The Pirate Princess Becomes Queen

Kyoshiro is no longer the thief he once was; he has donned a full samurai outfit, wielding a long sword in each hand, and employing a dual-wielding style.

His weapon is not as good as Vivi's, but if it is covered with Armament Haki, it won't be too much worse. Wano Country's sword-forging technology is considered the best in the world. They are rich and powerful, so Kyoshiro's sword is not bad either.

Kyoshiro's swordsmanship and Haki are both very strong. Overall, he is even better than Hawkins. If you don't consider his Devil Fruit ability, he is about the same as Vivi.

"Watch out, I'm about to unleash my ultimate move!" Kyoshiro shouted, his right sword in front and his left sword pointing behind him, striking a strange dual-wielding pose.

Vivi sheathed her sword, assumed a drawing stance, lowered her center of gravity, and signaled to her opponent to attack first.

"Oden Two-Sword Style: Togen Totsuka!" One sword was slow, the other fast; one was light, the other heavy. But under the control of the swordsman Kyoshiro, the two swords inexplicably harmonized. The two moves, which had completely different slashing methods, were combined into one, and a strike that far exceeded the normal level was unleashed.

Vivi stared intently at her opponent's sword, and the instant Kyoshiro drew his blade, she also slashed out with her own.

Using the "Slash Wave" technique, she unleashed a single strike, creating two streams of air that appeared directly in front of her. With a flick of her wrist, she quickly retracted her unsheathed Greatsword, stirring up the air currents and creating a centrifugal force that pulled Kyoshiro along. Then, using the "Dragon Slayer" technique, she unleashed another slash.

This move borrows from Ace's method of creating a fire pillar to build up fire when using "Emperor of Flames," as well as some techniques from Kyoshiro's dual-wielding style. Vivi's goal is all about speed!

She used "Wave Slash" to break through space, then quickly withdrew, and used "Dragon Slash" to slash again. There was no gap between the two moves. She has now broken free from the shackles of her predecessors and is walking on her own path as a swordsman. She can already create her own moves. Vivi named this move "Sky Soaring Dragon Flash"!

A minute later, the two of them got up.

Vivi's powerful regenerative ability made Kyoshiro extremely envious. He was just an ordinary person with a normal physique. He was hit in the chest by "Heavenly Dragon Flash" and would not recover for several days.

"You're a monster! Your swordsmanship wasn't this strong before!" Kyoshiro rubbed his shoulder. Even though Isis had healed his wounds, the internal injuries remained. He was mostly puzzled. Before, his swordsmanship was about the same as Vivi's; in fact, compared to Vivi last year, he was even slightly stronger. Now? After fighting for over a month, it seemed he couldn't even win a one-on-one swordsmanship contest...

Vivi herself was very satisfied. It makes sense that swordsmen and sword masters in those movies and TV shows would spar with others whenever they had free time. The improvement in combat is huge. While sparring, she also had Duck pick up Kyoshiro's sword techniques, which made her improve even faster.

Her swordsmanship had reached level 6. Without a doubt, level 7 was the level of a swordsman. Once she reached level 7 and filled her experience points, or even advanced further, she would be roughly at the level of the great swordsman Hawkeye. Unfortunately, the sheer amount of experience points made her dizzy. These days, there were fewer and fewer people who could provide her with swordsmanship experience. Kyoshiro… Kyoshiro's swordsmanship offered her little room for improvement.

During this time, she learned the Armament Haki of Wano Country from Kyoshiro, which is their "Ryuo". Vivi can now release Armament Haki to defend against attacks from some Devil Fruit users.

Ryuo is actually Armament Haki, just a different name.

Because they lacked channels of communication, the samurai of Wano Country devised a different approach, endowing Ryuo with many unique characteristics. These characteristics were just as useful in battle as Armament Haki was in the outside world.

Kyoshiro shared many of his experiences using Ryuo with Vivi. In return, she also explained how to train Observation Haki, noting that she hadn't seen many samurai here who knew how to use it.

“If you want to continue improving your swordsmanship, I can recommend someone to you. There’s a guy whose swordsmanship is better than mine,” Kyoshiro said.

"You're not going to tell me that the guy with better swordsmanship than you is called Kaido, are you?"

"Haha—Kaido can use a sword? I think that guy only insults the sword. Go to the mountains of Kuri. There is a bandit leader there named Shutenmaru. That guy used to be known as the strongest monster in Kuri. He should be able to be your opponent."

Chapter 208 Ashura Child

Weiwei thought for a moment and asked, "Jiuli... is that the mountainous area north of Jianlou Village?"

Kyoshiro corrected her mistakes: "Actually, the entire area around Jianlou Village is considered part of Jiuli. It used to be one person's territory... Go ahead. Shutenmaru's swordsmanship is better than mine, but that guy has a strange personality and is not easy to deal with. You should be prepared."

Finding Jiutianmaru is not difficult. Many villagers from Jianlou Village and Bianli Village know that there are bandits in the northern mountains. They don't know the exact location, but they know the general direction.

