Caesar's Den Den Mushi call with Doflamingo continued.
While trembling, Caesar finished reporting the destruction of the factory.
The moment Doflamingo heard Cain had been involved, veins bulged across his forehead as he burst into wild laughter.
"Fuffuffuffuffu! What kind of bullshit excuse is that?! The factory has been finished for ages! You should've produced at least one batch by now!"
"I specifically ordered you to move some of the raw materials out before those two started fighting! So where are they?!"
"Th-they were destroyed too!"
Caesar shrank back as cold sweat rolled down his temples, stammering desperately.
The truth, however, was nothing like that.
The essential raw material used to produce SMILEs took time to cultivate.
To make sure the newly purchased machinery worked properly, Caesar had only bought a small amount for an initial test run.
That first batch had been close to completion when he heard that Cain had joined three different Emperor crews at once.
His hopes of revenge collapsed on the spot, and he plunged headfirst into alcohol and stopped caring about anything.
To vent his anger and frustration, he did what he had done countless times before—summoning the women of GIRLS' SHIP to Punk Hazard every night and partying until morning.
This time, he spent even more extravagantly than usual.
Within only a few days, he had burned through every Beli he possessed.
He had even squandered ninety-nine percent of the special funds Doflamingo had provided to purchase the materials needed for production.
The tiny sum left over was enough to produce only a single barrel of raw material, nowhere near enough to satisfy Doflamingo.
Worse still, the first batch that had almost finished cultivating was completely ruined because Caesar had neglected it for days.
At this point, he could only grit his teeth and use this painfully flimsy lie to endure the fury coming through the Den Den Mushi.
As expected, Doflamingo exploded after hearing his explanation.
Unfortunately, Punk Hazard was the only facility capable of producing the raw material for SMILEs, so there was little he could do to Caesar.
In the end, Doflamingo clenched his teeth and ordered Monet to depart for Punk Hazard immediately and personally supervise every stage of Caesar's production.
As for Doflamingo himself, he would have to find another way to deal with Kaido's demands.
Should all else fail, he could simply blame the entire disaster on Cain.
Still, one strange matter had been weighing on Doflamingo lately.
Kaido's people were pressuring him more frequently than ever, yet whenever Doflamingo personally called Kaido's Den Den Mushi, no one answered.
He could not understand what was happening.
…
At that moment, snow filled the air above Ringo in the Land of Wano.
"Thunder Bagua."
Kaido had lost count of how many times Yamato had come to challenge him to a fight to the death.
Even so, he continued enjoying himself as he swung Hassaikai.
The kanabo, wrapped in Conqueror's Haki, tore through the swirling snow and smashed directly toward Yamato's face.
Already grievously injured, Yamato could no longer endure.
She took the blow head-on and was sent flying like a kite with its string cut, crashing heavily into the snow.
Although she remained conscious, every bone in her body felt as though it had come apart. She no longer possessed enough strength to stand, much less continue fighting Kaido.
Kaido did not follow up.
He merely raised his eyes and looked directly toward the person who had been hiding in the shadows behind a rock.
"Stop hiding. Take her back."
"And tell her to use her damn head and come up with a plan. She'll never challenge me successfully with brute strength alone!"
"That said, what she asked for is ready. Once her injuries heal, she can come collect it!"
Before his words had even finished echoing, thick Flame Clouds rose around him.
Kaido transformed into an enormous blue-scaled dragon that blotted out the sky, then soared toward Onigashima.
The hidden figure watched the dragon's massive body disappear into the snowstorm.
He clenched his jaw and tightened his grip around his sword before leaping from concealment and rushing toward Yamato.
Yamato showed no surprise at his appearance.
Instead, she forced a grin.
"Ah, it's you again. Sorry to keep troubling you, Napping Kyoshiro!"
"Well, this time wasn't a complete loss. I earned another hundred sacks of grain!"
The newcomer was none other than Orochi's former personal bodyguard, the spy who had spent years hidden at his side.
Napping Kyoshiro—or, in truth, Denjiro of the Nine Red Scabbards.
He straightened his robes, knelt formally, and bowed before speaking in a solemn voice.
"It is no trouble. After all, I am the Shogun's dog."
"It makes no difference who occupies the position. I remain completely loyal to you."
"As for the previous Shogun, I was simply too weak to protect him. Now, I have no choice but to devote that loyalty to you instead."
As Kyoshiro spoke, he handed Yamato the bundle he had kept hidden behind his back.
After catching her breath for a while, Yamato finally gathered enough strength to sit up.
She accepted the bundle and opened it.
There was nothing inside except a bowl of plain white rice that was still slightly warm.
"I don't like hearing you talk that way."
Yamato held the bowl and looked up at him.
"Who would willingly become someone else's dog?"
"Kyoshiro, do you really not hate me at all? I replaced the previous Shogun."
"No. Of course not. I hold no dissatisfaction whatsoever."
Although Kyoshiro was still pretending to serve Yamato while concealing his true identity, every word of that answer was sincere.
After returning from overseas and officially becoming Wano's acting Shogun, Yamato had distributed all the wealth and grain Orochi had hoarded in the Flower Capital throughout the country.
Whenever low-ranking members of the Beasts Pirates caused trouble in the villages, she personally drove them away.
Thanks to her efforts, the remote settlements that had suffered under the Beasts Pirates for so long—places where even eating a full meal had become an impossible luxury—could finally obtain enough food to survive.
However, it was only a temporary solution.
Pollution had already reduced Wano's agricultural output to pitiful levels, while much of the farmland had been converted into factories.
Food was constantly being consumed, but almost none was being produced.
Eventually, the entire country would run out.
Yamato was deeply troubled by the problem and had complained to Kyoshiro about it.
Because she had distributed most of the available food, even the Shogun's residence had little grain left.
Plain white rice was almost all she could eat.
For now, Yamato could obtain the food Wano needed only by challenging Kaido in exchange for supplies.
But that could never be a lasting solution.
Kyoshiro had witnessed every one of these matters, both large and small, and his heart remained filled with questions he could not answer.
She was Kaido's biological daughter—the child of the man responsible for destroying Wano.
So why had she chosen a path completely opposed to her father's?
Although Kyoshiro still carried many suspicions, he continued pretending to follow Yamato willingly so his true identity would not be exposed.
Yet after observing her for so long, he had watched this so-called acting Shogun return from battle covered in wounds again and again, challenging Kaido without hesitation while doing everything she could to improve the lives of Wano's people.
He still remained wary of her identity, but he could not stop himself from developing genuine curiosity toward this naive, stubborn woman.
Only two years remained before Lady Toki's prophecy spanning twenty years would come to pass.
Orochi's sudden death was a completely unexpected change, leaving Kyoshiro deeply confused and unable to understand how it fit into everything.
…
Yamato did not respond to Kyoshiro's words.
She merely thought he was a strange man and began eating her plain rice while looking around.
One glance was enough for her to notice something was wrong.
"Wait! Hold on—where did Kaido knock me this time?"
Broken swords of every shape and size protruded from the snow all around her, their rusted blades mixed with layers of frost.
This was the Northern Cemetery of Ringo.
Among the graves, one particularly conspicuous headstone immediately caught Yamato's attention.
A surname she cared deeply about had been carved into its surface.
The inscription read: Kozuki Moria.
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