Chapter 826: The Power of a Greater Will
Kaido was dead. The strongest creature on land had ultimately fallen to the sky-soaring Uranus, the celestial dragon.
Whitebeard Old Man stood up with a grave expression, surveying the surrounding area. For hundreds of miles around, everything had been flattened. Looking out, there were no hills, no trees—only barren plains and black ash swirling in the wind. The mournful howl of the breeze made the scene desolate.
Whitebeard and Shanks looked up at the sky. Above the nine-ri region, an ominous, gray-white cloud layer churned, hanging low and heavy, pressing down on them with an oppressive weight.
Further away, toward the city and villages of the nine-ri region, there was nothing but silent ruins. In the battle between Kaido and Uranus, no one had survived there...
This was the first time many had seen the aftermath of Uranus's attack. When Ian and Ace had described it before, they had no clear impression. But now, witnessing it firsthand, they understood Uranus's true terror!
A single giant dragon might not be much, but when that dragon was combined with the most terrifying Devil Fruit in the world, it became a disaster capable of destroying the world...
"It looks like... it's going to rain!" Fujitora Old Man also looked up, frowning as his powerful Observation Haki sensed the clouds above, and he suddenly remarked.
Hearing this, Whitebeard Old Man and Shanks immediately recalled a statement Ian had once made. They shuddered and shouted, "All members of the Four Emperors' crews, listen up! Evacuate immediately!"
It wasn't just the pirates who had landed on the island who needed to evacuate—the entire country of Wano had to be evacuated. They quickly dispatched people to contact and inform the shogun of Wano.
Ian had once said that the powerful explosions from Uranus's Devil Fruit power might not be the most terrifying thing. Those explosions could still be avoided if one found sturdy cover. What was truly terrifying, aside from the intense radiation from the blasts, was another factor: contamination!
They remembered this only after Fujitora mentioned the impending rain. The nine-ri region of Wano had suffered multiple explosions in succession, turning it into a heavily contaminated zone. The ominous clouds in the sky were radiation dust thrown into the air. When this dust combined with water molecules at high altitudes, it would soon form rain. Once carried by sea winds, it could spread across the entire country of Wano!
Realizing the severity of the situation, the Whitebeard Pirates, Red Hair Pirates, and Dragon Hunter Pirates sprang into action. Fortunately, the three Four Emperors' crews had brought enough ships and manpower for their pursuit of Uranus. If the people of Wano cooperated, they had sufficient strength to evacuate the populace.
Soon, Whitebeard's men contacted the shogun of Wano, Tokugawa Yoshiki. Marco personally flew to find him. But even without Marco's notification, Tokugawa Yoshiki had seen the massive explosions and flashes from the nine-ri region, along with the mushroom cloud piercing the sky, all the way from Kyoto. The moment he saw that mushroom cloud, the shogun realized that the samurai he had sent, led by Mogami Yoshifu, to subdue Uranus were all dead.
So when Marco arrived and informed him, he immediately grasped the gravity of the situation. Although he had suppressed the Kozuki Family, Tokugawa Yoshiki was still a competent ruler. He promptly issued an evacuation order for all of Wano in the shogun's name.
However, he then realized his past mistakes. Due to the policy of isolationism, most of Wano's citizens harbored strong xenophobic sentiments. Though they followed the shogun's orders to evacuate and relocate, when they discovered that the ones helping them evacuate were pirate ships, and that they would have to leave Wano's soil for unfamiliar islands, their deep-seated distrust and insecurity erupted.
No one wanted to evacuate. They even clashed with the anxious pirates. Despite the shogun's orders, they hesitated, and a stalemate ensued with the pirates.
Learning of this, Tokugawa Yoshiki realized that Kozuki Oden's advocacy for opening the country had been correct. Blind isolationism had preserved Wano but also fostered an ostrich mentality among its people, who had been avoiding contact with the outside world. Now, facing a disaster that could annihilate their nation, the consequences of isolationism had finally surfaced.
And they were fatal.
But by then, it was too late to say anything. Tokugawa Yoshiki had to issue harsh orders for people to evacuate. However, the harsher he was, the more counterproductive it became.
