Chapter 1178: Are They Enemies? They’re Walking Merits!

Chapter 1178 -1159: Are They Enemies? They’re Walking Merits!

“Little sis, what do you think Mom would do if she heard that?”

“Telling Mom won’t work as well, we should sell it to Sis Yamato instead. She’ll definitely like this kind of news more. She’s got tons of stuff in her stash, there’s gotta be something fun.”

“Might as well sell a few more copies while we’re at it. Aunt Shaina might want one too.”

Miaona and Wolf didn’t answer Queen; instead, they started loudly plotting right in front of him.

“Which bastard taught you two little brats this kind of thing…..”

No one talks in that volume when whispering, unless they’re doing it on purpose.

In Queen’s eyes, this was an obvious threat: if he didn’t do something, they would. It really reminded him of how Yamato was a few years ago.

“All right, what do you two want?”

“Right now we don’t want anything.”

“We’ll tell you when there’s something we do want.”

“Great, just don’t let me find out who taught you this. You even learned how to ask for blank checks. Can’t you learn something decent?!”

Faced with this overbearing clause, Queen’s cheek started twitching. Life as an officer was getting harder and harder. At first it was the second generation learning how to screw him over; now even the third generation had picked it up.

“It’s fine, Sis Yamato taught us. She said once we’ve got some dirt on you we have to give you a good yank, or else she won’t feel satisfied.”

Facing Queen’s question, Miaona bluntly gave him the answer, forcing Queen to swallow the words he’d been about to say.

“Yeah, Sis Yamato also said we can only treat you like this, not anyone else.”

Wolf’s “finishing blow” hit perfectly. Queen was a bit confused. How did that usually carefree Yamato end up holding such a grudge?

“My dear young lady… when did she teach you that line?”

“Mm… it was that time after you all went out to fight.”

“The time we all went to fight… the Summit War…”

Queen weakly slapped his own face. Case closed. There was only one reason Yamato had suddenly become so vengeful—back then he’d wanted to drag her down with him to get gang-beaten by Kaidou.

As it turned out, he’d underestimated how much Yamato resisted Kaidou.

“Forget it… but I have to teach you something. Even pirates have to talk about loyalty and righteousness. So after we sign our contract, you’re not allowed to tell anyone about this, got it?”

They were just two twelve-year-old kids. At most they’d want a mecha; building a smaller one wasn’t hard. Queen was just worried they’d only learned half of Yamato’s tricks—taking benefits up front and then selling him out right after.

“Don’t worry, Uncle Queen. Sis Yamato also said we have to keep our word, otherwise it’ll be harder to scam you in the future.”

This time Queen didn’t react much. He even felt he’d gained something. At least he could confirm that Yamato was definitely plotting something again. Looked like he’d have to ask Hawkins to do more divinations from now on.

It was just that, because of Arceus, anything related to Yamato would be covered up, which made risk prediction a new problem.

After dealing with the issue of his personal safety, Queen pulled a Communication Snail out of his pocket again.

He carried quite a lot of communication tools on him: Rotom to contact Hundred Beasts officers, Radio Snails to contact outside members and certain organizations, and snails to contact local Wano Kuni forces. All three tools worked pretty well, each with its own use.

“Hello, Hotei? There’s a troublesome group in Wano Kuni now. It’s the son of Kozuki Oden from 20 years ago and his Household Attendants.

I’m not clear on exactly who, so take some men and dig them out for me, and while you’re at it, give your dear General a heads-up.

He’s her big brother, after all. Just thinking about it is hilarious, muhahahaha!”

After sending the message back, Queen also planned to take the group here and leave. After all, he was Kozuki Oden’s son; there was no way he’d let him just quietly die here.

“Have them… forget it, I’ll do it myself.”

Queen instinctively wanted to call a few underlings over, but realized only Mandfeish had followed. Other than him, there were the three little ones and Kuma in its suit.

