Kouzuki Hiyori

Year 1518 of the Circular Calendar. (Two years before the Summit War.)

Wano Country, Kuri, Amigasa Village.

Rows of weapon factories and poison-gas factories stood near this remote, dilapidated village.

Towering chimneys shot straight into the sky, spewing pitch-black exhaust and colorful poisonous gases.

Under the rule of the Beasts Pirates, weapon factories of all kinds were established across every region of Wano Country to supply armaments for the grand expedition of the Beasts Pirates.

They were even exported through the underground underworld to warring nations all over the world, earning money for the Beasts Pirates.

The Seastone weaponry, apparatuses, and various other weapons and poison-gas weapons of the Beasts Pirates were extremely famous throughout the world.

Queen the Plague's various poison-gas weapons posed immense hazards, making him a notorious great pirate with a bounty as high as 1,320,000,000 Berries.

Villages near the various weapon factories had an even more miserable existence.

Not only were the villagers forcibly conscripted to work, but all kinds of sewage and waste also polluted the land and rivers upon which the village depended for survival.

This left a large number of villagers without much labor compensation while rendering their land incapable of producing food.

Massive numbers of villagers continuously plunged into famine.

At this moment, on the hillside at the outskirts of Amigasa Village.

A little girl in filthy clothes full of holes knelt before two graves with pursed lips, constantly sniffing to keep her tears and snot from falling.

"Tama, this is really hard to bring up, but your father and mother are already..."

A similarly tattered woman choked out these words, speaking in a low, sorrowful tone to the four-year-old little girl.

The deaths of their neighbors showed them the same future, creating a shared, pathetic despair for a moment.

"I'm fine."

"Mom and Dad... rest well..."

The little girl knelt by the graves, pressing her hands together and saying this with spasms. The ribbon on her back was already crooked, and her tiny, tattered shoes exposed her dirty little toes.

At that moment, in the large treehouse behind Amigasa Village, Tenguyama Hitetsu also spotted this pitiful little girl.

Kurozumi...?

Tenguyama Hitetsu's gaze flickered with internal conflict, but in the end, he chose to walk toward the little girl.

He loathed Kurozumi Orochi, but not all members of the Kurozumi Family were unforgivable sinners.

That couple belonged to a branch family of the Kurozumi Family, yet they were merely obscure, pitiful commoners.

Now, both of them had died in the weapon factories under Kaido's banner.

He decided to adopt this pitiful Kurozumi little girl.

Otherwise, a little girl of this age could never survive in this harsh, remote village.

Yet just as Tenguyama Hitetsu walked toward the little girl by the hillside graves, the cry of a crane rang down from the sky.

"These big chimneys look so annoying! I never expected this world to have so many!"

"What is this smell? It's practically toxic!"

A figure flew down amid curses.

This suddenly appearing stranger caused Tenguyama Hitetsu to halt his steps cautiously.

He was terribly afraid that this person was one of Kurozumi Orochi's Oniwabanshu.

The little girl kneeling before the graves also saw the man descending from the sky and instinctively pressed against the tombstone, looking at the young man with a trace of terror.

Even the neighbor woman who had just been comforting Kurozumi Tama bolted back into the village, completely unable to care about Kurozumi Tama's safety.

She was terrified that this was a Headliner or taskmaster of the Beasts Pirates.

After Luo jumped down to the ground, the flying crane turned into some ink and vanished into the air.

"An illusionist!!"

Tenguyama Hitetsu immediately hid himself; he did not dare expose his identity in front of such an illusionist.

He also guessed at this strange illusionist's purpose in coming to Amigasa Village, wondering if his cover had been blown.

If there was danger, he would flee Amigasa Village immediately.

"This must be Amigasa Village."

Luo frowned. He plucked a leaf, activated the Fuku Fuku no Mi power, turned it into a face mask, and put it on; the air pollution here was simply too severe.

The transformation scope of the Fuku Fuku no Mi power was rather large; in fact, even accessories like sunglasses, gloves, wigs, or fake beards fell within the range of transformation.

Luo quickly spotted the pitiful little girl and the unique komainu beside her.

