Paradise, Twin Capes.
Kuzan's expression darkened as he looked at the aggressive Sali standing before him, irritation crawling beneath his skin.
He had only just wrapped up the war in the New World. Before even getting the chance to rest, he immediately used the excuse of pursuing Crocodile to investigate the whereabouts of the little girl from back then.
After all his investigations and leads, every trail pointed toward Twin Capes, the territory of the Shichibukai, White Lion Sali.
That alone made things troublesome.
After all, Sali was one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, officially recognized by the World Government. On top of that, White Lion Sali had built an excellent reputation among civilians over the years.
With both legal authority and public support standing in the way, Kuzan could neither forcefully suppress him nor quietly infiltrate Twin Capes under the watch of someone this dangerous.
Yet because of his growing disappointment in the World Government and certain fellow Marines, his guilt over Jaguar D. Saul's death, and the lingering emotions left behind by the Ohara Incident, Kuzan had always carried a sense of guilt toward Robin.
His identity as a Marine Admiral stopped him from openly protecting her.
Especially because every time he appeared, Robin reacted with fear.
That complicated feeling had remained buried in Kuzan's heart for years.
Several times in the past, Kuzan had approached Twin Capes, only to suppress the urge to secretly check on Robin.
But this time was different.
The Five Elders had suddenly bypassed Fleet Admiral Sengoku and directly ordered him to head to the G-1 Marine Base in the New World for standby.
As for the reason?
Nothing.
No explanation, no mission details.
Kuzan had no idea how long this deployment would last.
Because of that, he called Fleet Admiral Sengoku and Vice Admiral Garp one after another for answers.
Unfortunately, both of them were just as confused.
The only difference was in their reactions.
Sengoku frowned deeply, clearly troubled by the Five Elders increasingly bypassing Marineford and directly mobilizing Admirals.
Garp, on the other hand, loudly cursed the Celestial Dragons and the Five Elders without restraint.
Kuzan was equally dissatisfied with them, but unlike Garp, he was not reckless enough to voice it openly.
The best he could do was subtly remind Garp that unsecured Den Den Mushi calls could easily be monitored.
After hearing that, Garp cursed even louder.
Frustrated, Kuzan hung up the call.
Before he realized it, he had already ridden his bicycle near Twin Capes.
Looking at the distant lighthouse, Kuzan clenched his jaw, parked his bicycle, and walked toward the strait.
As he advanced, layers of ice formed beneath his feet, stretching across the sea toward Twin Capes.
While walking, Kuzan recalled everything he knew about Sali.
Although he disliked Sali's brutal methods, the man was still better than Marines like Sakazuki, who would sacrifice civilians to accomplish a mission, or certain truly monstrous pirates among the Warlords.
After giving it some thought, Kuzan concluded that White Lion Sali leaned more toward neutral than outright evil.
Someone like that, if he wanted to avoid conflict with the Marines, should at least allow a simple investigation.
After all, Kuzan was still an Admiral.
Then reality hit him.
"Search? What exactly do you want to search? Show me a warrant."
"No warrant? Then why are you searching, old man? Do I owe you face?"
"I'm a Warlord, not a pirate. What exactly is so special about being an Admiral? Why don't you go catch actual pirates?"
"Oh right, I almost forgot. Most pirates in Paradise have already been cleaned up by me. So what, are you here to hand me an award?"
"You've been chasing Crocodile for so long, have you even caught him? Or are you just riding around on your bicycle pretending to work?"
"No way, are you seriously suspecting I'm hiding Crocodile?"
"Let's not forget, I'm the one who got Crocodile kicked out of the Warlords. And considering he escaped from certain Admirals multiple times and now carries a bounty of 600 million Berries, if I had captured him, I'd have already claimed the reward."
"After all, I've got people to feed. I actually work for my money. Unlike certain people living comfortably off taxpayers while cycling around the sea pretending to chase pirates."
...
To be fair, Sali was not usually this harsh.
But he had heard plenty of stories about the Admirals from Ash.
Putting aside the "dog" and "monkey" for now, just talking about the "pheasant" standing in front of him.
Whether it came from guilt or sentimentality, the fact remained that Kuzan had spent years quietly watching Robin from afar like some suspicious stalker.
On top of that, during his second encounter with Admiral Kizaru after dealing with Doflamingo last year, Sali had clearly felt the gap between himself and an Admiral.
Now, after returning from his training and achieving Devil Fruit Awakening, he genuinely wanted to test himself against Kuzan.
He wanted to know exactly how strong he had become.
Of course, openly asking an Admiral to spar the moment they met would never work.
For reasons similar to Kuzan's own concerns, Sali also had no interest in being blamed for starting trouble.
Which was exactly why things had turned into nonstop sarcasm and insults the moment they met.
Sali himself was not especially talented at trash talk.
But thanks to his mimicry ability, copying the mocking tone of certain troublemakers from the Dawn faction was effortless.
And judging from Kuzan's expression, the results were excellent.
Kuzan was furious.
Ever since becoming an Admiral, very few people had dared speak to him like this.
Cold air spread from his body as he instinctively activated his Devil Fruit powers, cooling his rising temper.
Slowly, he regained his composure.
The intention behind Sali's provocations had become painfully obvious.
This bastard wanted to provoke him into a fight.
At that moment, Kuzan suddenly remembered something Kizaru had casually mentioned during a brief meeting at Marineford last year.
"That White Lion Sali guy is interesting. He even invited me to spar at Twin Capes when I have time. Scary fellow."
Kuzan's eyelid twitched.
So this bastard had been trying to bait him into a fight from the beginning.
Still, Kizaru's experience gave him an excuse.
At worst, if anyone questioned him later, he could simply say it was a sparring match.
Besides, he already found this guy irritating.
Might as well punch him first and ask questions afterward.
"Kizaru mentioned you wanted to spar with an Admiral," Kuzan said as frost spread around him. "Since I'm already here, I don't mind testing your strength."
Hearing that, Sali grinned.
Ash had been right.
Provocation was not talent, it was technique.
"I've been waiting for this."
Kuzan cracked his neck.
"Heh, I like that expression. Looks like you're begging for a beating. I just hope you can keep that confidence."
The surrounding temperature plummeted.
Ice surged outward.
Then, with a deafening roar, two overwhelming forces collided.
At the lighthouse not too far away, Jason and more than ten others sat in a neat row.
The fruits in their hands were immediately forgotten.
Everyone leaned forward, eyes shining with anticipation.
"Fight!"
"Fight!"
===
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