The newcomer had a relatively dark complexion and a thin, tall build of around three meters. He wore a white suit vest with a deep blue shirt, curly hair, and a green sleep mask resting across his forehead.
He radiated an air of laziness all over, as though he might fall asleep standing up at any second.
This man was none other than one of the highest military powers of the Marine Headquarters, Admiral Aokiji, Kuzan!
Upon seeing Kuzan walk in, the three individuals who had been entirely at a loss regarding the Cloth suddenly lit up, their eyes fixed on Kuzan with glowing intensity.
As for what they looked like, please imagine Luffy's expression upon seeing meat.
Thus, having just stepped through the door, Kuzan didn't even have time to offer a greeting before he was too frightened by the three men's bizarre stares to speak.
Why were Sengoku and the others so excited, acting as if they had just discovered the New World? Naturally, it was because Kuzan just happened to be an ice-man who had eaten the Logia Ice-Ice Fruit! Visually speaking, this seemed to fit the attributes of the Cloth remarkably well!
Or rather, it seemed that right now, only an ice-man who wasn't afraid of the cold could possibly use this Cloth.
"Marshal, Senior, Borsalino, everyone, why are you... looking at me with such creepy expressions?"
Unable to bear the eerie atmosphere any longer, Kuzan finally spoke up first.
Hearing Kuzan say this, the three men snapped back to reality, realizing their expressions just now might have been slightly abnormal. They gave a few awkward dry coughs, and then Sengoku motioned for Kuzan to come over so he could show him a big baby.
Kuzan stepped forward, and then he noticed a strange object in the office-a weird bird pieced together from metal that was venting white gas. What was this?
Looking at Kuzan's puzzled expression, Sengoku said, "Ahem, Kuzan, don't speak for a moment. We'll explain things to you later. First, just touch this Cloth."
A Cloth? Did he mean this strange, hissing, white-gas-venting bird? This thing was called a Cloth? How on earth was this thing anything like clothing? Though it did look quite pretty, carrying a sense of noble refinement.
However, since the Marshal told him to touch it first, he would obediently give it a touch.
Kuzan reached out his hand, slowly extending it toward the Cloth, while the gazes of Sengoku and the other two followed the movement of Kuzan's fingertips as they slowly drew closer to the Cloth.
Finally, the tip of Kuzan's finger brushed against the Cygnus Cloth. In that instant, the Cloth suddenly erupted with a blinding glare, successfully dazzling Sengoku and the two others who had been staring intently at Kuzan's finger. The next moment, the light faded, and a sound resembling the call of a swan seemed to echo in everyone's ears. Following that, the Cygnus Cloth instantly burst apart and disintegrated, and its various armor components turned into light and surged toward Kuzan's torso, arms, legs, head, and feet.
Startled by this sudden development, Kuzan instinctively drew back, but he couldn't outrun it. In the end, he was caught up by the Cloth. Amid a flurry of clanging sounds, the Cloth finished donning itself in an instant.
From this moment on, the second Saint Seiya of the One Piece World was born! He was the Cygnus Saint-Kuzan!
The three men, whose eyes had been blinded by the flash, blinked furiously while crying, yet they refused to miss the scene unfolding before them. Kuzan now wore a mystical and handsome suit of armor that wrapped around him perfectly, with a pair of wings on his back that banished even a hint of his usual lazy demeanor, making him look just like a warrior from the age of mythology. Words alone could not capture how handsome he looked!
Seeing the dashing Kuzan, the men actually felt a touch of envy...
Damn it, why hadn't the Cloth chosen them?!
Kuzan himself stared blankly at his own transformation. He released his Observation Haki to check his physical state and discovered that nothing seemed amiss, while his condition felt better than ever before. He sensed that his strength, which hadn't grown in a long time, had even increased slightly.
Then he looked back at Sengoku, his eyes filled with puzzlement: "Fleet Admiral Sengoku, can you tell me what's going on now?"
Sengoku looked at Kuzan's bewildered expression and felt a tightness in his chest. It really was so frustrating! He wanted a suit of ultra-cool armor like this too!
Being the Fleet Admiral, however, he quickly adjusted his mindset, and then he explained the ins and outs of the matter to Kuzan.
At this, Kuzan's usual icy expression failed to hold. Chiefly, everything Sengoku described was simply too shocking: a bar that could grant wishes, an overpoweringly strong owner whose mere presence could pressure an Admiral into losing all resistance, and such magical Cloths. Everything was somewhat magical.
Since Kuzan was a man who had experienced major events, however, he quickly accepted this massive influx of information.
Right at that moment, an image suddenly and uncontrollably appeared in Kuzan's mind, causing him to close his eyes involuntarily.
In the vision, a youth with golden-blonde hair wore a suit of armor that looked identical to the one he currently wore.
The youth performed a few seconds of bizarre movements, resembling an eerie dance, and then pressed his palms together into a fist against his chest before thrusting them out violently.
In that moment, it was as bright as snowflakes and as beautiful as the stars. Scattering snow as white as pearls, it froze everything. The scene before his eyes was a vast expanse of white, the ice crystals clear and beautiful like diamonds, yet harboring murderous intent!
Subsequently, five characters popped abruptly into Kuzan's mind: Diamond Dust!
"Kuzan! Kuzan!"
Garp's rough voice by his ear roused Kuzan from his trance, and the inherited memory came to an end. Regaining his senses, he looked at the inquiring and worried expressions of the others and recounted the vision he had just seen.
"You're saying you saw a youth in your mind, seemingly demonstrating a technique for you?" Sengoku asked.
Kuzan nodded. At that point, Sengoku recalled that the Cloth was rumored to come with a technique comparable to a Great Swordsman's slash. It seemed this must be it.
Afterwards, Sengoku proposed testing the power of the Cloth. Consequently, the party of four went to an empty training ground. Sengoku had originally wanted Kizaru and Kuzan to have a match, but Kizaru stated that his condition hadn't fully recovered, so Garp ended up stepping into the ring.
Looking at Garp, Kuzan still felt a slight sense of trepidation, as he knew Garp's strength all too well. Those iron fists of his packed a painful punch!
Still, Kuzan braced himself and went forward.
The ultimate outcome, however, exceeded everyone's imagination.
Half an hour later, the training ground had turned into an ice cave, filled everywhere with frozen ice crystals that resembled diamonds and shimmered with a stern, chilling light under the moonlight.
Aokiji's freezing aura dropped the temperature in the training arena straight down below freezing, causing Sengoku and Kizaru, who were watching from the sidelines, to even need to invoke their Armament Haki to fend off the cold.
As for the two individuals inside the arena, Kuzan rested his hands on his knees and panted heavily, clearly having exhausted or even overdrawn a large portion of his stamina. Wisps of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth, showing that even the Cloth hadn't completely defended against Garp's iron fists. Kuzan's primary issue right now, however, was his massive stamina drain, while his injuries were actually quite minor. With his physique, he would be fine by the next day.
In contrast to Kuzan, who still looked martial and valiant wearing the Cloth, Garp was in a rather miserable state. His chest heaved rapidly, showing he had expended a great deal of energy as well. Not only was his face frozen purple, but ice chips covered his body from head to toe, his clothes were tattered and torn, and frostbite on his skin was faintly visible. These were all superficial injuries, however, and posed no major problem.
Even so, he had sustained some injuries. Not only had the Cloth granted Kuzan flawless defense, but it had also amplified his Taijutsu and enhanced the power of his Devil Fruit. The so-called inherited technique of the Cloth, Diamond Dust, was also ferocious in power, and Garp had been caught off guard by that very move.