Although flying through the air in a straight line is indeed much faster than sailing by ship, Ian and his companions still took three full days to gradually approach the sea area of Wano Country.
The New World’s seas are ever-changing, with all sorts of incredible weather phenona possible. So even for Ian and the others, when they encountered harsh weather, they had to stop and take shelter.
Originally, they could have flown directly into the higher skies and passed through the clouds, which would have spared them from worrying about the bad weather below. But they were afraid that their energy might not hold out while flying, which would be troubleso.
Vivre Cards have a special feature: the closer you get to the owner of the card, the more frequently it pulsates when held in your palm.
Ian and his companions used this thod to judge the distance.
When a long black shadow appeared on the distant horizon in the morning light, Marco told Ian that it was the land where Wano Country is located.
Marco had actually been to Wano Country a few tis before, but back then he ca by ship, which was 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 shadow of the land, Marco confidently told Ian that it was indeed Wano Country, because Wano Country is one of the few countries in the New World with a vast land area.
Of course, this is relatively “vast,” because in the New World, sotis a small island spanning a few kiloters with a population of several thousand can establish a country, and there are quite a few such nations. In comparison, Wano Country, with an area of over a thousand square kiloters, naturally appears uniquely blessed.
The area of an island determines its population base—this is common sense. The larger the population, the stronger the national power naturally is. Coupled with the fact that Wano Country produces “samurai,” this country is also recognized by the world as one of the strong nations.
In the New World, there are many strong nations like Wano Country. One of the famous kingdoms of the giants, Elbaf, naturally needs no introduction. Zick of the Dragon Hunter Pirates once ntioned his Longarm Tribe holand during conversations; that’s the Tena Kena Kingdom on Sword Mountain Island in the New World, also a well-known strong nation. In addition, the Longleg Tribe (also known as the Long-Footed Tribe) has its own country, and then there’s Zou, the holand of the Mink Tribe that Ian knows of—their warriors are also quite famous in the New World.
It can be said that the countries established by these special races in the New World can all be called strong nations because they often have unique skills and combat abilities.
However, Ian noticed a phenonon: compared to the bustling ships on the sea when they first entered the New World, the number of ships they saw along their flight had been decreasing significantly.
When they entered the waters surrounding Wano Country, Ian and his companions didn’t see a single ship.
Marco explained this to him: it’s because the area where Wano Country is located is deeper into the New World.
As the climate and ocean currents beco increasingly treacherous, the further one ventures into the New World, the fewer ships can reach these areas. Consequently, islands and countries located deeper within the New World have less interaction with the outside world!
In other words, they are isolated! These islands and nations deep in the New World can be considered remote backwaters; so even farther islands are still in a primitive state, practicing slash-and-burn agriculture!
Without interaction, there is naturally no civilization or enlightennt, and cognition doesn’t make significant progress. Marco told Ian that in Wano Country, even Devil Fruit users—who are already well-known to the world—are still referred to as “rare fruits.” They believe that after eating such fruits, a person can beco soone who uses sorcery.
“Although they are isolated, in any race, there will always be people who wish to see the outside world!” As they flew, Marco said to Ian, “Especially with the advent of the Great Age of Pirates, even in the remote depths of the New World, people have successively co to the outside world. At the sa ti, outsiders have also reached their islands and countries.”
“Unfortunately, these rare races are considered precious commodities 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 worldwide. Overall, their situation isn’t very good.”
“The outside world is always cruel,” Ian nodded.
“Indeed!” Marco replied. “However, in the face of such a cruel world, so people feel anxious—Wano Country is like this. Although their country is located deep in the New World, it’s not entirely inaccessible. Since the Great Age of Pirates began, they’ve continuously witnessed new things, but their own people have also been continuously hard. Although the people of Wano Country are normal humans, their country has so rare species, so pirates often target these rare creatures, constantly harassing their nation. Therefore, many people in Wano Country have beco increasingly conservative toward outsiders, which is why they have a policy of isolation.”
“Oh…” Ian nodded thoughtfully. It felt a bit like people’s subconscious avoidance behavior.
“But there must be those who won’t avoid it, right?” Ian asked.
“That’s indeed the case!” Marco nodded. “In facing the harm brought by the outside world, so people choose to confront it head-on. Their attitude toward the outside world is more positive. The Kozuki family of Kuri in Wano Country is one such example.”
As Ian and Marco flew and chatted, Bonney lay on Marco’s back, looking sowhat bored. She wasn’t very interested in these matters, so she shook Marco and said, “You said there are many rare beasts in Wano Country, so why haven’t I seen any? Aren’t we already within Wano Country’s range?”
“If you want to see rare beasts, that’s easy!” Marco smiled, turned his head to look around the sky, then stopped and pointed southeast. “Look, isn’t that one?”
Ian and Bonney looked up and saw a black dot flying in the southeastern sky, moving very fast. Before long, they could see it clearly.
It was a… very large black bird! Judging by its appearance, it seed to be a big crow, but strangely, its body was humanoid!
This giant crow actually had human-like legs instead of bird claws! Its entire body was covered in black feathers, except for those bare human legs.
“What kind of bird is that!?” Watching the crow fly past ahead, Ian asked in astonishnt.
“I don’t know; it’s called a rare beast after all. But the people of Wano Country call it a ‘Crow Tengu’!” Marco answered. “They refer to these rare beasts as ‘yokai’!”
Yokai, huh? It does look like one. Ian suddenly rembered that in Big Mom’s Totto Land collection of rare beasts, there were legendary creatures like griffins and unicorns. So the existence of so-called ‘yokai’ in Wano Country didn’t seem too hard to accept.
“There’s a Crow Tengu, so are there creatures like the ‘Nue’?” Ian asked Marco.
He was just asking casually, but Marco was surprised and asked in return, “Huh? How did you know?”
Ian almost spat out a mouthful of blood in astonishnt. “They really exist!?”
“They do!” Marco affird. “That’s a fierce bird with nine heads that inhabits the high mountains of Wano Country. Based on its appearance, we call it the ‘Nine-Headed Bird,’ but the people of Wano Country call it ‘Nue’!” Marco explained. “They consider this a type of yokai as well.”
After speaking, Marco pointed around the sky. “You might not know, but in the sea area around Wano Country, even News Coo doesn’t want to co because of these fierce birds. They prey on News Coo! And for so reason, they seem to particularly like them! So here in Wano Country, you can’t get any newspapers, and information is extrely scarce. The people of Wano Country get news about the outside world mostly from pirates.”
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