Kuzan Looks So Handsome Working Hard Again Today!

Marineford.

Marine Headquarters Building.

In the Fleet Admiral's spacious office.

Sengoku rubbed his temples, glanced at the group photo on the table, and sighed helplessly.

This photo is not a picture of Sengoku with his family, but rather a picture of him with two old men in the vast desert.

The top also bears a line of gilded text. "[A heartfelt tribute to Admiral Zephyr's successful arm transplant surgery]"

Upon seeing this photo, Sengoku naturally recalled the unforgettable Happy Hour from a few months ago.

This was the only vacation he had taken during his more than 20 years Fleet Admiral.

Fortunately, this vacation trip was worthwhile for his one and only.

Unfortunately, Sengoku wasn't a semi-retired figure like Garp or Zephyr who could simply sit back and relax; the happy times were ultimately short-lived.

"Damn it, lately Garp has been overwhelmingly surpassing me in online time..."

Dongdong!

"Fleet Admiral Sengoku!"

"The meeting is about to start, Vice Admiral Tsuru requests your immediate attendance."

"Knew."

Sengoku stretched and stood up.

There are quite a few meetings at Marineford.

The abundance of meetings and paperwork is a characteristic feature of the navy.

That's why characters like the "meeting king" exist.

However, King Luffy has not yet set sail, and the future famous Meeting King is just a lowly staff officer in the intelligence department.

He is not qualified to attend a meeting of this level.

Sengoku pushed open the meeting room door, and as expected, the room was empty except for Vice Admiral Tsuru and Akainu Sakazuki.

Sengoku walked to the head seat and sat down. Without even needing Vice Admiral Tsuru to explain the situation, he took out Den Den Mushi and dialed the number of those two thugs.

Their movements were so practiced it was heartbreaking.

"Borsalino, don't you know there's an emergency meeting being called?"

"Give you three days' notice? If you get three days' notice, can this still be called a last-minute meeting?"

"You're on a date with a pretty girl? Don't use such a lame excuse! I order you to get to the meeting room right now! Otherwise, you can forget about seeing your quarterly bonus!"

"Kuzan!"

"What? You're not in Marineford?"

"Since when did you become more unreliable than Borsalino?"

"Get back here right now on that damn bicycle!"

"What? You've already set off for Baroque Works headquarters to investigate and handle the Galdino matter?"

"Kuzan, I knew I hadn't misjudged you. That Lazy Justice of yours was just a misunderstanding..."

After praising Kuzan for a few moments, Sengoku hung up the phone with a beaming smile.

Akainu, cigar in mouth, suddenly stood up:

"Fleet Admiral Sengoku Kuzan, Kuzan didn't get authorization from Marine Headquarters or direct orders from the Celestial Dragons, so what gives him the right to take on this matter? And don't you think his enthusiasm is excessive?"

Excessive?

Of course it's not excessive!

Sengoku shook his head inwardly.

A few months ago, after returning from his vacation in Shurima, Sengoku became even more determined to retire from his position as Fleet Admiral in two years.

Kuzan was undoubtedly the most favored successor Sengoku.

However, Kuzan is known as "Lazy Justice," so you can imagine what his usual behavior is like.

Most importantly, unlike Kizaru, who repeatedly carried out missions to protect the Celestial Dragons, and Akainu, who decisively carried out numerous dark missions such as erasing Ohara in accordance with the World Government's will, Kuzan was not highly regarded by the World Government.

They believe that Kuzan has not performed enough related tasks and is not cold-blooded enough, and that his loyalty to the Celestial Dragons needs to be confirmed.

Therefore, Sengoku knew that even if he nominated Kuzan to succeed him to the World Government, the World Government would most likely refuse.

So after returning from Shurima, Sengoku had a private talk with Kuzan.

During the conversation, Sengoku clearly hinted at his attitude and Kuzan's current disadvantage, and earnestly advised him to be more proactive in expressing his position and attitude to the World Government.

Of course, Sengoku was also well aware of the true nature of those so-called Celestial Dragons, and he also understood why Kizaru had become increasingly undisciplined and carefree after repeatedly carrying out missions to protect the Celestial Dragons.

