New World, on a certain island.
Smoker's warship was docked there.
"Edward Weevil Appointed as a Shichibukai"
Smoker looked at the eye-catching headline in the newspaper, his face grim.
These past few days, one attention-grabbing piece of major news after another had appeared in the papers:
First, Akainu and Blue Pheasant fought a duel to the death. Then, Shichibukai Garen destroyed Doflamingo's headquarters. After that, Blue Pheasant officially became Fleet Admiral.
And no sooner had Kuzan taken the Fleet Admiral's seat than his first order was to recruit Cavendish and Edward Weevil as Shichibukai.
"How could this happen?!"
Tashigi's eyes were filled with confusion and shock. She spoke indignantly:
"Fleet Admiral Kuzan had such a good reputation in the Marines. How could he make such a decision with no regard for right and wrong the moment he became Fleet Admiral?"
"That Edward Weevil is—"
"Enough. Stop talking!"
Smoker cut off Tashigi's complaints.
He was a Marine veteran in his thirties, and he viewed matters differently from Tashigi, a young and innocent girl:
"Fleet Admiral Kuzan..."
"Did he bow his head to the Five Elders so quickly?"
Smoker let out a deep sigh and set down the newspaper with great emotion.
In the end, Kuzan, Sengoku, Smoker, and the many Marines who held justice in their hearts all wore invisible shackles. They could only do their best to uphold that limited justice under the World Government's control.
Therefore, Smoker understood the pressure Kuzan faced. Naturally, he was not as agitated as Tashigi, who could see only the surface of things.
Smoker was dejected, but Tashigi still could not let go of her resentment:
"I still don't understand!"
"Setting aside everything else, if they make that kind of villain a Shichibukai, where does that leave Admiral Zephyr?"
Zephyr held great prestige within