Although everyone was surprised by Kuzan's reaction, they didn't think much of it. Instead, Borsalino's words caught their interest. Only Sengoku glanced at Kuzan without letting anyone notice.
After hearing Borsalino out, they finally understood why he had been injured.
"You're saying he might be a Devil Fruit user who can breathe fire and even freeze an entire current!"
Sengoku fell into thought, carefully considering Borsalino's words. The others fell silent as well.
A top-tier swordsman with all Three Types of Haki and an unknown Devil Fruit ability-he was stronger than most of the people present.
What really made Sengoku uneasy was the man's age. According to Borsalino, although he didn't know how old the man was, he probably wasn't very old.
He wasn't worried about how strong the man was. What he feared was that the man was young, and the younger he was, the more troublesome he would be.
"Let's hear it. How should we handle this? The World Government hasn't given us much time."
The entire meeting room fell silent in an instant. Everyone stared silently at their cigars.
Sengoku's mouth twitched. These damned bastards only knew how to watch the fun. Whenever it was time to discuss serious business, every one of them went mute.
Just then, Tsuru, the Navy's chief of staff, spoke up.
"Sengoku, this is a bit troublesome. The people who escaped aren't much of a concern. I heard there's a Fish-Man named Fisher Tiger among their leaders. We just need to keep an eye on him."
"The troublesome one is the man who injured Borsalino. We don't know anything about him, not even what he looks like."
Sengoku sighed as well.
"Then do you have any suggestions, Tsuru?"
Vice Admiral Tsuru thought for a moment, then spoke.
"My suggestion is to issue a bounty and shift the focus onto Fisher Tiger, making him the mastermind behind this uprising."
"That way, we can send people after Fisher Tiger and give the Five Elders an explanation. We should also issue a bounty for the man who injured Borsalino, but focus on his strength."
Sengoku said nothing, carefully weighing Vice Admiral Tsuru's words before finally giving his orders.
"That's the only way. This matter didn't have much to do with us in the first place, and Borsalino was injured because of it. We just need to show where we stand."
A gleam flashed in Borsalino's eyes when he heard that. He immediately looked at Fleet Admiral Sengoku, his eyes saying it all: a raise, time off, and a reward.
Catching Borsalino's eager look out of the corner of his eye, Sengoku hurriedly pretended not to notice and spoke again.
"Then it's settled. Tsuru, come discuss the exact bounty amounts with me. Meeting adjourned."
With that, Fleet Admiral Sengoku left the meeting room in an instant, leaving behind a resentful-looking Borsalino, a thoughtful Kuzan, and the others.
In the East Blue, aboard a small boat sailing toward Cocoyasi Village, Lin Yuan lay on a deck chair while four people trained hard beside him.
Ever since Lin Yuan agreed to train Tesoro, Tesoro's easy days had come to an end. He spent all day practicing with a tree trunk on his shoulders.
Stella had initially been worried about Tesoro, but at Lin Yuan's "suggestion," she hadn't escaped either. Instead, she trained alongside him.
What was more, the trunk Stella used for training was even bigger than Tesoro's.
As for Erza and Emile, neither had escaped the same fate. The only thing better for them was that, unlike Tesoro and Stella, they didn't have to train their bodies.
At Lin Yuan's instruction, the two constantly developed their Devil Fruit abilities and put them to use.
Lin Yuan had given Erza a welded block of iron and told her to cut it using the Smooth-Smooth Fruit. Emile, meanwhile, tried to create bubbles and steadily increase their stickiness.
None of them had any power to resist Lin Yuan, so they could only train as he instructed.
Tesoro had complained once, asking why Lin Yuan didn't have to train. Then he saw Lin Yuan unleash a slash that sent a wave dozens of meters high rising from the sea, and he never brought it up again.
He was truly afraid that Lin Yuan might accidentally cut the boat to pieces. Then he would be left wanting to cry but unable to shed a tear.
What he didn't know was that even without a boat, Lin Yuan would be fine, and swordsmanship wasn't even his strongest means of attack.
