Seeing Ray accept the food she had brought, Tama was overjoyed.
At the same time, she bowed deeply to express her gratitude for Ray avenging her village earlier that day.
"Thank you, Ray-sama! Thank you so much!"
After that, Tama wiped her face and mentioned she still needed to search for her grandfather, preparing to take her leave.
But just as Tama turned to go, Ray pointed her in a specific direction.
"Head straight south for one kilometer. There's a hidden cave at the foot of the mountain."
As for Tama's "grandfather," Ray had some recollection of his true identity, though not a favorable one.
The former ruler of Wano Country, Kozuki Sukiyaki.
Was he a good father? Maybe.
But he was also a coward who let his country fall.
Still, that had nothing to do with Ray.
Early the next morning, he would go and kill Kaido.
After all, there was less than a month left until the Summit War began.
He was on a tight schedule.
As for Tama? Her ability was unique—her Kibi Dango Devil Fruit Ability allowed her to control all artificial Devil Fruit users.
Ray only needed to advise Tama on what to do.
He believed she could survive and thrive in the turbulent Wano Country with that power.
Strong individuals didn't need others to coddle them forever.
Tama could manage on her own.
'Rin should have been able to as well... but unfortunately…'
Ray's mind kept replaying Rin's final words before her death.
"Sesshomaru-sama... Rin truly wished to walk by your side forever…"
In her tone, Ray heard reluctance, helplessness, and regret…
"Sigh…" Ray exhaled a breath of smoke-like mist.
…
Night grew darker.
Cavendish and his group had already finished helping Tama bury the villagers' bodies.
Page One and Ulti on the other hand, were currently bound with dozens of layers of 20cm-thick iron chains, one layer over another, and locked inside a small, reinforced hut.
Cavendish was well aware of how terrifying the physical strength of these Ancient Zoan Devil Fruit users could be.
Once they regained consciousness, they could transform into their beast forms and rip through normal ropes like paper.
So they had to be bound tightly enough to hold a dragon.
One or two layers would be broken—so he used ten.
At first, Cavendish was surprised that Ray hadn't simply killed these two who had offended him.
But he didn't ask Ray directly.
Because Cavendish understood clearly: a useful subordinate must be able to guess their Boss's intentions and prepare countermeasures in advance!
Only then would they be entrusted with greater responsibilities in the future.
While helping Tama bury the villagers, Cavendish thought of the answer.
Back at Whole Cake Island, he had helped Ray find a Devil Fruit—the Pet Pet Fruit.
It could control any living being using a green energy collar.
Since it was originally prepared by Boss Ray for that little white dog, Chouchou...
And the Ability of the Pet Pet Fruit allowed absolute control over anyone collared...
Combined with Ray's intention to wage war against the World Government...
Cavendish reached a conclusion.
'Boss Ray spared the lives of these two siblings to turn them into war puppets!'
'Wow, I'm just too brilliant. The Boss is so far-sighted!'
Just then, Cavendish suddenly felt a chill run down his spine!
It felt like he was being watched by a wild beast.
"Who's there?!"
Cavendish immediately drew his Durandal from his waist and slashed behind him in a blur.
SWISH!
Unfortunately, he missed.
A flash of white light passed before Cavendish's eyes and instantly moved behind him, appearing next to the bound siblings, Ulti and Page One.
Cavendish quickly turned to look.
"...A dog?"
What met Cavendish's gaze was a large white dog, standing two meters tall at the shoulder.
It was emitting white ring-shaped smoke, with heavy chains wrapped around its two front legs.
"A mere beast... daring to show itself before me?"
Cavendish struck a pose, pointing his sword. "Then I'll slaughter you to provide meat for the survivors of this village!"
Despite Cavendish's arrogant words and imposing demeanor, the hand holding his sword trembled slightly.
'How can there be such a strong dog?!'
'Damn, I hope I can hold out until Boss Ray notices something's wrong here!'
Cavendish wasn't one of those brainless villains; he had already assessed the enemy's strength the moment his slash failed.
Moreover, the white dog's eyes were very human-like.
Combined with the fact that this was the territory of the Beast Pirates, the conclusion was obvious.
The white dog was a Zoan-type Devil Fruit Ability user.
And judging by the smoke rings floating behind the white dog...
Cavendish had heard from Ray that Zoan Ability users with rings on their backs were usually...
