Poor Tom, Played Like a Fiddle.JPG

A man rides a bicycle on the azure sea.

However, compared to his usual leisurely and carefree demeanor as he rode his bicycle across the sea, this time Kuzan's Kuzan were bloodshot and he was breathing heavily through his nostrils.

At that moment, he resembled Fighting Fish in the Dressrosa bullring.

Kuzan slammed his legs against the pedals, moving so fast that he left a blur in his wake.

A frozen path on the sea leads straight to Dressrosa.

"As expected of Big Bird brand bicycles, the quality is really good."

Kuzan couldn't help but murmur to himself.

Suddenly, with a series of rapid bicycle bell sounds and the sound of brakes, Kuzan's bicycle came to a steady stop on the sea.

Kuzan, who had been as fierce as a bull, suddenly looked bewildered.

Who I am?

Admiral Kuzan Kuzan of the Marine Headquarters.

Where did I come from?

From the base in Marineford.

Where should I go?

We're heading to Dressrosa, the territory of the Shichibukai, Donquixote Doflamingo, the world's most exotic city.

What am I going there for?

Have no idea.

I can't remember!

Kuzan gripped the handlebars with one hand and covered his forehead with the other, momentarily lost in thought.

He only remembered that there was something important going to Dressrosa, but Kuzan couldn't recall exactly what it was about.

In his more than forty years of life, this was the first time he had encountered something like this.

Just then, a "brubru" sound rang out from Kuzan's arms.

He carefully took out a Den Den Mushi wrapped in a handkerchief from his pocket and then tapped the screen.

"Kuzan, where are you?"

An old man's roar came through the Den Den Mushi: "Why didn't you show up for the live broadcast at noon today? I'm in a real predicament, unable to handle this alone!"

"Shut up, you damned old man! I'm on official duty. Not every navy officer is as leisurely as you!"

Kuzan retorted without holding back.

On the other end of the phone, Garp had already seen through Kuzan's outward strength but inner weakness, and said with a cold laugh:

"A mission? What mission? I didn't see any information about your transfer on the Marineford website's government information disclosure page."

"Also, young man, watch your attitude towards the elderly, otherwise the leisurely old man you're talking about might reveal some important photos to his old classmate or something..."

"Damn it, you're so despicable, Garp- sensei!"

Kuzan immediately backed down, but couldn't remember what he had actually gone to Dressrosa for.

His stammering only confirmed to Garp that the kid was just making excuses to avoid the live stream.

"Anyway, don't forget to turn the beauty filter on full blast tonight. The top-ranked guy, Mr. Prince, is supposedly planning to add another 1 million Beli to tip us!" Garp urged over the phone.

"Then you'd better pray that the top-ranked guy doesn't discover your true identity!"

Kuzan couldn't help but sigh, "What an innocent pervert! You tricked him so badly..."

After saying that, Kuzan hung up the phone, ignoring Garp's repeated instructions.

At the same time, he couldn't help but feel sorry for that Mr. Prince.

We still don't know Mr. Prince's true identity.

Is he a nobleman from some country, a wealthy merchant from Sabaody, or a high-ranking executive of the Big Bird Consortium?

In Kuzan's mind, only someone of that status could support the other party's lavish spending all this time.

As for the rank of naval captain or something, Kuzan would never dare to dream of it.

Although a naval captain's salary is generous, it's not enough to justify such extravagance.

Unless it's for embezzling public funds or borrowing money illegally.

What kind of fool in the world would do something like that for a female online streamer...?

Kuzan shook his head, banishing the foolish thought from his mind, and continued riding his bicycle towards Dressrosa.

At the same time.

Shurima Resort

While lying on the beach enjoying the sun, Garp dialed his old classmate Sengoku's number again.

"Sengoku, you said before that I, as your teacher, should frame my own student and make him commit a serious crime punishable by expulsion from the navy. I have already made the arrangements."

"My conscience aches terribly at doing this..."

"Yes, yes, I know this is for the sake of the legacy of 'Sword,' and I know this is a great opportunity for Sanji, but..."

"Well, anyway, it's all for justice!"

After hanging up the phone, Garp took a sip of orange soda and then let out a long burp.

He was lured Sanji excessive spending, which led him down the path of embezzling naval funds.

Later, when he was filled with remorse, Garp reappeared as a mentor, giving the young, wayward executive a chance to redeem himself.

It is publicly announced that Sanji, the Sanji, has been expelled from the Navy for job-related crimes. However, within the Navy's inner circle, Sanji will take over the leadership of X- Drake's "Sword" organization and infiltrate Whole Cake Island.

This would help the Navy gain complete intelligence regarding the alliance between the Big Mom Pirates and the Whitebeard Pirates.

And all of these plans hinge on tonight's live broadcast.

Thinking this, Garp touched his aching conscience, turned over, and continued to enjoy the wonderful sunbathing.

What exactly happened here?

