The Red Poneglyph

Wano Country, Flower Capital.

Three days were more than enough for Luo Ji to leave the town of Tokikage Port and hurry to the Flower Capital.

After finishing his slaughter, he used the powers of the Fude Fude no Mi to transform into an ordinary resident and hide within the town.

When he saw Queen the Plague appear, he knew the grand expedition of the Beasts Pirates had not yet set sail.

He decisively left Udon to avoid being caught by the Beasts Pirates.

Once the Beasts Pirates left, it would be his time to shine.

Anyway, the duration of this grand expedition was very long, and even Fire Fist Ace had time to spend several weeks in Amigasa Village learning to weave bamboo hats.

Luo Ji could just make a trip to the Flower Capital to get his hands on the Road Poneglyph.

By the way, he would let Kozuki Sukiyaki see his Oiran granddaughter, making him willingly hand over the masonry techniques and Seastone craftsmanship.

When the time came to go to Onigashima to find Yamato, he would also have one more way to open the exploding Seastone handcuffs.

On a bustling pleasure district street in the Flower Capital.

A young man was holding a little girl, with a masked old man standing nearby.

"Is that really... her?"

Sukiyaki's voice trembled slightly as he looked at the glamorous, highly praised Oiran.

Yet this kind of widespread attention was not the universal adoration Sukiyaki desired.

How could the princess of the Kozuki Family become such a shameless, public-facing Oiran?!

This made the traditional Kozuki Sukiyaki feel extremely distressed and humiliated.

However, Sukiyaki did not know that Denjiro had been protecting Hiyori all along, and still thought Hiyori was merely an Oiran of his imagination.

"Hand over the craftsmanship I want, and I might let you have a face-to-face conversation once."

Luo Ji said calmly. In truth, not only did Sukiyaki look down on the profession of an Oiran, but Kozuki Hiyori also held extreme shame toward this identity.

This was why, upon learning of the return of Momonosuke and the Nine Red Scabbards, Komurasaki had decisively faked her death and, cooperating with Denjiro who had transformed into Kyoshiro, completely buried the identity of the Oiran Komurasaki to reclaim her status as Kozuki Hiyori.

If the citizens of Wano Country and the retainers of the Kozuki Family knew their Princess Hiyori had previously been the money-grubbing Oiran Komurasaki who preyed on the poor, countless people would likely reject her.

Even if people eventually realized Komurasaki earned money to rescue commoners and to restore the nation for a counterattack.

This identity would ultimately never be accepted by a traditional Wano Country.

Much like the prostitute Boule de Suif in the works of Maupassant.

Such is human nature!

No matter how great your deeds, the estrangements and labels of status are never truly removable.

Especially in a Wano Country that had been closed off for eight hundred years and remained exceedingly traditional.

Preconceptions between people are like a towering mountain, and no matter how hard you strive a thousand or ten thousand times, you will never budge them by even an inch.

If Luo Ji exposed Komurasaki's true identity right now, even if she restored her noble status as Kozuki Hiyori, she still wouldn't be tolerated by Wano Country.

"Don't! Absolutely not! Let's go!"

Kozuki Sukiyaki hastily pleaded. Hiyori's identity could not be exposed, or the Kozuki Family would be disgraced, and even Hiyori would face mortal danger.

As Sukiyaki's state of mind collapsed, his demands toward Luo Ji now amounted to complete surrender.

He handed over the techniques of the Mason Family, telling Luo Ji about the secret chambers of the Shogun's Castle as well as various ancient secrets.

All he asked was for Luo Ji's help in protecting Hiyori's identity.

And once Luo Ji got his hands on the Road Poneglyph, if he were in a good mood, he might just tell him the news about Denjiro.

Letting him know that Kozuki Hiyori was still, in fact, a... clean princess.

With a look of utter despair, Kozuki Sukiyaki voluntarily returned to the Prison Scroll, unwilling to face this dismal reality.

Luo Ji watched the retreating parade Oiran, and began robbing the rich to help himself in the Flower Capital to make some money.

At the same time, he searched for Shinobu, the user of the Juku Juku no Mi.

