Wano Country, a very special nation in both the first and second halves of the Grand Line.
It is a closed country that never receives outsiders and is not affiliated with Mariejois.
Such countries are actually quite common in both halves of the Grand Line, and even in the Four Blues.
After all, in this world where the majority of the surface is sea, the number of islands is vast, and kingdoms are countless.
The number of member nations of Mariejois is only over 170, possibly less than 200.
Poor and backward countries that are unable to join the ranks of the Mariejois member nations because they cannot pay the Heavenly Tribute are countless on this sea.
But... Wano Country is different.
Hundreds of years ago, it was known as the Land of Gold. Because of its vast amounts of gold, it was coveted by pirates and even the world's nobles, and it once faced countless powerful enemies.
However, those foreign enemies were all blocked by a samurai with a black blade who was known for slaying dragons in the sky.
With a single move, a flash of his blade that could cut down any opponent, he let the whole world know that Wano Country had samurai.
Therefore, besides the Land of Gold, Wano Country is also known as the Land of Samurai.
Like Amazon Lily in the Calm Belt, it is a powerful country with a large number of samurai, almost every one of whom can cut through steel and is skilled in Ryuo (Haki).
In addition to its extremely powerful national strength, Wano Country also has a geographical advantage similar to that of the Isle of Women being in the Calm Belt.
Wano Country has no outer sea coast; it is surrounded by cliffs and waterfalls, with countless whirlpools, large and small.
Even Marine warships, which can cross the Calm Belt, cannot enter.
It is these advantages that have allowed Wano Country to become a powerful nation with vast resources, unaffiliated with Mariejois, and undisturbed by any outsiders.
Of course, that was then!
Now, in the eyes of the world, Wano Country is still the mysterious and powerful Land of Samurai.
But in the eyes of some, this country has long lost its former glory.
Its resources are severely polluted, and a large portion of its population lives on the brink of starvation.
This is the Wano of today.
The year is 1517, in the month of November.
Holding the Eternal Pose for Wano Country that he had gotten from Doflamingo, Karl arrived in the special sea area where Wano was located.
Looking down at the whirlpools that appeared and disappeared, and the cliffs and waterfalls...
Karl released the electric field of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit. His figure transformed into an electric current, and with a series of teleports, he passed through the special sea area that had blocked countless ships and claimed the lives of countless people who had tried to enter Wano, arriving on a cliff somewhere in the country.
"As expected of a powerful nation on a large island. The number of powerful auras is truly countless."
Karl, carrying a backpack large enough to fit nearly ten of himself, casually took a drink from a side pocket. He bit the straw and walked towards the forest ahead, muttering to himself, "I wonder where Kuri is. Instead of slowly searching with Observation Haki, I should just find someone and ask."
Karl's purpose on this trip, besides visiting Kaido on Onigashima to witness the true peak of this world, was indeed to tour Wano Country.
It had been almost sixteen years since he had transmigrated.
Because the TV series in his previous life was severely padded, Karl had transmigrated before he could finish the Wano arc.
After so many years, his memory of the Wano arc was as blurry as it could be. He had even forgotten the names of some important characters.
So, before visiting Kaido, Karl wanted to take a look around this island that had turned Luffy into the great Monkey D. Luffy, a place where he had powered up in a short amount of time and become the Fifth Emperor.
And also, to meet a person who had left a deep impression on him even now.
"Food... food..."
As Karl walked down a forest path, a very young voice, which, just by listening, one could tell belonged to a very young owner, suddenly reached his ears.
Karl, who was drinking his beverage, looked in the direction of the voice.
The next second, his emerald green eyes lit up.
In the nine o'clock direction, a small, very cute little girl, who looked to be no more than five years old, had appeared.
She had medium-length, deep lilac-colored hair tied in a bun, adorned with a comb and a flower pin.
She wore a patched, light green short-skirted kimono, tied with a light orange wide sash. On her back, she carried a bamboo tube that was more than half her height, even though she was less than a meter tall.
At this moment, her large, round purple eyes, like Nami's when she saw treasure, were shining with a dazzling golden light. Saliva was uncontrollably drooling from the corner of her mouth as she stared intently at the oversized backpack on Karl's back, from which food was peeking out.
