Queen's hair stood on end. He had just come out to check on his business when Kuzan suddenly appeared in front of him out of nowhere. How could he not be nervous?
"Damn it, who's been in charge of perimeter security lately?! I'm going to let him experience what it's like to mine in darkness for the rest of his life!"
Allowing someone like that to walk into a place like this could only mean the perimeter guards had failed in their duty. A giant penguin bringing Kuzan all the way here without being detected—this was no simple oversight.
But this couldn't be helped either; the person was brought back by their own young miss, so of course, they had no authority over it. Since it involved Yamato, the reporting level had been raised to Arceus and Kaido, and Queen, who had been out tending his farms, naturally had no idea what had happened.
"Hey, hey, I'm not here to fight. If anything, your young miss was the one who brought me here."
Seeing the jittery Queen, Kuzan didn't say much. He just raised his hands slightly to show he meant no harm. But Queen didn't relax one bit.
Raising hands might seem like a sign of surrender, but for someone like Kuzan, it could be just a façade; if they wanted to, they could shift into combat mode in a single second.
"Uncle Queen, don't be so tense. This is a new recruit I brought in. You'll be coworkers in the future. I already told Dad, and he agreed to let me bring Kuzan into Onigashima."
Yamato walked over calmly from the side, patting Queen's belly to reassure him.
"No, my lady, do you even know who you've recruited?! He is a Marine Admiral! Well, former Admiral, but how could someone like that sincerely join us? You're letting a wolf into the house!"
Queen put away his weapons, but his mood only grew more complicated. An enemy could be kept outside the gate, but once they became part of the crew, life would become difficult.
"I know, but people can change, right? Besides, hasn't Dad always said, even if it's a spy, we can squeeze as much value out of him as possible before he makes a move?"
The two hadn't yet reached the stage of loud, blatant scheming, and Kuzan nearby wasn't paying attention to their conversation either. He was just laying down a small path by the sea, playing with his penguin, completely unguarded, which made Queen lower his guard by maybe one-thousandth.
"So you knew he might be a spy and still recruited him?"
Kuzan and Sakazuki had been comrades for decades, but they fought to such lengths for the position of Fleet Admiral. Queen couldn't understand why. Back then, even King and Shayna had wanted to kill him, but now the most they did was beat him up.
In Queen's mind, there had to be a deeper secret behind Kuzan's departure.
"Yup, and I even told him, 'This is a great chance to capture you alive.' If he really is a spy, then he should seize the opportunity."
Queen once again froze. At this moment, Yamato's logic seemed to have ascended to Kaido's heights.
Arceus' actions still followed some form of logic. Generally, when Arceus made a decision, Queen could deduce the cause and effect. But Kaido was the only one he couldn't understand; Kaido's impulsive nature made his actions completely unpredictable.
Now that Yamato had inherited Kaido's style, she had also become just as unpredictable in Queen's eyes.
"W-why?"
"Why? Because over a year ago, some b*stard tried to go down with me during the Summit War. Now, who was that again, Uncle Q..U..E..E..N?"
"You still haven't forgotten the matter from that long ago?"
"Sometimes I hold grudges, you know. If Father hadn't been acting strangely lately, he'd have dragged me into sparring already. I don't forget stuff like this that easily."
Yamato normally didn't hold grudges, unless it involved Kaido.
"But you don't need to worry either, Uncle Queen. You have to believe in yourself. Back then even Sakazuki couldn't stop you, and Kuzan was defeated by Sakazuki. If you round it up, doesn't that make him not so scary?"
"How is that the same! Zeraora was there back then too, and that place wasn't Onigashima either!"
When he wasn't high on Oshiruko, Queen would never overestimate his own strength. No matter how you put it, this kind of thing was just too dangerous.
"Calm down, calm down. You've gotten stronger too, Uncle Queen."
"So you recruited him just to torment me?!"
"Of course not, Uncle Queen, you're giving yourself too much credit. I want to use him to attract father's attention. You're not qualified to be the target anymore, this newcomer should still be of some use."
[Giving yourself too much credit]
[Not qualified]
Two metaphorical swords pierced through his heart, and Queen's pride suffered a critical hit as well. Even though this wasn't exactly a good thing, he still felt like his status had dropped.
And at that moment, Hawkins' most recent divination suddenly came to Queen's mind.
[It's an inauspicious time, yet there's a mix of joy and sorrow, with haze lingering overhead for a long time.]
When haze blocks out the light, the temperature can drop, and being shrouded in haze for a long time means you can experience a severe cold.
Queen's requirements were too high. He had always wanted Hawkins, someone who could divine success rate, to divine a more detailed future.