With her newfound divination abilities, Vivi's navigation skills improved dramatically. Two daring villagers helped her find her way, and after circling the mountains twice, this strange woman, who combined the roles of warrior, doctor, and onmyoji, finally found the fat man, Shutenmaru, who was lying in the sun, amidst the villagers' anxious gazes.

That guy is really fat. He's five meters tall, covered in fat, and looks like a mountain of flesh when he lies there. He has triangular eyes and fluffy curly hair, and he looks like he's going to be hard to deal with.

"Truly extraordinary." Whether someone is a master or not can often be seen at a glance.

Without a fight, Vivi couldn't tell who was stronger between the fat man and Kyoshiro, but she knew the fat man was very strong, and that was enough.

"I am a warrior traveling far and wide, and I have heard that your swordsmanship is extraordinary..."

Before she could finish speaking, Shutenmaru, who was lying on the back of the ox, began to laugh loudly, seemingly disdainful of Vivi's challenge.

"Want to challenge me? What a joke. Get lost, I don't have time to play with you."

The bandits around them had hostile expressions and surrounded them with various weapons.

The two villagers who were leading the way were trembling, but Weiwei was smiling happily.

The next second, Conqueror's Haki swept across the surrounding area, centered on her.

The bandits lay sprawled on the ground, some lying in disarray.

"Now you can accept my challenge, right?"

"Hmph! Get lost!"

Things didn't go according to Vivi's plan. "I stunned all your men, you should be furious and fight me!" But this Shutenmaru just lay on the ox's back without moving, continuing to drink in a grand manner.

This temperament can indeed be described as eccentric.

Coercion? I won't fall for it.

Insults? I won't fall for it.

Shutenmaru's thinking was simple: "I'm a bandit, not a samurai, why should I fight you? I'm not fighting anymore."

Vivi figured it was unlikely she could get the other party's skills and swordsmanship for free: "Okay, I'll pay!"

The power of money is limitless.

She paid a large sum of money each day to hire fat bandits to fight alongside her.

It has to be said that money does work. The fat man, Shutenmaru, rolled his eyes a few times, carefully examined Weiwei's posture and the way she held her sword, and thought she was a master. He was somewhat tempted and slowly nodded, which was considered his agreement.

As soon as they clashed, Vivi sensed a completely different fighting style from Kyoshiro. Kyoshiro was meticulous, his battles were continuous and interconnected, with one move leading to another, and he had already planned three or four counter-moves for every move he made. The fat man, Shutenmaru, was completely different. This guy's attacks were fierce, like a demon, and he fought without regard for his life.

The first time Weiwei fought him, they fought for three days straight without a clear winner. The reason she stopped was because she ran out of money on the fourth day. The fat man immediately stopped fighting and refused to fight anymore.

Vivi returned to the village to organize her battle experience. Two days later, she brought some money and went to find the fat man to practice swordsmanship again. The swordsmanship of the sword was simple: "Give me money and I'll fight you. No money? No money and you can get lost!"

Shutenmaru's swordsmanship and Armament Haki are among the strongest in the world. It is said that Kaido personally recruited him, but he only likes to be a bandit and has no interest in being a pirate.

Through the surrounding villagers and a few bandits, Weiwei also learned about Jiutianmaru's true identity. This guy had no intention of hiding it at all; those who knew already knew.

Ashura Doji was once a member of the Nine Red Scabbards under Kozuki Oden. Originally named Ashura Doji, he was a bandit from Kuri. Kozuki Oden fought him for ten days and ten nights and defeated him. Ashura Doji was convinced of Oden's worth and became his retainer.

After Kozuki Oden died, this guy went back to his old ways and returned to the mountains to be a bandit. That's all Vivi knows.

Ashura Doji is very strong. In Vivi's opinion, although he didn't eat a Devil Fruit, his combat power is already comparable to Jack the Drought and Cracker. It's just that he hasn't left Wano Country, so he doesn't seem to have much of a reputation.

If Oden's subordinates were all of this caliber back then, he certainly wouldn't have needed to ask Whitebeard or Rayleigh for help; he might have been able to defeat Kaido on his own... Unfortunately, Oden's actions were baffling; he squandered a winning hand.

In her spare time, Vivi would also buy some wine from the Flower Capital to offer to Ashura Doji.

During casual conversation, she started to recruit him: "Interested in coming down from the mountains? Want to see the ocean, see the world outside Wano Country? You've never seen the Dragon Palace at the bottom of the sea, have you? You've never seen a desert, have you?"

The fat man rolled his triangular eyes and sneered, "Kaido also tried to recruit me. Guess how I replied to him?"

Vivi said dismissively, "Kaido? Kaido has a grudge against you. He killed the head of your Kozuki family. Of course you wouldn't serve him. That would violate the code of a samurai."

Despite her disagreement, the country was rife with the so-called samurai spirit, and she had been exposed to it quite often.