"Food... so much food..."
O-Tama, who had never had a full stomach since she was born and was more mature and resilient than Carina and Nami at the age of five, now had her eyes and mind completely filled with the food in Karl's backpack.
"...Want some?"
It wasn't until Karl walked in front of her and spoke in a gentle voice that O-Tama came back to her senses.
Then, what appeared before her was a figure that, to O-Tama, was very tall, bending down and holding out a large chicken leg.
"Gulp..."
Smelling the heavenly aroma of the freshly unwrapped large chicken leg, O-Tama subconsciously swallowed. She then looked at Karl with a mixture of apprehension and anticipation. "Can... can I? ...Is it really for me?"
For O-Tama, who could only eat rice twice a year, a large chicken leg like this was a delicacy she wouldn't even dare to dream of.
A delicacy like this, even the adults in the village had to work for ten days to afford.
Did she, a mere O-Tama, really have the right to eat the legendary large chicken leg?
"Of course you can. Eat up!"
Looking at O-Tama, who was as cute as Carina when she was little, Karl subconsciously pinched her cheek.
Realizing his action was a bit inappropriate, Karl then forcefully placed the large chicken leg in her hand.
"Th... thank you!"
O-Tama didn't mind Karl's action, or perhaps she didn't even realize her cheek had been pinched.
Seeing that Karl had really given her the legendary large chicken leg, she was so excited she couldn't speak, and after a stammered thank you, she quickly began to taste the most delicious food she had ever eaten in her life.
However...
Seeing O-Tama open her mouth as wide as she could but only dare to take a tiny bite of the chicken, a nostalgic look appeared on Karl's face.
Once again, he saw the reflection of Carina in O-Tama.
Back then, when they had just left the orphanage, Carina would also give most of the food to Karl, while she would take a small amount and eat it in small bites.
It wasn't until Karl adapted to the outside world and gradually grew stronger that Carina was able to eat her fill every day.
Placing the backpack, which was as heavy as a small mountain, on the ground, Karl sat down by the side of the forest path, patiently watching O-Tama, who was eating the large chicken leg with her eyes closed in bliss. A gentle smile gradually appeared on his face.
He hadn't expected to meet the person who had left the deepest impression on him from the Wano arc so soon.
O-Tama, also known as A-Tama, the user of the Dango Fruit.
Like the Barrier-Barrier Fruit, the Love-Love Fruit, the Hollow-Hollow Fruit, and the Hobby-Hobby Fruit, the Dango Fruit could also be considered a type of rule-based Paramecia.
No matter how ferocious an animal was, as long as it ate O-Tama's dango, it would become docile and obedient, treating her as its master.
This ability was even effective against artificial Zoan users.
It was because of O-Tama that Karl remembered that Ace had gone to Wano in the original story, and it was also the reason he hadn't bypassed Wano and gone directly to Onigashima.
O-Tama was one of the crew members he had his eye on.
He wanted to take her back to Gran Tesoro while she was still young and mold her.
He hadn't expected to meet the person he most wanted to see, and was preparing to look for, as soon as he arrived in Wano.
It seemed even the heavens thought they were fated.
Watching O-Tama, who, although eating in small bites, had quickly finished more than half of the chicken leg, Karl thought to himself.
"...So delicious, even better than apples and red bean soup!"
After a while, O-Tama finally finished the chicken leg, which was bigger than her head. She even licked the bone in her hand, reluctant to part with it, then put it away, for some unknown purpose.
"Thank you, big brother..."
After putting away the bone, O-Tama did not continue to stare at Karl's oversized backpack full of food. She stood up and bowed to Karl, grinning. "This is the most delicious food O-Tama has ever eaten in her life!"
"Your name is O-Tama?"
Karl pretended not to know her name and introduced himself, "My name is Karl. I just arrived in Wano today."
"Amazing! Big brother, are you from the sea outside?"
Hearing this, O-Tama's eyes once again shone with a golden light. She looked at Karl with a face full of longing and asked, "What's the sea outside like? Is it very beautiful, with delicious food like chicken legs everywhere?"
