In the lands of Kuri, near the Flower Capital—
a band of mountain brigands hurried down a dusty road.
At their head strode a burly man with a broad chest and weathered features, his sheer presence enough to tell of his strength.
"Boss Shutenmaru! Bad news—something's happened! Orochi's dead! That damn snake's been killed!"
"What?!"
The bandit chief—once known as Ashura Dōji, former retainer of Kozuki Oden turned outlaw after his lord's death—stared at his man in disbelief.
The scout swallowed hard, voice trembling.
"It's true! We saw it ourselves on a Transponder Snail screen in the last village—the broadcast showed it clear as day!"
Shutenmaru's jaw tightened.
"We're turning back. I need to see this for myself."
He wheeled his horse around and galloped toward the nearby village.
Sure enough, the enormous projection snail displayed it for all to see—
Kurozumi Orochi's severed head, lifted high by a masked warrior.
"Impossible… Why would Kaido kill Orochi?"
Shutenmaru's world tilted.
He had lived long enough to expect nothing but cruelty from the Beast Pirates, but this—this didn't add up.
Though he'd become a bandit, his loyalty to the Kozuki clan had never wavered.
When he'd heard that Kaido's so-called son-in-law had brought Orochi a hundred of those "Mutant Cells," he'd planned to strike, steal them, and use them against Kaido himself—even if it meant his death.
But now it seemed he'd been outplayed.
That Beast Consort had never planned to deliver anything.
He'd come to kill Orochi.
Shutenmaru's gaze lifted to the screen, where Luo Xing stood calmly on the execution platform, sipping his drink as if this were all a play.
Just who are you…?
And why kill Orochi now?
The Speech That Shook the Nation
Luo Xing drained his cup with unhurried grace.
He knew exactly what the people were thinking—
the confused citizens, the surviving retainers of the Kozuki clan, and even the nobles of Wano watching from afar.
The Beast Pirates and Orochi had ruled together for years.
Why betray him now?
Why execute him publicly—before the entire country?
The answer was part justice, part theater.
And every great play needed a powerful speech.
Luo Xing rose, cleared his throat, and projected his voice over the plaza.
"People of Wano—
To all gathered here, and to all watching through the broadcast snails—
I am Luo Xing.
The one who executed Kurozumi Orochi was my wife—Yamato."
Murmurs swept through the crowd.
"When the Beast Pirates first came to Wano, we were deceived by Orochi.
We thought he sought to save this nation, not enslave it.
But his cruelty, his corruption, his crimes against you all…
even Kaido himself could no longer stomach them!"
"And so, we have come to make things right—to end the snake's tyranny
and correct the mistakes of the past!"
The words rolled out like a polished script.
Every syllable calculated.
The message was clear:
All the evil was Orochi's doing.
Kaido and the Beast Pirates were merely misled.
To the naive masses, it sounded plausible.
But to the sharp-minded—men like Shutenmaru or the regional leaders gathered in the plaza—
it was laughably transparent.
Still, Luo Xing didn't need everyone to believe.
He only needed the people.
This speech wasn't for the elites.
It was for the hungry, the broken, the desperate.
He had just rewritten Kaido's image—and Yamato's future—in a single stroke.
And now it was time to give the people a reason to cheer.
Luo Xing's voice thundered again.
"We know the people of Wano have suffered under Orochi's rule.
Many of you have gone hungry. Many of you have been poisoned by his weapons and waste.
That ends today."
"From this moment forward, all laws established by Orochi are abolished.
We will draft new ones—laws that serve the people, not enslave them!"
A ripple of disbelief spread across the crowd.
The provincial lords exchanged uneasy glances.
"Is he serious?"
"Could the Beast Pirates actually be… helping us?"
"No—impossible! They're pirates!"
"But… they killed Orochi, didn't they? Kaido doesn't need to lie to us…"
The uncertainty was palpable.
Kuri, Amigasa Village
"Look, Sensei!" cried little Otama, jumping up and down.
"The bad man's dead! That nice big brother did it! He must be a good guy!"
Hitetsu groaned, stroking his long nose.
"That 'nice big brother' is the Beast Pirates' son-in-law.
No pirate is a good man, Tama. Don't be fooled."
"You're wrong! I can tell he's not bad!" she argued stubbornly.
Hitetsu's beard bristled in frustration.
He'd seen the Kozuki clan's tragedy firsthand.
He would never believe a Beast Pirate could bring salvation to Wano.
Then Luo Xing's voice rang through the snail again.
"From this day on, all weapon factories must be moved away from water sources!
No more pollution, no more poison in your food!
No one will ever again be forced to eat what kills them!"
A collective gasp spread through the villages.
People wept openly, remembering the laughter disease—the cruel result of eating the failed SMILE fruits,
turning their pain into grotesque grins.
"And finally," Luo Xing continued,
"ships loaded with grain and food are already waiting offshore.
They will be distributed to every region of Wano—immediately."
For a heartbeat, there was silence.
Then joy exploded.
"Food…?"
"He said food!"
"We'll eat again! We'll live!"
Even Hitetsu was struck speechless.
And Otama, clapping and laughing, squealed:
"See, Sensei! I told you he's a good guy!"
The Coronation in Blood
Back at the Shogun's estate, Luo Xing's gaze swept across the crowd of nobles, merchants, and warriors—men and women frozen in shock.
"You are the leaders of your lands, the voice of your people," he declared.
"Now tell me—do you accept our sincerity?
Will you recognize Yamato as the new Shogun of Wano?"
No one answered.
Doubt lingered still.
Luo Xing's smile vanished. His tone turned to ice.
"Queen."
"At your service!" the plague laughed, stepping forward with a grin that promised violence.
The crowd stiffened.
"Execute all of Orochi's men," Luo Xing ordered, "and every last member of the Kurozumi family."
"Gladly!" Queen bellowed.
The plaza erupted in screams.
Queen's soldiers—mutated warriors of the Gifters corps—descended like wolves among sheep.
Blades flashed, blood sprayed, and in minutes,
every trace of the Kurozumi clan was gone.
The ground ran red.
The scent of iron choked the air.
When it was over, silence fell again—
broken only by the sound of trembling knees hitting the stone.
One by one, the remaining nobles fell to their knees, voices quaking.
"All hail Lord Consort Luo Xing!"
"All hail Shogun Yamato!"
That day, the blood of the Kurozumi clan stained the Flower Capital red.
And with it, the sky of Wano changed forever.
For the first time in twenty years—
the dawn had returned.
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