'An Awakened Zoan?! Or an incredibly powerful Mythical Zoan?!'
If not for putting on a calm front to intimidate the opponent, Cavendish would have been on the verge of tears!
'Boss! Hurry up and come! I definitely can't beat this guy!'
...
In the room used to imprison the siblings, Ulti and Page One, the man and the beast stared at each other, wide-eyed.
Ten seconds passed.
The "white dog" seemed to lose patience and began circling Cavendish, occasionally moving closer to sniff him.
As for Cavendish, he still maintained an air of superiority, holding his sword steady.
But beads of cold sweat uncontrollably dripped from his forehead.
'What should I do? Fight?'
'Even if I used Hakuba, I probably still couldn't win against an Awakened Zoan.'
Just as he was growing increasingly tense, the "white dog" began to speak.
"Are you a pirate from outside?"
"Do you know Ace?"
"Do you know Luffy?"
The moment Cavendish heard the white dog speak, he bristled. A talking dog?
But when he heard the names Ace and Luffy, his tension gradually turned to confusion.
"You... know them?"
"I'm a friend of Ace! And a future companion of Luffy!"
POOF!
At that moment, the white dog suddenly transformed into human form.
Revealing a woman with blue-white hair, wearing a short kimono and holding a spiked club.
She smiled brightly before Cavendish.
"My name is Kozuki Oden! Pleased to meet you!"
...
Meanwhile, aboard the Thousand Sunny on the Grand Line.
A battle that shook the entire island began.
The combatants were Gecko Moria, one of the Shichibukai, and Luffy of the Straw Hat Pirates.
...
Earlier that day...
After the Strawhats landed on the spooky island of Thriller Bark and Moria immediately sent various types of zombies to harass them.
The Zombie Army was easily defeated by Luffy and his crew.
Luffy even considered bringing those neither-human-nor-ghost beings onto the ship as pets.
As for the corpse of the ancient giant, Oars...
Since Moria's subordinates couldn't obtain Luffy's shadow no matter what they do, they came up with a "clever" plan.
Perona took advantage of Sanji's weakness for women and successfully captured him, bringing him before Moria.
Thus, after some time, an "Island-Moving Giant" who loved kicking people and yelling about ladies was revived!
Seeing this curly-browed Oars, Sanji felt utterly humiliated.
But one person was extremely excited!
Zoro had already defeated the zombie Ryuma and temporarily replaced his sword Yubashiri with the famous black blade, Shusui.
Eager to test the blade, he spotted a curly-browed giant in the distance who looked irritating at first glance.
When he arrived at the scene, he quickly learned the details from his laughing companions.
"Hahaha! You trash cook! That's so embarrassing!"
As Zoro spoke with a grin, he casually tied his green bandana on.
He felt immensely pleased watching Sanji hiding behind a rock, too ashamed to show his face.
"Hmm... what a powerful red-skinned cook... clearly stronger than the black-suited one hiding over there. Hey you damn cook, just keep hiding and I'll show you how to cut him down."
Sanji.... naturally couldn't tolerate such disrespect!
"Shut up, Moss Head!"
He immediately jumped out, ready to settle the score.
Thus, the two began their usual rivalry again.
Sanji and the curly-browed Oars exchanged kicks, causing shockwaves.
Zoro unleashed several massive sword slashes, but Oars successfully dodged by using Geppo to ascend into the air with surprising agility.
Then, Oars used a "Sky Accelerator" dive to charge straight at Zoro.
"Though I'd love to keep mocking him, I have to admit, the damn cook does have some skill."
In terms of speed, Zoro was indeed at a disadvantage against this agile Oars.
'But if you dare charge straight at me... don't blame me for being ruthless.'
Zoro spun his blades.
"Santoryu Ogi... Ichidai Sanzen, Daisen Sekai!"
SLASH!
A flash of purple sword light, and the curly-browed Oars was instantly split in two from head to toe.
THUD! THUD!
The two massive chunks of flesh crashed heavily on either side of Zoro.
"Tch. What a useless cook."
Sanji was infuriated upon hearing this!
"You're asking for it, you Moss Head!"
But Zoro wore a smug expression, elegantly sheathing his three swords at his waist while muttering to himself loud enough for Sanji to hear.
"Tsk. Too weak."
"Dammit! I'll fight you to the death right now!"