Pirate: It’s not a phantom beast, it’s a phantom god!

Chapter 367 Banquet Drama
"Urororororo!"

“Mhahahaha!”

During the banquet following the ceremony, the victorious beasts and serpents indulged in the wine and food that filled the banquet hall.

Due to the long period of isolation, the variety of food in Hezhi is actually quite monotonous... The meat is basically various kinds of fish and the meat of Komainu, and the vegetables and fruits are only some cucumbers or radishes.

But for pirates, alcohol is enough.

Kaido is quite interested in the sake from Wano Country.

"Tun tun tun tun tun~ Ha!"

"happy!"

Kaido downed the enormous wine cup in one gulp, then wiped his mouth with his arm and said to Orochi with a flourish:

"The sake from your Wano Country is quite good!"

“Mhahahaha!”

"Of course, this is the finest sake brewed from the finest rice!"

"Even if those lowly people outside didn't eat or drink for a whole year, they still couldn't afford such a small bowl of food!"

As the giant snake spoke, it poured the wine from the small wine cup in its hand into the mouth of the beauty in its arms... However, because it poured it in too quickly, the beauty choked and coughed a few times, spilling most of the wine.
Seeing this, the giant snake didn't care at all and continued to laugh heartily.

The samurai of the general's mansion and the pirates of the Hundred Beasts also laughed, filling the scene with a joyful atmosphere.
……

Osei sat down next to Kaido and picked up the small lacquerware cup in front of him as well.

Her small gesture immediately attracted the attention of many people around her.

Because of her outstanding performance in the "Duel in Front of the Emperor" just now, many people at the banquet were actually watching her every move, intentionally or unintentionally.

This is a ruthless person who completely overpowered Shimotsuki Ushimaru; there may not be any other strong person in the entire Wano Country who can compare to her.

Even the giant snake would glance at her from time to time, secretly wondering if it was possible to poach Ossie from her.

"Ok?"

Ignoring the subtle probing glances from many present, Ossie lifted her mask slightly with interest, picked up her wine glass, smelled it curiously, and then took a small sip...

(﹏)~~
The delicate little face beneath the mask immediately scrunched up in a frown.
This tastes awful!
Sweet with a hint of sourness, sour with a hint of astringency, astringency with a hint of bitterness... No wonder people used to describe wine as tasting like horse urine!
I don't know how these people managed to drink so happily.

Ossie stuck out her tongue, then placed the wine cup far away in the corner of the table and never touched it again.

The Wano Country samurai present, upon witnessing this scene, all breathed a sigh of relief, as if a weight had been lifted from their hearts.

Their interest in Ossie stemmed not only from her formidable strength, but also from their curiosity about the true face hidden beneath her mask…

The woman with a split mouth that Ushimaru mentioned earlier wasn't a made-up ghost story; it's a real legend that exists in Wano Country.

The vast majority of Wano Country residents heard this legend from their elders when they were young, and many even claimed to have seen it with their own eyes... It can be said that the woman with the slit is one of the childhood traumas of countless people in Wano Country.

And now, these people from the Hundred Beasts are like monsters that have stepped out of a ukiyo-e book—demons, tengu, flesh-and-human creatures, and so on...

It's hard to guarantee that there might actually be a Slit-Mouthed Woman among them.

These samurai were not afraid of powerful monsters like demons and tengu; on the contrary, the martial samurai might sometimes fantasize about defeating these powerful monsters and achieving great deeds.

But they were genuinely afraid of the Slit-Mouthed Woman, a terrifying embodiment of rules, since this creature existed specifically to instill fear in people.

Fortunately, the corner of Ossie's face that was revealed when she lifted her mask didn't look unusual, and there was no gaping mouth that stretched to her ears...

On the contrary, judging from that touch of crimson, she is very likely a great beauty.

"Whoo~"

Someone in the room suddenly let out a long sigh of relief, and then the atmosphere at the banquet seemed to become even more relaxed and pleasant.

……

Since Cheng had previously stated that he wouldn't eat raw food, Ossie was now crunching on the tempura specially prepared for her while listening to Kaido and Orochi's conversation in a daze.

“Mhahahaha!”

"Kaido, now you are the Guardian King of Wano Country."

"If there is a samurai rebellion in the future, then it will be up to you."

Orochi raised his wine cup and offered a toast to Kaido.

After the "Duel in Front of the Emperor" ended, Orochi, in the name of the Shogun, announced in front of everyone that the Beasts would officially take over Wano Country.

The Beasts Pirates will be fully responsible for the "defense" of this country, protecting Wano Country from foreign invasion and safeguarding its people.

Kaido himself was appointed by Orochi as the 'Guardian King of Wano Country'.

This title, imbued with a touch of mythology, is undeniably significant; it seems that with him present, Wano Country will never have to worry about external threats.

Of course, since they are under the command of Lord Mingwang and are responsible for the most important task of 'protecting the country', the members of the Hundred Beasts naturally have some privileges to act expediently.

As for what these 'privileges' are, the people of Wano Country will gradually find out in the future.

……

"Hmm! Of course, no problem!"

