Flames rose into the air, and Cyrus stepped out from within them.
He lifted his left hand, black mist coiled around it, thin and restless, as if it had a life of its own.
Feeling the demonic power his ability had captured, Cyrus frowned slightly.
His idea had worked, but actually carrying it out would be extremely difficult.
The demonic power could indeed be used to locate others who carried the same thing inside them.
The problem was exactly what he had expected earlier.
There were far too many!
Even with the Door-Door Fruit and his flames giving him absurd mobility, clearing them all out would still be almost impossible.
Cyrus closed his eyes and sensed the threads for a moment. When he opened them again, only helplessness remained in his gaze.
He had already taken the chance to remove a few on his way back, but within his perception, the total number had barely changed.
It was not only the descendants of the Twenty Kings who carried that power.
Over the past few hundred years, Imu had clearly not been sitting idle either.
In the end, this still came back to Imu herself.
Once that thought settled, Cyrus opened a door in front of him and stepped through.
A moment later, a door appeared out of nowhere on Candy Island, and Cyrus walked out.
"Chairman Cyrus?"
The people on the island had gone tense the instant they saw a door appear in midair, but once they realized who had stepped through it, they immediately straightened and greeted him respectfully.
Cyrus waved it off.
"Tell Katakuri to come see me."
After giving the order, Cyrus headed toward the place where he had been staying on the island.
He had not been back for long when Katakuri arrived in a hurry.
"Chairman."
Katakuri did not know why Cyrus had called him over, but he knew exactly what he needed to do.
"Once Issho and the others return, I'll be leaving this place."
Cyrus looked Katakuri over, his tone calm.
"You're continuing forward?"
Katakuri paused, then asked in confusion.
"No. I may head back instead. There's something important I need to handle. As for Totto Land, I'll leave it in your hands for now. The Hunter Guild branch here can't be made up entirely of the Charlotte Family.
And pirates who arrive here can't just be allowed to pass through however they like."
"Understood."
Katakuri's expression did not change, and his answer was clean and direct.
In his heart, though, he quietly let out a breath.
"I know there are still quite a few people inside the Charlotte Family with other ideas. I don't have time to deal with every one of them, so I'm leaving that to you. By now, you should understand the Guild's rules and which lines absolutely cannot be crossed. Outside of those, things are fairly flexible."
Cyrus gave him the reminder.
"I understand. I won't let them interfere with the Guild's operations. As for those who can't be persuaded, I won't let them out for now." Katakuri answered seriously.
At least in his view, locking up the siblings who still wanted to cause trouble was actually protecting them.
If they were allowed to run around and really did something they should not, they might offend someone they could not afford to offend and lose their lives for it.
Big Mom was no longer behind them.
From now on, they could only rely on themselves.
"That's all I wanted to say. You can go back."
Cyrus waved a hand.
"There is one more thing. I received news not long ago that the Marines have entered the New World in large numbers. They didn't pass through Totto Land's waters. They deliberately went around us."
After thinking for a moment, Katakuri reported the piece of information he had only recently received.
At first, Katakuri had assumed that after Big Mom's defeat, the Marines were preparing to make a move against Totto Land.
When he saw their forces entering the New World and could not locate Cyrus, he had already prepared himself for battle.
But halfway through, the Marines had suddenly changed direction.
"I already know about that."
Cyrus nodded lightly.
He had more or less guessed what was going on from the information Katakuri had reported.
"Understood."
Since Cyrus was already aware of it, Katakuri nodded and turned to leave.
"Looks like I'll need to send someone to intercept those people."
Cyrus raised a hand and rubbed his chin as he muttered to himself.
The demons Imu created could spread that infection through attacks.
By now, Wano Country had probably become a full-blown demon territory. With the Marines moving out in such large numbers, there was no way they were simply going there to stop those things from leaving Wano.
If that were the case, then even if those demons were hard to control, Imu should still be able to guide them to some extent.
Which meant the Marines had another purpose.
"Come to think of it, people infected by that demonic power still keep their intelligence. They just lose control in certain areas. Or rather, the darker parts of their hearts get amplified."
After thinking it over, Cyrus still rose to his feet.
In that case, he would make the trip himself.
Destroying all of Wano Country was not difficult for him now.
Although quite a few infected people had likely already left Wano, the truly massive numbers were still inside the country itself.
Buru buru!
The Den Den Mushi rang.
Cyrus took it out, and Morgans's voice came through.
"Kaido vanished.... Did you kill him?"
Morgans sounded extremely excited.
"No."
Cyrus denied it directly.
"Huh? Don't tell me he ran away. You went yourself and still couldn't keep him there?"
"He didn't run either. He's dead, but not by my hand. Imu killed him."
Cyrus's tone was calm.
"The King of the World hiding behind the World Government?"
Morgans became excited again.
He had heard that name from Cyrus several times now, but he still did not know much about Imu.
As a major journalist and the owner of a newspaper agency, that was simply unbearable.
"Tell me what's happening in Wano right now. Are there still normal people inside?"
Cyrus changed the topic directly.
Truthfully, even he only knew fragments about Imu.
Especially when it came to killing her. That seemed rather troublesome.
"Wano? The situation there isn't good, but there are indeed still some people resisting. The problem is that strange infectious power. Once someone's personality changes, there doesn't seem to be a clean way to undo it."
Morgans hesitated for a moment before giving his answer.
"Oh. Then what if I destroy all of Wano right now?"
"Destroy? What do you mean by destroy?"
Morgans's voice instantly rose several pitches.
"Complete destruction. Sink it into the sea." Cyrus spoke plainly.
"Ah… isn't that a bit…"
Morgans was clearly startled by Cyrus's words.
Wano was still a medium-sized country. Even if most of the people inside had already been infected by that strange power, they were still alive.
If Cyrus completely destroyed Wano, how many people would die in that one move?
Morgans did not doubt whether Cyrus could do it.
"I hope you'll think this through carefully," Morgans said. "The Hunter Exam is about to begin. If you suddenly destroy a country and word gets out, the impact on the Hunter Guild will be huge."
"I've made my decision. Before I get there, send News Coos to inform the Marines. Give them time to evacuate anyone in Wano who hasn't been infected yet. Once I arrive, I'll make my move."
"Understood."
Morgans could hear from Cyrus's tone that the decision was final. Although he still hesitated, he agreed immediately.
Hesitation was hesitation. If Cyrus gave an order, he still had to carry it out.
"I'll send the News Coos right away. But what's the deadline?"
"Seven days from now."
After thinking for a moment, Cyrus gave him a time.
"Destroying a country with your own hands isn't a small matter. It might not be any smaller than what you did to Mary Geoise. You understand that, right, Cyrus?"
Morgans's voice came through the Den Den Mushi again, and the birdlike face it mimicked looked unusually serious.
"The World Government will definitely use this chance to attack you. At the very least, they'll attack your reputation."
"I'm already the so-called Flame Demon, aren't I?"
Cyrus did not seem to care.
"But the Hunter Exam can't be allowed to go wrong."
As he said that, Cyrus raised a hand and rubbed his brow.
That little goal he and Robin had casually built up together back then had indeed become a restraint on him.
Still, if they actually completed it, there would probably be a real sense of achievement.
But then again—
"Morgans, how is the search going? The islands I asked you to have the News Coos look for."
Cyrus suddenly spoke.
Morgans was still caught up in the sheer force of Cyrus's earlier decision.
When Cyrus abruptly changed topics, he did not react for a second.
"You mean the same task you posted inside the Guild?"
"The islands that might lead to special spaces or other worlds?"