"Six years. I'm finally back!"
Six years ago, the Brunei Family had been nothing more than a very ordinary family.
They could not even really be called a clan.
They were merely a wealthy merchant household that excelled at supplying flour and ingredients for desserts.
But six years ago, the Brunei Family had established ties with the Big Mom Pirates, a great pirate crew in the New World, and become Totto Land's designated ingredient supplier.
From then on, the Brunei Family's rise had been unstoppable.
They gradually became a prominent family renowned throughout the New World.
Even the nobles and kings of some kingdoms treated them with great courtesy.
That was because they had ties to the famous Big Mom Pirates.
It was also because, after years of continuous expansion, the Brunei Family had grown very powerful in their own right.
As the Brunei Family's wealth grew, many people began coveting their fortune.
To protect themselves, the head of the Brunei Family, Wenlai Kate, had no choice but to devote all his efforts to expanding and strengthening his family.
They recruited many swordsmen and fighters from the New World and formed the Brunei Family's guard force.
At the same time, the Brunei Family secretly maintained another, hidden guard force: Shadow Wings!
There were even Devil Fruit Users among Shadow Wings.
Besides them, the Brunei Family had another presence that inspired wariness.
That was their second young master, Wenlai Filo.
"A bunch of small fry with a death wish. You think you're worthy of coveting our Brunei Family's fortune?"
A boy who looked only thirteen or fourteen gazed disdainfully at the people lying on the ground around him, their faces filled with disbelief.
Every one of the fallen had a fatal knife wound across their neck.
Beside the boy, a dozen or so golden throwing knives gleaming with cold light danced as smoothly as flying fish.
Several years ago, the Brunei Family had spent a fortune at an upscale auction house to buy an extremely powerful Paramecia Devil Fruit for Brunei Feiluo.
This Paramecia fruit was called the Control-Control Fruit, and it granted him the ability to control inorganic matter he touched.
With this Control-Control Fruit, Brunei Feiluo had become a fairly powerful fighter.
In particular, the twelve Shadowless Deadly Flying Knives he controlled moved so quickly that they could not be seen, often leaving people dead without ever knowing how they had died.
"Haha, Young Master's shadowless flying knives are getting more and more powerful."
"Exactly. No matter how powerful a pirate is, they can't put up any resistance against Young Master's shadowless flying knives!"
Two burly men beside him offered their flattery.
But unexpectedly, their attempt at flattery backfired.
Feiluo's brows furrowed, and two throwing knives flashed like lightning, becoming streaks of blades that instantly pressed against the two men's throats.
At the sight of the golden throwing knives mere inches away, cold sweat poured from the two burly men's foreheads.
If those knives advanced even a fraction farther, their lives would be over.
"Remember, they're the Shadowless Deadly Flying Knives!" Feiluo coldly and arrogantly corrected them.
"Yes, yes, the Shadowless Deadly Flying Knives!" the two burly men hurriedly corrected themselves.
Only then did Feiluo withdraw his knives.
He gave the two men an indifferent glance, then stepped out into the air.
A blade flashed, and a throwing knife flew beneath his feet, carrying him swiftly into the distance.
"Young Master's been in a bad mood lately. Watch what you say!"
"Yeah, anyone would be in a bad mood if something like this happened to them!"
"Young Master's done so much for the Brunei Family, but who knew an eldest young master would suddenly appear? The master even said he'd step down and let this eldest young master, who came out of nowhere, succeed him as family head. How could Young Master not be angry?"
"Exactly. We'd never even heard that the family had an eldest young master before. How did he suddenly pop up?"
"I heard this Young Master Zesi set out to sea six years ago, so very few people knew he existed."
"Then doesn't that put the second young master's inheritance of the Brunei Family's fortune in jeopardy?"
"Don't worry. Don't you know what the second young master is capable of? If this eldest young master knows what's good for him, fine. If he doesn't, he probably won't even keep his life!"
"Let's go. The second young master's already far ahead. We'd better hurry and catch up!"
As they spoke, the burly guards quickly ran in the direction Feiluo had flown.
One month earlier!
Upon hearing Zesi's proposal, some members of the Roger Pirates silently nodded in agreement.
But then Roger told them that he hoped they could give him one year.
He planned to do something big in a year's time.
He hoped they would wait until they heard of his death before taking action, and the crew agreed.
Afterward, Roger was the first to leave the pirate ship.
After taking Oden back to Wano Country, everyone went their separate ways.
They agreed to reunite at the Sabaody Archipelago one year later.
They would announce their existence to the world from the place closest to the Navy.
After parting with everyone, Zesi returned to the hometown he had not visited in a long time.
By then, the Brunei Family had changed dramatically, having become a truly illustrious family.
On reflection, that was only natural.
Totto Land had more than forty islands.
Under Big Mom's influence, everyone in Totto Land likewise valued desserts as much as their lives.
Buildings made of chocolate, rivers of juice, and so on consumed untold quantities of ingredients every year.
With such enormous demand, the Brunei Family naturally made a fortune as Totto Land's supplier.
But the more the Brunei Family earned, the more uneasy Wenlai Kate became.
His ever-growing wealth made him feel as though countless eyes were watching him every day.
So he constantly spent money to strengthen the family's guards and protect his family's assets.
He had even spent seven hundred million Beli to buy a Devil Fruit for Feiluo to use.
It was hardly surprising that he felt so uneasy.
In the New World, the more wealth you had, the bigger a target you became, and the more likely you were to be attacked by pirates.
And if you lacked the ability to protect that wealth, you could only become prey in other people's eyes.
Having spent his whole life getting by in the New World, Kate understood this all too well.
But now, even if he wanted to stop, he had no way to do so.
Just then, Zesi returned.
Zesi's return allowed Kate to breathe a sigh of relief.