Wano Country, Kuri, Okobore Town.
The overcast skies of recent days had finally cleared. The sun peeked out from behind the clouds, scattering its light evenly across the land and illuminating its numb, listless people.
A day in Okobore Town began with waking up, breathing in factory-polluted air, then taking a drink of the clean, sanitary river water. It was enough to make one feel a little more awake.
Since the river and farmland had been polluted, this land had struggled to produce food for the past two years. And because Shogun Kurozumi Orochi had always held a grudge against Kuri, he had ordered all the garbage dumped nearby.
No one knew whether it was fortune or misfortune, but the people of Okobore Town had lost farming as a way to obtain resources while finding a new way to survive: scavenging through trash.
They searched through the refuse shipped out from the Flower Capital, looking for leftovers discarded by the wealthy or items that were not entirely broken, then sold them elsewhere to make a living.
In this impoverished little town, a man with a cloth wrapped around his head entered with an infant strapped to his back. His body was weary, yet his face wore a smile as radiant as the sun.
Just last night, he had received news that Kurozumi Orochi, the shogun who had ruled and brutalized Wano, had been slain. Orochi was the man he hated most, so naturally, the news had brought him immediate joy.
Of course, misfortune and fortune went hand in hand. After Kurozumi Orochi’s death, the new shogun had become Yamato, daughter of one of the Four Emperors, Kaido. That news greatly dampened his delight and made him worry for Wano’s future once more.
But he believed that no matter how hard things became, as long as one persevered, there would always be light ahead. Just as, in his own moments of despair, he could be healed by something small and soft.
He brought the baby girl on his back around to his front. Nestled in a cloth bundle, she wore an innocent smile. Her plump pink mouth blew wet little bubbles, and when she saw the man’s face, she stretched out her tiny hand to touch him, making his smile widen further.
"Mr. Yasuie, who is this?"
A villager who knew the man happened to pass by. Seeing the infant in his arms, he asked in confusion.
"I found this child on the road. Poor thing—her parents must have abandoned her."
Yasuie explained. He had once had a wife in his youth, but she had fallen ill and died before bearing him any children. He never remarried afterward, despite many people trying to persuade him otherwise. Before he could change his mind, Kaido had invaded the country, Kurozumi Orochi had usurped the throne, and Wano’s peace had been shattered.
As a daimyo loyal to the Kozuki Clan, Shimotsuki Yasuie had naturally become a target of the purge. Left with no alternative, he had concealed his name and identity, hiding away in this small corner of Kuri.
"Ahh..."
The baby in his arms babbled indistinctly, drawing Yasuie’s attention back to her.
He had found her during his return trip after traveling to the Flower Capital to gather information. At the time, she had been abandoned in the mountains. Clearly, her family could no longer afford to raise her, yet they also could not bring themselves to commit the cruel act of exchanging children for food. So, they had left her in the wilderness and entrusted her fate to heaven.
Yasuie had been drawn over by her cries and searched through the grass until he found the infant. The instant she saw him, she stopped crying and began to smile instead, healing Yasuie’s gloomy heart.
Though even feeding himself was difficult, he had picked up the baby girl and resolved to raise her into adulthood.
"Mr. Yasuie, isn’t this reckless? We can barely feed ourselves. How could we possibly have the energy to raise a child?"
The villager kindly advised him. "You should take her back to where you found her. Maybe some other kind person will adopt her."
But Yasuie shook his head. In this day and age, taking the child back was no different from killing her. Most people in Wano could barely fill their stomachs, and the wealthy people of the Flower Capital were hardly kind enough to take in a child with no family or connections.
Seeing that he could not be persuaded, the villager said no more. He clearly knew what kind of man Yasuie was. He simply left to begin his day’s scavenging.
Yasuie watched the townspeople bustling about and a trace of sadness flashed through his eyes, because he understood that scavenging through garbage was no way to survive in the long term.
The land here would become increasingly barren from environmental pollution until not even a single grain of food could grow. Living day after day by picking through trash under abysmal sanitary conditions, people would gradually fall ill and die. In the end, this town, still fairly populous now, would decay until only hundreds—or even dozens—remained.
Yasuie believed this was a miniature of Wano’s future. If one looked from the small to the large, even if other places were better off than Kuri, their gradual destruction was only a matter of time.
His heart ached because he wanted to lead Wano’s people toward better lives, but he did not possess the strength to do so.
Once, he had placed his hopes in Kozuki Oden. But that unruly young wastrel had ultimately failed to defeat Kaido, and Wano’s people still lived in misery.
He had decided to work to change this country himself, but he had neither power nor personal strength. If his identity were exposed, Kurozumi Orochi would likely have captured and executed him by the next day.
Now, hearing that Kurozumi Orochi was dead and Yamato had become the new shogun, he only felt the sorrow in his heart magnify without end. He had once believed Wano to be a great nation, but its dignity was being trampled without restraint.
Kurozumi Orochi had at least used many schemes to seize the throne. He had found someone to impersonate a Kozuki shogun and grant him authority, first making himself acting shogun before gradually taking the position for real.
But what about Yamato? They had simply killed Kurozumi Orochi and declared that she was taking the throne.
