Chapter 725: Monsters?
Although flying through the air in a straight line was indeed much faster than sailing by ship, it still took Ian and the others a full three days to gradually approach the sea area around Wano Country.
The weather in the New World's oceans was fickle, with all sorts of bizarre climatic phenomena possible. So even for Ian and his group, when they encountered harsh weather, they had no choice but to stop and take shelter.
Originally, they could have simply flown higher into the sky, passing through the clouds to avoid the bad weather below. But the fear was that they might run out of stamina mid-flight, which would cause trouble.
One peculiar aspect of Vivre Cards was that the closer you got to the card's owner, the more frequently the card would pulse when placed in your palm for guidance.
Ian and the others used this method to judge their distance.
When a long, dark shadow appeared on the distant horizon in the morning light, Marco told Ian that was the land of Wano Country.
Marco had actually been to Wano a few times before, but back then he had come by ship, which was completely different from flying directly through the air now. The scenery and landmarks along the way were entirely different, so without the guidance of the Vivre Card, Marco wouldn't have been able to act as a guide.
However, upon seeing the dark shadow of the land, Marco told Ian with absolute certainty that it was Wano Country. This was because Wano was one of the few countries in the New World with a massive land area.
Of course, this referred to a relatively "massive area." In the New World, sometimes a small island just a few kilometers in diameter with a population of a few thousand could establish a country, and there were many such countries. In comparison, Wano's area of over a thousand square kilometers was naturally exceptional.
The size of an island determined its population base—that was common sense. The larger the population, the stronger the national power. Coupled with Wano's abundance of "samurai," the country was recognized as one of the world's strong nations.
There were many powerful countries like Wano in the New World. The Giant Tribe's famous kingdom of Elbaf went without saying. Zeke from the Dragon Hunter Pirates had also mentioned during chats that his Longarm Tribe's homeland was the Tainakaina Kingdom on the New World's Sword Mountain Island, another famous strong nation. Besides that, the Longleg Tribe (also known as the Stilt-Leg Tribe) had their own country, and Ian knew of the Mink Tribe's homeland, Zou, whose warriors were also quite famous in the New World.
It could be said that the countries established by these special races in the New World could all be considered strong nations, as they often possessed unique skills and combat abilities.
However, Ian noticed a phenomenon. Compared to the bustling sea traffic of ships they had seen when first entering the New World, the number of ships they spotted on the sea surface had been steadily decreasing throughout their flight.
By the time they entered the outer waters of Wano Country, Ian and the others didn't even see a single ship.
Marco explained this doubt. It was because Wano Country's location was already deeper into the New World.
Due to increasingly dangerous weather and sea currents, the further one ventured into the New World, the fewer ships could reach these places. The consequence was that islands and countries located deeper in the New World had less and less contact with the outside world.
In other words, they were isolated! These islands and countries deep in the New World could be seen as remote backwaters. Some even more distant islands were still in a primitive, slash-and-burn era!
Without communication, there was no civilization or enlightenment, and knowledge didn't advance much. Marco told Ian that in Wano Country, even Devil Fruit users, long known to the world, were still referred to as "users of rare fruits of the world." People believed that after eating such a fruit, one could become a person capable of using sorcery.
"Though isolated, no matter the race, there are always those who wish to see the outside world!" Marco said to Ian as they flew. "Especially with the arrival of the Great Pirate Era. Even in the remote depths of the New World, people have gradually come out to the outside world, and outsiders have also reached their islands and countries."
"But unfortunately, these rare race individuals are seen as precious goods in the eyes of slave traders. The lucky ones can join pirate crews and roam the world as pirates, but the unlucky ones are captured by slave traders and sold all over the world. Overall, their situation isn't great."
"The outside world is always cruel!" Ian nodded.
"Yeah!" Marco said. "But facing such a cruel world, some people feel anxious. Wano Country is like that. Although its location is deep in the New World, it's not completely unreachable. Since the Great Pirate Era, while they've continuously encountered new things, their citizens have also been constantly harmed. Although the people of Wano are normal humans, there are quite a few rare species within their country. So pirates always target these rare creatures, constantly raiding their country. This has made many people in Wano increasingly conservative toward outsiders, which is why they've chosen to close off the country."
"Oh..." Ian nodded thoughtfully. It felt a bit like a subconscious act of avoidance...
"But there should be some who don't avoid it, right?" Ian asked.
"Exactly!" Marco nodded. "Facing the harm brought by the outside world, there are always those who rise to the challenge and confront it. Their attitude toward the outside world is more proactive. The Kozuki Family of Kuri in Wano Country is one example."
Ian and Marco chatted as they flew. Bonney, lying on Marco's back, looked a bit bored. She wasn't very interested in such matters, so she shook Marco and said, "You said Wano has many rare beasts, so why haven't I seen any? Aren't we already in Wano's waters?"
"Wanting to see rare beasts is easy!" Marco smiled, then turned to scan the sky around them. He stopped and nodded toward the southeast, saying, "Look, isn't that one?"
Ian and Bonney looked up and saw a black dot flying in from the southeastern sky. It was moving fast, and soon they could make out its shape.
It was a massive black bird! It looked like a giant crow, but strangely, its body was humanoid!
This giant crow actually had human legs instead of bird claws! Its entire body was covered in black feathers, but its human legs were bare.
"What kind of bird is that!?" Ian asked in surprise as the crow flew past ahead of them.
"I don't know. They're called rare beasts, but the people of Wano call it a Crow Tengu!" Marco replied. "They refer to these rare beasts as 'monsters'!"
Monsters? It really did look like one. But then Ian suddenly remembered that Big Mom's Totto Land collected rare beasts, including mythical creatures like griffins and unicorns. So Wano having so-called "monsters" didn't seem too hard to accept...
"If there are Crow Tengu, are there also things like Night Owl Birds?" Ian asked Marco.
He had only asked casually, but Marco was taken aback and replied, "Hey, how did you know?"
Ian nearly spat out a mouthful of blood in surprise. "They really exist!?"
"They really do!" Marco said firmly. "There's a fierce bird that only inhabits the high mountains of Wano, with nine heads. We call it a Nine-Headed Bird based on its appearance, but the people of Wano call it the Night Owl Bird!" Marco explained. "They consider it another type of monster."
Then Marco pointed at the sky around them and said, "You might not know this, but even News Coos are unwilling to come to this sea area around Wano. It's because these fierce birds exist—they prey on News Coos! And for some reason, they really enjoy it! So in Wano, you hardly see any news newspapers. Information is extremely blocked. Most news from the outside world in Wano is brought by pirates who come here."