131 The Legend of the Ghost of Bakura

"Hey, is what you said true?"

Inside a tavern in the town of Bakura, a voice of incredulity suddenly rang out.

"Of course it's true. My wife's brother's wife's brother's son's friend's brother is a guard at Lord Kozuki 's estate, and he saw it with his own eyes.

Apparently, those thieves who broke into Lord Kozuki 's estate were all under the notorious daimyo, Kozuki Oden, from Kuri."

"That can't be possible. While Kozuki Oden does have a bad reputation, as the heir to the Wano general, he wouldn't need to resort to such acts, would he?"

"Heh, even you know about the drama of their father-son estrangement that ended in reconciliation, allowing Kuri, who once had a special status in Wano, to come under the general's rule. Maybe it's the general's arrangement.

It not only gives Oden a lot of prestige but also allows him to use his powerful force to suppress the cancer that is Kuri in Wano.

Since Kuri came under the general's name, the income of the general's estate has skyrocketed."

As the customers in the tavern discussed animatedly, a man wearing a kimono and standing nearly two meters tall approached with a bowl of sake, curious. "What's this about theft at Lord Kozuki 's estate?"

"It's Boss Guo," the customers greeted Nicholas with a smile. After all, everyone in Bakura knew Boss Guo of Quint Tavern to be benevolent, despite the unfortunate incident where his wife was disfigured in a fire and had to wear a mask daily. Nevertheless, she still occasionally helped the townsfolk by providing free medical treatment.

"It's impossible not to know; those rascals wouldn't miss out on free money like that. When they saw those guys take the money from Lord Kozuki 's estate, they went straight to Flower capital.

First, they bought luxurious clothing from head to toe, and they even spent a lot of money to replace their weapons. You see, many of the warriors in Lord Kozuki 's estate haven't changed their weapons for many years.

And those guys who caused the Mountain God Uprising back then, they haven't compensated those who lost their homes to the Mountain God one bit. And that same Mountain God is now under Oden's command in Kuri. Rascals will always be rascals; they won't think too much, even if they become warriors."

"Uncle, your appetizers are ready."

At that moment, Katie, dressed in a cute kimono, approached with two plates of appetizers.

"Eh, Miss Hinata, we didn't order this grilled eel."

Surprised to see the grilled eel on the table, the customers thought there had been a mistake.

"No, Mr. Inai said since you're regular customers, this grilled eel is on the house."

Then, the customers followed Katie's gaze and saw Mrs. June nodding towards them with her mask on.

"She's so kind, our lady."

The customers quickly thanked her.

"Boss, I'm back."

At that moment, Simon, dressed as a waiter, and the towering Vista returned to the tavern with bags of supplies and ingredients.

After handing a handwritten letter to Issho, Nicholas and his group settled in Bakura. After all, compared to other places in Wano, Bakura was more suitable for hiding.

At night, while the tavern's door remained closed, a room deep inside the tavern was illuminated.

Inside, everyone sat cross-legged on tatami mats.

"Captain, Vista and I went to Flower capital, and it seems the current Wano general isn't Kozuki Oden anymore. If I'm not mistaken, the current Kozuki Oden is actually an imposter created by Kurozumi Mochiyo using his Devil Fruit powers.

And it seems that the current daimyo of Kuri, Kozuki Oden, doesn't seem to have noticed..."

At this point, Simon, looking perplexed, glanced at Nicholas and said, "Are they really father and son? How can a father and son not know that the other is an imposter?"

According to Simon, Oden's displayed strength, even in the New World, made him a formidable opponent. But for such a powerful person not to notice his own father being impersonated seemed incredulous.

"Who knows? Perhaps, it's just like his rumoured personality in Wano, not recognizing his own father is a basic trait."

Nicholas nonchalantly replied. He was only interested in Wano because he was waiting for someone only Oden could encounter, and he wasn't particularly interested in other events happening there.

Coincidentally, Nicholas had even seen a Shimotsuki member on one occasion, a man who bore a striking resemblance to Zoro, which almost made Nicholas question if he had travelled through time.

...

"Hey, are you sure this is the place?"

In a narrow alley outside the tavern, several men dressed in stealthy attire were scrutinizing the tavern in the distance.

"How the hell would I know? The boss said this is the place."

The one questioned appeared irritated. He was just a grunt following orders; whatever his superiors said, he did.

"Should we move now?"

"Let's wait. We'll slip in when those guys in there are asleep."

As the words fell, the men decided to wait a while longer, planning to sneak in after everyone in the tavern had fallen asleep.

"Yo-ho-ho-ho~"

Just then, a figure cloaked in eerie green dashed past them from the end of the alley.

"Hey, did you guys hear that?"

The last person in the group, sweating profusely and swallowing hard, asked anxiously.

"What? What are you on about now?"

The others, annoyed by the sudden question, looked at him with displeasure.

Seeing that the others seemingly hadn't heard anything, the questioner suddenly felt the dark alley behind him become eerily sinister.

It was like walking alone at night, feeling someone's gaze from the shadows.

Summoning his courage to look back, he saw a skull, emanating an eerie green glow and surrounded by ghostly flames, staring back at him.

"A ghost!"

A piercing scream shattered the silence of the night.

Then, he bypassed the others and bolted towards the main street, as if he had encountered a ghost.

"What ghost? There's no such thing as ghosts in this world."

Seeing his companion yelling about ghosts and fleeing in panic, the others scoffed.

"Yeah, where are the ghosts?"

At that moment, the group suddenly heard a voice not belonging to any of them, and they stiffly turned their necks to look deep into the alley.

"A ghost!"

With that, the legend of the vengeful spirit of a warrior who died unjustly a century ago and would emerge from the alleys of Bakura at night to claim the lives of the living began to spread in the town.