Kids weren’t easy to order around, and a suited Kuma wasn’t very convenient. With Melo watching, he didn’t plan on having Mandfeish do anything else either, so he simply dragged Inuarashi and Nekomamushi away himself.

As for Momonosuke, he had no intention of taking over. Mandfeish was already carrying him, so he might as well keep doing it.

“Mandfeish, speaking of which, your daughter’s got pretty good luck. That flare of hers went off at just the right time. You’ve piled up quite a lot of merit for her over the years too. That should about be enough.

With an opportunity like this, it’ll be easier for you to speak up. Having Lord Arceus designate a power for her is way better than gambling on luck.”

“I was actually going to talk about that, but I didn’t expect Lord Arceus not to be around.”

“We don’t get to decide where Lord Arceus is. Oh right, you haven’t been back in a while, so let me remind you: watch out for Big Bro Kaidou. These days he might drop in from anywhere.”

“Uh… Big Bro Queen, with all due respect, lately Big Bro Kaidou only seems dangerous to you and the Young Lady.”

“Mandfeish, I’m starting to not like you….”

…

While Queen had already started his return trip on one side, on the other, Hotei convened a Shinsengumi meeting.

“Everyone! Lord Queen’s message has arrived. This is a critical moment for us.”

The people at Hotei’s side were all around middle age, and there were even some Ninja. Although the Ninja Group’s leader was Greninja, most of the time Greninja only managed a few captains—what the rest did was none of his concern.

In fact, jurisdiction over the regular members was also in Hotei’s hands. Besides, there weren’t any particularly strong individuals there, so they couldn’t stir up much trouble anyway.

“This is intel I found in the warehouse. Kinemon, Kanjuro, Raizo—their faces are extremely similar to the swindlers reported by Kuri City earlier!

Combined with Lord Queen’s message, I suspect there’s a high chance it’s them!”

With modern communication facilities becoming widespread, even from the Flower Capital Hotei could receive information from other regions in the shortest time.

They didn’t recognize Kaidou or Arceus, their behavior and speech were strange, and they were very fast.

That was the information forwarded from below, and the reason Hotei called this meeting.

“Everyone, you all chose to join alongside me back then. Twenty years have passed since that day. I trust none of you are dissatisfied with your current lives?”

Hotei didn’t hear any objections and continued immediately.

“Good. I won’t waste your time with meaningless talk; I’ll just speak plainly. These people are followers of Kozuki Oden and supporters of Kozuki Momonosuke.

Even though it’s basically impossible, if they really did succeed in restoring their rule, the ones who’d be screwed would be us! You haven’t forgotten the lesson of the Kurozumi Family, have you?

I don’t need to say much about what happened to those traitors decades ago. The current General is Lady Hiyori, but in the eyes of other members of the Kozuki Family, we are traitors!”

This was a matter of stance. In the eyes of Wano Kuni’s citizens today, the Shinsengumi were just well-paid civil servants.

Compared to the chaotic original timeline, the current Shinsengumi went through a rigorous selection process: written exam, interview, and combat assessment—only those who passed all three could join.

But no matter how nicely you put it, in the hearts of those who still swore loyalty to Momonosuke, they were traitors.

“You also know what Wano Kuni is like nowadays—it’s all petty thieves and small-time crooks. It’s not easy to catch a serious criminal.

Fraudsters at best can barely count, but these guys… they’re walking merit! An opportunity like this almost never comes. The enemy is only three people—take them down at all costs, and I’ll put in the request for your rewards!”

“Yes, sir!”

Whether for their own safety, for profit, or from the perspective of the current Wano Kuni, they all had reasons they couldn’t let the enemy go. A large number of Shinsengumi moved toward Kuri, launching a massive manhunt targeting Kinemon and the others.

At the same time, Kozuki Hiyori also received this news.

“General, a message from Lord Queen—your… brother, Kozuki Momonosuke, has appeared again.”

“Oh? Has he now? And where is my dear brother at the moment?”