His sinister eyes were fixed on Hancock's bounty poster.
Though the exquisitely perfect beauty of the woman in the image certainly suited his tastes, what truly made his mouth water was the intelligence note attached to it—the record about seizing the Soul-Soul Fruit's power.
Earlier, he had still been calculating how to use Pops' hand to eliminate this formidable enemy and pave the road for his own future, firmly believing that Whitebeard's strength was unmatched in the world.
But now, when he secretly glanced at the hidden ailments lurking beneath that massive body of Pops', doubt quietly crept into his heart.
What if—just what if, even with a one-in-ten-thousand chance—Whitebeard were to fall at Tenma's hands?
Then wouldn't the ambition he had schemed for half his life collapse completely into nothing?
It shouldn't… right?
Teach lurked in the shadows, biting down on his uneven, broken teeth, his gaze flickering with uncertainty.
The scene shifted back to the Totto Land archipelago, now located within Wano's maritime domain.
As the islands were formally integrated with Wano, large numbers of troops clad in Wano-standard armor began deploying across the islands in an orderly flow.
Their task was not merely garrisoning—it was to forcibly redirect the islanders' long-ingrained loyalty to Charlotte Linlin into allegiance toward the new king, Tenma.
The propaganda itself was blunt and straightforward.
Its core purpose was to pacify the populace, clearly stating that the victors would not conduct purges or massacres against ordinary civilians.
At the same time, it solemnly announced that the Totto Land islands were now officially incorporated into Wano's territory, and that the supreme scepter of rule had formally passed from Charlotte Linlin's hands into Tenma's.
As for the most sensitive issue—taxation—the new policy was astonishingly lenient: only half of what Totto Land had previously paid.
However, one iron rule remained unchanged.
The people still had to periodically submit fragments of their souls, just as before, in exchange for the right to live on the islands.
The moment this notice was posted, the fear that had gripped the populace due to island relocation and regime change immediately eased by more than half.
Some even began to quietly look forward to the future.
After all, Wano was now universally recognized as the most prosperous great power in the New World. Just the tax reduction alone was enough to make life far more comfortable.
What's more, although the Skyborne General Tenma was rumored to be terrifyingly powerful, as a ruler, his mental state was far more stable than BIG MOM—who could erupt into food-rage at any moment and lay waste to everything.
As for continuing to give up soul fragments—
For long-time Totto Land residents who had lived under this system for decades, this was already as natural as breathing. It didn't feel like a burden at all.
"The situation on the Totto Land islands is even more stable than expected. Most civilians have begun accepting reality. I believe it won't take long before they fully integrate into Wano's system."
Inside the lavish inner hall of Shogun Castle, Kozuki Toki spoke softly as she reported.
"After all, when the environment changes, people always need a period of adjustment."
At the moment, Tenma was lounging lazily on a plush sofa, his head resting extremely comfortably on a pair of warm, delicate white thighs.
Looking up at Toki, who was bent over organizing documents, he curled his lips into a smile.
"These past days have been absolute chaos. You've really worked hard, Toki. Once this stretch is over, I'll make sure to properly… reward you."
Since he had chosen the gentle approach of annexing Totto Land, in the face of such complicated internal governance, Kozuki Toki's uniquely gifted administrative talent showed an advantage far surpassing even Robin's.
Hearing this, Toki lifted her head and shot him a charming, reproachful glance—half coy, half annoyed.
"With the way you assign work and dump everything on others, who knows how long that so-called 'rest' will take."
Such lightly coquettish complaining, coming from the normally dignified and reserved Toki, was a rare treat that made one's heart itch.
Tenma burst into laughter, reaching out to gently caress her skin.
"Don't worry. You made outstanding contributions in this war. The Sky City project later will still rely heavily on you, so I'll definitely make you satisfied."
Toki's cheeks flushed faintly. She didn't continue this ambiguous exchange, instead stiffly changing the topic.
"Before that… don't you still need to focus on dealing with Whitebeard?"
"Whitebeard? Maybe."
Tenma casually played with her hair.
"But after Kaido's example, they'll probably adjust their strategy. How to respond will depend on what the Shadow Guard reports back."
Mentioning intelligence, Tenma turned toward Robin, who was sitting elegantly to the side, sipping tea.
"By the way, has the World Government made any new moves recently?"
Robin crossed her long legs neatly. While maintaining a steady rhythm massaging Tenma's temples, she reported calmly:
"Yes. According to information just sent by Caterina, the World Government is preparing to activate the 'World Military Draft.'"
"They're planning a large-scale recruitment to fill vacant Navy general positions—They were even ready to shatter the tradition of promoting only from lieutenant general, allowing powerful civilians to leapfrog directly to general as long as their strength was sufficient.."
New Admirals.
As Tenma listened, images immediately surfaced in his mind—two monsters who, in the original timeline, had emerged from the World Draft to fill the vacancies left by Akainu and Aokiji.
One was Fujitora (Issho)—a man who carried the world in his heart, brimming with justice, always putting civilians first, wielding the Paramecia Gravity-Gravity Fruit, capable of manipulating gravity itself.