In a yakuza mansion, Luo Ji eliminated some samurai and looted their valuables.

He brought Tama through the Flower Capital, enjoying real food while searching for Shinobu's whereabouts and awaiting news of the Beasts Pirates.

He also hoarded large amounts of food and fresh water.

Once the Beasts Pirates set sail, I'll sneak into the Shogun's Castle and make my move.

If I want to find Shinobu, I can use puppet portraits of Kin'emon and Kikunojo to show my face, which should attract Shinobu to seek me out on her own initiative.

Luo Ji prepared his plan in the Flower Capital, striving to master and develop his Devil Fruit powers while cultivating his Haki.

A few days after his arrival in the Flower Capital, amidst the heated discussions of numerous samurai and ninjas, he finally learned the news that the Beasts Pirates had set sail.

"They've finally left!"

Luo Ji wore an ambitious smile!

Luo Ji transformed into another unfamiliar person, stepping out from the home of an ordinary Oniwabanshu member.

Following the detailed map provided by Sukiyaki, he traced the route Sukiyaki had previously used to escape, infiltrating the secret room all the way.

Now that the Beasts Pirates were on their grand expedition, Kurozumi Orochi actually indulged wildly in pleasure, summoning a large number of songstresss into the Shogun's Castle to host a banquet.

Clearly, he felt Beast Kaido's strength had reached its peak, and no one in the seas dared to provoke him.

Only the Beasts Pirates dared to attack others, and no one would dare covet Beast Kaido's stronghold in Wano Country.

Amidst the raucous festival music outside, Luo Ji sneaked into the secret chamber, searching for quite a while before finding the secret passage leading to ancient Wano Country.

This ancient underground passage was thousands of meters deep.

"The protective walls of Wano Country don't seem as high as I imagined!"

"Pluton could possibly never be a ten-thousand-meter-class giant ship."

Luo Ji felt a bit disappointed; the legendary Ancient Weapon likely couldn't match the size of Gild Tesoro's ten-thousand-meter island ship, Gran Tesoro.

It couldn't even compare to island ships in the thousands-of-meters class like Thriller Bark or Colossus.

"However, this actually gives me a greater possibility of taking the Pluton battleship away."

Luo Ji licked his lips. His current scroll was large enough to contain seawater spanning all of Onigashima.

He still had a sliver of a chance to steal Pluton.

Even if he couldn't use it temporarily, he had to grasp it in his own hands.

As Luo Ji reached the underground palace of ancient Wano Country, he finally laid eyes on that Road Poneglyph.

"Hah, that Road Poneglyph on Fish-Man Island was taken away by that so-called Burn-Scarred Man.

As for this Road Poneglyph in Wano Country, I, your lord, shall keep it safe!"

Luo Ji looked at the Road Poneglyph, which was the size of a small house, summoned a huge scroll, and enveloped it to store it away.

"Alright! Whatever I wanted to snatch from Wano Country is basically in my hands now. Next, let's see if I can take the Pluton battleship with me."

Luo Ji grinned, leisurely leaving the underground palace.

Meanwhile, the banquet of revelry in the Shogun's Castle had reached its peak.

When Luo Ji appeared right above the Shogun's Castle, Kurozumi Orochi had already plunged into the troupe of dancing girls, singing and dancing together in high spirits.

Looking at the numerous Oniwabanshu ninjas and Mawarimawari-gumi samurai, Luo Ji suppressed the urge to make a move on Kurozumi Orochi.

After all, painting a Yamata no Orochi with Kurozumi Orochi's blood, combined with Luo Ji's Fude Fude no Mi powers, should yield quite decent combat capability.

Luo Ji wanted to develop his Fude Fude no Mi powers to a formidable effect rivaling Vegapunk's Paramecia Green Blood.

Next time, I'll bring Yamato and turn the Flower Capital upside down!

Luo Ji glanced at the grand dance party, unconcerned with the blooming Oiran Komurasaki, and quietly departed.

The time since his arrival in the One Piece World was still too short.

It was not yet time for him to raise a ruckus.