Kuzan sped all the way to Dressrosa, only to be stunned by the sight before him.

The first thing that catches the eye and cannot be ignored is the Floating Sky Island high above Dressrosa.

Why do islands float?

Before Onigashima ascended to heaven, Kuzan could hardly imagine it.

As Marine Admiral, he was certainly aware of the existence of Sky Island.

Although he had never set foot there, Kuzan knew from some information within the Navy that the Sky Island was able to float because it existed above a sea Sky Island clouds at an altitude of ten thousand meters, using the buoyancy of the clouds.

But the island in front of them offered nothing to leverage.

It floated several hundred meters in the air in such an extremely unscientific way.

Of course, science isn't important in the world of One Piece; even Vegapunk might not be a science enthusiast.

But,

How could I not know about such a large island and such obvious information?

Kuzan shook his head; the Navy's intelligence capabilities were simply too poor these days.

Aside from this Floating Sky Island, the whole of Dressrosa is clearly not quite right.

The docks were filled with chaotic crowds.

A group of pirate-like individuals ironically became the maintainers of order.

And the symbols on these pirates...

"Whitebeard!"

Kuzan was taken aback, wondering why Whitebeard's men would be lurking in Doflamingo's territory.

Did Whitebeard attack Doflamingo, or did Doflamingo defect to Whitebeard?

A whole bunch of question marks popped into Kuzan's head.

Ultimately, this whole thing really stems from the Navy's terrible intelligence capabilities.

Kuzan's original memory stated. "Golden Lion led multiple forces to besiege Dressrosa."

In this memory, the Whitebeard Pirates were merely an appendage of Golden Lion.

So when Golden Lion was turned into a toy because of Sugar's power, Kuzan even forgot about the information that Whitebeard's 17th Division had appeared in Dressrosa.

"The live stream is just around the corner."

Kuzan kept saying "old man, go die," but he still remembered what Garp had told him.

After all, he had a fatal weakness that had fallen into the hands of that old scoundrel Garp.

Everything was out of necessity...

"Someone is riding a bicycle on the sea!"

Several pirate henchmen who were responsible for guiding the people of Dressrosa to leave the country and visit their relatives saw Kuzan slowly approaching.

It is worth mentioning that Gangplank did not restrict the people of Dressrosa from fleeing their homeland; on the contrary, he was very supportive, providing them with the necessary food, water, and boats.

It's not that Ma Qiao wanted to keep people on the island of Dressrosa, but rather that he hoped to minimize the bloodshed that would result in a future purge.

The people of Dressrosa are, to put it simply, Latins.

A key characteristic of Latins is their large families and numerous relatives.

They also have many relatives abroad.

Large numbers of Dressrosa residents chose to flee the country, which appeared to have been conquered by pirates.

So when Kuzan stepped onto the dock, he saw this incongruous scene.

With a frown, he effortlessly turned several pirate henchmen who had pointed guns at him into ice sculptures.

Following this, Kuzan, much like the amnesiac protagonist often seen in American TV dramas, explores Dressrosa while searching for his purpose in coming here.

Of course, even more important is finding a safe location suitable for live streaming.

The way he was forced into the film industry is something that absolutely must not be seen by anyone.

"Ma Qiao Vergo?"

Just then, Kuzan suddenly spotted two familiar figures in the distance.

Kuzan spent more than half a year in Shurima.

That can hardly be considered a pleasant memory.

However, Kuzan still highly approves of Ma Qiao, the person in Shurima.

Most importantly, Ma Qiao protected Nicole Robin very well.

Therefore, in Kuzan's mind, Ma Qiao was practically the ideal son-in-law.

Although this son-in-law is a bit of a womanizer...

"Hey~ Isn't this Kuzan, bro?"

Ma Qiao punched Vergo in the face, knocking him to the ground, and waved at Kuzan in between.

Kuzan's lips twitched.

He beat up Marine Admiral in front of me, Marine Vice Admiral...

Is this really a good idea?

Ma Qiao, on the other hand, was very happy.

In this campaign to eliminate the Donquixote Family, he, as the commander-in-chief, or rather, the mastermind behind the scenes, basically did not participate in the hard battles.

For example, fighting Doflamingo would be too dangerous.

Doflamingo Fruit ability is too flashy and complicated.

Although Ma Qiao had forgotten the scene where he tricked the Golden Lion, Ma Qiao 'Doflamingo incredible performance in the original work.

The other members of the Donquixote Family's executives were either too sticky and disgusting, too weak to be worthy of Ma Qiao's attention, or too young to be dealt with seriously; none of them were suitable to be Teacher Ma's sparring partner.

But this Demon Bamboo Vergo, who had rushed over from the G-5 Branch, was Ma Qiao's best sparring partner.

In fact, the range of strength among the Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral is second only to that of the Genin of Konoha Village.