The other was Ryokugyu (Aramaki)—a fanatic admirer of Akainu, an adherent of Absolute Justice, often mockingly called "the disgrace of the Admirals" by fans, yet possessing the Logia Forest-Forest Fruit, with absurd vitality.
There were still eleven years until that era in the original timeline. Tenma wasn't certain whether, under the butterfly effect of expanded conscription, these two would still join the Marines as before.
He didn't particularly care about Ryokugyu, who lived off photosynthesis.
But Fujitora, with his top-tier rule-based ability, was a strategic existence Tenma could not afford to ignore.
If not for the imminent war, Tenma might have already used the "Lucky Girl" ability after the Pure Gold expedition to actively seek out that blind swordsman hidden among civilians.
Now that the World Government planned to open conscription across the four seas, it was the perfect chance to use Caterina's massive influence and pull off a clean intercept.
Eyes sharpening, Tenma issued orders immediately:
"Inform Caterina. Have her closely monitor all records from this World Draft."
"At the same time, have the Shadow Guard CP under her influence intervene across the board. Make sure we find a blind man named Issho before the Navy does."
"Understood."
Robin nodded slightly, committing this critical task to memory and preparing to arrange it later.
At the moment, she continued to play her role as Tenma's personal secretary, her fingers applying just the right amount of pressure to make him relax.
Feeling the pleasant tingling on his scalp, Tenma closed his eyes for a moment and casually asked:
"By the way—how's the inventory of that old hag BIG MOM's private treasury coming along?"
After converting the defeated captives back into Totto Land's productive labor force, the Charlotte Family members—eager to show loyalty—volunteered the locations of BIG MOM's hidden wealth without needing any torture.
But knowing BIG MOM's bizarre personality, Tenma hadn't held much hope for the so-called treasure. He even felt it might be less useful than Pudding's Memo-Memo Fruit or Brûlée's Mirror-Mirror Fruit, so he simply handed the matter over to Robin.
"It was hidden extremely well," Robin replied. "Accessing that subspace required the Mirror-Mirror Fruit's power."
That had been one of the main things she came to report—only to be forced into the role of masseuse the moment she walked in.
Hearing this, Tenma couldn't help but remark:
"The Mirror-Mirror Fruit, if properly developed, really is a strategic-level support ability."
That mirror world—where any mirror touched by the user could instantly become a teleport gate—was divine whether for surprise troop deployment or large-scale strategic transfers.
Back when Caterina secretly placed mirrors she had touched inside Mariejois, launching a surprise assault on the so-called most heavily defended holy land would be as easy as strolling through his own backyard.
"If she went to such lengths to hide it, the old hag must've piled up quite a bit of oil and fat, right?"
"Conservatively estimated, just the gold, silver, and jewels alone are worth at least fifty to sixty billion Beli."
Thinking of the scene, Robin's cool face curved into a small smile.
"Nami, who insisted on tagging along, had her eyes completely turn into Beli symbols when she saw the mountains of treasure."
Fifty to sixty billion Beli—stacked together, that kind of gold-and-silver mountain would be visually devastating.
While it wasn't a staggering sum for the now oil-rich Wano, invested properly, it could still generate considerable economic returns.
Tenma merely nodded, not showing much excitement. Compared to cold numbers, he valued tangible special items more.
"She must've collected quite a few Devil Fruits too, right?"
"Five in total. According to the encyclopedia, all of them are Paramecia."
Robin recalled the list.
"The Honey Fruit, Cutlery Fruit, Jumble Fruit, Bubble Fruit, and Gummy Candy Fruit."
Toki, who was organizing documents nearby, couldn't help chiming in:
"Why do these all sound… food-related?"
Tenma rubbed his temples, speechless.
"BIG MOM was a sweets maniac. Haven't you noticed? Most of her grown children have food-type abilities too."
He'd been hoping for something like the Mirror-Mirror Fruit, Book-Book Fruit, or Memo-Memo Fruit—top-tier Paramecia with special rules.
Expecting too much from a foodie really was his mistake.
Like Kaido's crew, the Charlotte Family specialized in Paramecia, but unlike Kaido's combat-oriented style, BIG MOM's collection was dominated by food-related fruits.
Honestly, without the family's freakish creativity and Paramecia's inherent weirdness, many of these abilities would've been liabilities in combat.
Not every Devil Fruit had benefits outweighing drawbacks.
Aside from those fruits, the rest were conventional rare treasures—
Fine-grade swords forged by master craftsmen, jewel-encrusted luxury ornaments, and exotic tributes from across the world.
Most came from daily plunder by the BIG MOM Pirates, with the rest harvested through her tea parties.
The treasury's surprises ended there.
But beyond those vulgar riches, Cake Island held something priceless to Robin—
Charlotte Linlin's collection of Poneglyph rubbings, including the crucial Red Road Poneglyph pointing to the final island.
Aside from mild interest in the coordinates to Laugh Tale and clues about the ancient weapon Uranus, Tenma left everything else to Robin's scholarly curiosity.