So he gave Kuzan a heads-up, telling him that even if he wanted to change anything, it would be much easier after becoming Fleet Admiral.

Of course, in the minds of the Sengoku period, the so-called "change" was nothing more than some minor repairs and patching, not the kind of earth-shattering change.

In short, Sengoku was very pleased to hear that Kuzan had taken the initiative to go to Baroque Works headquarters to investigate and had taken on the task of eliminating Galdino.

He believed that his conversation had an effect.

Faced with Akainu's questioning, Sengoku skillfully adopted a bureaucratic tone:

"Sakazuki, I understand your thoughts, but you were in charge of the World Military Draft effort before, and the results were mixed. As the leader, I also felt a lot of pressure."

"The alliance between the Revolutionary Army and the Whitebeard Pirates is a major event, and you must follow up on the subsequent work promptly."

"Kuzan has been proactive and responsible, and as his colleague, you should be grateful. How can you come in with such a blatant attitude of seeking credit and reward?"

Akainu:...

"Listen to me, thank you..."

Akainu pulled out a work report several hundred pages long, a small can of Masala, and a bottle of mineral water, handed them to Sengoku, and then turned and left.

Alabasta.

Spider-Man Cafe.

Miss Doublefinger, who maintained the highest chest-to-waist ratio before the Paramount War, still runs this lonely desert café as its proprietress.

Rather than a disguise to conceal her identity as an assassin, it was more like a career she truly loved.

In the original work, Baroque Works can be described as a perfect example of a pile of dung when they're together, but scattered like stars across the sky when they're apart.

Miss Goldenweek was the MVP of the Baroque escape, Mr. 2 was the MVP of the Impel Down escape, Crocodile was evenly matched with everyone in the Paramount War, Mr. 1 fought Hawk-Eye once in the Paramount War, Mr. 3 became the Emperor's Deputy, and Robin is a member of the Pirate King's crew.

It can be said that everyone has a bright future.

After Miss Doublefinger successfully escaped, she didn't forget her original intention and rebuilt the Spider's Cafe. Miss Valentine, Miss Goldenweek, and other old friends also became employees of the cafe.

However, at this very moment, Miss Goldenweek has already been imprisoned in the Impel Down.

Miss Doublefinger are serving a strange guest.

Thank you, your coffee is delicious.

A tall man with dark skin and curly hair, dressed in white casual clothes, wearing a green eye patch on his forehead, stood up from the booth.

He pulled a Mobile Den Den Mushi from his pocket. "Excuse me, do you accept mobile payments here?"

You can scan here.

Miss Doublefinger pulled a QR code from her uniquely gifted Four-Dimensional Pocket with both fingers. "I never expected to have a customer this month."

"I never expected to be able to use mobile payment deep in the desert."

After paying, Kuzan glanced thoughtfully at the proprietress, who seemed unremarkable except for her figure, then turned and picked up his bicycle to leave.

"You don't actually want to ride a bicycle in the desert, do you?"

Miss Doublefinger, "The desert north of here is all soft, shifting sand; you can easily sink in just by walking. I suggest you go to the town to the east and hire a sandboat."

"No need, thank you."

Without turning his head, Kuzan waved, hopped on his bicycle, and rode off into the distance, creaking and groaning.

Although it looks very leisurely, the speed is actually astonishing.

In the blink of an eye, before Miss Doublefinger react, the strange man had vanished without a trace.

She rushed to the coffee shop entrance to check.

There were only faint water stains on the ground.

"What a strange guy."

Miss Doublefinger and closed the coffee shop door.

In the next month or two, there probably won't be any more customers.

Unbeknownst to her, after a long while, the Kuzan emerged from the quicksand pit more than a thousand meters away, carrying the bicycle in its mouth.

He didn't disappear because he was moving too fast.

Instead, the frozen road melted too quickly, causing the person and bicycle to fall into quicksand.

Of course, this doesn't mean that Kuzan's strength is insufficient to freeze the scorching quicksand under the Alabasta sun.

It was just my first time trying to show off by riding a bike in the desert, and I didn't quite get the air conditioning output right the first time.

Kuzan looked around, thankfully there were no witnesses.

He quickly shouldered his bicycle, took long strides, and ran towards the Rainbase.

Actually, this wasn't the first time Kuzan had come to Rainbase.

