The super seeds and the multi-function Cybertronian caused an unprecedented stir across Wano.
Roxing's previous inventions — Monster Cells, fusion earrings, and the like — had impressed people, sure, but those were tools mainly for the Beasts Pirates. They didn't touch the common folk's daily needs.
This was different. These new inventions had a direct bearing on whether ordinary people could eat.
Everyone felt it, and everyone cared.
When Yamato personally went to every village to hand out super seeds and deploy the multi-function Cybertronians, the villagers' cheers were thunderous enough to scatter the clouds. People knelt in the streets, crying out praise for the Shogun—"the most beautiful Shogun!" Old men shuffled forward on trembling legs and asked in awe, "May we dedicate a shrine to Roxing? We wish to enshrine him as Wano's guardian!"
Roxing had become, in the hearts of Wano's people, something like a living god. A reputation on this scale had never been seen since Wano's founding. Even if Kozuki Oden were somehow resurrected—or his father Kozuki Sukiyaki returned—neither could dislodge Yamato's position as Shogun nor the popular veneration for Roxing.
News of Roxing's astronomical prestige even reached Hiyori, who had been sequestered away in the Flower Capital's villa. She sat before her dressing table for a very long time, staring in a trance at the mirror and at the increasingly beautiful face looking back at her.
Yes—Hiyori had grown more beautiful. Even locked away as she was, her appearance had improved. It angered and confused her in equal measure: Roxing had killed Tsutsujirō—her enemy—and often bullied her relentlessly for long stretches. No matter how she had cried, he'd only soothe her afterwards with a few perfunctory words. A false kindness, she thought, and she clutched her handkerchief as if it were the man's flesh, wishing she could pinch him until he felt it.
Still—she could not deny the truth. Something else had changed inside her, and it terrified her: perhaps she had actually fallen in love with that man.
How could that be? She was Kozuki Hiyori, daughter of Kozuki Oden. She should be Wano's princess. How could she love her enemy?
That thought filled her with dread. She kept telling herself she'd been forced into it; she had not fallen in love. Yet the aching feeling in her chest wouldn't go away. The man's silhouette haunted her thoughts. Tears slid from Hiyori's pale blue eyes. In the mirror she began to see her mother, Amatsuki Toki, staring back. Mother and daughter resembled each other so closely that Hiyori often poured her heart to that reflected image.
"Mother… tell me what I should do," she whispered.
"Should I still pursue revenge? Should I keep hating? Under his rule, Wano seems better than during Grandfather's time… Will it only get better? Mother… I'm afraid I've indeed fallen in love with that man… Will the prophecy you spoke of twenty years from now come true?"
Her voice was thin, and her eyes filled with helpless confusion.
While Hiyori was lost in turmoil, the man at the center of it all was far from confused.
Roxing lounged in a wide chair with a rabbit-eared mink curled obediently beside him. He fiddled with one long soft ear and asked casually, "Any news from Rabbit-井 Prison?"
Carrot's little face flushed scarlet at the ear-tug — it tickled — but she stayed put, not moving away from her master. Suppressing the twitch, she answered:
"The warden reports that Enel of Skypiea has quieted down considerably. He's lost his arrogance."
Roxing nodded; after the beatings Enel had received, some humility had at last seeped in.
Carrot continued, "As for the Heart Pirates, there's a mink named Bepo among them. I spoke with him and told him the whole of Zou is now under the master's banner—every mink tribe can be the master's warriors."
"He seemed shocked… and inclined to join the master. I saw him trying to persuade his captain, Trafalgar Law. Serving someone as great as you will be their honor."
Roxing smiled. Things with Law's camp were moving forward—better than before.
He stood and stretched lazily. "The moon's full. Transform into the Moon-Lion form."
"At once, Master."
Carrot raised her head to the full moon. Her normally lithe frame lengthened; her fur became a pristine white, long hair flowing down her back like snow. A cool, sacred aura radiated from her. When she turned to face Roxing again, the softness was gone—an ice-cold, distant expression stared back. It was, Roxing reminded himself with satisfaction, proper posture for the role. "Keep that stance and dignity. Now we rest."
New World — G-5 Branch.
Vergo, now firmly a part of the Beasts Pirates after offering up Law (the one who ate the Ope Ope no Mi) as proof of loyalty, had recently been riding high.
After consuming the Ghost-class Monster Cell Roxing granted him, Vergo's presence became even more imposing. His bearing grew straighter, his aura heavier; his strength deepened beyond measure. Wherever he walked he wore a solemn, confident mask of authority.
All the marines at G-5 regarded Vergo—this new base commander—with a mixture of respect and fear. Under Roxing's command, Vergo had become the de facto lord of one of the Navy's biggest New World outposts. No one dared disobey.
Following Roxing's orders, Vergo trained hard to increase his power—but he also nurtured a private ambition: to rise through the Navy's ranks. He needed great achievements to attract the attention of Marine HQ and even the Five Elders.
First, he bolstered his forces. With the Navy banner behind him, recruitment went smoothly. Outside the territories controlled by Yonko, few states dared snub the Navy or the World Government.
Vergo reported his troop expansion to HQ, citing the increasingly severe situation in the New World. It reached Fleet Admiral Sengoku's desk; the old man commented, "At last, marines willing to do the work and take responsibility." The remark carried an obvious barb at Kizaru, who had played little part in the Punk Hazard conflict—Kizaru, predictably, pretended not to hear and resumed filing his nails.
Sengoku's approval raised Vergo's profile even more. Admiral Aokiji then proposed transferring Smoker of Loguetown and his subordinate Tashigi to the G-5 branch to assist Vergo. Sengoku gladly agreed and promoted Smoker one rank—from captain to commodore—making him Vergo's immediate deputy.
Thus Smoker and Tashigi arrived at the New World's G-5 station more than two years earlier than in the original timeline. There they met the Beasts Pirates' spy embedded among them: the base commander, Vergo.
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