Counting carefully, he now possessed two Road Poneglyphs.
Of the remaining two—one should still be on Zou, guarded by the Mink Tribe atop Zunesha; the other had once been on Fish-Man Island and was most likely now in Whitebeard's hands.
Of course, even if it wasn't, it didn't really matter.
With the unreasonable causality of the "Lucky Girl" ability, even supposedly secret locations weren't unreachable.
Maybe…
A mischievous thought suddenly surfaced in Tenma's mind.
With absurd luck, could he just accidentally stumble into Laugh Tale without collecting all four Road Poneglyphs?
Once luck became conceptual, logic hardly mattered.
If that were possible, the only question was how much luck it would consume to touch the world's ultimate treasure.
Just then, the Den Den Mushi on the coffee table suddenly rang.
Since it was addressed directly to Robin, it could only be an emergency report from the Shadow Guard.
Robin pulled it out and answered. A subordinate's urgent voice came through:
"Lady Robin! Kaido—imprisoned in the top-security prison—has awakened!"
The scene shifted to Udon, Wano.
Deep within the seastone-producing region stood a special prison built exclusively for top-tier powerhouses.
Kaido lay sprawled arrogantly on a cold stone bed, his entire body shackled by specially forged, high-purity seastone cuffs and fetters.
After being unconscious for several days, even with his Zoan recovery suppressed by seastone, and without that domineering "momentum" constantly tearing his body apart, his terrifying injuries had already healed more than halfway.
Yet this awakened beast showed not the slightest awareness of being a prisoner.
He merely glanced coldly at the bandages wrapped around him, expression unchanged, then opened his mouth and began roaring for alcohol—demanding it be served immediately.
That arrogant posture made him look more like he was strolling the streets than rotting in a cell.
Among the guards were many who had lived through Wano's darkest, enslaved years. Seeing Kaido still so overbearing even in defeat, rage flared in their hearts, their knuckles whitening as they gripped their spears.
But recalling strict orders from above, they forced the anger down, turning it into bitter mockery.
"Stop dreaming! No one's bringing wine to someone like you. You're just a prisoner now!"
Kaido slightly turned his head and glanced at the soldier.
Even with all his strength sealed, the ferocity in that gaze alone made the man's face go deathly pale, stumbling back several steps.
A tiger without claws was still a tiger—not something a stray dog could provoke.
"Stand down. I'll watch this stinking old man myself."
A clear, forceful voice rang out from the corridor.
Seeing the arrival was Yamato, ace of the Oniwabanshu, the soldiers immediately saluted—though hesitation crossed their faces.
"Lady Yamato… Lady Robin specifically instructed that Kaido must be strictly guarded…"
As the grand steward handling all of the General's internal and external affairs, Robin's authority—outside of pure combat—now even surpassed the Oniwabanshu.
"It's fine. Someone has already reported this situation to Robin. And Tenma will come personally soon."
The soldiers exchanged glances, then wisely withdrew.
If even the General was coming, this was clearly a high-level negotiation. The less common soldiers knew, the safer they were.
"Wororororo…"
The moment they left, a low laugh echoed from the cell.
"Looks like you're living quite comfortably in Wano now. No wonder you'd rather die than come back to my side."
Yamato walked straight up to the bars and tossed the jar of strong liquor she'd brought straight through.
Her reply was sharp.
"At this point, do you still think meaningless words like that matter? Go back to you—to do what? Accompany you as a defeated prisoner?"
Even with his hands shackled, Kaido caught the flying jar steadily. Like a drunkard parched for lifetimes, he smashed the seal and took a huge gulp.
As the fiery liquor burned down his throat, the mockery in his eyes gradually faded, replaced by a deep, unfathomable calm.
It was as if a thousand words pressed on his tongue, or as if he were reassessing this troublesome "son."
In the end, all thoughts dissolved into another long swig of alcohol.
"You've grown up. That mouth of yours has gotten sharper."
"That's just the truth. I just didn't expect to see you again like this."
Yamato looked at Kaido behind the bars, her expression complex, reminded of years ago—when she'd been thrown into solitary confinement for wanting to go out to sea.
Kaido didn't care about the change in her expression.
"This is the bitter fruit losers must swallow. The law of the jungle is eternal. Humans are animals too—we can't escape that cruelty."
"I didn't come here to debate winner-and-loser philosophy!"
Yamato suddenly raised her voice, agitation spilling out.
"So tell me—why did you suddenly intervene in this war?!"
That question carried not just confusion about the battle, but anger over Kaido tearing up his agreement with Wano.
Kaido paused, irritation flashing across his face.
"Your strength's improved, but your head's still stuck in childish naivety."
"This sea has always been cruel! When benefits are big enough, even sworn brothers—even states that were once indebted to you—will sell you out without hesitation!"
"Stop hiding behind excuses!"
Yamato shouted back.
"Since BIG MOM fell and you didn't run, it wasn't aboutbenefit at all!"
Her voice nearly roared:
"Don't tell me—you were trying to use suicide to verify that so-called Joy Boy?!"
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