The laughable part was their stated reason: Kurozumi Orochi had committed treason.
Unless one deeply loved this country and could think independently, it was difficult to understand that sense of grief.
It was as if one’s country were nothing more than a toy, its leaders chosen arbitrarily and manipulated at will by those who held supreme power.
On his return journey, Yasuie had even considered committing seppuku and ending his miserable life.
But then he heard crying in the mountains and saw this baby girl. Suddenly, he realized that even the most barren land could bloom with life again, and even the most wretched country could still see new life smile.
To protect those smiles, he decided to try once more. Even if he had to become a bandit and rob the rich to aid the poor, he would protect the people in one corner of the land and preserve Wano’s tiny remaining sparks.
As he thought this, Yasuie heard the baby crying in his arms again. "Don’t cry, don’t cry. Are you hungry? I’ll find you something to eat right away."
After soothing the infant, he was troubled again. With life in the town so impoverished, where could he find a household with breast milk? Even if there was one, their own children did not have enough to eat. Why would they be willing to share it with another child?
By his estimate, this child was only three or four months old. Even if she could be weaned and eat some liquid food, that food still needed to meet certain standards of cleanliness and nutrition. She certainly could not be fed carelessly.
If he fed the baby food picked out of the garbage heap, she would likely fall ill and die within weeks.
Realizing this, Yasuie felt sorrowful and desperate again. Yet his face still carried a radiant smile, because many townspeople watched him. If even a person as optimistic and positive as him fell into despair, then they truly would never see the sun again.
Lost in thought, Yasuie suddenly noticed a commotion at the edge of town. Curious, he turned and headed that way.
The nearby townspeople were also running over at full speed, as though they had received some news. As they passed Yasuie, one kindly reminded him, "Mr. Yasuie, I heard the authorities brought food to relieve the famine! Hurry over and get some!"
Yasuie froze, thinking he had heard wrong.
The authorities had brought grain for famine relief? What was going on?
After Kurozumi Orochi took power, he had raised taxes across the country to the highest level, taking nearly all production for himself before selling it on the market at exorbitant prices and squeezing the people dry.
A man like that would never distribute food to starving people. But the new shogun was an actual pirate, the daughter of the Four Emperor Kaido. Shouldn’t she be even more brutal?
Filled with confusion, Yasuie followed the crowd toward the town entrance. When he saw the seemingly endless line of grain carts, he was utterly stunned.
He had forgotten how long it had been since he last saw so much food. He could scarcely imagine that this food had been delivered by the authorities for starving people to eat.
"Line up! Don’t fight! There’s enough for everyone! Distribution is by headcount. Every adult gets ten kilograms of rice, one bag of bean products, two pieces of fruit, and one strip of dried meat. Children get half!"
The black-clad man standing before the convoy spoke with a powerful, commanding voice. An invisible pressure subdued the chaotic, starving crowd.
Yasuie looked at the man in surprise. When he had infiltrated the Flower Capital, he had attended the shogun’s succession ceremony. He remembered this man: a new officer of the Beast Pirates, Yamato’s powerful aide, and Wano’s hottest rising star.
Someone so exalted, practically beneath only one person and above tens of thousands, was personally escorting food for famine relief?
He still suspected he had misheard. One person could receive ten kilograms of rice, along with bean products, fruit, and even dried meat? What had happened to the authorities?
Even when he had been the daimyo of Hakumai, he had never been this generous when sending grain and supplies to disaster areas. They had even taken nutritional balance into consideration!
For a moment, Yasuie suspected Wano’s new shogun was plotting some earth-shattering scheme, and unease stirred within him.
Waa! Waa!
Yet the infant’s cries made him suppress those chaotic thoughts. The urgent priority was to get some rice and cook the child a thin porridge.
The residents of Okobore Town, however, did not think so much. Hearing these dreamlike terms, they cheered and, rather than rushing in to seize food, obediently formed a long line.
At first, some suspected a trick. But once they saw people receiving bags filled to the brim with food from the soldiers, they went wild and all joined the queue.
When it was Yasuie’s turn, Luke glanced at the infant in his arms, looking slightly surprised. Then he told the soldier in charge of distributing supplies beside him, "He has a child. Give him an extra half portion."
With complicated feelings, Yasuie accepted the food and still politely thanked him. "Thank you, sir."
Okobore Town did not have many people. Even before everyone had fallen ill and died, there were only one or two thousand residents. The supplies were distributed quickly.
Watching the grateful residents kneel and kowtow on the ground, unable to form coherent words, Luke asked, "Do you know who gave you this food?"
Many of the residents present looked blank. They spent their days busy scavenging through garbage, and many knew nothing about the changes in the country’s situation.
"Wano has undergone a change. Kurozumi Orochi has been executed, and the new shogun is Yamato, daughter of the Bright King."
Luke looked at the crowd. "Remember this: Shogun Yamato applied to the Beast Pirates for this food. She did not keep it for herself, nor did she sell it at high prices. She gave it to you."
Seeing the confused expressions on everyone’s faces, Luke asked, "Do you know why?"
The people became even more confused. Many of them did not know a coup had taken place in the country, much less why a pirate who had become shogun would give them food to eat.
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