Combined with the memory of the shogun bringing in the Beast Pirates to deal with the Kozuki Family, the people's distrust of him only grew. Despite the massive explosion in the nine-ri region, they thought, "That's just the nine-ri area. Can't we just quarantine it? It won't reach us, right?" So they still refused to leave their homeland.
Amid this stalemate, there were still those who understood. The daimyo of Nishijōno, Hidaki, and his daughter, Princess Nea, were the first to evacuate. Having interacted with Ian, they didn't hesitate to board the ships when they saw the Dragon Hunter Pirates' vessels among those arriving to help. They brought their people along.
As for the other feudal lords and their subjects, they held out against the pirates for two full days before finally realizing something was truly wrong.
What made them realize it was a sudden downpour that swept across all of Wano two days later!
After two days of accumulation, the radiation dust, carried by a passing sea breeze, finally fell as radioactive rain. This rain was unlike any they had ever seen—a terrifying black liquid falling from the low-hanging clouds. Mixed with black snowflakes, both rain and snow carried a pungent odor. When it landed on skin, it quickly caused a burning pain, and soon, the exposed areas began to ulcerate.
Not only that, but people also discovered that shortly after the rain and snow fell, all the crops across Wano were destroyed!
Only then did the people finally realize that what the pirates had said was true—it wasn't a conspiracy to trick them into leaving. Panic-stricken, the citizens of Wano scrambled to board the ships, urging the pirates to take them away. But this panic naturally led to chaos.
As a result, the evacuation of Wano by the Four Emperors' crews dragged on for over a week. During this time, many more people were infected by radiation...
Both Whitebeard and Shanks were overwhelmed by the evacuation of over a million people. All their attention was focused on this task. By the time they came to their senses, they discovered that Momonosuke, the last heir of the Kozuki Family, had fallen ill.
Not just him, but Kanjuro, Raizo, and the surviving Mink Tribe warriors had also fallen ill. Needless to say, it was radiation sickness.
First, their noses bled uncontrollably, no matter how they tried to stop it. Then, their hair began to fall out. The samurai topknots that Wano's warriors prided themselves on were gone in no time. The same happened to the Mink warriors.
Next, their skin began to ulcerate, and their bones became brittle, breaking at the slightest touch.
This wasn't limited to them. Other escaped citizens of Wano, as well as some pirates from the Four Emperors' crews, suffered the same fate. Even Tokugawa Yoshiki, the shogun of Wano, fell ill. The symptoms varied in severity from person to person.
During this time, all the ship doctors from the Dragon Hunter Pirates, Whitebeard Pirates, and Red Hair Pirates were working nonstop. Short on hands, they even urgently summoned more doctors from other islands to treat those infected with radiation sickness.
But if radiation sickness were so easy to cure, it wouldn't be so terrifying!
Over the past two days, people had been dying in increasing numbers. The doctors realized that this illness couldn't be cured with ordinary medicine!
Law also joined the effort to treat patients. Since the Kozuki Family were acquaintances, he prioritized trying to treat Momonosuke.
However, Law's Devil Fruit ability was more suited for "surgery." Pure surgery was useless against radiation sickness. Without specially developed drugs, a cure was impossible.
Reluctantly, Law had to work with other doctors to urgently develop a specific treatment. But how could such a drug be easily developed? When they discovered that this radiation sickness could affect a person's Lineage Factor, Law immediately realized it was a disease as terrifying as "Amber Lead Syndrome"!
To prevent a repeat of the tragedy in his homeland, Law and the other doctors worked day and night, tirelessly.
Unfortunately, Momonosuke didn't survive long enough for the drug to be developed. If he had received treatment immediately after being exposed to radiation, there might have been hope. But during the week-long evacuation of Wano's citizens, his treatment was delayed.
Moreover, because the evacuation consumed so much attention, no one thought to call Ian and ask him to return. If Ian had come back, that brat might not have died.
But as they say, fate works in mysterious ways. As if guided by the power of a greater will, Momonosuke kicked the bucket...
The last heir of the Kozuki Family was gone, and it happened the day before Ian returned on a Revolutionary Army ship...