Like Kozuki Oden, the policy of a closed country had made many people in Wano wary of the outside world.
But there were also many who were full of longing for it.
O-Tama was one of them.
"Yes... it is indeed beautiful."
Karl nodded, not wanting to shatter the little girl's fantasy.
In fact, there were countless places on this sea that were far more cruel than the current Wano.
Whether it was the Laborer Kingdom or the war-torn countries, the people there not only lived like slaves, but even staying alive was a difficult task.
Some countries were constantly at war, and after many adults had died, many children of the same age as O-Tama, no more than five years old, were mercilessly thrown onto the battlefield by the rulers of the kingdom.
When children of a few years old went to the battlefield, 99% of them became cannon fodder, holding bombs to clear the way or shielding adults from bullets.
After all, not everyone was a monster like Douglas Bullet.
So, Karl, who had witnessed such cruel scenes from a young age, actually felt no sympathy for the plight of the people of Wano.
If he were to step in and save them out of sympathy, then even if he transformed into a superhero from an American comic, he wouldn't be able to save this sick world.
Therefore...
Karl only cared about the people he cared about, and would only extend a helping hand to those he had a good impression of.
Nami back then, and O-Tama now, were examples of this.
"That's great. I want to see the outside world too..."
Seeing Karl nod, the longing on O-Tama's face grew even stronger.
"ROAR..."
Before Karl could speak again, the roar of a beast suddenly came from a distance, reaching their ears.
Hearing the roar, O-Tama was not frightened at all. Instead, a look of joy appeared on her face. She shouted in the direction of the voice, "Komachiyo, over here, over here..."
As if it had heard O-Tama's voice...
After a while, a giant, all-yellow Komainu that looked like a lion appeared in the forest, running towards Karl and O-Tama.
"Komachiyo, this is for you!"
Looking at Komachiyo, who should have been waiting outside, O-Tama quickly took out the bone she had just put away, preparing to feed it to him.
"O-Tama, is that your pet?"
Looking at the large Komainu that could crush O-Tama with a single swipe of its paw, Karl asked, knowing the answer.
"Mmm-hmm... Komachiyo is my family, and also my guard!"
O-Tama, who had thrown the bone into Komachiyo's mouth, nodded at Karl as she petted the Komainu, which was lying in front of her.
"I see."
Karl stood up, put on his oversized backpack again, grinned at O-Tama, and once again asked, knowing the answer, "O-Tama, where is the biggest and most prosperous place in Wano?"
"The most prosperous place is definitely the Flower Capital, where the Shogun's castle is."
O-Tama answered subconsciously, then looked at Karl with some reluctance. "Big brother, are you leaving?"
"Of course not..."
Karl bent down and patted O-Tama's head, smiling gently. "I'm going to the Flower Capital, but I don't know the way. Can you take me there, O-Tama?"
"Mmm-hmm... of course! Leave it to me!"
O-Tama's face lit up, and she puffed out her chest like a little adult.
Then, as if she had remembered something, she looked at Karl with some apprehension. "Um... big brother, can I take the bamboo tube back to the village first, and then take you to the Flower Capital?"
"Of course, no problem..."
Suddenly, under O-Tama's slightly blushing gaze, Karl picked up her one-meter-tall body and placed her on his shoulder. He then picked up the bamboo tube she had left on the ground and smiled. "Let me help you. This will be faster!"
"O-Tama, where is your village?"
"Over there... go that way... Komachiyo, lead the way for big brother!"
Sitting on a boy's shoulder for the first time, O-Tama, although her mature personality made her a bit shy, felt a strange emotion in her heart.
This emotion was called affection!
An affection born from the gift of food on their first meeting, and from the impression made by the first outsider she had ever met.
It was this affection that made O-Tama not resist Karl's head pat, or his action of placing her on his shoulder.
On the contrary, her affection for Karl grew even stronger.
A simple little girl who subconsciously pursued "beautiful things" on their first encounter.
Karl, with his experience in winning over Carina, believed that winning over O-Tama after spending some time with her would be an easy task.
And now, he was indeed doing just that.
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