The next day, at the Heavenly Abode Inn.
Daichi lay on the soft sofa with his body wrapped in bandages, eyes closed as he rested. Around him, more than a dozen female workers knelt on the floor, carefully massaging his feet and shoulders.
As the women touched his strong muscles, their faces grew warm, and their eyes sparkled with admiration.
"Daichi-sama, is this pressure okay?" one asked softly.
"Let me massage your leg," another offered.
"Daichi-sama, would you like me to peel some grapes for you?" a third woman suggested sweetly.
The women served him with great care. Some of the bolder ones kept finding chances to touch him, their small hands moving toward Daichi's inner thighs.
Daichi's brave actions last night had completely won their hearts.
In all of Wano Country, they would never find another true man like Daichi-sama. Just his strong presence made them lose control of their feelings.
They were completely wet.
"Don't lick your tongues! Be more proper!" Daichi scolded them with a dark look on his face.
If his body wasn't aching so much that he didn't want to move, he would have pushed these troublesome women away.
It's truly hard to change old habits!
Not long after, the four fan club members ran over excitedly. Aomushi, Shiroken, Akasuzume, and Chairone looked at Daichi with admiring eyes.
"Good news, Daichi! You've been promoted to Headliner!" Aomushi announced happily.
"Hmm, I know," Daichi replied calmly, waving his hand.
He had worked so hard to show his loyalty. If Kaido didn't give him some rewards, it would be quite unfair.
Unlike Yamato, he had long decided to stay with the Beast Pirates.
The boss values talent, management is easy-going, benefits are good, and if you have ability, you can rise quickly. Where else could you find such a great opportunity?
Working with the Beast Pirates could save him more than ten years of struggling alone!
As for starting his own crew, with all the fighting happening outside, the rewards and risks of going out on his own made no sense.
He doesn't care about the Great Treasure anyway. Besides, Nika already won that game 800 years ago. Roger would have gone home crying if he had tried.
First, he needs to manage his own area well.
"Daichi, there's more good news," the four reported one after another.
Kaido had sent money and given Daichi the job of meeting with one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea.
Ten thousand gold pieces - that's equal to 100 million berries!
Half of the Four Emperors couldn't even come up with that much money!
Thanks for believing in me, Boss Kaido.
And there was another task.
"Doflamingo?" Daichi raised an eyebrow, quickly understanding the situation.
To grow strong in the New World, you either become really good at one thing like the Sea King or News King, staying in an okay position and making a living between the gaps of the Four Emperors.
Or you have to bow down to someone stronger.
Just like Crocodile and Moria - after failing to challenge the Four Emperors, they could only go back to the first half of the Grand Line.
It wasn't that they wanted to go back, but they had no choice.
Staying in the New World meant certain death!
Doflamingo was the same. He did well thanks to the World Government's support, but to go further, he needed protection from one of the Four Emperors.
"I understand," Daichi nodded.
It was just a meeting task - basically no difficulty at all. Doflamingo, no matter how proud he was, wouldn't dare act rudely at the Beast Pirates' main base.
"Daichi, there's another big piece of news!" The four fan club members excitedly clenched their fists.
"Kaido has announced that he will start a big battle in one month. He will choose the strongest six among the Headliners to form the Tobi Roppo, a group second only to the All-Stars!"
"A big battle, huh," Daichi narrowed his eyes.
Finally, this day has come!
He wasn't interested in battles.
It was nothing more than fighting people and taking territory, wasting a lot of time to grab money that probably wouldn't even equal the profit of the hot spring inn in a single day.
The important thing was what would happen to Wano Country after the battle.
Daichi got up and put on his jacket. Under the sad looks of the massage workers, he walked to the backyard garden, where a white-haired girl sat pouting in the small building.
Seeing Daichi approach, Yamato immediately turned her head away.
"Hmph!" She was unhappy!
Watching so many loyal samurai die by Daichi's hands - if this was the price of patience, it was too cruel.
"Come with me," Daichi said without trying to comfort Yamato.
Yamato hesitated for a moment, then sadly followed behind Daichi. She knew that Daichi was the only one she could trust.
Going south from the Flower Capital, it wasn't long before the two arrived outside Ebisu Town. From far away, the broken-down town didn't even have a single house that wasn't damaged.
"All the farmland here is empty," Daichi said, looking at the huge empty fields around the town.
He was very upset.
When people live somewhere, it means the area around it is good for human life. Except for some factory or business towns, water sources and good farmland were normal.
But now, because of water pollution, the fields in Ebisu Town were all empty, which meant the people had no food to eat.
He wasn't feeling sorry for the people, but rather worried about these excellent fertile lands being wasted. It was truly heartbreaking.
After all, he came from a place that valued the land.
"This is all my father's fault," Yamato said with low spirits.
When she first left the island, the girl was as happy as a playful dog, but the harsh reality soon wiped the smile off her face.
Looking around, all she saw was destruction.
"Slap!" Daichi hit Yamato's bottom hard, scoffing. "It's not your fault, so why are you blaming yourself?"
"Hey!" Yamato covered her stinging bottom, glaring angrily.
She wasn't allowed to be sad and blame herself!
"Oh, you are Kozuki Oden!" Daichi's tone changed, and he suddenly realized. "Then the current scene is indeed your fault. You can continue blaming yourself."
"..." Yamato grew even angrier.
"Why is Oden responsible?!" she demanded.
"Because Kozuki Oden carried the hopes of the people of Wano Country, but he failed to protect his country and its people. Is that reason enough?" Daichi calmly replied.
In this cruel world, no one would feel sorry for the losers, especially those who messed up when they had everything going for them.
A useless leader destroys everything.
Even if someone is the strongest fighter, it's not worth praising if they can't lead.
Oden was like that, and Yamato is too!
The difference is that Yamato hasn't reached that final step yet, and with his help, Yamato still has a chance to fix things.
Yamato opened her mouth but couldn't speak.
Daichi shook his head slightly and walked toward the town.
"Let's go into town and have some tea."
Ebisu Town was very poor. Its people lived off the leftovers from the Flower Capital. The large town didn't even have a decent tea shop.
"Pirates! Pirates are coming!" children's shouts echoed through the town.
The town fell into panic. Villagers rushed back to their homes in fear, and those who couldn't make it home hid on the sides of the streets, looking at the two with scared eyes.
Daichi walked through the town with Yamato.
The scenes of poverty and the fearful eyes of the people around them made the girl feel very uncomfortable.
Daichi saw what Yamato was thinking.
"Do you want to help them?" he asked.
"Huh, can I?" Yamato's eyes widened.
After last night's battle, Daichi's image in her mind became even colder. She couldn't imagine Daichi showing kindness toward these poor people.
Daichi nodded slightly. "I said I would help you save this country. Of course, I'm doing this for myself too."
"Yes, yes!" Yamato nodded eagerly, her eyes full of hope.
"How do we do it?" she asked.
"It's simple," Daichi said, looking at the town.
"We buy this place!"