One Piece: Winged Dragon of the Beasts Pirates

Of course, the timing of the succession is hard to say.

Teacher Kai didn't expect to entrust his dream to anyone.

"Where's Ian!"

The girl leaned close to Ian, standing on tiptoe, her nose almost touching his face. Ian could see the stars in her eyes when he looked down.

Good heavens, how can someone have stars in their eyes? Are you Queen Honey Shokuhou?

"What does Ian want to do?"

Ian pressed his hand against Yamato's face and pushed her away, his brows furrowed slightly.

What do I really want?

that power?

Now that he is the king of Wano Country and a high-ranking member of the Beasts Pirates, there are probably not many people in the world with more power than him.

wealth?

Wano Country is rich in seastone, and if one were to profit from it, the wealth gained would be astronomical.

Beauty?

Ian glanced down at Yamato—wait a minute!

As the king of Wano Country, he could easily collect all the beauties in the entire country if he wanted to.

However, none of these three things seem to have satisfied him.

Then, all that's left is strength.

The power I have always pursued, the only thing I have never relaxed about is my obsession with power.

However, despite possessing power, she doesn't enjoy fighting and even wants to avoid dangerous enemies.

It seems that what I'm pursuing is not just simple power.

A sudden flash of insight struck Ian, and he almost instinctively blurted out, "Don't worry."

"Safe?"

Yamato tilted his head.

Ian's eyes gradually brightened. "That's right, it's reassurance."

Because I know this world is very dangerous, I instinctively feel uneasy.

Because I feel uneasy, I want to feel at ease.

He knew the Beasts Pirates were a purely villainous organization, but he was still willing to stay because the Beasts Pirates were powerful enough to make him feel safe.

Knowing that he was too weak to face this dangerous world, he ignored everything else and never let up on becoming stronger.

Knowing that a powerful enemy would pose a danger, they instinctively didn't want to face it.

It's that simple.

All I want is a sense of peace.

So, what truly brings peace of mind?

The strongest power?

Supreme power?

The greatest wealth?

It seems like neither is true, but it is also true.

But then you'll understand.

I now understand what I've been unconsciously pursuing all these years.

Ian's lips gradually curled into a smile. "What I want is a world where I can feel at ease."

More powerful than anyone! More powerful than anyone! More wealthy than anyone! With no enemies left in the world, that's peace of mind.

Yamato blinked, not quite understanding.

but.

"The world? That sounds amazing! Hmm! Since this is something Ian wants to do, I'll definitely help you!"

Yamato grinned, revealing his small white teeth, which were missing two front teeth. The tips of the white teeth were already peeking out from the gaps in the teeth.

"Isn't that natural?"

Ian burst into laughter.

I couldn't do this by myself.

Two days later.

Flower Capital Castle.

Ian flipped through a stack of documents that Fu Lu Shou had sent over.

His army and the Beasts Pirates have occupied the entire Wano Country, and at least all the towns are under their control.

After all, this country isn't that big.

Before him, Fukurokuju was respectfully reporting directly, "The samurai in various regions have stirred up riots of varying sizes in response to our arrival."

"However, thanks to the assistance of the Beasts Pirates, these disturbances were easily suppressed. Apart from a few die-hards, officials at all levels in various villages have already sworn allegiance to you."

"There's just one strange thing."

"strangeness?"

Ian looked up.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Fukurokuju nodded. “Kuri does indeed lack a well-organized army due to the poverty of the Kozuki family. The armies of Udon, Nozomi, and Ringo were all wiped out by us before. Taking over these areas was very simple. What’s strange is the Hakumai area. Although you captured the daimyo Shimotsuki Yasuie, the army in that area should still be intact.”

"Then, during the process of taking over Hakumai, we still did not encounter any resistance, as if the warriors in that area had all disappeared."

He said seriously, "I suspect they have gone into hiding, perhaps preparing to rescue Shimotsuki Yasuie."

That makes a lot of sense.

Ian remembered something.

The port had been previously captured by a group of samurai, who apparently sent someone out to sea.

Then the group of samurai disappeared.

Are they the warriors under the Kang family?

Ian thought for a moment and said, "Then let's announce it to the whole country: the Shimotsuki Yasuie family will be publicly executed tomorrow."

Fu Lu Shou was excited and bowed deeply, "As expected of His Majesty Ian! In that case, those guys can no longer hide."

“Those guys don’t care,”

Ian didn't care much about the samurai under Shimotsuki Yasuie. As he said before, the real enemies threatening Wano Country had already been eliminated.

He waved the stack of documents in his hand. "What interests me more is that the samurai of each village only occupy more than half of the local land?"

Fu Lu Shou found it strange, "It's always been like this."

talent?

What does Your Majesty mean? Do you think it's still not enough?

The system of Wano Country is a feudal system.

The general nominally rules the entire country, making it a large state, while the local lords pledge allegiance to the general, making them small states.

Each daimyo has their own retainers, who are enfeoffed in various parts of their territories, making them small states compared to the daimyo themselves.

These elders often commanded various samurai families, forming their own small confederations.

Whether it's power or land, Wano Country has always been divided up and subdivided in this way.

With only samurai allowed to wield power, Ian even felt that the fact that the samurai only occupied a little over half of the country's land was already a sign of their restraint.

It's important to know that Wano Country has been stable for nearly a thousand years, and the ruling class has remained almost unchanged during this time!

Despite nearly a thousand years of land annexation, the land of Wano Country was not entirely occupied by the nobles. Ian could only say that the samurai were merciful.

Even so, the samurai class, which accounts for only a few percent of the total population, occupies most of the country's land, and most of the people of Wano Country are their tenant farmers.

"Then from now on, there will be no need for samurai."

Ian said, “Let’s issue a decree, let’s call it, um, the Sword Abolishment Decree. It will prohibit samurai from carrying weapons, abolish all samurai privileges, abolish the title of samurai, and reclaim the land of samurai in villages outside the Flower Capital, making it state-owned. Within the Flower Capital, the government will buy back the land of those who are willing to sell, and increase the land tax for those who are not.”

Is land the most valuable asset? That idea is outdated.

In the future, the people of Wano Country will surely say, "The Land of Samurai, our country has been called that for a long time, since the expansion of the Beasts Pirates twenty years ago—"

Who knows, there might even be a wooden swordsman with silver hair.

"..."

Fu Lu Shou's expression changed drastically.

Although the samurai class of Wano Country suffered heavy losses in the previous battle, the remaining samurai are still a formidable force.

Moreover, they are the foundation of government rule.

Without the samurai at the grassroots level, how can government orders be implemented?

Policies can't be implemented just by someone shouting a word from above. How can they work without people actually running around doing the legwork?

"In addition, the administrative affairs of each township are directly connected with the central government, and the civil officials are allowed to handle them themselves. As for the displaced warriors in each township, they are given two choices: either join the army or become local administrative officials, with the government paying their salaries."

Your Majesty, you are far too magnanimous.

They just revoked these guys' privileges, and now they're going to appoint them?

Fu Lu Shou swallowed hard.

But he also knew that there was nothing he could do about it. Where else could he find a group of low-level officials? Could he rely on farmers who had spent their entire lives tilling the land?

Moreover, what kind of trouble can these samurai, who have even lost their swords, possibly cause in the face of His Majesty Ian and the Beast Pirates?