As Nico Robin's de facto guardian, Kuzan knew everything about Robin's whereabouts.

Since she became the vice president of Baroque Works, Kuzan has come to Rainbase once a year.

Previously, they would never arrive in such a conspicuous manner by bicycle; they would always take a taxi.

This time, more than ten kilometers away from the Rainbase area, Kuzan finally changed into his beloved bicycle and leisurely rode in.

"Make way, make way!"

Just as it was about to enter the city, the Kuzan was blocked by a transport caravan consisting of camels and fast-walking ducks.

The transport caravan was enormous, with various kinds of goods strapped to sleds pulled by livestock.

The numerous pieces of furniture of various colors caught Kuzan's attention.

Where are these Sheepskin Sofas going?

Kuzan grabbed a porter who was traveling with the cart. The porter was about to scold this meddlesome passerby, but when he turned around and saw Kuzan's height of 2.98 meters, he immediately changed his attitude:

"Brother, all these sofas, carpets, and stuff were moved from Rain Dinners to Shurima."

"Rain Dinners?"

Kuzan was taken aback.

He was one of the very few people who knew the true identity of the president of Baroque Works.

Robin started mingling with various underground forces when she was eight years old. Yet she still managed to grow up smoothly, not because of her own intelligence, but entirely because of the unwavering love of her father, Kuzan!

Kuzan investigated every faction Robin had ever affiliated with, and he would directly take action against those that were clearly unsuitable for Robin to infiltrate.

Comparatively speaking, Crocodile, this ambitious member of the Shichibukai, is indeed a very reliable Maokai.

When Baroque Works encountered an unexpected situation, Kuzan rushed over immediately, not so much to investigate Galdino, but more to protect Robin.

At the very least, he wanted to ensure that members of the Cipher Pol wouldn't get involved in the investigation of Baroque Works.

But now it seems like Baroque Works is breaking up and dividing up its assets.

This isn't like Crocodile at all!

Thinking about it further was useless. Kuzan walked into the Rainbase and strolled along the road without any attempt to conceal his identity.

However, even after sprinting from morning till dusk, with his legs completely numb, Crocodile still hadn't appeared.

"That shouldn't be the case!"

"Given Crocodile's intelligence capabilities, if a Marine Admiral like me were to appear in his lair, there's no way he wouldn't show up, right?"

In Kuzan's original plan, he could achieve two goals at once simply by swaggering around Rainbase City.

First, Crocodile will definitely appear immediately, which will give me the initiative in investigating Galdino, the former senior executive of Baroque Works.

Secondly, given Robin's fear of herself, if she were to appear in the Rainbase, she would definitely try every means to escape from the Baroque Works and go far away.

In this way, even if Baroque Works encounters further trouble, it will pose no threat to Nico Robin.

However, with the sun about to set and still no one coming to find him, Kuzan decided he needed to increase his presence.

He slowly raised his left hand, and a chilling aura emanated from it, spreading outwards.

As a top-tier Logia Devil Fruit User, Kuzan's control over the Ice-Ice Fruit's power is unparalleled.

He was able to strictly control the temperature, ensuring that it would not harm civilians while still making his presence felt in every corner of the city.

The Kuzan kept releasing cold air, and releasing it, until the sun had completely set and the moon hung high in the sky.

Logically, because sand has a very low specific heat capacity, the temperature difference between day and night in desert regions should be extremely large.

However, Rainbase are an exception.

This is the Jiangnan region north of the Great Wall, with abundant rainfall and a dense network of rivers.

So it's very hot here during the day, and just as humid and hot at night.

But that night, every resident of the Rainbase enjoyed a pleasantly cool night.

On a street in the city, a tall man struck a cool pose, constantly radiating cold air.

The Nezumi that had migrated to the Rainbase because of the drought, like cats and dogs cuddling ice cubes in summer, crawled all over this cool guy's body.

The next day, people were surprised to find that not only had they had a cool night, but the rat infestation that had plagued the city for more than two years had also been resolved overnight.

All the Nezumi in the city were turned into ice sculptures and piled up in the central square of the city.

Among the three-dimensional figures formed by some of the Nezumi, one can vaguely make out the tall figure of a man.