I am the Bandit King of the East Sea.

As soon as they stepped outside, they saw Ah Ling looking at them with a slightly panicked expression from the doorway.

What are you doing here?

Sieg asked casually.

Ah Ling didn't say anything, but secretly sized up Sig and Stusi before stepping aside.

“Mr. Sig.” At that moment, a figure jumped off Whitebeard’s ship.

When Sieg saw the person's appearance, his eyes lit up.

This is a cross-dressing man, dressed in a pink kimono in the style of Wano Country, with heart-shaped lipstick on his lips and his hair styled like a Japanese geisha, but he is definitely a man.

His name is Izo, one of the retainers of the Oden family, and also the older brother of another cross-dressing man, Kikunojo.

Years ago, he joined the Whitebeard Pirates with Oden, but he did not join the Roger Pirates with him. Instead, he stayed with the Whitebeard Pirates.

At this time, Izo was already the sixteenth division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates.

“Mr. Sig,” Izang began.

“We have already reached the sea current leading to Wano Country. Next, all we need to do is attach the rope to the giant carp so we can climb the waterfall and enter Wano Country.”

"But... Mr. Sig, could we postpone our landing in Wano Country by a day or two?"

Sig was surprised, and Izang further explained:

"Right now, it is the time when Wano Country holds its annual Fire Festival."

"Since Kaido is the guardian deity of Wano Country, he is most likely with the shogun of Wano Country at this time, and all the soldiers are gathered together. It is not suitable to launch a surprise attack at this time."

Although Izo had not returned to Wano Country for many years, he had already learned some information about Wano Country from Siguru, so he looked worried.

"Is this what Whitebeard meant?" Sig asked.

“No, this is my suggestion,” Izang said.

"That's all then." Sieg waved his hand.

"Speed ​​is of the essence in war; delays may lead to unforeseen complications."

"With our current strength, we don't need to worry about any other tricks. Taking on Onigashima as quickly as possible is the right thing to do!"

Before Izang could say anything more, a continuous roaring sound came from his ears.

Looking to the side, one could see enormous creatures leaping out of the sea.

These are enormous carp, each one terrifyingly large. They are freshwater creatures, yet they live very comfortably in this sea, and each one is as big as Sieg's ship.

Not only the ship, but also the surrounding towering reefs and even the waves, all had a completely different style, as if one had suddenly stumbled into a ukiyo-e painting scroll.

Both Whitebeard and Higuma knew how to enter Wano Country and had made preparations beforehand.

Just as the ocean current reached its end, a waterfall hundreds of meters high blocked their path, its roar like thunder.

"Once you know how to land in Wano Country, landing there won't be any difficulty."

Stussy gripped the thick iron chain in one hand and used Moonwalk to dash forward rapidly above the waves. He quickly reached the giant carp in front of him and looped the iron chain around its body.

Crunch, crunch...

The boat made a soft creaking sound, and with the pull of the giant carp at the front, it slowly climbed the waterfall at a ninety-degree angle.

About two minutes later, the ship leaped up and crashed into the water, having already climbed over the waterfall and arrived safely in the waters near Wano Country.

Upon reaching the shore, the three ships anchored and the pirates disembarked.

It was early morning, and the sun was shining brightly.

"Then, according to the previous plan, let's hide the ship first, and the main force can rest nearby."

"Sig said."

He came for Toki, while Whitebeard, Shanks, and the others came for Oden.

It would be inappropriate to act rashly before finding out the specifics of Kozuki Oden's situation.

What if Oden is still alive, but has become Kaido's prisoner, and then acts on his own and is taken hostage by Kaido... that would be terrible.

He then turned to look at Izang.

"If you want to inquire about Kozuki Oden, I do know a place, but I don't know the exact location."

Sieg said:

"I heard there's a woman named Ahe who runs a teahouse somewhere. You should be able to find out about this from her."

"Yizang, do you know the exact location of Ahe Tea House?"

Izang paused for a moment:

“Mr. Sig, you really do know a lot about Wano Country.”

"Among the retainers of Oden back then, a samurai named Kin'emon was the leader of our group of retainers."

"And Tsuru is Kin'emon's wife."

"If she's still running the teahouse, then asking her for help is definitely a good idea..."

