Four days remained until Orochi and Kaido's Joint Celebration. The air in the Flower Capital seemed like congealed syrup, cloyingly sweet and festive on the surface, yet brewing sour rot and danger within.
The various factions began weaving their own webs like spiders in the dark.
The first web: sabotage and misdirection.
Late at night, outside the Weapons Factory in Kuri.
Sanji spat out his cigarette butt, and the thrusters on his technological combat boots lit up with a deep blue glow. "Move fast, Shutenmaru. We have to knock out the main production lines here before the patrols change shifts."
Shutenmaru carried his Ōnaginata over his shoulder and grinned. "Don't worry. I've been sick of this damned place for ages." Behind him stood dozens of hardened samurai, along with some young and middle-aged villagers from Amigasa Village whose weapons Franky had hastily modified with scrap materials, including flamethrowers.
The factory blazed with light, and the roar of machinery mingled with the overseers' whipping and curses. The guards were mostly ordinary Gifters from the Beasts Pirates, with a few Shinuchi. Their defenses were not top-notch, but they had strength in numbers, and the factory's complex layout made it easy to defend and hard to assault.
"According to the blueprints Lin Yan gave us, we have three main targets: the SMILE synthesis workshop, the weapons assembly line, and the energy core," Sanji quickly laid out the plan. "Shutenmaru, take your men in through the front and draw their fire. I'll slip in through the ventilation ducts on the side and destroy the core. Everyone else, split into two groups and follow the samurai to hit the synthesis and assembly workshops. Remember, focus on destroying equipment and avoid direct clashes as much as possible. Once you're done, retreat immediately along route C."
"Understood!"