Who Is the Navy's Greatest Swordsman?

On the southeastern side of Fish-Man Island's civilian district lay the outskirts of Coral Hill, a port town.

At this moment, although the sunlight from Sun Tree Eve remained bright, cold winds swept through the area, and ice covered the ground. Some twenty humans hugged their frost-covered bodies as they shivered their way quickly toward the distant warship under the watch of a group of Marines.

These pirates had heard that there would be hot water aboard the warship, so even though they were heading for cells, they could hardly wait.

As for thoughts of resisting or struggling, those had long since vanished.

What a joke. That was a Marine admiral candidate, and a top-tier Logia user at that. They could only blame their own bad luck. Sigh—

Elsewhere, Kuzan was speaking with three female fish-men. Strictly speaking, they were two young mermaid ladies and one young mermaid girl.

"Human big brother, thank you so much for saving us. But you made this place so cold. Are these crystal-like things ice?"

The black-haired little girl, who looked no older than four or five, asked excitedly through chattering teeth. At the same time, she squeezed her tiny body into her sister's ample cleavage, trying to find more warmth.

"Arara, is this your first time seeing ice? Oh, right, my name is Kuzan. What's yours?" Kuzan smiled cheerfully.

Just moments ago, he had rescued the three mermaids before him from those pirates. Such a righteous act put him in a fine mood, making him feel as though the hot blood in his body was warming up.

"My name is Shyarly!"

"These are Sister Emily and Sister Iwiny. So, aren't they pretty? Want to try dating one of them, human big brother?"

The little girl was extremely lively. She introduced them before her two sisters could speak, then mischievously looked up at Kuzan with a wicked grin.

At the same time, she secretly complained to herself, Isn't this big brother human? Why is he so tall? He's much, much taller than so many fish-man big brothers!

"Hey, Shyarly, don't spout nonsense!" The mermaid sister holding Shyarly blushed furiously while secretly sizing up Kuzan's appearance.

Tall, strong, powerful, and apparently a high-ranking Marine officer. His personality also seemed pretty good—cheerful and gentle.

"Vice Admiral Aokiji!"

Just then, a Marine ran over and urgently reported, "Vice Admiral, a construction team at Mermaid Harbor has been attacked by a group of violent fish-men."

"Hm?" Kuzan raised a brow, turned toward him, and asked, "Did anyone get hurt? How many fish-men were there? I remember Major Hodgson was in charge over there."

"Thirteen workers were injured—ten lightly and three severely, with the latter unconscious. Two excavators were damaged. There were eight violent fish-men in total. They're said to be called the Arlong Pirates, and Major Hodgson has already taken them down."

The Marine rattled off the long report and was a little out of breath. After pausing briefly, he continued.

"Major Hodgson sent word that the Minister of the Left from Ryugu Palace has arrived with men. He says they hope the Arlong Pirates can be handed over to the Neptune Army for custody, so he hopes you can go over and handle the matter."

Kuzan nodded, signaling for him to return to formation, while preparing to say goodbye to the three mermaids.

But before he could say anything, little Shyarly, whose body was buried between her sister's breasts, asked somewhat nervously, "Big Brother Kuzan, can I go take a look with you?"

"Why?"

Kuzan looked at her in confusion.

"Um... Arlong seems to be my older brother. But I heard that a long time ago, Father and Mother abandoned him at the orphanage in Fish-Man District. I-I want to see what he looks like," Shyarly said weakly.

Upon hearing this, Kuzan thought it over and said, "You can. But let's be clear first: no matter how he is dealt with, you can't interfere."

"Okay, okay!"

Shyarly nodded repeatedly. She was merely curious about this brother she had never met; as for any emotional attachment, there was none to speak of.

"Alright, let's go."

Twenty or so minutes later, the warship arrived once more beside the World Government vessel docked at Mermaid Harbor. Kuzan disembarked with a large contingent of Marines and the three mermaids.

"Vice Admiral Aokiji!"

Major Hodgson had been waiting for some time. Beside him stood the Minister of the Left, as well as Jinbe, Aladdin, and other Neptune Army warriors.

