousand per second. Now it was at least thirty thousand.
All Werther needed to do was buy time.
"You're not too bad, so I'll tell you about Zou's past.
"A thousand years ago, you didn't live on Zunesha's back. You lived on Kootifens Island, a Winter Island.
"Don't look at me like that. What do you think all that fur is for? It's to keep out the bitter cold.
"Then Wano Country conquered your homeland, and your ancestors became slaves.
"This so-called Zou was originally a prison, guarded by large numbers of the Kozuki Family.
"Why would anyone need walls on Zunesha's towering back? This was a breeding ground. By then, every adult mink had been killed, leaving only the young.
"If I'm not mistaken, the history you know goes back only twelve hundred years. In truth, the Mink Tribe has existed for more than twenty-seven hundred. If you don't believe me, look into it beyond this island. You'll find it recorded in old books."
Werther shook his head at the stunned minks.
He hadn't lied to them.
At first, the Kozuki Family had treated them entirely as slaves. It was only around Kozuki Oden's generation that they began treating the minks