It has a super-powerful Vice Admiral like Garp, skilled fighters like Tsuru, Momousagi, and Chaton whose strength is comparable to a certain green- Admiral, subpar admiral, veteran vice Vice Admirals like Momonga, Onigumo, and Comil, and mid-level vice Vice Admirals like Dalmatian and Doberman who can hold their own against the Whitebeard Pirates' division commanders.

However, there were also weak lieutenant Vice Admiral like Ronse, John Jaendo, Saul, Bastille, and Maynard who were easily defeated by Sabo, or even Bartolomeo.

In general, those Marine Vice Admirals who are granted animal titles are all quite powerful.

Those without animal-themed titles are somewhat lacking.

As the commander of the G-5 Branch, Vergo wasn't the worst-ranked Marine Vice Admiral, but he was definitely not particularly outstanding either.

Most importantly, he doesn't possess any strange Devil Fruit abilities; he's simply known for his Armament Haki.

After all, Teacher Ma is a man who can go toe-to-toe with Katakuri, so he naturally has the upper hand against Vergo.

Ma Qiao only refrained from ending the battle too quickly because he intended to extract some insights into learning Armament Haki from this guy.

And...

Putting aside speed, strength, and skill, Teacher Ma is really no match for this martial arts expert.

Fighting against him would be a great way for Ma Qiao to hone his skills.

I never expected that Kuzan would show up before I even figured out the basics of Armament Haki.

Ma Qiao had no choice but to speed things up, using a "normal punch" to knock Vergo into a white-eyed state.

"Let me explain..."

Ma Qiao lifted the unconscious Vergo up.

"I believe you." Kuzan seemed oblivious to the fact that his colleague had been knocked unconscious.

"Ha?"

Ma Qiao was stunned.

I've studied you.

Kuzan spoke frankly, "I've studied you because of someone who's very important to me."

And the result?

Ma Qiao asked curiously.

"Have no idea."

Kuzan shook his head. "I can't figure it out, but I know you're a good person."

Having been inexplicably friend-zoned, Ma Qiao had no choice but to hand Vergo over to Tahm Kench, who was standing nearby.

Although Graves was also keeping watch nearby, due to some strange elements in his backstory, Ma Qiao decided he couldn't hand the unconscious man over to him.

In short, Ma Qiao plans to lock up Vergo, this weakling but highly skilled in Armament Haki, as his and Crocodile's beginner Haki instructors.

Ma Qiao originally intended to have Dark King Rayleigh, as his teacher.

However, firstly, the incident with the Third Brother caused a disruption, and secondly, considering that Rayleigh might not be willing to teach, and even if he were, his teaching level would be very worrying, Ma Qiao ultimately gave up.

Some say that although Rayleigh's teaching of Luffy may not have shown much progress in the past two years, it has actually laid a solid foundation for Luffy.

Rayleigh's teaching relationship with Kaido is like eating ten pancakes and still feeling full, but then eating the eleventh pancake and feeling full.

But Ma Qiao doesn't see it that way.

Rayleigh's teaching skills are simply terrible; there's no excuse for that.

Because the original Supernovas of Sabaody Archipelago were all in the same tier in terms of strength.

Two years after Luffy's special training with Rayleigh, the gap in strength between them did not widen exponentially.

At least the strength of these Supernovas —Law, Kid, and Zoro— is not significantly different from Luffy's.

While the others are indeed far weaker than Luffy, this weakness doesn't seem to be due to Rayleigh's teaching level, but rather to a chasm-like gap between Sun God himself and those mediocre Supernovas.

Simply put, Rayleigh's teaching ability is at least not significantly better than the mediocre teachers the other Supernovas found.

Now, the Vergo that Ma Qiao has captured is at least a proper trained professional, a master of Armament Haki, and seems more reliable than Rayleigh.

Whether Ma Qiao learns Armament Haki or not is actually irrelevant.

He was mainly worried sick about his former employer.

Crocodile doesn't even know how to use Armament Haki; he's going to get bullied when he goes out.

Of course, detaining a Marine Vice Admiral Admiral is still an egregious act.

Although Kuzan said he didn't care, Ma Qiao still had to provide a reasonable explanation.

"This is evidence regarding Vergo's betrayal of naval intelligence to the Donquixote Family."

Ma Qiao handed a thick stack of documents to Kuzan.

Baby-5, that rebellious little girl, is now Yamato's maid. Getting information from her is quite easy if you just ask for it.

Moreover, after Vergo left the G5 base, Ma Qiao had already sent CP-9's rising star, the witch Annie, to raid his office.

CP-9 is an FBI organization affiliated with the World Government, so raiding Sengoku's manor would be perfectly normal for them. Raiding a Marine Vice Admiral's office would be child's play for them.

Annie has already uncovered a large amount of evidence of Vergo's espionage and has handed it over to Ma Qiao via fax.

In short, Ma Qiao explained, "As a true media warrior, after uncovering Vice Admiral Vergo's crimes, I should take the blame to uphold the Navy's reputation, wouldn't you say, brother Kuzan?"