Meanwhile, far away on Onigashima, Kaido watched Luke and Yamato’s conversation through a screen.
When he heard Luke say that Wano had become such a mess because Kaido was too brutal and knew nothing about management, he was deeply displeased. "What’s so bad about things now? Our income rises every year, and the crew keeps growing stronger."
Kaido was not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed, and one of the things he had been proudest of these past years was taking over Wano. He felt that if he had not made that decision, he and King might still be drifting across the seas together.
It was precisely because he had Wano as his territory that he gradually acquired money, recruited troops, and built the Beasts Pirates into such a massive force.
So hearing Luke say he did not know how to manage things felt like an insult.
"Hahaha, young men love making wild claims. Besides, he’s never managed a country himself, has he? That’s why he says things like that."
Black Maria laughed from the side. She did not care about Luke calling Kaido brutal; for pirates, that ought to count as praise.
As for management, she did not agree with Luke either. Kaido, a rough brute, was not the one responsible for managing Wano all these years. The policies had been determined after discussion among advisers like them.
There was no need to mention the "rebels" who had followed Oden in revolt back then. They had all been sent to Udon Prison, sentenced to life imprisonment, and made to labor in the mines every day.
But the workers in Wano’s artificial Devil Fruit factories, Seastone factories, and iron-processing weapons plants were paid wages.
From a pirate’s perspective, not killing you and even paying you a wage was already an enormous favor. And that was called not knowing how to manage?
As Kaido and Black Maria watched the scene, Yamato, still inside Udon Prison, spoke furiously. "What kind of contribution is that? The rivers have all been polluted. People in the outlying areas can’t even get clean water to drink, so many of them get sick and die."
The corner of Luke’s lips rose. "Oh? So it’s not like you’ve never paid attention to how the people in this country live."
Yamato puffed out one cheek slightly. "Don’t underestimate me."
Luke smiled and nodded. "Then you know that the factories have damaged this country’s environment. But pollution can be addressed through proper waste control. Kaido never considered those issues. That’s why I said he only knows how to drain the pond dry to catch the fish. He has no idea how to pursue sustainable development."
"Then what has he contributed? All I see is the people of Wano living worse with every passing day."
Yamato said, "At this rate, in another ten years, the rivers will be completely polluted and undrinkable."
"Mm. Setting environmental pollution aside for now, these various factories have indeed created jobs for many people, haven’t they? And this basic infrastructure will become the foundation for Wano’s future prosperity."
Luke gave another example. "Remember the country called Japan that I mentioned when I was telling you that story? It once closed itself off too. In the end, its gates were blasted open by cannons, and it was oppressed and exploited. But that also pushed it into the industrial age early. It developed rapidly afterward and became a powerful country. So every matter has two sides. Misfortune and fortune are bound together."
He bent down and picked up Oden’s journal that Yamato had dropped. "But what did Oden do? He may not have caused this country any major damage, but neither did he bring progress or improve the lives of its people. He truly did nothing, despite having the strength to accomplish things. That’s why I don’t like him."
It was easy to imagine that if Wano had not had a powerhouse like Oden and had merely been protected by an ordinary shogun, then in a place like the New World, with resources as abundant as Wano’s, if Kaido had not come knocking, another pirate crew would have.
Had it been a crew even more brainless and shortsighted, Wano might have ended up in an even worse state than it was now. With Kaido stationed in Wano, at least no random small fry dared to cause trouble. There was a superficial "peace."
Of course, Kaido truly was awful in plenty of ways. That came down to his education and outlook on life. He had never taken governing a country seriously; as long as it brought him profit and made him stronger, that was enough.
Kaido had a grand ambition: to overthrow the rulers of this world and create an entirely new, more reasonable world. But his method was wrong.
While those who accomplish great things need not fuss over trivialities, a man who stops at nothing cannot win the people’s wholehearted support.
"I... then should I start doing something now?"
Yamato looked at Luke in confusion. As someone who wanted to liberate Wano, as a hero of Wano, she felt that she should do something for the people. Only then would they support her, and only then could she open Wano’s borders.
But the real Kozuki Oden apparently had not done such things in the journal... and she felt she ought to follow her idol’s will.
"The moment you asked me that, you already had your answer, didn’t you?"
Luke said with a smile.
It was as though a beam of light had pierced the darkness. Yamato suddenly understood. The fact that she had asked Luke meant she was already questioning Kozuki Oden’s actions. It meant that she herself wanted to help people suffering in misery.
"But if I do that... am I still Kozuki Oden?"
A new doubt arose in Yamato’s heart.
Luke looked into Yamato’s eyes, his expression solemn. "To me, you have always been Yamato. My friend is not Kozuki Oden. My friend is Yamato."
Yamato’s heart wavered. Rather than continue discussing the matter, she took action.
