Hearing Jerry's question, Carina patted her chest and responded with visible relief, "Phew, that was close! Luckily Yamato was here, otherwise I almost died from all that debris."
Standing beside her was Kaido's daughter, Yamato, who persistently called herself Kozuki Oden. On Yamato's back, Ace lay bruised and exhausted, his injuries from the epic battle clearly taking their toll.
"Hey, Jerry..." Ace raised his hand weakly, managing a tired grin. "You... cough... finished him too?"
Jerry nodded to both Carina and Ace, then turned his attention to their unexpected savior. With a casual wave, he said, "Yeah, it's done. In that case, thank you, Kozuki Yamato. It's been a long time since we last met."
"It's Oden!" Yamato immediately corrected with her characteristic enthusiasm, then shook her head dismissively. "But it's fine! Ace and I are friends, and I just helped shield everyone from the shockwaves and falling rubble."
"Regardless, we owe you our gratitude," Jerry said matter-of-factly. "If you have any requests, just ask and Ace will definitely agree to it."
Ace blinked in confusion, his face showing complete bewilderment. "Huh!? Why me?"
Jerry shot him a sideways glance, speaking as if it were obvious. "Because she saved your life! Carina was just collateral damage."
"Excuse me?" Carina, Ace, and Yamato all exclaimed in unison, staring at Jerry with varying degrees of indignation.
Seeing Carina's expression darken dangerously, Jerry quickly laughed and waved his hands. "Just kidding! Don't take it so seriously."
Yamato's expression softened into a slight smile. "Although I had my suspicions, I really didn't expect that you would be the one to finally defeat the old man."
"Why do you say that?" Ace asked curiously, shifting slightly on Yamato's back despite the pain.
Yamato pondered for a moment, her expression growing thoughtful. "Because of Oden's diary and the prophecy of Wano Country... they're somewhat different from the current situation. You're not samurai, and you're not from Wano Country..."
Before she could finish her explanation, Jerry tilted his head and interrupted with characteristic bluntness. "Diary? Prophecy? Wasn't Oden basically a dreamer? Isn't it inevitable that his predictions would be off?"
Hearing this casual dismissal of her idol's words, Yamato fell silent for a moment before responding quietly, "Maybe..."
At this point, Ace chimed in enthusiastically, "But isn't the prophecy talking about us? There are nine of us too!"
"Pfft!" Jerry and Carina immediately pressed their lips together, their eyes rolling as they tried desperately not to burst into laughter.
Yamato blinked in surprise, then immediately fell into self-doubt. "Is... is that really it?"
Carina quietly rolled her eyes and suddenly asked with a more serious tone, "By the way, you mentioned before that you're Kaido's daughter, so... don't you hate this guy for what he did?" She gestured toward Jerry.
Yamato stared down at her wrist, where the explosive handcuffs her father had placed on her had once been. She remembered the massive explosion that had occurred after Ace helped her remove them, and the years of imprisonment they had represented. After a long moment, she shook her head silently.
The group began walking toward their ship together, chatting casually while ignoring the curious stares from the surviving Beast Pirates and other onlookers who kept glancing between Yamato and the crew.
After some time, when all the battles across Onigashima had finally concluded, Jerry and the others returned to the Black Nova.
While Deuce was urgently treating the wounds of both Jerry and Ace, a familiar pineapple-headed figure appeared on deck, accompanied by a large dog and cat. It was Marco, along with Duke Inuarashi and Nekomamushi, who had leaped aboard.
"Hey, you two, are you holding up okay?" Marco asked with his characteristic grin.
Jerry looked at the smiling pineapple-headed man and, without bothering to answer, simply reached out and pushed his face toward Ace instead.
Seeing this, Ace smiled softly, though he winced slightly from the pain in his body. "I'm fine, Marco. How did everyone else fare?"
"Well... it was manageable," Marco replied, touching his distinctive hair and smiling somewhat sheepishly. "Everyone focused on holding the line, but the remnants of Big Mom's crew still managed to escape."
