Chapter 1194: Cherish Life, Stay Away from the Kozuki, The Tremor-Tremor Fruit Reappears (Part 2)

She and Zeraora never take sides in a fight, and the gifts she prepares are always in duplicate. As long as the parents treat their children equally and don’t let either side sense unfairness, siblings usually won’t hold grudges overnight.

The rift between Momonosuke and Hiyori was caused by many factors. Kozuki Toki feared her children would be wiped out together, so she separated them, but never considered what the one left behind would have to go through.

The way the Hundred Beasts used to handle things already put enormous pressure on Hiyori, and then those who wanted to assassinate her poured more fuel on the fire, which finally led to today’s situation.

“By the way, you two remember this well: stay away from anyone with the surname Kozuki from now on. Everyone in that family is not right in the head. You’re still too young.”

This newspaper made Setsuna abandon her previous idea. In her mind, there were no normal people left in the Kozuki Family. Momonosuke was probably just as bad. Out of sight, out of mind—better not to go looking for grievances.

Reality proved her decision correct, and in corners she couldn’t see, even more ridiculous things were happening.

Udon quarry—per Hiyori’s orders, a copy of this morning’s paper was specially delivered to Momonosuke.

He could at least read. Seeing Hiyori’s heartless words and recalling her previous ruthlessness, he felt deeply miserable, curled up in a corner without the slightest intention of moving.

He occupied a very particular position in the quarry. Kozuki Hiyori had yet to assign him any heavy labor, as if she had other plans.

He was isolated even within the quarry, because anyone who spoke to him would find their workload doubled the next day. The work here was already brutal; continuous doubling would literally work a person to death.

Aside from an old man who brought him food every day, Momonosuke had no contact with any living person. And the way that old man looked at him was very strange, often making Momonosuke’s skin crawl.

The old man’s name was Udon, but that was only an alias.

His real name should be—Kozuki Sukiyaki.

Father of Kozuki Oden, grandfather of Momonosuke.

Everyone thought he had died at the hands of Kurozumi Orochi, but in fact Orochi hadn’t killed him back then—just imprisoned him. During the great war in Wano Kuni, Sukiyaki escaped and went into hiding, living a quiet life under a false identity.

When Kozuki Hiyori was a puppet General, he didn’t show up; when she was nearly assassinated, he still didn’t appear.

Even after Kozuki Hiyori turned dark, Sukiyaki had no particular reaction.

Now that he appeared at Momonosuke’s side, it still wasn’t to help him—this just happened to be his current job.

If Queen hadn’t investigated everyone’s identities across Wano Kuni in order to protect himself, Sukiyaki might still be holed up in the mountains.

On the original timeline, this is exactly what he did. Before Kaidou’s defeat and Momonosuke’s rise as General, no one knew the former General was still alive. All they knew was that there was a masked weirdo in the mountains named Tenguyama Hitetsu.

If the Kozuki Family could make a comeback, he would step out again; if not, he would never reveal his true name for the rest of his life.

…

The restoration turmoil in Wano Kuni was like a fleeting flower, leaving no ripples, but out on The Sea, the waves had never stopped.

Pirates slaughtered each other for treasure, and the Navy hunted pirates in every sea.

Akainu’s third wave of initial crackdowns had ended. At first, the Navy’s operations greatly suppressed newly emerging pirates, but as more and more people went out to sea, the number of pirates on The Sea began to rise again.

Chaos breeds war. Under this chaotic ocean, every force qualified to do Mercenary business was making a killing.

Buggy Express, now a household name, had become an emerging power at sea. Doflamingo’s subordinates were also moving all over, and after another mission, Pika brought back a very valuable spoil.

“Doffy, I’m back. This is the loot from this job.”

Pika solemnly took out a small treasure chest. Seeing that Pika had been carrying it on him the whole time, Doflamingo became interested.

“Fufufufufu, what is it? From the size… let me guess—an Devil Fruit?”

“Yes, Doffy. It’s a very powerful Devil Fruit. The ones who found it hadn’t recognized it yet, they had no idea what it was worth.”

Devil Fruit encyclopedias are rare. Most people might never see a single Devil Fruit in their lifetime, let alone an illustrated guide that records the forms of most Fruits.

As Pika opened the chest, a pale blue Devil Fruit covered in crack-like patterns appeared before Doflamingo.

“This is… fufufufufu, Pika, this is quite the treasure. Almost two years now, and this Fruit finally shows up again.”

There are many Fruits in the encyclopedia, but a few are unforgettable. To Doflamingo, the one he remembered most was the Op-Op Fruit.

This Fruit didn’t mean as much to him as the Op-Op Fruit did, but it was enough to trigger a bloodbath on The Sea. A Fruit like that was not something Doflamingo would ever forget.

It was none other than the Quake-Quake Fruit, originally owned by the former Four Emperors—Edward Newgate.

Unlike Logia-type Fruits, if someone else ate the Quake-Quake Fruit, they might not be able to reproduce Whitebeard’s power. But after Whitebeard used it to earn the title of “strongest man in the world,” this Fruit became faintly tied to the concept of “the strongest.”

The Donquixote family still had some members who weren’t ability users, but Doflamingo had no intention of letting them eat this Fruit directly.

He had no plans to give away such a powerful Fruit; he only intended to use it to squeeze out the maximum profit, then distribute the gains to his subordinates.

“Perfect. We’ve got our prize for the near future… Trebol, contact Monet and ask how things are going on her end. Diamante, get ready. Looks like the arena is about to welcome some new guests. Oh, right—whose hands did you take this Fruit from?”

“It wasn’t taken, it was bought. The ones who found it were from Buggy Express, but they didn’t know what it was. I got it for just 200 million Belly.”

“Nicely done. Don’t let this leak yet. We’ll talk when everything’s ready.”

As an excellent Devil Fruit broker, Doflamingo had handled many powerful Fruits, but this one was special.

Whitebeard had not yet been forgotten by the world, and the power that could destroy the world came from this Fruit. The Navy and the World Government would never sit by and watch it vanish, and countless forces across The Sea would be drawn to it.

On top of that, there were still the remnants of the Whitebeard Pirates.

Once the news got out, they would never allow this Fruit to fall into someone else’s hands. Doflamingo had already foreseen how lively Dressrosa’s future would be.