Kuzan and Sauron

After five minutes of walking, Ross and the others suddenly stopped.

"Yo, Zephyr-sensei, and the little commander."

A tall Marine figure had suddenly appeared before them.

"Kuzan."

Zephyr narrowed his eyes and uttered the man's name, instinctively stepping forward to block Ross.

Kuzan kept his hands in his pockets, taking in Zephyr's movement with a flicker of disappointment in his eyes.

The heroic teacher he once respected was completely different now.

Back when he was teaching him, it was right after Zephyr's wife and son had been killed. At that time, in Kuzan's eyes, Zephyr-sensei was still a hero with unshakable resolve.

But as time passed, the Zephyr-sensei he revered was gone, replaced by a CP0 Zephyr in a white suit.

Now, for Kuzan, the only teacher left was Garp, who had guided him after he graduated from the Training Camp.

Kuzan never once glanced at Ross. After staring deeply at Zephyr, he chose to turn and walk away with a flourish.

"Saint Ross..."

Zany quietly slipped to Ross's side and murmured a question.

Disrespecting a Celestial Dragon was a capital offense in the ideology she had been raised on.

"Vice Admiral Kuzan."

Just as Kuzan's figure was about to disappear, Ross suddenly spoke.

Watching Kuzan pause slightly, Ross said unhurriedly:

"I order you to return to the warship and take charge of the preparations to destroy the Tree of Knowledge."

"Little commander, I have orders from headquarters to deal with the Navy Traitor, Jaguar D. Saul."

Kuzan didn't even turn his head, walking forward again.

But the moment he took a step, he was forced to stop.

"Zephyr-sensei, are you going to stop me from carrying out headquarters' orders?"

He lifted his head slightly, looking at Zephyr standing before him, a chill radiating from his body.

Kuzan Comprehensive Rating: S-

Ten years ago, he couldn't even take one punch from Zephyr.

But ten years had passed—his ice might not be any less sharp than Zephyr's fists.

"A Marine's duty is to follow orders. I remember teaching you that."

Zephyr frowned slightly. He felt neither fondness nor dislike for Kuzan.

Among the students he had taught, Kuzan was undoubtedly one of the most outstanding.

But Kuzan's overly lazy personality truly rubbed him the wrong way, just as he disliked Blamenco.

"Zephyr-sensei, am I not following orders?"

The moment Kuzan finished speaking, he frowned and sidestepped a little to the left.

Almost at the same time, Zany appeared on his right, holding a Den Den Mushi shaped like Kong the Fleet Admiral.

"Kuzan, obey the orders of Zephyr and Saint Ross. This is an order from headquarters to you."

Hearing Kong's voice, Kuzan sighed:

"Roger that!"

With that, he still didn't turn around, instead stepping onto a path of ice he created and walking left.

Even though he still ignored Ross, he followed Ross's orders nonetheless.

"Saint Ross, please allow me to strike..."

Zany returned to Ross's side and respectfully handed back the hung-up Den Den Mushi.

"You're no match for him yet. As long as he doesn't desert the Marines, he poses no threat to me."

Ross said flatly, then continued walking toward Robin's direction.

Kuzan's appearance was just a minor interruption.

His identity as a Celestial Dragon meant he was naturally at odds with Marines like Garp and Kuzan.

In the eyes of those Marines who couldn't tolerate a speck of sand, Celestial Dragons were also targets to be dealt with.

But with pirates as the primary conflict, the Celestial Dragons and the World Government weren't in a hurry to act.

And because of Kuzan and Garp's combat power, the World Government tacitly allowed their existence.

As long as they didn't betray the World Government, what they thought in their hearts didn't matter.

But Ross knew in his heart that Kuzan would betray the Marines sooner or later.

If he had enough strength right now, he would have wanted to keep him there on the spot.

Strength.

Zephyr and Gion watched Ross's retreating figure, their expressions differing, but they silently followed behind him.

Through the matter with Kuzan, Zephyr had roughly grasped Ross's toughness and attitude toward justice. But since he had chosen the path of eliminating pirates through the World Government, he had no intention of changing course.

Unless Ross truly couldn't cut it, he planned to wait and see first.

Gion was more straightforward.

Before, she only knew that Celestial Dragons couldn't be offended—if you failed to meet a Celestial Dragon's demands, even dying was a difficult task.

But that was all hearsay; Kuzan's example was right in front of her.

It was normal for someone to subdue her, a fresh Marine elite graduate, but Ross had easily made Kuzan yield, which gave her a real eye-opening experience.

Kuzan's current standing in the Marines ranked among the top five, yet even such a man had to bow to Ross's orders.

Unintentionally, Gion felt a bit relieved about her choice.

At least she wouldn't have to suffer unnecessary disasters.

Of course, the main reason for her change in attitude was that Ross wasn't just highborn—his personal strength was off the charts.

Whenever they played, Ross had far more stamina than she did, even able to swim with Stella and her together.

Looking at his appearance, strength, talent, status, and ability, Ross was definitely the top-tier man she had ever seen. For other men to reach Ross's average level, they'd need to be about twenty years older than him.

Every time she thought of this, Gion felt like Cinderella, like she was reaching above her station with Ross...

Their group moved quickly and soon arrived at Saul's hiding spot.

Calling it a hiding spot, it was actually a small cove beneath a cliff.

Saul's massive, obese giant form, dozens of meters tall, was tucked inside, making him seem less conspicuous.

"You are..."

Ross's arrival immediately put Saul on alert.

"Admiral Zephyr!!"

When Saul saw Zephyr's face, despair crept onto his expression.

He had already thought drifting to Ohara was hopeless enough.

He never expected to run into an Admiral.

"Admiral? Saul, is that the Marines' top combat power?"

On Saul's giant hand, a cute little black-haired girl was curiously sizing up Ross and the others.

"Jaguar D. Saul, Nico Robin—am I right?"

Ross stood at the front of the group, leisurely looking at the pair of big and small.

Jaguar D. Saul

Overall Rating: A-

Nico Robin

Overall Rating: E+

Sure enough, even if they were story characters, without growth, their ratings were terrifyingly low.

Ross sighed inwardly and immediately lost interest in Robin.

He wasn't into kids; what he liked was Robin twenty years from now. The little sprout in front of him held no appeal.

"That's right. Who are you? Are you here to catch us?"

Saul stood up, his dozens-of-meters-tall giant frame alone exuding overwhelming pressure.

Ever since he realized he had ended up on Ohara and accidentally learned Robin's identity, he knew this day would come.

He just hadn't expected it to arrive so soon.