No Ally Was More Reliable Than Wood

"I admit that if my opponent were Wood, I might not be able to bring myself to kill him.

"I've known him for more than twenty years. We met back in the Marine Academy, and there was even a time when I hated him.

"But as I got to know him better, I gradually came to admire his qualities.

"Wood has a righteous heart. I, Gion, can stake my life on that. Otherwise, with everything he'd accomplished over the years, he could have deserted the Marines long ago. He wouldn't have needed to wait until now."

At Momousagi's confession, many of the Marines present fell silent.

Ancient Weapon Wood had once been a Marine. He'd even risen to the rank of Admiral Candidate, complete with a codename. A few months ago, that would have been classified as an extremely sensitive secret.

But when the events in Wano Country broke out, News Coo spread the story across the world. Now, almost everyone on the seas knew about it.

What most of the Marines hadn't expected was that Admiral Momousagi, one of the most celebrated admirals at Marine Headquarters, had such a close relationship with the former Admiral Candidate known as "Ink Serpent."

According to the unreliable gossip circulating around Marine Headquarters, Admiral Momousagi had another Admiral Candidate there who was madly in love with her.

How would that "Ryokugyu" Admiral Candidate feel if he heard what Momousagi had just said?

"Admiral Fujitora, if your superiors sent you undercover on the seas, and you carried out your mission for more than twenty years with a righteous heart while bearing a bad name, what would you do?

"If you rose from an unknown little pirate to one of the Four Emperors, what would you do?

"Even before the Paramount War, Wood already had