Chapter 265: Wan Guo

The New World, Wan Guo.

Wan Guo consists of Cake Island and 34 surrounding islands, including Cocoa Island, Jam Island, Nut Island, Cheese Island, Cookie Island, Candy Island, and others.

Just hearing the names makes one's appetite surge.

Among them, Cake Island is the core of Wan Guo, formed by stacked layers of cake and cream, with architecture and ecology themed entirely around sweets.

It is pure bliss for sweet-toothed fanatics.

Each island is governed by a member of the Xia Luote family as a minister, aiming to realize a utopia of multi-ethnic coexistence.

Wan Guo's law mandates: citizens must pay one month of their life every six months as protection tax.

Effectively, this means working only two months per year, skipping the work process entirely, while spending the rest in carefree leisure, under the protection of the Four Emperors.

It is the best choice for commoners on the Grand Line.

Let me give a simple example.

Suppose an ordinary person lives to 100 years old; if they pay two months of life each year to Big Mom, they still have 83 years left—during which they need not work at all.

After all, even if you work elsewhere, you're still trading time and lifespan for money to survive.

But in Wan Guo, you skip the work process entirely.

Sometimes, thinking about it, it's actually quite nice.

Although Big Mom sometimes goes mad,

her ministers usually try their best to restrain her, and one can even live farther from Cake Island, away from the only real danger of living in Wan Guo.

Precisely because of this utopian lifestyle, Saint Saint Saiwen has never chosen to act against Wan Guo.

After all, it's just an experiment for the future.

For those who are lazy and love comfort, Wan Guo is a paradise of dreams; after overthrowing the World Government, it could easily serve as a place of exile.

Exile to Wan Guo!!!

Let the convicts lie flat, slack off, lose their dreams, and become ugly!

In Wan Guo, inside the palace of Cake Island.

Upon hearing that the Golden Lion still called Saint Saint Saiwen "Captain," Xia Luote Lingling's smile vanished, replaced by a serious expression.

This is tied to Wan Guo's geographical position—it is sandwiched between Wano and the Hive Island.

If the Golden Lion has left the Morning Star Crew, Wan Guo's position between these two powers could still preserve its autonomy.

They could simply ally with the Golden Lion to jointly resist the rising Morning Star Crew.

Yet all this is merely surface appearance.

The Golden Lion still reveres Saint Saint Saiwen as his captain.

In short, Wan Guo is constantly at risk of large-scale invasion by both the Morning Star Crew and the Sky Crew.

Previously, when the younger brother Kaido was still around, they could at least watch each other's backs—even though Kaido never spoke of it, Lingling always regarded Kaido as her younger brother.

Now Kaido has been driven to Dressrosa.

In the entire second half of the New World, apart from the Morning Star Crew, only Wan Guo and Elbaf remain as major powers,

and Wan Guo and Elbaf are enemies.

At such a time of crisis for Wan Guo, the Golden Lion still dares to invite her to New Marineford.

Lingling suspects this is a ploy by the Morning Star Crew to lure her away.

With the Golden Lion as the decoy, they would draw away this Sea Emperor, then the Morning Star Crew could launch a massive invasion of Wan Guo during the opportunity.

Without her as the core, Wan Guo could never stand against the Morning Star Crew.

Most likely, in less than a day, all the wealth she spent years building would vanish.

Even with her present, she probably couldn't defeat the Morning Star Crew—but at least she could resist longer. To resist longer is Lingling's last stubbornness.

The existence of the Morning Star Crew… is truly overpowered.

Even compared to the peak of the Rocks Pirates, it surpasses them.

The former cook of the Luo Jie Crew, having sailed for only five years, has built such a vast territory and power—it makes the veteran pirates of old look utterly useless.

All these years, they've been wasting their lives on the sea.

Upon hearing that Saint Saint Saiwen was coming, the ministers, led by Katakuri, immediately felt a crushing pressure.

A man's name, a tree's shadow.

After the Luo Jie Crew disbanded, Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen's five years at sea became a legend unmatched before or since on the Grand Line.

His bounty of 5.2 billion is not only the highest among living pirates, but was also personally canceled by him at Marineford.

It sounds utterly absurd.

A pirate strolled into Marineford and casually canceled the entire crew's bounty.

Luo Jie's bounty was higher, yes—but Luo Jie was publicly executed by the Marines.

Yet Saint Saint Saiwen is still very much alive.

He has also passed through the Marine's Holy War twice without a scratch, erasing Marineford from the map.

Later, he defeated the Beasts Pirates, led Wano to become a World Government member, and transformed himself from pirate into Celestial Dragon Saint Saint Saiwen Saint.

He has become the very dream of every pirate.

Among the ministers of Wan Guo, Xia Luote Krieger is the most tense.

Originally, Krieger firmly believed: the Morning Star Crew's rescue of Buggy at Marineford was a suicidal act of an egg hitting a stone.

He then led Wan Guo's soldiers to Hive Island, planning to seize it in one stroke.

He never imagined that Marco and others from the Whitebeard Crew were present, and later learned from the news: the Morning Star Crew had won decisively.

Fortunately, Krieger had a sudden flash of inspiration, pretending he had come to deliver Saint Saint Saiwen's birthday gift.

But such an excuse is obviously false to any observant person.

These years, the Morning Star Crew hadn't come looking for trouble, and Krieger had thought it was over.

Now, Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen is coming.

As Krieger's face turned deathly pale, his heart pounded faster: Will Mom protect me?!

As the Great Hall of Cake Island fell into silence, a doorway about four meters tall appeared out of thin air; the arched wooden door swung open.

Zzzt-zzzt-zzzt~ Several thick, dragon-serpent-like bolts of red-black lightning shot across the hall at blinding speed.

With each lightning bolt that struck, bodies collapsed in succession—those who fell unconscious with eyes rolled back were the strongest ministers of the Ten Thousand Nations.

In a few breaths, only Xia Luote Lingling, the Golden Lion, and Katakuri, kneeling and barely holding on, remained conscious.

Everyone else had collapsed into unconsciousness.

Seeing this, Xia Luote Lingling's pupils shrank slightly.

This Conqueror's Haki's mass is stronger than that damn Rocks'!

What could this twenty-year-old kid, Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen, have gone through to possess such an aura?

If I could have a child with Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen… no, a whole litter of children, the Ten Thousand Nations would become the strongest nation on the sea.

Then the question arises.

How do I convince Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen to have children?

As Xia Luote Lingling slipped into fantasy, Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen strode into the hall wearing a black-and-red general's uniform, a sword slung at his waist—Mengxiang Yixin.

Seeing Katakuri still conscious, Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen's eyes burned with heat.

Katakuri—one of the few true men on the sea.

Like Barret of the Morning Star Crew, Katakuri, who also wields all three types of Haki, is the type you instantly recognize as a brute.

This kind of man must be brought under control.

"Captain, tone down your aura."

The Golden Lion was speechless: Brother, we came here to negotiate with Lingling.

How are we supposed to talk now?

Compared to the Captain, the Golden Lion felt his own temper had improved a great deal these past years.

With a thought, Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen made the red-black lightning scattered throughout the hall vanish instantly.

"Senior Lingling, it's time to settle an old account."