New World, Totto Land waters. Above, dark clouds gathered, thunder rumbled, and rain fell in a drizzle. This was an extremely special sea area. What flowed on the surface wasn't seawater, but various fruit juices, all emitting a sweet fragrance. Even the rain falling from the sky was sticky syrup.
In this peculiar sea area, thirty-five islands, each themed after a different food, dotted the landscape. Coco Island, Jam Island, Cheese Island...
They were clustered around an island called "Cake Island," scattered like stars, and the entire area was the direct territory of the Big Mom Pirates... Totto Land!
Coco Island, Chocolate Town. Sephiroth, in a black suit with two sabers at his waist, walked down the wide street, hands in his pockets. The surrounding buildings were all built of chocolate, and even the fountain in the square flowed with chocolate syrup. The air in the entire town was thick with the sweet aroma of chocolate.
In this dreamlike town, filled with the fragrance of food, lived various races: humans, Fishmen, merfolk, and Mink Tribe. They were well-dressed, energetic, and living a leisurely daily life. Sephiroth also saw some strange anthropomorphic creatures in the town, like Chess soldiers, anthropomorphic animals, talking flowers, plants, and trees, even streetlights... These anthropomorphic creatures had a collective name... Homies! These countless Homies were all products created by Big Mom, Charlotte Linlin, using the Soul-Soul Fruit. But...
To create a Homie, a necessary material was required... human lifespan! Therefore, according to the laws of Totto Land, all citizens living there had to hand over one month of their life every six months as a fee for Big Mom's protection. Otherwise, they had to leave the country. For every twelve months a citizen lived there, they needed to consume fourteen months of lifespan.
Converted, that meant that if a person could live to one hundred years old without disaster or illness but wanted to live there for a lifetime, they would need to hand over about fifteen years of lifespan as protection fees. At first glance, living in Totto Land required a 15% reduction in lifespan, which was a bit difficult to accept. However...
If one were to rank the happiness index of the people living under the rule of the Four Emperors Pirate Crews, it would look like this:
Big Mom Pirates > Whitebeard Pirates > Red Hair Pirates > Beasts Pirates
Kaido's territory basically practices a slave system. Except for the members of the Beasts Pirates, everyone else is a slave, living in a hell worse than death every day. Red-Haired Shanks rose to power too late, and the islands in the New World that could be considered prosperous had already been divided up by the other three.
Therefore, even if the Red Hair Pirates didn't collect protection fees, the people under their rule would always be scraping by. Although Whitebeard was the oldest of the Four Emperors, the Whitebeard Pirates didn't directly control many islands. However, the islands under the Whitebeard Great Fleet's control were more numerous than those of any other Emperor. In total, the Whitebeard Pirates had the largest territory.
Because the Whitebeard Pirates collected protection fees casually, accepting money, food, and daily necessities, the overall value was much less than the tribute paid to the Celestial Dragons. Therefore, the living standards of the residents under Whitebeard's rule were slightly better than those of ordinary countries. But... the level of governance in the other three territories and the happiness of the residents weren't even fit to carry Big Mom's shoes in front of her Totto Land!
While the residents of the other three territories were still struggling to solve their basic needs, the residents of Totto Land had already eaten their fill and were warmly dressed. They were satisfying the basic needs of humans and began to pursue a refined, high-quality life! After all, in a country entirely composed of various foods, it would be a huge joke if there were hunger problems! Although in Totto Land, there was always the chance of Big Mom Charlotte Linlin going berserk due to her eating disorder. But...
Compared to the lack of food in other parts of the New World and the pirate raids that could happen at any time, Big Mom's rampages were simply not worth mentioning! Therefore, Totto Land could be said to be a developed country in the One Piece world, the closest thing to a utopia in reality...
Sephiroth walked and browsed, and before he knew it, he came to a fireworks stall. He casually picked up a fountain-type firework placed on the table.
"Huh!? Chocolate fireworks... they even have such a thing!? Boss, how much does this thing cost?"
The Boss, wearing a green robe and a handlebar mustache, explained with a smile, "It costs three thousand Berries. This thing can spray chocolate fireworks after being lit... The customer must be an outsider, so you haven't seen this kind of firework before, right? How about buying a few more varieties of fireworks and taking them back as souvenirs!"
"Hmm! I'm here for a banquet..." Sephiroth casually explained and chose a few fireworks he wanted, then bought them.
"It costs three thousand Berries. This thing can spray choco..."
Since there was still some time until Big Mom's tea party, Sephiroth didn't intend to go directly to Cake Island. Instead, he continued to wander leisurely around the town. Totto Land had many specialties and wonders unheard of in the outside world, leaving him a bit overwhelmed. If this weren't Big Mom's territory, with its extremely high hidden risks, he would actually quite like to bring the girls here to have a good time for a while...
Sephiroth held a chocolate ice cream cone in his right hand, eating it in small bites. His eyes constantly scanned the surroundings, looking for novel items that might interest him.
Suddenly, a slightly noisy and mocking sound, along with a girl's crying, reached his ears from around the corner of the street.
"Hahaha! Everyone, come and see! This guy is a monster, a super ugly freak!"
"Wow! She actually has three eyes..."
"So ugly!"
"How scary."
Sephiroth quickened his steps. Around the corner, he saw a group of children surrounding a girl wearing a purple dress. Her light brown hair was tied into twin pigtails, and she had a third eye on her forehead. Someone, he didn't know who, casually pushed the girl down onto the ground. The adults standing nearby, upon seeing the third eye, all showed expressions of shock and disgust. They chose to stand by and watch the girl being bullied. The Three-Eyed Girl looked at the children surrounding her, each with a sinister smile on their faces.
She couldn't help but cry and beg for mercy.
"Wuwuwu-! Please let me go!"
However...
"Hahaha! Ugly freak!"
"How disgusting!"
"This guy is so ugly!"
"Yeah! That eye is so gross."
Facing the girl's pleas, this group of children not only didn't back away, but the look of mockery on their faces became even more obvious. They continued to hurl insults at the girl...