Ares closed his eyes and thought in silence.
Whenever he went quiet, the sheer force of his presence and power made the entire room hold its breath. No one dared make a sound and disturb him.
The three daimyo sat stiffly, as if perched on needles.
They could only wait in silence.
When Ares opened his eyes again, a sharp gleam flashed within them, dazzling and oppressive enough to shake the soul.
"You will continue serving as daimyo of your respective regions. As for Kuri and Ringo, I will appoint people to govern them and stabilize those areas."
Hearing that, the three daimyo quietly let out breaths of relief.
Ares turned to Chinjao, his expression solemn and serious.
"For now, Kuri will remain under your control. As for forming the Serpentwater Legion, we'll discuss that later. The old system must be completely changed. It cannot remain mixed up with pirate ways. It must become a true army, with the discipline and bearing of one."
"As for Ringo, Oden, you'll be its daimyo."
Oden, who had been sitting there watching the show, instantly changed expression and blurted out, "Hey, hey, are you sure you called the right name? I've got no experience being a daimyo. Besides, I'm planning to challenge Wano's strongest fighters first and become the number one samurai in Wano!"
"That doesn't conflict with this," Ares said. "As a native of Wano, the people will accept you more easily."
In his memories, the original Oden had become daimyo of Kuri.
He had developed Kuri into a thriving, booming region, which gradually repaired his relationship with Sukiyaki and restored their father-son bond.
But unlike Kuri, whose population was mostly made up of former slaves, Ringo was largely populated by Wano natives. Letting Kozuki Oden serve as daimyo there would greatly reduce the voices of opposition.
It would prevent any major unrest.
Wano had only just changed shoguns. What it needed most right now was stability.
And as for Oden's abilities, managing a single region would be more than easy for him. Besides, he had his retainers to assist him. There should not be any major issues.
Oden still wanted to refuse, but a single glare from Ares shut him up and made him sit back down. Then, the moment he heard Ares's next words, he immediately brightened.
"Don't you use two-sword style? I happen to know some two-sword techniques from powerful swordsmen overseas. Do your job as daimyo properly, and I'll teach them to you."
Two-sword style?
And from powerful fighters of the outside sea no less.
How could that not tempt Oden?
He immediately slapped his chest and agreed. "Don't worry. I'll manage Ringo properly and develop it well. I definitely won't disappoint you!"
"But if I do a good job, you have to teach me those two-sword techniques from those overseas masters!"
Ares nodded in satisfaction and turned to Kaido.
"As for matters in the Flower Capital, Kaido will assist me in handling them."
Then Ares said sternly, "The first major task in governing right now is this: road construction."
If you want prosperity, build roads first.
The regions of Wano had to be tightly connected. Not only did they need roads, but transportation itself had to be improved so trade between the regions could become closer and more prosperous.
...
The group began discussing road construction. As for everything else, those would have to come slowly.
For example, the "Sword Tournament," the "Master Smith Tournament," the foundries, and so on that Ares had in mind...
And even things like building "Swordsmanship Dojos" and "Ninja Schools" across the entire country had to be shelved for now. He had just taken the position of shogun, and everything had to proceed gradually.
After all, this was only his first day as shogun.
And neither swordsmanship dojos nor ninja schools were things that could be built overnight or produce results immediately.
Wano was famous for producing samurai, of course, but it also had formidable ninja. They were simply fewer in number, and most of them had been directly absorbed into official service.
They had never truly been spread among the people.
As for the ninja schools, Ares was naturally drawing inspiration from Naruto, though combined with his own memories, he intended to create semi-militarized "ninja academies," just like the swordsmanship dojos, so that in the future...
They could continuously provide him with elite samurai and ninja.
A single meeting about road construction lasted several hours before they finally settled on a rough framework.
By the end, Ares felt uncomfortable all over, itchy from sitting still so long. The moment the meeting ended, he wasted no time putting on his Seastone shackles and resuming his daily training.
As he trained, Ares also kept thinking about how to develop Wano.
"Vegapunk should still be quite young around now. I haven't heard any news about the MADS research team on the seas yet, so it probably hasn't been formed. That means Vegapunk should still be on..."
"His home island? Karakuri Island?"
"But even if I recruit him now, I don't have enough funds to support his research..."
Money, money...
That train of thought immediately led Ares to the lost City of Gold.
"That island should have plenty of gold on it. Maybe I should go get it. And there's also a decent chance the Rumble-Rumble Fruit is up there."
"Once things in Wano stabilize a bit, I should probably make a trip to Skypiea. And while I'm there, I can collect some dials. If I leave those for Vegapunk to study later, integrating them into weapons and armor could increase combat power..."
Ever since the fusion, not only had Ares become more energetic and even stronger than Finger Pistol, but his mind had also become far sharper and more active.
He still needed to settle domestic affairs, develop the country, and eventually open it to the world. In short, there were too many things demanding his time and attention right now.
Ares laughed bitterly to himself.
"I really wish I had someone like Robin by my side. With her intelligence and abilities, she could probably help me shoulder a huge amount of this work."
"Wait..."
If not Nico Robin, then her mother.
Robin had inherited her mother's excellent genes, and her mother herself was also an outstanding archaeologist, knowledgeable, intelligent, and brave...
She should have no trouble serving as an assistant.
Ares quickly began calculating in his mind.
"Nico Robin will be born eight years from now, so maybe her mother, Nico Olvia, still isn't married yet."
That thought made his heart stir, and for a moment he almost felt the urge to rush straight to Ohara.
But he restrained himself.
"I need to quickly get familiar with governing as shogun and settle some of these affairs first. Kaido will have to shoulder more of the load. Then I need to bring Nico Olvia over as soon as possible. As an archaeologist, she'll definitely be deeply interested in the Poneglyphs..."
"The Kozuki Family not only knows how to read the text on the Poneglyphs, but can even carve them. Combined with my current advantages, luring her to Wano shouldn't be difficult."
As for whether she was married or not, Ares had no way of knowing.
If she was married, then he would have no choice but to bring her other half to Wano too.
If she wasn't, then all the better.
With fewer ties, it would be even harder for her to resist the temptation of historical research and archaeology.
And besides, Ohara held an enormous number of books. That collection was a treasure in itself, and Vegapunk would definitely be able to use them in the future.
Perhaps he could find a way to secure those books ahead of time.
After training ended, Ares found Chinjao.
"Chinjao, you should have a map of the West Blue, right? And an Eternal Pose for the Kano Kingdom too?"
The Happo Navy's homeland, the Kano Kingdom, was in the West Blue. When it came to that sea, no one in the War God Pirates knew it better than Chinjao.
"Your Majesty, you're planning to go to the West Blue?" Chinjao asked in surprise.
Ares nodded. "That's right. I plan to make a trip to Ohara, bring back some books, and recruit someone who can help share the burden of handling everyday government affairs. Otherwise, I'll end up spending too much of my time buried in Wano's administration."
"It'll affect my training."
"The books from Ohara can also help Wano's people better understand the outside world. And once we eventually establish swordsmanship dojos and ninja schools, those books will be of enormous use."
"They can help cultivate all kinds of talent. If Wano is going to grow stronger, it needs people who are skilled in governance as well. And it has to keep up with the times."
Chinjao was visibly startled. He looked at Ares with genuine shock.
He had not expected Ares to be thinking so far ahead.
It completely clashed with his huge frame and imposing appearance.
Deep down, he could not help but think, Ares... he truly is trying every possible way to strengthen Wano. Does he really intend to overturn the world?
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