Queen burst into laughter, waving his phone in the air. "This is called a phone, you idiots! With this, you can hear my orders anytime, anywhere—and even witness my glorious face!"
The subordinates looked at one another, clearly baffled. With their level of intelligence, this weird little square device was completely beyond comprehension.
"Queen-sama, how... how do you use this thing?" a timid subordinate asked.
"Good question!"
Queen licked his lips, holding the mic, then walked over to one of the men and patiently demonstrated.
"Watch closely! Press and hold here to turn it on. Then tap here to open TikTok, search for my account ID, and hit follow! It's that simple!"
Everyone lowered their heads and began fumbling with their phones. Some poked at the screens forever with no response, sweating nervously.
Others accidentally hit the volume button, got blasted by sudden loud music, and nearly flung the phone out of fear.
The square turned into chaos—gasps, curses, and awkward laughter filled the air.
"Queen-sama, I did it!" a young subordinate shouted, waving his phone excitedly. "I'm the first to follow Queen-sama!"
That set off a chain reaction. The others scrambled to operate their phones.
Soon, one succeeded. Then a second. Then a third. Then a fourth...
Queen looked on with satisfaction as his follower count climbed rapidly. The numbers jumped non-stop, finally breaking 2,000+!
"Hahaha! Nicely done!"
With 1,000 followers, he could now unlock livestreaming privileges, plus the Shopping Cart feature for selling goods.
Queen wasted no time. He applied for both permissions immediately.
Not long after, his application was approved!
Seeing "Review Passed" pop up on his screen, he couldn't hide the grin on his face.
Off in the distance, more subordinates were rushing in, kicking up dust as they sprinted across the square, afraid of being punished for being late.
But they had come from pretty far away. A little delay was understandable, right?
Queen glanced their way. He was in a great mood, so he wasn't going to nitpick. He waved dismissively. "Latecomers, hurry up and learn how to use the phone. And follow me!"
"Yes, Queen-sama!"
"Yes!"
Queen lowered his head again, eyes locked on the screen. His excitement was barely contained. "I can go live now! And the Shopping Cart... I wonder if they sell red bean soup?"
He rubbed the phone in his palm, his thick fingers gently tapping the screen. A flicker of excitement shone in his eyes, though he quickly suppressed it.
He grinned. "Go live now? No, no... I'm Plague Queen. If I'm doing this, I'm doing it big!"
His narrow eyes gleamed as plans began to form in his mind, one after another.
After waiting a bit longer, he saw that most of the subordinates had followed him. Even those still confused were working hard to figure things out.
Suddenly, Queen waved his arm and shouted at a nearby group of men, "Hey! You guys, bring three or four thousand phones and come with me!"
The subordinates quickly bowed and scrambled into action.
Moments later, they returned carrying box after box. Queen gave a satisfied nod, then waved his arm again. "Let's go! We're heading to Jack's!"
He wanted to plant the seeds of mobile tech all across Wano!
...
In Jack's territory, dry winds whipped through the wastelands, and the heat rolled off the sand in waves. The atmosphere was wild and rugged.
Jack lounged against a massive rock, lazily polishing his tusks. They were his pride, and he always cleaned them thoroughly after every fight.
Hearing the ruckus from a distance, Jack squinted, then frowned as Queen approached with a large group of men.
"Queen," he grunted, "what nonsense are you up to this time?"
Queen laughed heartily, charged forward with big strides, pulled a phone from his chest, and held it up in front of Jack. "Jack, take a look at this!"
Jack narrowed his eyes, stared at the small device, and snorted. "Iron? What's so special about this little hunk of metal?"
He knew Queen was a scientist who liked to tinker, so he wasn't shocked to see a strange contraption like this.
"Hold on. This thing is called a phone. It can sing, dance, and rap!" Queen explained cheerfully, swiping the screen like a pro and launching a video.
Instantly, energetic music filled the air. Queen started dancing to the rhythm. No one even noticed when he pulled out a mic again.
Jack gave it a glance... then looked away in disinterest. "That's it? Boring."
"..."
Queen was about to explode. Did he just say Queen's performance was boring?
Unforgivable!
Just as he was about to explode on the spot, his finger slipped and opened another video.
This time, a stunning beauty appeared on screen. She wore a JK mini skirt, blinked her dewy eyes, and smiled sweetly at the camera.
Jack's eyes popped wide. He leaned in unconsciously, holding his breath.
Seeing that, Queen raised an eyebrow and swiped again.
Another dazzling girl appeared. Different style, same level of hotness. This one was in a sexy "young mom" outfit, posing flirtatiously.
Jack's eyes locked onto the screen, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down.
"This... this thing..." Jack's voice came out weird and urgent. He grabbed Queen's arm, practically begging. "Give me one!"
Queen chuckled loudly. So this guy was into that stuff, huh? He patted Jack's shoulder and said, "Alright, I'll give you a phone. But..." He deliberately stretched out the words. "All your men have to follow my TikTok ID!"
Jack waved his hand impatiently, eyes still glued to the phone. "Yeah, yeah, just hand it over already!"
Queen nodded, then motioned for his crew to drop the crates in front of Jack.
"So many?!" Jack's eyes widened at the mountain of phones.
"Of course. Learn how to use it first, then teach your men."
Queen personally taught Jack the basics. Jack scratched his head. This thing was a little too complicated for him.
He didn't fully understand, but he listened intently, cautiously learning to swipe the screen, terrified he might break it.
"No need to be so careful. This thing's not that fragile."
Jack nodded, though clearly he still didn't buy it.
After finishing the demo, Queen asked Jack to try it himself. Jack opened TikTok, then froze.
"Uh... Queen, can you say that part again?"
Queen: "..."
(To be continued.)