Ace clearly wasn't concerned about the Big Mom Pirates' retreat. "As long as everyone's safe, it doesn't matter if they got away. They weren't our primary target anyway."
After saying this, Ace looked toward Jerry, then raised his bandaged arm and waved to a small figure nearby. "Tama."
"I'm here!" Tama raised her right hand and hopped forward, responding immediately with bright eyes.
Ace looked at the little girl before him, his expression becoming apologetic. "The biggest obstacle has been removed. Now we can finally fulfill the promise we made to you. I'm sorry we kept you waiting for so many years."
Jerry nodded in agreement, his voice carrying genuine regret. "Yeah, sorry for making you wait so long."
Hearing these words, Tama couldn't help but recall the scene from years ago when she first encountered the Spade Pirates. Her gaze lingered on the wounded Jerry and the others for a moment, and when she saw the kind smiles of the Black Star Pirates, tears unconsciously filled her eyes.
She pressed her lips together, trying hard not to let the tears fall, but her efforts were in vain.
Tama wiped the tears from her face and shook her head vigorously. "It wasn't long at all! I've been working hard for this day, but I still want to thank you on behalf of everyone in the village! Thank you all so much!"
As she spoke, she bowed deeply and formally to everyone present.
"Eh!? What promise?" Yamato, who had been listening intently and could smell the scent of what sounded like a passionate adventure story, asked eagerly.
Deuce smiled warmly and briefly explained to her the entire sequence of events from years past, speaking in a low voice so as not to interrupt the emotional moment.
"Tama, there's no need for such formality," Jerry said gently. He was almost completely wrapped in bandages like a mummy, but he managed to sit up from his reclining chair and stroke Tama's head affectionately. Then his expression grew more serious as he turned to look in the direction of Wano Country's mainland. "We agreed we'd do our best, and besides, it's not time to relax yet."
"Oh, I see! So you want to rebuild Wano Country and help establish a new government!" After listening to Deuce's story, Yamato's eyes flashed with fanaticism and she spoke with growing excitement.
Everyone exchanged glances, and finally focused their attention on Jerry, who scratched his head thoughtfully before addressing Yamato. "We'll leave that difficult task to you, Oden."
At this point, Jerry's mouth curved into a meaningful smile. "However, if Tama becomes the shogun of Wano Country, then I'll plant the flag of the Black Star Pirates here."
"Eh!?" Upon hearing this unexpected declaration, not only Yamato and Tama, but also Ace and the others were stunned into silence.
Without waiting for everyone's reaction, Jerry continued with determined authority. "Don't worry about that for now. Let's head to the Flower Capital first and clear away all the remaining obstacles for you."
Then, he raised his chin toward the storm cloud hovering nearby and said, "Deuce, I'm counting on you from here on out."
Deuce immediately understood what Jerry meant. He turned around, picked up the loudspeaker, and began shouting passionate words to the assembled rebels who had been waiting nearby, not daring to act without orders. He explained their next course of action in clear, inspiring terms.
The former Beast Pirates members who had been converted by Tama's Devil Fruit power—including the Gifters and Pleasures, as well as the rebellious SMILE users and Waiters—all responded with loud cheers. They had no objection to Deuce's arrangements and felt that following the strong was simply natural behavior. After all, obeying and relying on the powerful was one of the unspoken rules of the New World.
On the other side of the gathering, the elite warriors of the Whitebeard Pirates and the minks also heard about the Black Star Pirates' next target.
The members of the Whitebeard Pirates readily agreed to the plan. Since Whitebeard himself wasn't present, they naturally followed the leadership of division commanders like Ace and Marco.
As longtime allies of Wano Country, the Mink Tribe would never refuse anything that could benefit the isolated nation they had sworn to protect.
Therefore, adhering to the principle of striking while the iron was hot, the joint forces of tens of thousands of warriors from several different factions prepared to set out immediately. Their destination: the Flower Capital, where the corrupt shogun Orochi still held power, completely unaware that his greatest protector had just fallen.
The liberation of Wano Country was about to begin in earnest, and this time, there would be no one left to stand in their way.
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