Wanokuni, the isolated nation closed off from the rest of the world for over two decades under Kaido and the Kurozumi regime, rarely saw the arrival of outsiders.
So when a man dressed in an unmistakable Marine uniform stood in the forest outskirts, he immediately stood out like a beacon.
From atop the trees, a purple-haired little girl—around ten years old—watched him with nervous, wide eyes. Her green kimono and pink floral hairpin marked her as a child of the region, and the fear on her face spoke volumes about the current climate under Kurozumi Orochi's xenophobic rule.
Carl had just opened his mouth to speak when—
[Ding! Current check-in location is a special sign-in location: Wanokuni.]
[Sign-in progress: 0/3.]
Carl's expression froze.
Originally, he only wanted to sneak into Wanokuni, nab a permanent pose, and slip out unnoticed. But now, the 0/3 progress bar in his mind made him hesitate.
Special sign-in locations offered high-rarity rewards, often tied to rare items or powers. Sure, regular check-ins could also yield great gains, but the odds were much lower.
"Hey! Talk to me!" the girl on the treetop yelled, impatient and wary.
Carl glanced up, slightly amused. "Yes, I came from outside."
She looked traditional—exactly like the citizens Kin'emon and the Scabbards once defended.
"A foreigner?!" she gasped and jumped down. "You have to leave! If you're caught, the Beasts Pirates or Orochi's samurai will take you away!"
Since Orochi's rise, Kuri and Udon had been crawling with the Shogun's men and Kaido's forces. With the likes of Holdem, Babanuki, and even the Oniwabanshu patrolling, hiding was nearly impossible.
Carl simply lit a cigar, unfazed.
"You don't believe me!" the girl—Ayu—looked like she was about to cry. "I'm serious! Come hide with me!"
She grabbed the hem of Carl's Marine coat and tried to drag him.
Carl exhaled a lazy puff of smoke and placed a hand on her head. "Relax. No one's nearby."
He had already spread his Observation Haki across the surrounding terrain. There wasn't a single soul within a few hundred meters.
"Hah… hah…" Ayu eventually gave up tugging and caught her breath. "How do you know that?"
Carl smiled faintly. "You don't need to worry about that. Tell me—who are you, and why are you all the way out here?"
He could sense that the nearest human presence was far away. A child this far from a village in Kaido's territory was… curious.
"I'm Ayu," she said hesitantly. "I came to see the sea."
Carl blinked. "The sea?"
He didn't pry further. Whether a child's whim or something deeper, it didn't matter right now.
"Ayu, I've decided—I'll stay in Wanokuni for three days," he muttered.
Since this was a special check-in zone, and Kaido's drunken antics often kept him away from Onigashima or roaming the Grand Line in a daze, there was little risk.
"Whaaaat?!" Ayu's face turned red with frustration. "After all that I told you, you're still going to stay?!"
"You might as well come with me and hide!" she groaned, grabbing his coat hem again.
This time, Carl didn't resist. He had no intel on Wanokuni's inner state beyond what his Observation Haki could tell. Following a local guide, even a small one, would be helpful.
Plus, the girl had a good heart. She was trying to protect a stranger.
"Here we are!"
After walking nearly a kilometer through winding, uneven paths, they reached a small, impoverished village. Its decaying wooden homes and dry fields reflected the suffering under Orochi's rule.
"This is my home," Ayu said solemnly, ushering him into a modest cabin. "Hide here. They won't find you."
Carl sat down on the floor, looking around.
Wrrrrgle—
Ayu's stomach growled loudly.
"…Hungry?" Carl turned his head.
"N-No!" Ayu's face flushed bright red. "A samurai never admits to hunger! That's disgraceful!"
Carl chuckled, then pulled a gourmet tablecloth from his pocket—a system reward that could conjure food.
"Pork cutlet rice."
A plate of steaming tonkatsu rice materialized, the savory aroma immediately filling the cabin.
"I figured if you're hungry, this might help," Carl said, watching her reaction.
Ayu's eyes widened, and saliva built up unconsciously at the corners of her mouth. She had never seen such luxurious food.
In Wanokuni's poorer regions, rice alone was a birthday luxury. Meat, vegetables, and thick sauce together were like a mythical feast.
Carl could see her struggle.
"Come on, eat. I'm not hungry," he added casually.
"…Really?"
Carl leaned his cheek on his fist. "Really."
"O-Okay then! Thank you so much!" Ayu dropped to her knees and bowed deeply.
