One Piece: Nico Robin Collection

Chapter 12: Fire Festival

Kaido is determined to conquer Wano Country, and this will not change because of anyone's attitude.

Although it all started with Caesar's casual suggestion, that's how pirates are. They just do what they think of.

Even if Yamato did not become the general of Wano Country, his adopted daughter Runti would probably take his place.

Neither Runti nor Quinn expected that Kaido would agree to Caesar so readily.

In this case, doesn't it mean that nearly half of the backbone forces in the regiment have to obey Caesar's orders?

Runti looked at Kaido, then at Caesar, his gaze lingering between them for a few moments before suddenly slamming his palm: "Ah! I see, he's your son, right?"

"Eh?! Really, Caesar?"

"You really believe it, idiot!"

Seeing Yamato's panicked look, Caesar's face darkened.

"Ahhhhh...son?"

Kaido laughed loudly and turned to look at Caesar: "Come to think of it, you are only eighteen years old this year, right? Do you want to be my adopted son? I will definitely treat you as my own son!"

Caesar waved his hand: "No!"

"That's such a straightforward rejection!"

Sasaki looked at Caesar in shock, feeling a little sour.

Although he joined after being defeated by Kaido, he has great respect for Kaido.

Among this group of core members, the others either followed Kaido from the beginning or were brought up by Kaido. He and Caesar were the only two latecomers.

Emotionally speaking, these latecomers are definitely not as trusted by Kaido as the veteran members.

Originally, there was a seat for Foz F among the latecomers, but that guy was killed by Caesar due to carelessness. Now Caesar is favored by Kaido, which makes him feel like an outsider.

I was the one who came here first, you bastard!
"Alas…"

Caesar suddenly shuddered: "Did I just sense some perverted obsession?"

Runti gave him a strange look: "Pervert? Kaido?"

Caesar shook his head: "No, it's probably an illusion."

"You two little brats! Stop talking to yourselves!"

Kaido's face turned dark. He was rejected by Caesar and complained about by his adopted daughter. He was a little angry and embarrassed.

He swung his fist, which was several times bigger than a casserole, and with two punches, Caesar and Runti each received a steaming hot bump on their head.

“It hurts!” ×2
The two of them squatted on the ground with their heads covered. Runti's eyes were filled with tears, and Caesar gasped in pain.

He was unable to dodge with his Observation Haki, which meant that this punch definitely had foresight into the future.

Do you have this skill to beat children?
"Hey, Caesar, are you okay?"

Yamato asked with concern, then turned to look at Kaido fiercely: "Hey! Why are you hitting people, old man?"

Maria smiled like an aunt when she saw this. Kaido snorted coldly and didn't want to waste time talking to this silly girl.

"Anyway, the arrangements for Wano Country are now in your hands, Caesar."

Kaido said coldly: "Whatever you want to do, I just want money!"

Caesar covered his head and stood up. "Of course, but I still need to understand the situation in Wano Country first. Also, is there a solution to the land pollution problem?"

"already solved!"

Quinn took out a tube of medicine and said, "This is a specially prepared nutrient solution. Just dilute it and water it. It will neutralize the harmful substances in the soil and convert them into nutrients!"

Upon hearing this, Caesar immediately passed the blame on to the other party: "Really? If anything goes wrong, I'll be looking for you."

Quinn was furious: "There's a limit to looking down on others, you little bastard! After all, I was once a member of MADS!"

"Then all we have to do next is kill the Black Charcoal Snake."

Caesar nodded. Although he didn't quite believe in this guy's scientific research ability, it was Kaido's order after all, so he thought this guy would not make any mistakes.

…………

As time went by, the atmosphere on Ghost Island became more and more lively.

The Fire Festival is a traditional festival of Wano Country. The Beasts Pirates have been entrenched in Wano Country for many years, so naturally they follow the local customs.

According to the tradition of previous years, the bigwigs will gather in the banquet hall, and Quinn will lead the guys from the lower class to start the Golden Kagura and indulge in pleasure.

After the dinner, the junior officers gathered in the entertainment area, while the minions gathered in groups of three or five, sneaking around to find some lone geisha or female members of the troupe, and doing some dirty things with them...

"Pirates... what a bunch of depraved fellows."

On the day of the Fire Festival, Caesar leaned against the window, holding a bottle of wine in his hand, drinking it slowly.

In the elegant Japanese-style room, Ayun, dressed as a geisha, played the shamisen loudly, while Yamato sat beside her reading comics and eating snacks.

"Not all pirates are like that, Caesar! Roger's pirate group is not like that!"

Hearing Caesar's words, Yamato explained.