"Tesoro, straighten your back and squat lower. Look, even Stella's form is better than yours."
Seeing Tesoro drenched in sweat, his legs trembling, Lin Yuan couldn't help scolding him.
"Boss, Stella ate a Zoan Devil Fruit! I'm just an ordinary human-I can't compare to her anymore!"
"Cut the crap. With your current strength, what are you going to protect him with if Stella runs into danger again?"
Hearing that, Tesoro immediately shut his mouth and straightened his back. Even though his whole body trembled, he said nothing more.
Stella glanced at Tesoro, her heart aching for him even as she felt a sweetness inside. But after a glance at Lin Yuan, who was eating fruit, she didn't dare say anything either.
Erza and Emile were so obedient that it was heartbreaking. They didn't dare slack off, not with Tesoro as an example.
Lord Lin Yuan is handsome, but he's so scary when he teaches!
That was what both sisters were thinking.
Just then, Lin Yuan looked up at the sky and waved. Before long, a News Coo wearing a hat flew down.
Lin Yuan casually flicked a gold coin through the air. It traced a graceful arc and landed squarely in the News Coo's pocket.
The News Coo froze. As it wondered what had happened, it suddenly spotted the glittering gold coin in its pocket, and its eyes lit up.
It carefully hid the coin in a compartment of its bag, then held out a newspaper to Lin Yuan with both wings.
Only after Lin Yuan took it did the News Coo give him a remarkably human salute, then flap its wings and fly into the distance.
"Heh, that's pretty amusing."
Amused by the News Coo's actions, Lin Yuan chuckled and made the remark before opening the newspaper.
The front-page headline was about the slave uprising in Mary Geoise, but what made Lin Yuan frown was that it actually named Fisher Tiger as the mastermind.
The article described how Fisher Tiger and a group of Fish-Men had started the uprising and led everyone in their escape, but it said little about Lin Yuan himself.
"They actually pinned the uprising on Fisher Tiger? Was it the World Government or the Navy? Could Fisher Tiger still be unable to escape that fate?"
Lin Yuan was puzzled, so he read on. Below was a list of bounties on the main figures, starting with Fisher Tiger's and followed by the others'.
"Masked Man, an escapee from the Mary Geoise incident. Possesses great strength, skilled in swordsmanship, suspected Devil Fruit user. Dead or alive, bounty: 580 million."
Lin Yuan looked at it in confusion, then his face gradually darkened.
"Boom..."
Suddenly, a terrifying force sent waves dozens of meters high surging across the sea. Dark clouds filled the sky, and countless bolts of purple lightning roiled overhead.
Tesoro suddenly felt a terrifying pressure bear down on him. His eyes rolled back, and he passed out on the spot.
Although the force also drove Stella to one knee, she could still move. Fighting the urge to faint, she pulled Tesoro out from under the tree trunk.
Erza and Emile both fell to the ground, staring at Lin Yuan in terror.
"Lord Lin Yuan!"
Lin Yuan's face was dark as he stared at the name on the wanted poster. They had actually given him the name Masked Man. It sounded fucking awful.
Never mind something like emperor, sovereign, Asura, or god of death-he had injured a Marine Admiral, after all.
But what the hell was Masked Man? They were looking down on him too much. Was this how they brushed him off?!
Lin Yuan withdrew his aura and looked at the unconscious Tesoro, his mouth twitching. Was the kid really that weak? He had already kept his Conqueror's Haki away from the whole boat, yet the residual force alone had knocked him out?
"Stella, find some water and splash him awake. It's only Conqueror's Haki. He'll get used to it with more exposure."
Her face full of concern, Stella brought over a basin of water. She hesitated and glanced at Lin Yuan, then gritted her teeth and splashed it straight into Tesoro's face.
She hurriedly stepped back. It was seawater, after all; she couldn't bear to use the fresh water aboard the boat.
The icy seawater made Tesoro twitch, and he slowly woke up, his face full of confusion.