A komainu with golden manes like this looked practically like a lion.

Animals like komainu, komajika, and komagitsune were exclusive species of Wano Country and relatively rare pets at that.

How could a poor Kurozumi Tama afford to raise such a pet?

This probably meant Kurozumi Tama had already acquired the Paramecia Millet-Millet Fruit ability.

Right now, the komainu was not much bigger than Kurozumi Tama, but a few years later, it would grow into a giant beast over ten meters tall—just how much food would that consume?

It was probably because the komainu went up the mountain to hunt and feed itself.

Cared for by Tenguyama Hitetsu, Kurozumi Tama could only eat a single meal of white rice on her birthday, surviving ordinarily on barnyard grass lacking in nutrition; she was simply too poor.

What kind of wretched life was this?

Tenguyama Hitetsu's earning power as the former shogun of Wano Country was far too useless.

He was even mediocre at hunting.

Even entering the inland sea of Wano Country to hunt a sea beast or waterfall carp would be enough to feed their village for many days.

One had to know that Amigasa Village was right by the inland sea, with Udon—which held the Seastone mines—right next door, facing Onigashima across the water.

When Fire Fist Ace forced his way into Wano Country, he had drifted ashore and washed up at Amigasa Village.

"Are your name Kurozumi Tama? Have you ever pinched a millet dumpling off your own cheek and fed it to this komainu?"

Luo pulled down his face mask, a smile on his face as he looked at the little girl.

The moment he saw Kurozumi Tama, he roughly figured out the current timeline.

Tenguyama Hitetsu did not seem to have adopted Kurozumi Tama yet, which meant Fire Fist Ace had not yet landed in Wano Country.

This timeline seemed a bit early.

However, Kurozumi Tama was already three or four years old and had lost her parents, which meant Fire Fist Ace's intrusion into Wano Country could not be far off.

Furthermore, when Fire Fist Ace forced his way into Wano Country, the entire Beasts Pirates crew happened to be out on a grand expedition.

Kaido and the All-Stars were not on Onigashima.

Fire Fist Ace stayed in Amigasa Village for several weeks, during which he even learned to weave bamboo hats with Kurozumi Tama.

This was also one of the important skills that allowed Ace to become good brothers with Little Oars Jr.

In the end, Ace left Amigasa Village to forcefully break into Onigashima, fought fiercely with Yamato—who was left behind to guard the island—and ended up becoming good friends.

Oh, wouldn't that mean Kurozumi Tama—who wanted to become a seductive ninja and join Ace's crew—along with the chance to get acquainted with Yamato, would both fall into Luo's hands?

"Yes, sir. How did you know I fed a dumpling to Komachiyo?"

Kurozumi Tama answered Luo's inquiry with some timidity. Right now, she was somewhat afraid this strange young man would snatch Komachiyo away, so she hurriedly hugged Komachiyo tight.

With her parents gone, Komachiyo was her only family left.

"Come with me from now on! I won't let you go hungry again."

Luo chuckled softly, his smile extremely gentle and carrying the clear, friendly vibe exclusive to college students from the Blue Planet.

Kurozumi Tama's Paramecia Millet-Millet Fruit ability was jokingly dubbed by the vast majority of One Piece fans as a beast-taming power with the potential of a "Beast Emperor".

Most ferocious beasts, and even Artificial Devil Fruit users, would obey Kurozumi Tama's commands as long as they ate her dumplings.

A single feeding was enough to make these animals obey Kurozumi Tama's orders for a month.

Possessing this ability, Kurozumi Tama resembled a Beast Emperor far more than Kaido did.

This little one had the potential to become Luo's capable subordinate.

At worst, Luo could clear up some scroll slots to capture and imprison some ferocious beasts for Kurozumi Tama.

Much like Mondor's specimen prison, he could confine a large number of rare animals and fierce beasts.

Once their strength grew formidable in the future, they could go to Golden Lion Shiki to procure some stock and tame a massive batch of powerful mutated beasts.

They could even go to Rusukaina—where Luffy trained—to tame some powerful ferocious beasts comparable to vice admirals.

By then, Kurozumi Tama would truly become the Beast Emperor under Luo's command!