After discussion, the main force hid the ships and then rested in a secluded spot nearby, quietly awaiting instructions.

Sig, Whitebeard, and several others followed Izo's directions to find Tsuru's teahouse.

.............

In Wano Country, in the Kuri region, in the dilapidated town.

This is a small town in Wano Country. When Higuma and his companions arrived, all they saw was a desolate and dilapidated scene.

This is a rather impoverished slum.

There weren't many pedestrians on the street, and the few who were there were pale and thin. When they saw Sieg and his group in their "strange clothes," they were startled and hid by the roadside.

"Is this Wano Country?"

Tian Yue's eyes were somewhat vacant, which was far, far removed from the hometown she had imagined.

Izang's tone was also very low as he said:

"The reason there are so few people on the streets is probably because everyone has gone to participate in the fire festival."

"But Kuri was once a region ruled by Lord Oden. Since this town has fallen into such ruins... then Lord Oden was most likely..."

Izang didn't finish his sentence; he also had a bad feeling.

soon.

Ahead, a simple teahouse appeared, and at the entrance of the teahouse, the familiar figure of the teahouse owner, Ah He, stood there.

"I...Izo? Is that you?"

Ah He stared blankly at this old friend, his eyes filled with shock.

After the two recognized each other, Yizang quickly got straight to the point.

"Sister Ahe... I've returned with reinforcements." Yizang asked in a low voice, pressing for an answer.

"Wano Country is currently controlled by Kaido of the Beasts, right?"

"We have three great pirates here who are on par with Kaido..."

Three monsters alongside Kaido?

Ah He was taken aback, and gave a slight bitter smile, clearly not taking it seriously.

He bombarded the others with questions in rapid succession in Tibetan, and finally, his voice trembling slightly, he asked the question that he and the others, including the white-bearded man, most wanted to know:

"So... is Lord Oden still alive? What about Kikunojo?"

Ah He remained silent for a long time.

This caused Whitebeard, Izo, and the others to gradually sink into despair.

"Lord Oden... He died eight years ago after failing to defeat Kaido in a challenge, and was boiled in oil by Orochi and Kaido."

A-He coughed lightly and began to recount the events of Wano Country over the past few years.

All of this is roughly the same as the history that Sieg knows, with only slight differences in the details.

After returning to his country, Oden was completely fooled by Kaido and the current Shogun of Wano Country, Kurozumi Orochi, and was known as the "Foolish Prince" for several years, even dancing naked in the city.

Years later, when he had lost all popular support, he led his retainers in a furious challenge against Kaido.

Just like in history, he failed to challenge Kaido and eventually died in a cauldron of boiling oil.

Kozuki Oden seemed to have good relations with both the Whitebeard Pirates and the Roger Pirates, and he also had a group of powerful retainers, many friends and subordinates.

But he was always a lone wolf, not a shogun of Wano Country.

Sieg shook his head inwardly:

"Without Momonosuke interfering, the old man from the Kurozumi family could have impersonated Kozuki Sukiyaki, or Shimotsuki Yasuie, or even taken thousands of his people hostage."

"Given Kozuki Oden's intelligence and skill... even if he possessed the power of Whitebeard or even Roger, he would most likely be completely dominated by Orochi and Kaido."

He had only met Kozuki Oden once and they weren't particularly close, so he was only slightly disappointed when he heard the news of his death.

But Whitebeard and Izo, who were standing to the side, did not think so.

Whitebeard stood at the entrance of the teahouse, gripping his naginata, his back to A-He and the others. He remained silent for a long, long time, like a towering monument.

"Was it Kaido who killed Oden?"

Whitebeard managed to keep his tone calm, but his voice trembled slightly, like a volcano about to erupt.

"Whitebeard, calm down, don't be impulsive," Sieg advised.

"Kaido is known as immortal, making him very difficult to kill completely."

“Our forces are superior to his, but to deal with him, we must cut off all his escape routes and make sure there is no mistake before we make our move.”

"You don't want Kaido to escape because of a moment of impulse, do you?"

Sig's persuasion hit the nail on the head, forcing Whitebeard to calm down.

Immediately afterwards, Izo posed the next question to Tsuru:

"What about Kikunojo? And Kin'emon and the others... are they still alive?"