"Don't have special fantasies about a group just because of a few individuals. Roger once massacred an entire army because his comrades were slandered."

Caesar smiled and said, "Also, those who go out to sea purely for the purpose of searching for treasure are a very small minority. Strictly speaking, these people should be called explorers."

"Um... this isn't recorded in Oden's notes."

Yamato scratched his head and said, "So, Caesar, are we going to become pirates in the future?"

"Although we don't want to, there's a high probability that the World Government will label us as pirates."

Caesar scratched his ears. The sound of the shamisen beside him made him a little irritated. "Ayun, it's so noisy."

"I'm sorry, Lord Caesar."

Ah Yun quickly put down her sanxian and clasped her hands in front of her: "My skills are not very good, please don't blame me, sir."

"It's me who doesn't appreciate it. You should go down first. Don't run around tonight. Just stay in the building."

Caesar looked at Kurozumi Orochi and his group who were walking towards the main building under the Thousand Torii Gate in the distance. He threw a gold coin to Ayun, stood up, straightened his collar, and pulled Yamato out of the room.

Today he was wearing a burgundy gun-collar suit with a black shirt underneath, which was very compatible with his temperament.

Yamato also took off the sleeveless kimono that had remained unchanged for thousands of years, and Maria put on some delicate light makeup and changed into a white kimono with blue and white patterns.

It was also the first time that Caesar learned that kimonos also come in different styles. For example, the kimono worn by Yamato has particularly long cuffs, which is called long furisode and is a type of furisode kimono.

The so-called furisode kimono is a type of kimono that can only be worn by unmarried girls.

Married women wear regular kimonos, and there are special kimonos for special occasions, such as the bride's mukuro, the black kimono for funerals...

In other words, to tell whether a Japanese woman is a girl, a wife, a bride or a widow, just let her put on a kimono.

Speaking of which, Caesar had seen quite a few before crossing over, but his attention was usually not on the clothes...

The lights of the Fire Festival illuminated Onigashima Island, and a crowd of people surged under the Thousand Torii Gates.

The sedan chair of the Black Charcoal Snake moved slowly forward surrounded by guards. Its melon-like head under the golden crown looked gloomy and funny.

"Lord Kurotan has arrived—"

As the royalist voices were heard, the door of the banquet hall was slowly pushed open.

Kaido leaned back on the couch, shirtless, one hand on his wine gourd. He showed no intention of getting up, only smiling. "Guhohoho, this year's Fire Festival is more lively than in previous years. Is there something good going on?"

Kurozumi Orochi didn't mind Kaido's rudeness at all. He swept his eyes across the faces of everyone in the hall, and finally looked at Caesar and Yamato who were standing beside him.

"Oh, a new officer? I heard you have a new and powerful officer under your command. Is that you, sir?"

"You're quite good at talking..."

Caesar looked at the big snake with a smile and suddenly said, "Winter melon head."

"Pfft..."

Yamato and Runti on the side suddenly burst out laughing, and Orochi's ugly smile froze on his face.

"Ignorant person!"

Before the big snake could react, Fu Lu Shou, who was following him like a shadow, immediately shouted.

"All right!"

Kaido raised his hand slightly, his tone somewhat impatient: "Stop talking nonsense, I am not in the mood to listen to your nonsense. The main reason I called you here this time is for one thing, that is... the issue of the ownership of Wano Country."

As soon as he finished speaking, there was a loud bang and the door of the banquet hall suddenly closed.

Behind Kurozumi Orochi, the expressions of the Oniwaban people suddenly changed, and they gathered around the big snake.

The Beasts Pirates all had an arrogant attitude, as if they were sure to defeat Orochi and his group.

“Belong… belong?”

The black charcoal snake was slightly startled, and then seemed to realize something, and his face gradually became stiff.

"Hey, wait... what's going on? Kaido! Wano Country's ownership? You bastard... are you trying to get your hands on Wano Country? You must be kidding! Don't forget we were allies!"

"ally?"

Kaido burped and slowly stood up. His huge body looked down at Kurozumi Orochi and his group.

Boom!
Basaijie slammed down on the tiles, sending spiderweb-like cracks spreading to the snake's feet.

Looking at the hideous cracks and the extremely oppressive monster body in front of it, the back of the black charcoal snake was instantly wet with cold sweat. He took two steps back in panic and fell to the ground.

In a trance, there seemed to be a layer of blood in front of his eyes, and a faint smell of blood filled the room, making Kurozumi Snake even more frightened.

"If it was that guy Oden, I might have looked up to him, but a mere puppet..."

"Just a puppet?"

