Kuma shuddered, then sighed. "I let him down."
As he recalled their first meeting and conversation, Kuma knew that he, too, held Xia Le in high regard.
Perhaps no one else in the world understood him as well as Xia Le did.
And as they spent more time together, he had discovered, to his surprise, that this formidable man hailed as a legend was unexpectedly gentle and easy to get along with.
Even that little girl serving under Moria could boldly joke with him.
What caught his attention even more was Xia Le's concern for ordinary people.
As a superior, this man was undoubtedly someone worth entrusting everything to, a good man worth risking his life for.
As a friend, he was just as suitable.
Kuma understood perfectly why so many powerful people and subordinates had gathered around him.
Someone as strong as Bullet, as unruly as Crocodile, and even Buggy, Rosinante, Smoker, and the others willingly obeyed his orders.
Without question, Xia Le possessed tremendous charisma. In many people's eyes, he was a hero, the embodiment of justice.
His path even seemed more right than Dragon's.
Almost without realizing it, Kuma had begun comparing the two men in his mind.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
The wind kept howling past his ears.
To his shock, Zoro discovered that he was lying inside a bubble.
The scenery on either side flashed past at incredible speed.
In the blink of an eye, he was above the sea. He carefully sat up, afraid of puncturing the bubble.
Then he saw the endless ocean and the black specks sailing across it.
"What the hell is going on?!"
The wind whistled around him, leaving Zoro distinctly uneasy.
He waited anxiously, watching the bubble fly rapidly over the sea.
After an unknown stretch of time, an