She got up and exchanged the remaining food vouchers she had for a heap of flatbreads. Then she walked around the quarry, handing them out to prisoners who were too old, weak, or infirm to eat their fill.
After receiving the flatbreads, the prisoners were overwhelmingly grateful to Yamato. But a small number knew her identity and had no kind feelings toward Kaido’s daughter, refusing her charity.
In Udon Prison, openly handing out food was probably unprecedented since the prison’s founding.
Yet not a single guard tried to stop Yamato. For one thing, there was no explicit rule against giving one’s own food to someone else. For another, Yamato was the Beasts Pirates’ "young master." Ordinary guards would not seek trouble with her over something like this.
After making a round of the quarry, Yamato returned glowing with pride and happiness. Clearly, being thanked and admired made her feel as though she were floating on air.
"How does it feel?"
Luke asked with a smile, taking a bite of a flatbread himself.
"It feels amazing. I’ve never felt anything like it before. I used to say I was Oden, but they ignored me. Now, I didn’t say who I was. I just gave them flatbreads, and they were so grateful to me. It’s incredible."
As she spoke, the excitement on Yamato’s face gradually faded. Clearly, she was feeling confused again.
"That is only natural. People don’t feel grateful to someone for no reason. Only when they receive a real benefit will they thank you from the bottom of their hearts."
Luke said, "The person they thanked just now was not Kozuki Oden. It was you, Yamato. You."
Yamato froze. "The person they thanked... was me?"
"Of course. Even though many of the people who accepted your flatbreads knew you were Kaido’s daughter, they still thanked you."
Luke looked into Yamato’s eyes. "Do you know why?"
"Why?"
Yamato did not understand. She figured that if those people saw her as Kaido’s daughter, should they not hate her?
"Some samurai with real backbone refused you, but that does not mean those who accepted the flatbreads were cowards. They accepted them and thanked you because they felt your sincerity."
Luke explained, "You truly understood their hardship. When someone wants to help others, that heartfelt kindness shows in their eyes."
Whatever else could be said, Luke thought Yamato’s basic capacity for empathy was a good thing. At least it showed she was not heartless. She had simply grown up a little crookedly.
At heart, Yamato was just a straightforward, innocent young girl. If she could live as herself, she could still become a normal person.
"So that’s how it is... But I wanted to help them because I want to become Kozuki Oden and liberate Wano. Wanting their love and feeling sorry for them weren’t the main reasons."
Yamato said in confusion. "Is that still okay?"
Luke shrugged. "Why wouldn’t it be? And little by little, you’ll understand that you aren’t Kozuki Oden at all. If you accomplish those great deeds, the people will ultimately be grateful only to Yamato, not Kozuki Oden."
Yamato fell into deep thought. Meanwhile, on Onigashima, Kaido burst into hearty laughter, thoroughly pleased.
"Maria, that brat can really talk! Yamato actually seems to be reflecting on herself now and questioning her identity!"
Kaido laughed loudly. He had been waiting in front of the surveillance screen all this time for the "Yamato correction" show.
And Luke had not disappointed him. The post-lunch correction session had greatly satisfied him. This time, Yamato had stopped calling herself Kozuki Oden outright and had changed it to "wanting to become" him.
Moreover, Kaido could sense that Kozuki Oden’s idol halo had weakened considerably in Yamato’s heart. Perhaps if she spent a few more days hanging around Luke, Yamato would truly stop pretending to be Kozuki Oden.
"It’s a good thing that young master Yamato is gradually coming to her senses, but don’t you think Luke is guiding her in the wrong direction? She still wants to rebel against you."
Black Maria reminded him from the side. In other words, he should not celebrate too soon. Even if his daughter stopped pretending to be Oden, she still intended to rise up against him.
While Luke was helping Yamato gain a sense of self, his stance was opposed to the Beasts Pirates. He was guiding Yamato toward launching a genuine revolution, and Black Maria found that extremely troubling.
Before, Yamato had merely mindlessly called herself Oden while doing nothing. She had only been playing house in her own little world. But if Yamato truly began doing things for the people, gathered a group of followers who adored her, and eventually turned against Kaido, that would be a serious problem.
"Hahaha, what is there to worry about?"
Kaido laughed and waved a hand, utterly bold. "Let her come! I’ll wait for her on the throne!"
In his view, his daughter was still far too weak. Every time she came to challenge him, he had to hold back when teaching her.
Would Kaido fear someone rebelling against him? He had never feared a challenge.
And once Yamato freed herself from the grip of Kozuki Oden’s ghost, Kaido was confident he could make his daughter understand that her father was also a great and mighty man.
In the end, if he could not fulfill his dream in this lifetime, everything he had built would eventually be inherited by Yamato.
If Yamato had the strength to seize it with her own hands, Kaido would not be angry. Instead, he would feel gratified by his daughter’s strength and courage.
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