Luke’s head immediately started throbbing when he heard that. He had still wanted to sail the seas and explore this world. So how had he somehow ended up getting tied to the Beasts Pirates?
Maria, you set me up!
"Hmm... that is one way to do it. Kid, didn’t you say earlier that complicated reforms were necessary? I cannot be bothered listening to all that. Go do it yourself. I am giving you two months. I only care about results."
Kaido nodded, his expression grave. Clearly, if Luke failed to produce worthwhile results, things would probably not end well for him.
Then Kaido looked toward Yamato. "Yamato, didn’t you say before that you wanted to do something meaningful? I will appoint you as Wano’s new Shogun. Luke will assist you."
"Brother Luke, that’s great! Now we can finally do something real for the people!"
Yamato happily grabbed Luke’s arm, completely failing to notice the unwilling look all over his face.
"Then it is settled. I will arrange a trade shipment and send you a batch of grain."
Kaido made the decision without leaving Luke any room to refuse.
"Father, our Seastone cuffs still have not been removed."
Yamato raised her chained wrists in reminder. Although they did not interfere with her movements or daily life, they were still uncomfortable.
Kaido’s gaze swept over Yamato and Luke before he spoke in a low voice. "Considering your prior record, you are forbidden from leaving Wano for these two months. Once I see the results of your administration, I will have someone remove them."
As he spoke, he gave Maria a look. She understood and smiled at Luke. "Mr. Luke, do not blame us for not trusting you. Even if you are joining a crew as a companion, there is always a probationary period. I will have someone replace your cuffs with ones that will not interfere with your daily life."
"I understand. Yamato and I will do our best to improve Wano’s situation."
Luke nodded. He did not particularly care what kind of cuffs they put on him. He could unlock them whenever he wanted with the Universal Key.
Still, Kaido displaying this much foresight came as a surprise. Luke had thought the man would be careless enough to remove both his and Yamato’s cuffs outright. It seemed Kaido still wanted to limit their range of activity—at the very least, prevent them from leaving Wano.
Sure enough, before long, someone brought over new restraints. After removing Luke’s cuffs, they fitted him with a new set of shackles similar to Yamato’s.
These locks only encircled his wrists and were not linked together, making them little different from bracelets and leaving his movements unrestricted. But if he left Wano, they would explode.
"Father, how can we govern with cuffs on? What kind of Shogun wears handcuffs?"
Yamato puffed out her cheeks in displeasure, looking every bit like a daughter acting spoiled before her father.
But Kaido remained unmoved and retained his imposing bearing. "Yamato, the authority of a superior is not reflected by their clothing or accessories. It depends on strength. If the two of you do well, the cuffs will naturally be removed in two months."
Seeing that Kaido had made up his mind, Yamato did not argue further. She had grown accustomed to wearing the two bracelets over the years anyway, so she did not mind wearing them a while longer.
After the brief discussion ended, Kaido waved a hand. "Go and do what you need to do. The new grain shipment will arrive at dawn the day after tomorrow. Before then, you must first put yourselves in a position to take over."
Yamato froze, not understanding what her father meant. She turned to Luke with a confused look.
Luke did not understand at first either, but then it clicked. Kaido had no intention of personally dealing with Kurozumi Orochi at all!
He had simply handed the matter to Luke and Yamato as a trial. But this trial was a little too difficult. Luke really did not know whether Kaido intended to leave them completely to their own devices.
Seeing Kaido start drinking and showing no sign of continuing the discussion, Luke and Yamato left the cavern, ready to begin their Wano adventure.
"Brother Luke, I have seen Kurozumi Orochi before. That guy is weak as hell, so he should be easy to kill. Let’s take him out tonight!"
Yamato declared with a confident wave of her fist, clearly failing to grasp the difficulty of the task.
She had no psychological burden about killing Orochi. If anything, she had wanted to do it for a long time. She had once considered herself Kozuki Oden, after all. Naturally, Orochi was her enemy.
After hearing Luke’s analysis today, she had realized that compared to her father Kaido, Kurozumi Orochi was far worse. He was Wano’s biggest malignant tumor at present.
"It will not be that simple. Kurozumi Orochi has quite a few experts around him. Let’s enter the city first and observe the situation."
Luke thought it over. He understood that Kaido had not truly assigned this task to Yamato at all. It was meant for him.
Yamato was a Devil Fruit user, and the bracelets suppressed her power. She was not their main combatant. Luke also wore bracelets, but he could use his power freely.
With Kaido’s sharp eye, he could naturally judge a person’s strength. So Kaido was actually testing Luke—and, in a way, testing the strength of Luke’s friendship with Yamato.
That was not mere speculation. The new mission he had received was proof enough.
[Hidden Quest: Kaido’s Favor]
Quest Details: Your theories on governing a nation have earned Kaido’s initial approval. Combined with your friendly relationship with his daughter Yamato, he has taken a great liking to you. However, he still intends to test your capabilities, as well as the solidity of your friendship with Yamato.
If you pass the test, kill Kurozumi Orochi, and assist Yamato in ascending to the position of Wano’s Shogun, you will gain Kaido’s deep trust.
Quest Difficulty: Normal—Certain Death
Quest Reward: Kaido’s Favor, a random Zoan Devil Fruit
Failure Penalty: None
This quest had no penalty. Perhaps Endspace believed that if he failed, there would be no need to punish him.
Based on Luke’s understanding of Kaido, even if he failed, Kaido would not do anything to him. At most, he would be disappointed. But the process of completing this quest was itself incredibly dangerous.
