Telling Kuzan the truth was not as hard as Loa had imagined.
Perhaps he trusted Kuzan. Or perhaps he simply had no idea how much Kuzan already knew. Either way, once he had laid out the plan and everything that had happened, he felt much lighter, as though someone had lifted the ten-thousand-ton boulder weighing on his heart.
Well, lifted—not thrown away.
That was because what Loa told Kuzan was the same thing he had told Zephyr: his target was the Shichibukai. In other words, he was still keeping his plan to overthrow the Dragon People to himself.
"You're going to make Jones the strongest Shichibukai, one who obeys the Marines completely, then use him to bring down the Seven Warlords of the Sea system?" Kuzan took a sip from his cup. "Burp! I have to say, you people are bold, Loa!"
Bold?
They certainly were!
Sengoku had once warned Loa with five grave words: "You will be our enemy." That alone showed how audacious the plan was. No matter what status the World Government granted the Shichibukai, it could not erase the fact that they were a band of great pirates!
For Marines to try to create a Shichibukai, then use him to overthrow the Seven Warlords of the Sea system, was sheer recklessness! If it came to light, calling Loa a traitor to the Marines would hardly be unfair!
Loa could only smile bitterly. "My hand was forced. I didn't have much choice."
Loa had not made that decision on a whim just to cover up his real plan. At the time, the Athos Family's hatred for him was common knowledge. If he failed to complete the "assassination" mission on Kuriswia Island, his fate would be little better than that of the pirates who had been captured.
Not