Ashura Doji glanced at me with his triangular eyes and said with utter contempt, "I am a mountain bandit, not one of those disgusting samurai. Don't try to control me with those perverted demands! I only serve Kozuki Oden, and the life or death of the Kozuki family is none of my business!"

The attempt to recruit her failed. The fat man had no intention of serving a female monarch, and he didn't think that Vivi, whose swordsmanship was similar to his, was qualified to recruit him.

"Alright, then you can continue with your promising career as a bandit."

Vivi had become quite familiar with the bandits in this den of thieves. The bandits were still intimidated by her Conqueror's Haki and looked at her as if she were some kind of monster.

When she had nothing to do, she would wander around the mountain village aimlessly.

That day, she strolled around with a straw in her mouth and two long knives hanging from her waist, exuding an air of superiority. As she walked, she spotted some familiar faces in the fields behind the hill...

"...Huh?!" She was afraid she had misread it, so she rubbed her eyes and looked again carefully.

Bucky the Clown, Mochi the Animal Trainer, and Kabaji the Acrobat, all dressed in rags, were seen sweating profusely as they wielded hoes to clear the fields under the watchful eyes of several bandits. Meanwhile, Ricky the Lion was pulling a plow like an ox, listlessly tilling the land...

What are these guys doing in Wano Country?

Vivi looked around. Was she in Wano Country? Yes, she was! This was Wano Country.

How did Bucky the Clown end up in this desolate wilderness? How did the level 10 newbie village boss end up in the level 80 area?

Chapter 209 Strength in Pain

Vivi's voice wasn't loud; she called out softly, "Hey, Red Nose!"

Bucky jumped up as if on reflex: "Who are you calling red-nosed?!"

Wearing sea stone handcuffs, his loud shouting immediately drew the glare of the bandits nearby. One of the bandits stabbed him in the stomach with a stick, causing Bucky the Clown's eyes to bulge out. He clutched his stomach and rolled on the ground in pain.

It really is Bucky the Clown!

Weiwei thought about it very seriously.

Rather than letting this guy cause explosions everywhere and make some kind of Pakistani bomb, it doesn't seem so bad to let him stay here and farm. Without saying another word, she turned around and left.

The lion Liki, who was plowing the field here in place of the ox of the Asura Child, recognized her. He ran over at lightning speed, slid down to his knees, and rushed to her, kowtowing repeatedly, meaning, "Save me, I am a lion, not an ox!"

Vivi used her ability to hear all things to communicate with the lion. The lion's head was full of thoughts like "hungry," "wanting to eat meat," and "wanting to eat meat very, very much." Only after Vivi's repeated "questioning" did the lion barely remember the purpose of the Buggy Pirates. The lion couldn't explain much, only remembering one word: "treasure."

Treasure? Vivi thought for a long time before remembering Captain John's treasure. It seemed like a long time ago... She gave the armlet to the scholars of the Nefertari family for research, and then never inquired about it again. She didn't know how far the research had progressed.

Under her questioning, several bandits recounted the ordeal of Buggy the Clown and his crew. The story was quite simple: the Buggy Pirates secretly infiltrated Wano Country, and a few of them ran into the mountains of Kuri and started digging haphazardly. While digging, they stumbled upon a secret passage used by bandits for escape. Ashura Doji didn't even have to lift a finger; the bandits, who had practiced Armament Haki, easily captured Buggy the Clown and his crew...

How did this guy get into Wano Country?

Outsiders who want to enter can only do so via the large waterfall below Wano Country, besides the normal routes and flying.

That process was extremely risky, almost guaranteeing their survival. When the Big Mom Pirates were preparing to launch a full-scale attack on Wano Country, they were all kicked away by King. You can imagine how dangerous that was. But considering Buggy the Clown's Conqueror's Haki and luck, it's understandable...

"Hey, Red Nose, do you still recognize me?" Vivi asked.

Bucky the Clown looked at her thoughtfully, scrutinizing her face: "Who are you?"

"East China Sea, Judicial Island, does that ring a bell?"

"No."

Vivi nodded: "Very good!"

She genuinely thought it was great. Many people in this pirate world didn't care about a woman's appearance at all. Luffy and Buggy the Clown in front of her had no concept of women. Whitebeard only wanted sons and not daughters. Looking around, the whole world was full of straight men.

Vivi didn't think Bucky the Clown was of any use to her. Since he didn't recognize her, she decided to save herself the trouble and let him continue farming.

The lion pleaded pitifully, and as an animal lover, Vivi interceded on its behalf. The bandits, knowing that the woman in front of them was evenly matched with their boss, that monster, decided to give her face.

The lion removed its plow, donned a cloak, and transformed into the overseer supervising the Buggy Pirates! The plow was strapped to the animal tamer, Mochi, who lay nearby watching the spectacle...

Vivi seized every minute to improve her strength; the Joker and Bucky's gang were just a small matter, not worth mentioning.

While improving one's own strength is important, supporting methods are also indispensable.