Kurozumi Orochi had plenty of powerful people around him, including Kyoshiro, a great swordsman who was actually an undercover agent. Since Kyoshiro had not yet revealed his allegiance, there was a strong chance he would intervene if Orochi were attacked.
If an expert on that level drew his blade against him, Luke felt he would be finished in a single strike.
Kyoshiro might not be at commander level, but he was at least on par with the Flying Six. Luke had secretly used his scouting skill on Maria before, and she too had shown nothing but a row of question marks.
That meant even someone at the Flying Six level stood a whole tier above him. The gap in their stats was simply enormous.
So if he wanted to kill Kurozumi Orochi, he could not force it. He needed to find the right opportunity.
Kaido’s arrangement was likely meant to test just how capable Luke’s mind really was. Back then, even Oden had failed to kill Kurozumi Orochi through brute force—not because Oden was weak, but because he had no brains.
Since there was no failure penalty, Luke could naturally choose not to do it. He still had the option of using the key to unlock his cuffs and flee. But that did not fit his way of doing things.
After spending so many days together, he had come to regard the Yamato who had rediscovered herself as a friend. Now that she needed help, he could not just walk away. Besides, he wanted to improve this country’s situation as much as he could.
On top of that, the hidden quest’s reward was extremely generous. A Zoan Devil Fruit was a rare and valuable thing.
When Luke had read the One Piece manga as a child, he had thought Logia-type Devil Fruits were the strongest. Logias were immune to physical attacks, which was practically cheating.
Even after he reached the later parts of the manga and learned that Haki could hit Logia users, that impression had not changed. After all, they could transform into their element in advance to evade attacks. It was still absurdly unfair.
Only after arriving in Endspace and seeing even later content from the manga did he realize that Zoan-type Devil Fruits were incredibly valuable as well.
Zoans not only gave massive boosts to physical combat, but after awakening, they also came with a built-in ability to keep getting back up. Paired with powerful Haki, their upper limit was unquestionably high.
By comparison, Logias and Paramecias depended more heavily on the specific fruit. Some fruits were truly overpowered, while others were merely passable. A well-developed Zoan, on the other hand, was generally very strong.
So Luke had considered it before: if he absolutely had to eat a Devil Fruit, he would choose a Zoan, preferably an awesome Mythical Zoan.
Still, that was only an idea. Devil Fruits were bloodline-type items, and their upper limit was difficult to estimate. Unless he encountered an especially suitable top-tier Devil Fruit, Luke had no plans to eat one for now.
"Oni Princess, Mr. Luke, please come with me. I will take you back to Wano."
A pirate led Luke and Yamato aboard a ship, speaking respectfully. Kaido had clearly given orders in advance.
Luke’s current status was still somewhat delicate. Strictly speaking, he was merely a prisoner Kaido had released from Udon Prison and had not officially joined the Beasts Pirates. Yet even ordinary pirates had already begun treating him with respect.
Either Kaido had decided to recruit him before summoning him for an audience and had ordered the pirates on the island to treat him well, or those pirates believed that Yamato had regained her status and that, as Yamato’s close friend, Luke’s standing had naturally risen with hers.
Do not assume pirates were idiots who knew nothing about reading the room. The officers and upper ranks of the Beasts Pirates might look foolish enough, but these lower-ranking pirates were often better at judging people. They knew who held power and who could be pushed around.
Precisely because they lacked overwhelming personal strength, they needed a little social awareness to survive and thrive in such a brutal environment.
In these pirates’ eyes, Luke was already a rising star within the Beasts Pirates. He was Young Master Yamato’s closest friend. Thinking disrespectfully, if Kaido died one day and Yamato became the new captain, would Luke not become one of the new All-Stars?
Thus, the pirates treated Luke with great respect. After he boarded, they even proactively brought him food and alcohol.
Luke did not refuse. He and Yamato sat at the bow, drinking, eating meat, and enjoying the sea breeze. It was a wonderfully carefree time.
He had accepted it now. Since he had already been tied to Wano, he would do the job properly and try to govern the country well. At least it would earn him some good karma.
Besides, sailing the seas might not necessarily bring greater profits. Wano, a high-level map like this, had no shortage of opportunities either. If he could work his way into the upper ranks of the Beasts Pirates, then while nothing else was guaranteed in this world, he should at least be able to walk all over the other Explorers.
Luke had not forgotten that three or four hundred Explorers had entered this world. They had simply found it difficult to encounter one another because the world was so vast. That did not mean they would never meet.
Endspace had constantly encouraged him to kill Explorers from Divine Space. He believed the other side had received similar encouragement. Once they met, it would most likely become a fight to the death.
By evening, Luke and Yamato disembarked and returned to Wano.
"Riding on a ship feels amazing. I really want to sail out with you someday, Brother Luke. The outside world must be even more exciting, right?"
Yamato stretched lazily, her face filled with anticipation.
"Let’s handle what is in front of us first. There will be opportunities later."
Luke said this because Yamato was no longer rebelling against Kaido. As long as they completed the task, they would not need to use the Universal Key to unlock their cuffs and run away. If they wanted to sail out afterward, perhaps they could even get help from the Beasts Pirates.
"The Flower Capital is just ahead, Brother Luke. I have a plan to kill Orochi."
Yamato pointed at the brightly lit city ahead, speaking with brimming confidence.
"What plan?"
Luke had a feeling Yamato was not especially reliable, but he asked anyway.
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