"It certainly... is hard to guess~~"
Looking at Gern's seemingly puzzled expression, when he actually understood better than anyone, Kizaru was no fool.
After all, Kizaru had not managed to keep slacking off, disappointing everyone enough that no faction could form around him, through laziness alone.
As the saying went, even if you refused to step up, someone would push you forward.
But Kizaru had pulled it off. No one wanted to push him, which showed just how cleverly he had made every choice along the way.
So when Kizaru saw Gern's reaction, alarm bells rang in his head.
He knew this junior's "glorious achievements" all too well.
Back then, the World Government had obstructed him at every turn, adamantly refusing to make him an Admiral. And what had happened?
This fellow had forced an opening anyway, making the World Government swallow its objections and acknowledge the existence of a "fourth Admiral."
He had ushered in the so-called era of four Admirals...
Kizaru's thoughts raced back...
And that had only been the beginning.
Gern had then used the deteriorating situation in the New World as grounds to force through the establishment of G-10, secure Bullet, and use that as his foundation.
Step by step, he had extended his reach into the New World, then worked with Sengoku to trigger the [Holy Land Incident], which Mary Geoise still remembered vividly and despised to this day.
Ultimately, he had obtained the nearly independent title of "New World Strategic Commander-in-Chief."
G-10 now boasted powerful troops and a wealth of formidable fighters. In scale and influence, within that lawless region called the New World,
it was almost equivalent to a fully functional, fearsomely powerful
"Marine Headquarters New World Branch."
And that was not even counting his absurd degree of autonomy!
Recruitment, finances, and even