As if he had heard something funny, the originally panicked Kurozumi Snake suddenly plucked up his courage and grinned.

"Kaido, do you really think you can swallow Wano Country by brute force?"

"Oh? Or rely on your winter melon brain?"

Seeing Kurozumi Orochi like this, Kaido seemed to be interested and wanted to see what this coward who had always depended on him had to say.

"I'm not a winter melon!"

Kurozumi Orochi screamed, "I am Kurozumi Orochi! I am the rightful heir to the position of Shogun! Just for the sake of the name Kurozumi, no matter how despicable I am, I am more legitimate than you outsiders! I have been planning for so many years, but I didn't do this to help you, Kaido!"

"Humph, bullshit orthodoxy..."

Originally thinking that the other party had some profound ideas, Kaido sneered when he heard what Kurozumi Orochi said, and suddenly swung down the Eight Precepts in his hand!
boom--

Dark red thunder exploded, and the violent domineering aura instantly swept across the entire banquet hall.

The next moment, the golden crown shattered into pieces, and the mace smashed heavily on the head of the black charcoal snake, causing his eyes to bulge out, his teeth to break, and a large piece of his head to be embedded in his chest.

The smell of blood filled the air. Beside the corpse of Kurozumi Orochi, the Oniwabanshu led by Fukurokuju stood still, looking at Kaido with fear on their faces.

Kaido glanced at them coldly: "You guys——"

"Of course we are willing to surrender to Lord Kaido!"

Fukurokuju raised his hands without hesitation. Due to the tradition of blind loyalty in Wano Country, he was still somewhat loyal to Kurozumi Orochi, but not much.

Asking him to help Kurozumi Orochi escape is fine, but helping him fight Kaido...

Sorry, can't do it.

"We are willing to pledge allegiance to the Beasts Pirates! The Flower City's noble roster, arsenal, secret passage map, and the key to the treasury will all be presented tonight, and we will fully assist Lord Kaido in pacifying the Land of Wano!"

Fukurokuju spoke tremblingly, and all the Oniwabanshu ninjas behind him knelt down in unison.

"Ah ha ha ha... you're quite sensible."

Kaido sneered and crushed the golden crown fragments on the ground with his foot. "From today on, my daughter Yamato will succeed the position of Daimyo of Wano Country! Now all we have to do is raise the banner, right? Caesar?"

"That's right."

Caesar walked forward with a smile and looked at the corpse of the black charcoal snake.

Suddenly, he leaned over and picked up the headless corpse. "But Lord Fu Lu Shou, could you please explain to me why, even though the Black Charcoal Snake is dead, the vitality in its blood hasn't faded?"

As soon as the words fell, something strange happened!
Under the surprised gazes of the crowd, several winding afterimages suddenly rushed out from under the corpse's kimono, and pairs of dark red eyes rushed towards Caesar with extremely resentful murderous intent!
"Damn bastard!"

A heart-wrenching roar sounded, Caesar took a step back, and dodged the head of the Yamata-no-Orochi that was pouncing on him.

"My ambition, my Wano Country, I haven't taken revenge on those guys yet!"

The completely transformed charcoal snake looked like a madman, its voice like a ghost: "It's because of you, right? It's all because of you, right? You've ruined everything I have!"

Although he looks short, Kurozumi Orochi is actually not short.

Normally, it's over three meters tall, and after transforming into a beast, it soars straight up to the rooftop. From a close distance, it looks...

There's still no pressure.

Caesar is no longer the weakling he was when he first arrived at Onigashima.

During this period of time, he has been wondering what kind of situation would be necessary to summon the Armament Haki.

According to Jin, his biggest problem is that he lacks enough confidence in his own physique. When fighting against strong opponents, he always instinctively avoids damage, which makes it difficult for him to display his Armament Haki.

But who the hell are you, Kurozumi Orochi?

hum-

It seemed as if some strange power was continuously emanating from the body. Unlike the domineering aura that burst out from the center of the eyebrows and implemented the user's will, this power seemed to come from every cell in the body.

As this power burst out, Caesar's palm was covered with a layer of metallic black, and he raised his hand as if by inspiration.

"Armed·Find the gun!"

biubiubiu——

Several sounds of breaking through the air were heard, and the crazy body of the black charcoal snake suddenly froze, and then fell to the ground with a bang.

On the remaining heads, there was a small hole between the eyebrows of each head, with blood gushing out!

Seeing this scene, Yamato's eyes suddenly lit up: "Armament Haki!"

Jhin, who was standing by with his arms crossed, also snorted softly, a smile appearing under his mask.

“That’s really slow…”

(End of this chapter)