A month flew by amid work and anticipation.
Wano Country was like a great beast awakening from a long hibernation. Though covered in wounds, it brimmed with astonishing vitality. The ruins of the Flower Capital were cleared away, and new, simpler, more practical wooden houses sprang up like shoots after rain. The streets were repaved with stone slabs-plain, but level and clean. Shops reopened, selling food, clothing, medicine, and all the supplies needed for reconstruction. The lingering numbness and fear on people's faces had diminished, replaced by cautious anticipation and the tangible bustle of work.
Onigashima's enormous wreckage was not removed. Instead, through the combined efforts of Wano Country's craftsmen and Franky, the Straw Hat Pirates' technical officer, it was remodeled and reinforced into a special fortress standing offshore, combining defense, commemoration, and emerging industry-the "New Life Monument and Joint Defense Fortress." Its skull-shaped main structure was preserved, but enormous searchlights and communications antennas were installed in its eye sockets. Its interior was converted into barracks, warehouses, shipyards, and part of the SMILE Factory. At its highest point stood a giant torch statue, its undying flame burning day and night, symbolizing hope and vigilance that would never fade.
Much had happened over that month.
With the support of the Red Scabbards, Kozuki Hiyori, Lin Yan, and others, Kozuki Momonosuke formally presided over Wano Country's transitional government as the "Chief of the Daimyo Joint Council." He abolished the shogunate and established a provisional assembly where respected daimyo from across the country, samurai representatives, and commoner representatives deliberated together. Though inexperienced, he grew increasingly adept at governing with the assistance of Denjiro, Kawamatsu, and others, earning more and more people's trust. His first decrees included tax reductions and exemptions, land distribution, the establishment of schools, and, most importantly, the formal opening of