In Wanokuni, especially under Orochi's tyrannical control, food was more than sustenance—it was salvation.
And Carl, without knowing it, had just earned a debt of honor.
Well!
It's delicious! How can something taste this good—woo woo woo…"
Ayu's eyes brimmed with tears as she savored each bite. The sweetness of the rice, the crispy tonkatsu, the savory sauce—it overwhelmed her. In a land where starvation was common, this was a taste of paradise.
Carl didn't respond. He simply watched her quietly, leaning slightly back as the faint red glow in his eyes, a telltale sign of his system interface, slowly dimmed and vanished.
"So… pirates really do belong to the chaotic evil camp…" he muttered under his breath, remembering how many so-called "freedom-loving" pirates ravaged innocent lands like this one.
Ayu, busily stuffing her cheeks, glanced up. "Did you say something just now?"
"Nothing important," Carl replied with a light smile. "Just eat quickly. There's more where that came from."
Ayu froze mid-bite, her expression puzzled. "More?" she asked hesitantly, looking at the plate.
It was still warm, as though it had just been taken off the stove. But Carl had no visible cooking gear, and there was no fire or pot around. It wasn't even like a bento—just fresh, hot food that appeared out of nowhere.
Her cheeks puffed slightly as she asked, "Where… where did you hide the food?"
Then she waved her hands quickly. "I-I'm not asking because I want more!"
Carl laughed softly. "Don't worry. I'm not suspicious of your motives."
He leaned forward slightly. "Actually, I'm a magician. I can conjure a little bit of food out of thin air."
"Huh?!" Ayu's eyes widened. "A magician?! Like in those traveling festivals Orochi banned?! Can you really make food appear—just like that?"
"Really," Carl replied confidently.
Then, turning toward the tablecloth, he spoke clearly: "Miso soup."
A soft hum echoed from the enchanted gourmet tablecloth—a reward from the system—and a bowl of steaming miso soup, with bits of tofu, seaweed, and kombu, appeared from nothing.
"Woooah…" Ayu blinked, stunned. Her eyes locked onto the rising steam curling from the bowl.
Magic that creates food… that's even better than what Tenguyama Hitetsu used to say the Kozuki clan's sorcerers could do!
Just moments ago, she longed to be a free pirate like in the stories of Kozuki Oden's voyages. But now, she thought—maybe being a magician wasn't so bad.
After a while, Ayu finished her soup and placed the empty bowl down with a sigh.
"Haah—" she patted her stomach with a content smile.
Carl took a moment, then asked with a calm tone, "Was your village always like this?"
Ayu paused, her fingers resting near her lap. She pursed her lips. "Since I was born, our village's always been poor."
She looked up slightly, her voice soft. "But about two or three years ago, we started weaving kasa hats… and things got a little better. We could eat rice again."
Then her eyes dimmed. "But not long ago… they burned everything. They said we couldn't be richer than the Flower Capital."
Carl's expression turned cold.
He knew the truth—under Kurozumi Orochi's regime, any prosperity outside the Flower Capital was seen as rebellion. If a village thrived, it was crushed to maintain the illusion that only Orochi could grant fortune.
"The Beasts Pirates came…" Ayu added, her voice trembling slightly. "They said our hats were 'rebellious.'"
Carl took out a cigar and lit it, letting the bitter smoke mix with the scent of miso. "This place… what a twisted land."
"…" Ayu said nothing. She only looked down, quietly clutching her sleeves.
That was Wanokuni now—a land where silence was survival.
"Still," Carl continued, narrowing his eyes as he glanced in a certain direction, "because of this twisted structure… that guy Kaido made his move."
His Observation Haki flared again, sensing several clusters of life far to the east—weak, exhausted, oppressed.
That was Udon.
A massive prison camp disguised as a labor site, filled with prisoners forced to work around the clock.
And at the heart of it was the real reason Kaido clung so tightly to Wanokuni:
Seastone.
Unlike other nations, Wanokuni had mastered the art of refining seastone into weaponry. Using ancient techniques passed down by master craftsmen like Hitetsu, they embedded seastone into nails, cuffs, even swords.
If Armament Haki was a direct counter to Devil Fruits, then seastone—like the ocean itself—was their natural bane.
A material so rare that even the World Government kept its mining sites top secret.
But here, in this isolated country, it was found in abundance.
That was why Kaido occupied Wanokuni. Not just to create weapons or raise armies—
—but to monopolize the greatest supply of seastone in the world.
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