Chapter 24 : Wano Country

Youta quickly began searching for the other members of the Spades Pirates on the beach and inside the pirate ship.

Among the Spades Pirates, Youta's physical strength was second only to Ace's, because he possessed Chakra, which made him less affected by seawater, so he was the first to get up.

After being dragged out of the sea by Youta, Ace immediately fully recovered. Most of the other members of the Spades Pirates were in the cabin and hadn't been seriously injured.

Of course, being completely exhausted and feeling weak all over was unavoidable.

"By the way, where are we?" After everyone gathered, a somewhat disheartened Dios spoke up.

Youta looked around, especially at the coast they were on. Just a few dozen meters toward the sea, they could see endless rushing sea currents. The whole island seemed to be held up in the sky by the sea currents.

This feature was too obvious. Youta hadn't expected the Spades Pirates to arrive here before encountering Red Hair.

"This should be Wano Country, the rumored base of the Beast Pirates."

"Wano Country?"

"The base of the Beast Pirates?"

The members of the Spades Pirates looked at each other in surprise, not expecting to end up at the Beast Pirates' base instead of finding Red Hair and Whitebeard.

"So, Kaido of the Hundred Beasts is here too? Great, before dealing with Whitebeard, let's warm up by taking on Kaido first." Ace adjusted his hat and declared boldly.

Youta was too exhausted to comment on Ace's overflowing confidence, but thankfully, according to the original story, Kaido should have already led his top subordinates on a distant expedition. So there was no need to worry about Kaido feeding Ace's addiction to battles.

In reality, Ace couldn't even defeat Oars, don't forget, Oars fought him to a draw even while wearing Seastone handcuffs!

Ace's talent may not necessarily be stronger than Oars', the biggest difference between them lies in their knowledge and experience.

After they had been chatting here for a while, voices could be heard in the distance. A group of people dressed and styled in the distinctive manner of Wano had come to investigate.

Youta glanced at them and noticed that their clothes were tattered, their faces pale. Although they held some raggedy tools like hoes and wooden sticks, their faces were full of panic.

"Pirates, they're pirates!"

"Why are pirates coming here? Are they here to plunder?"

"We won't let you succeed, damn pirates!"

Youta rolled his eyes helplessly. Come on, look at you all, with your poor appearances, what could we possibly plunder from you? Torn clothes, scraps of fabric, or the straw in your beds?

"So troublesome, Ace, can you calm them down a bit?"

Hearing Youta's complaint, Ace reached up to adjust his cowboy hat and smiled.

"Don't worry!"

A strong aura suddenly emanated from him, pressing down on the ordinary villagers. Without a doubt, all the villagers rolled their eyes and fainted one after another.

"Are you going to use Conqueror's Haki directly? Isn't that a bit too much?" Youta criticized, his original intention was to let Ace use his Flame-Flame Fruit ability to scare the villagers a bit.

"That's the most convenient way, isn't it?" Ace said with a smile. "But these villagers seem to be living quite miserably."

Youta nodded gently. The people of Wano didn't live miserably, they lived in misery.

In the New World, most of the territories had already been divided up by the Four Emperors, and within these territories, life was particularly difficult for those living under Kaido.

Charlotte Linlin's territory, although subjected to a soul tax, at least lived relatively well. As for Whitebeard and Red Hair, the civilians there lived better than most people in the pirate world.

Only Kaido's territory was truly impoverished and militaristic, caring little for so-called sustainable development. If it weren't for the resilience of the people in the pirate world, most of the civilians in Wano would probably have died.

"Let's go wake them up first and gather some information. I think they should be calmer now."

...

In a dilapidated little village, the elderly and frail straw-hat-wearing village chief spoke bitterly to Ace about their miserable experiences, which was truly heartbreaking to hear.

"So, as long as we take down Kaido, Wano will return to normal?" After listening to the long and possibly somewhat senile ramblings of the village chief, Ace impatiently interrupted.

"Uh... Kaido, no, no... so many warriors can't even defeat him..." the village chief said blankly, shaking his head.

Ace naturally didn't care about this village chief's fearful heart, but he didn't argue with him either. Instead, he changed the subject and said, "Then let's kill that guy called Black Charcoal Great Snake. It's because of him that Wano is like this."

"General Black Charcoal Snake? No! Wano can't be without its general!" The village chief began vigorously shaking his head again.

Youta rolled his eyes. What do you mean Wano can't be without its general? This old man clearly had been brainwashed.

Seeing the village chief in this state, Ace didn't mention killing Black Charcoal Great Snake anymore. Basically, the people of Wano themselves didn't want to kill him. What business did he, an outsider pirate, have meddling in this?

However, looking at these skinny, weak villagers, Ace still felt a bit compassionate. "Youta, how much food do we have on our ship?"

Youta thought for a moment and replied, "Probably enough for us to eat for two weeks! What's up, Captain, are you planning to be a good guy again?"

Ace blushed slightly, "Well, helping them should still be within our capabilities!"

"Then you better think it through," Youta crossed his arms against the wall. "I've inquired here already. Due to pollution, it's almost impossible to grow crops in Wano's land. Even forests are scarce. Occasionally, some animals and plants are contaminated and have a certain degree of toxicity."

"Because of the terrain of the rushing sea currents, there aren't even many sea creatures in the sea. In other words, there's almost no way to resupply here."

"I've already considered this," Ace said confidently.

"Although most of Wano's land is polluted, Black Charcoal Great Snake and Kaido's subordinates still need to eat, right? They must have retained some land and food that can keep their forces fed!"

"Haha! So are you really planning to take down Kaido before dealing with Whitebeard? That really fits your character as a captain!" Youta couldn't help but speak with an expression of disbelief.