"My lord, what do you think of my work? Am I doing well?"
Kozuki Hiyori asked again, her beautiful eyes glimmering with hope. They were like pools of autumn water, full of expectation as she searched Vane's expression for an answer. She wanted to know her place in his heart.
Hiyori studied the young man before her. Though a few years younger, Rhett Vane carried himself with a calm maturity. At barely sixteen, he stood at the pinnacle of the world, a figure who could even rival the monster ruling Onigashima.
"Your work? It's excellent," Vane replied without hesitation. "There's no one else in this country who could do it better."
His words were factual. Who else in Wano could match Hiyori's abilities?
Yet Hiyori's smile wavered. She had hoped for more—details, guidance, something beyond a curt assurance. Couldn't Vane tell her what she did well, what could be improved, or what he expected from her moving forward?
But the truth was simple: Vane didn't bother with such things. He had no interest in dissecting administrative matters.
What mattered was that he trusted Hiyori. For all her cleverness, her schemes were bent toward his goals. She was ambitious, yes, but predictable—and easy for him to control. That was enough.
Two days passed quickly after Vane's return.
At noon, Crocodile and his followers arrived at Wano, scaling the massive waterfall cliffs. Because Vane had already spoken with Queen and the others, the Beasts Pirates offered no resistance to their entry.
Still, Queen and his crew couldn't understand it. Why had Kaido's attitude toward Vane shifted so drastically? The captain who once dismissed everyone now allowed this boy to move freely, even bending to his decisions.
"What's going on? Since when does Kaido-sama approve of everything Vane does?" Queen muttered in disbelief.
"They're the Beasts Pirates," King said coldly. "Pride used to define them, yet now even that seems gone."
The truth unsettled them further. Vane was engaging in economic reforms across Wano, tearing apart its centuries-old feudal structure. Instead of plundering, he was building.
"A pirate emperor shouldn't be doing things like this," one of Kaido's men scoffed.
Jack frowned. "Yeah. We've been building an army of Zoan users, trading with Doflamingo for artificial fruits, preparing to dominate the seas. And what's Vane doing? He's building roads and markets. Is this what an Emperor should be?"
No one had an answer.
Still, the Beasts Pirates could not deny his results. Even Crocodile's arrival left them uneasy.
Crocodile had come with nearly all of Baroque Works at his back. To most of his agents, this was terrifying ground—Wano, home to not one but two Emperors of the Sea.
For ordinary pirates, just hearing that name sent shivers down their spines. An Emperor was one of the five mightiest figures in the New World, capable of shaking nations with a single move. And Vane? Rumors painted him as the most dangerous of them all. It was said he had driven Charlotte Linlin—Big Mom herself—into insanity. Whether she would ever recover remained uncertain.
To Crocodile's followers, Rhett Vane was the embodiment of terror.
Upon entering the Flower Capital, Hiyori, following Vane's prior instructions, arranged a residence for Crocodile's group. With many homes still vacant, it was easy to assign them both living quarters and offices. Baroque Works would have a base here, seamlessly woven into Vane's expanding web.
That evening, Vane arrived.
He sat across from Crocodile, calm and composed. Hiyori remained at his side, fulfilling her role as both secretary and administrator of Wano's new order.
The room's atmosphere grew heavy. Members of Baroque Works shifted uncomfortably, overwhelmed by the young man's presence. In only a few short months, Vane had climbed to the highest peak of power—an achievement they could barely comprehend.
Even sitting in silence, he radiated an invisible pressure, a suffocating reminder of the gulf between them.
"Vane," Crocodile began cautiously. "I've come as you asked. What exactly do you need of me?"
Vane leaned back, eyes narrowing as if in thought.
"Let me consider it first."
Crocodile stiffened. That was not the answer he had hoped for. He felt irritation bubbling beneath his calm façade, but he dared not let it show. Rhett Vane's strength dwarfed his own.
"You should rest, Crocodile," Vane said with a faint smirk. "All this fighting and scheming—tell me, is that really the life you want?"
Crocodile was silent. He had lost much—his ambitions tied to Pluton, his dream of supremacy fading. And now, faced with this boy who had shattered every expectation, even he could not deny the weight of Vane's words.
As the night deepened over the Flower Capital, it was clear: the world itself was shifting, and at the center of that storm sat Rhett Vane, the youngest Emperor the seas had ever known.
_____
Milestone,
100 Power stones = 1 Bonus Chapter