At Basatake Port, Wano Country was celebrating the Fire Festival. A gentle breeze blew the red maple leaves. Seven large ships were filled with supplies and geishas. Orochi, Fukurokuju, and Kojiro were already on the ships, waiting to sail to Onigashima.
Festive music, delicious food, and expensive drinks made the people of Wano momentarily forget their suffering.
Sephiroth boarded the ship. Orochi greeted him. "Hahaha! Miyamoto, why are you late? You won't be able to catch the banquet on Onigashima!"
"Haha! I just finished taking care of a village. It was a long journey," Sephiroth replied.
"How many villages have you destroyed now?" Orochi asked.
"Including today... thirty villages!"
"Hmm! In that case, don't rush to destroy them all at once. Make them live in fear every day! In the end, they will honestly enter the factories and accept their tragic fate," Orochi said.
"I understand!" Sephiroth nodded. He felt an emotional explosion inside his heart. Thirty thousand people he had moved to an empty island. The Dial processing factory was already running smoothly. Later he would expand it and move more than 100,000 more people.
Every time he thought of those grateful people, Sephiroth smiled. "Thank you, Kurozumi Orochi, for not being human!"
They, the people of Wano who were stunned by Sephiroth's Haoshoku Haki and migrated to the new island, found themselves having escaped a sea of suffering. Their first reaction was... ecstasy! When they heard that their families could live without worrying about food and water through a system of hard work, tears of happiness fell. For them, this was a true paradise.
Every time he thought of the people who were grateful to him, Sephiroth, the ultimate capitalist, could only sigh. "Thank you, Kurozumi Orochi, for not being human!"
On one hand, Sephiroth was indeed using those workers for his own gain. But on the other hand, he was building a loyal mass base. He was aware that if he managed to take over Wano in the future, he would immediately have a strong popular foundation to stabilize his government. This was much better than having to kill and suppress rebels who might still be shouting the slogan "Restore the Kozuki Clan!" when he was in power. By gathering his own people, he could quickly control the situation and win their hearts and minds.
The seven large sailing ships carrying tribute and people left the port, sailing toward Onigashima Island in the distance. Ever since Kaido entered Wano, Kurozumi Orochi had always visited him with tribute as a sign of gratitude to this "King of the Underworld," who he believed had protected the country.
However, Sephiroth could only sneer to himself. This Orochi really didn't understand the situation! He believed that he was on equal footing with Kaido because he had provided a place and a weapon factory. In reality, Kaido only considered the foolish snake a puppet. Kaido also let him stay in power because his cruel methods of government were very effective at exploiting the people of Wano. Otherwise, Orochi would have died many times over.
After sailing for a long time, the seven sailing ships arrived at Onigashima, on the outskirts of Wano. In the middle of the island, a giant skull with gaping horns stood.
At the main gate of Onigashima, a large red torii gate towered, with a plaque that read "King Myeong" hanging above it. Right below it, a tall fortress stood guarded by hundreds of Beast Pirates members, watching the sea and the sky to prevent attacks.
If it weren't for these seven ships flying the Kurozumi Clan's emblem and having contacted them via Smart Den Den Mushi, they would have been greeted by cannon fire from a dozen kilometers away.
As they got closer, Sephiroth, who was standing on the deck, noticed something. The cannons installed on the fortress... looked very similar to the Howitzer Cannons developed by his Umbrella Corporation.
"Good heavens! This is a direct copy!" Sephiroth cursed to himself. "Our product hasn't even been on the market for a year! How could it be copied so quickly?!"
However, he immediately understood. The Beast Pirates had a brilliant scientist in mechanical modifications and biological viruses, Queen the Plague. The man had studied under Vegapunk in the past and mastered many techniques that surpassed this era. And more importantly, the main material for making Umbrella Corporation's weapons, a special alloy made by Jim, was sold externally. The Beast Pirates were one of his customers. With adequate technology and materials, copying Umbrella's weapon products was not difficult for Queen.
"Whatever!" Sephiroth thought. "No matter how many weapon orders they have, the Umbrella Company still gets most of the profit from the high price of the special alloy." He quickly refocused and ignored the trivial matter.
The seven sailing ships followed the current, passed the red torii, and docked at Onigashima's port. Sephiroth followed Kurozumi Orochi, entered through the gaping mouth of the skull, climbed the spiral stairs, and finally arrived at the main hall of the fortress.
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