Upon hearing Orochi's words, Kaido burst into laughter.

He laughed heartily, like a dragon that had finally obtained the treasure it had been longing for. "A few mere samurai are nothing to me. What I'm more concerned about now is where to build my weapons factories."

"Of course it's up to you. Apart from Huadu, you can build wherever you want in the other villages!"

"If you need laborers, you can do whatever you want with those lowly people. Use them to their deaths, don't worry about their lives."

Orochi said indifferently that he cared more about his own interests than the lives of the people of Wano Country.

"However, my share..."

"As we agreed before, you'll get 50% of the profits after I sell these weapons!"

Kaido waved his hand and gave half of the profits to Orochi without even blinking.

Given the extensive overseas sales channels that Beast has established, even a 10% profit margin would be an astronomical figure.

Thanks to their initial alliance, the Big Mom Pirates have used the 30% profit to transform over thirty islands in the Totto Land Sea into magnificent structures within just a few years…

Even the most remote and resource-scarce islands can now rival the capitals of many countries.

Needless to say, the Beasts make up the majority of the money; Kaido has gradually lost his concept of money over the years... Nobody knows exactly how many Berries the Beasts have now.

Kaido glanced at the giant snake, whose face was grinning foolishly, picked up his wine cup, and grinned as well.

……

The "New Economic Plan for Wano Country" – This economic control plan for Wano Country was formulated in parallel with the pirate crew's relocation plan after Kaido's first return from Wano Country.

However, the person who devised this plan was not Wright, but Willie, who is currently the CEO of the arms trading company under Beast Heavy Industries.

Yes, it's Willie, the one who sold several major underground arms dealers to Beasts.

This guy has been doing very well these past few years. With the reputation of being one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea and the Beasts, he has to be respected by both the government and the underworld.

Compared to his days as an underground arms dealer who snatched scraps from the World Government's fingers, he is now a completely different person... Many people even secretly call him the "Arms King."

It's worth noting that even the old Medina wouldn't dare to use that title back then.

Upon learning that Beasts was moving its headquarters to a country it had never heard of and that it planned to one day take complete control of the country, Willie, as a businessman, immediately devised a comprehensive economic control plan and presented it to Wright.

For him, it was a completely closed country, a country with a simple, even primitive, economic model. And the only channel for foreign exchange for such a country was controlled by itself…

In theory, Willie has a hundred ways to seize control of the country's economy and achieve his goal of subjugating the enemy without a fight.

After listening to his report, Kaido had a general idea of ​​what was going on. He figured that as long as Beli spent his money in Wano Country, it would eventually come back to him, so he could just treat the place as a gold mine.

In order to disrupt Wano Country's original 'platinum-gold-silver' currency system, Willy even suggested that Kaido send as many Berries as possible into Wano Country.

Ultimately, after the precious metal currency system in Wano Country is completely destroyed, the Beasts will be able to create a completely new system according to their own wishes, firmly grasping the wealth of the people of Wano Country.

……

After several rounds of drinks, and as everyone at the banquet had enjoyed themselves, the Noh actors, specially arranged by Orochi, began to walk onto the stage one by one.

Listening to the actors on stage performing the story in their affected, melodious voices, the giant snake took the opportunity to bring up other things.

"Speaking of which... Kaido, why didn't you kill those daimyo today, but instead let them go?"

"Ok?"

"You don't want them to live?"

Leaning against the soft couch brought by the servants of the shogun's mansion, Kaido held up his wine cup, enjoying the performance of "The Tale of Oden, the Prodigal Son" on stage while casually answering Orochi's questions.

"Aren't they still nominally your subordinates?"

"Hmph! Subordinates? A bunch of traitors who are always thinking about assassinating this general."

The near-successful underdog victory that happened today still leaves Orochi feeling a bit apprehensive.

He couldn't eat or sleep properly until Niu Wan and the others were eliminated.

"You should eliminate them all today to prevent them from doing something similar again in the future."

"Hmph! There's no need to care about those guys. If they dare to do anything else, I'll just take care of them then."

Hearing that Kaido didn't seem to intend to deal with Ushimaru and his crew immediately, Orochi became anxious. He pointed to the Noh actor on stage, whom he had specially hired to impersonate Oden, and said:

"Kaido, you should also know Kozuki Oden, right?"

"If he returns from overseas one day and colludes with those daimyo samurai from the inside, we'll be in big trouble!"

With the prestige of the surname "Kozuki," coupled with the private support from daimyo, samurai, and common people... Orochi was certain that as long as Oden returned, the shogunate position he had worked so hard to obtain would immediately change hands.

This is something he absolutely cannot tolerate.

"Therefore, the best option is to eliminate all those who could become Oden's allies now."

A ruthless glint flashed in the serpent's eyes.

Upon hearing this, Kaido put down his wine cup and looked at the figure on the stage—Kozuki Oden—who was wielding two precious swords, sporting exaggerated samurai makeup, and fighting a wild boar. He murmured:

"Kozuki Oden, the man that Whitebeard would acknowledge as a brother?"

"Just what kind of guy is he...?"

(End of this chapter)