Kuzan surveyed the scene. Most conspicuous of all were the Arlong Pirates, tightly bound in specially made steel ropes. Their faces still bore lingering shock, as though they could not believe that a human Marine could be so strong.

"Vice Admiral Aokiji, I am truly sorry that such a vile incident occurred. This is a failure on the part of Fish-Man Island. I have already notified the doctors to come, and we will certainly do everything in our power to treat the injured workers!"

The Minister of the Left walked over with no intention of brushing the matter aside. He was also immensely frustrated with himself. If he had known, he should have dispatched some Neptune Army guards here.

Previously, they had merely believed that since the Marines were handling security, nothing would happen. Moreover, the fish-men and merfolk of their country were generally quite mild-tempered. Yet they had overlooked the existence of Fish-Man District and the Arlong Pirates.

Thinking about it, how could high-ranking officials and nobles of an entire nation possibly pay attention to a few lowly hooligans at the bottom of society?

"Then thank you. As for this matter, there's no need for you to blame yourself. In the end, it was still a failure on the part of my subordinates. As for how to deal with the Arlong Pirates..."

Kuzan pondered for a moment. During that time, everyone present waited for his decision.

Meanwhile, Shyarly curiously examined the despondent-looking Arlong. Curling her lips inwardly, she thought, What? He's not handsome at all!

She was somewhat disappointed. After all, he was her biological older brother, and she had hoped his appearance would at least be better. But now, he just looked like a thug and troublemaking punk. No wonder Father and Mother had abandoned him.

"Alright. This time, I'll personally decide to hand the Arlong Pirates over to the Neptune Army."

Kuzan spoke at last. The Minister of the Left revealed a delighted expression and was just about to offer his thanks when Kuzan continued.

"But only this once. If any fish-men maliciously attack Marines or World Government personnel again, we will send them to Enies Lobby for trial. I hope you will relay this to King Neptune."

The Minister of the Left was likely one of the few people on Fish-Man Island who understood the World Government very well. The moment he heard Enies Lobby, he understood what that meant.

Impel Down!

It gave him quite a fright. He had heard of what a terrifying place that was—supposedly a living Hell.

"Yes, yes, yes. I will certainly inform His Majesty and do my utmost to prevent such incidents from happening again. From now on, our Neptune Army will also share responsibility for security. Please rest assured, Vice Admiral Aokiji!"

Kuzan was quite satisfied to see the Minister of the Left's agreeable attitude. He turned to Major Hodgson and ordered, "Hand the Arlong Pirates over to the Neptune Army."

"Yes, Vice Admiral Aokiji!" The Major naturally had no objections. He turned to handle the matter, personally transferring the prisoners over.

Kuzan then turned his gaze to Jinbe and Aladdin, asking with a smile, "Are these two the important Fish-Men personally named by Fleet Admiral Kong?"

He had already reviewed the relevant files before coming here and was very supportive of forming the Fish-Man Unit. Fish-Men truly possessed remarkable speed and strength underwater, though he had no interest whatsoever in Fish-Man Karate.

"Yes, I am Jinbe. I hope Vice Admiral Aokiji will guide me in the future." Jinbe carried himself with great composure and propriety, his gaze calm and steady. He made an excellent first impression on Kuzan.

"I am Aladdin. I am very interested in human Swordsmanship. May I ask who the strongest swordsman at Marine Headquarters is?" Aladdin asked curiously.

"Swordsmanship?"

Kuzan froze for a moment, then thought to himself, As for Swordsmanship, I remember Sakazuki practiced it for a while in the past, but later stopped using it. At present, it should be Borsalino, right?

Other than that, he really could not name Marine Headquarters' greatest swordsman. Though he himself occasionally liked using a blade as well.

It was a very strange phenomenon. Judging from Marine Headquarters' training curriculum, swordsmanship training began from the very bottom ranks of the Marines. Yet in the later developments, no famous Great Swordsmen emerged. Kizaru and Gion seemed to qualify, but neither was specifically described as a Great Swordsman. Other groups, on the other hand, had many top-tier swordsmen.