Because if it was just about success rate, Queen's future was always unfortunate, so he needed Hawkins to change that.
Due to his limited abilities, Hawkins couldn't do such a thing, but there had been some progress.
Eventually it turned into a situation where Hawkins only did the fortune reading, but didn't interpret the result. Only when things happened could Queen understand what Hawkins' words had meant.
Now, looking at Kuzan and Yamato—two users of ice-type abilities—Queen felt as if he had understood something. So this was what being shoruded by haze meant.
"Wait, mix of joy and sorrow? Miss Yamato, are you seriously planning to have him draw Boss Kaido's attention?"
This was the only part Queen could find joy in. If it actually worked, his days might finally become more peaceful.
Nowadays, his Armament Haki had grown very powerful, but whenever he thought of the source of the Armament Haki, Queen felt only pain.
Kaido's strength increasing was a good thing for the Beasts Pirates, but not necessarily for the two special individuals, Yamato and Queen.
It wasn't that they didn't want to grow stronger, but Kaido always had a way of turning up the heat at the most unexpected moments. If Kuzan could divert Kaido's attention, then this haze might not be so unbearable after all.
"Yeah, with this level of strength, it should be enough."
"Sounds good, but I still feel like the future's going to be miserable."
Queen now really envied people who could see the future. If he could, he'd want that ability too.
But this world was inherently more idealistic to begin with. Given Queen's current circumstances, it wouldn't be the least bit surprising if one day his Observation Haki broke through to the level of foreseeing the future.
"Don't worry. If something really happens to you, Uncle Queen, I'll remember you fondly. I came across an island that's really good at making funeral wreaths. I heard that the surrounding islands all buy their wreaths from there."
".....That doesn't make me feel reassured at all!!"
Queen wasn't reassured by this at all, but he was powerless to change something that had already happened. After all, even Arceus had agreed, so there was no point in saying anything more. But he still carried out some "emergency measures."
For example, he notified the other high-ranking members of the Beasts Pirates about this matter. Even the ordinary pirates stationed on Onigashima received the notice, though what they were told was that if they detected a large-scale cold wave on Onigashima, they should immediately fire a signal flare. All consequences arising from this would be Queen's responsibility.
This was the source of Queen's current confidence. He didn't believe Kuzan could instantly kill him without making a sound. If Kuzan really made a move, it would be enough if he could just sound the alarm.
In the end, Queen also returned to Onigashima aboard the Pokémon Ship, and he kept his attention almost entirely on Kuzan.
"I'm telling you, staring at someone like that really affects their sleep. Am I really that attractive to you?"
Kuzan pushed his eye mask up onto his forehead, his gaze full of helplessness.
"Hah, trying to use that kind of talk to make me lower my guard? Dream on! I'm telling you, don't think you can do anything just because you made it into Onigashima. You'll learn that when faced with absolute power, any scheme is useless."
"I heard that all you science types are crazy, so as the number one scientist in the Beasts Pirates, does that mean your brain isn't normal either? Your young miss is right over there. You think I'd actually do something to you in front of her?"
"You wouldn't, but she might just stand by and do nothing, and only act after watching the show."
"Huh?"
Kuzan might technically be part of the Beasts Pirates now, but he'd only joined for less than half a month, and he already couldn't understand what was going on.
When the Pokémon Ship returned to the Wano Country, Zeraora also began his journey back along with his children. At the same time, the message Queen issued was uploaded to the Beasts Pirates' "Rotom Official Website" and relayed to the subordinates through the officers.
"Did you hear? Miss Yamato recruited a former Marine Admiral. That Aokiji is one of us now."
"Lord Queen said it's only temporary. He told everyone to be careful around that guy. We'll see how it turns out."
The news spread quickly through the Rotom network, and even the regular pirates began heatedly discussing it.
"Whatever, Admiral or not, with Lord Arceus and Lord Kaido here, we're undefeatable anyway. What's the word for it again..oh right, this is called adapting to the times."
"Are you looking down on Oni Princess? Lord Kaido said last time that her strength is already enough to hold her own."
"There is still a disparity between Oni Princess and Governor-General Kaido. But either way, we just gained another powerful combatant, didn't we?
Even if he is a problem, only a senior officer would be able to deal with it. All we can do is shoot off a signal flare, so stop worrying about things that don't concern us. Just get ready for tonight's banquet. Hey! Red Flag, stop spacing out, what are you thinking about?"
That pirate glanced at Drake, who was dazing off on the side, and tossed him a bottle of rum.
"Stop worrying about stuff like that. It has nothing to do with us. Actually, if it's you, maybe you'll become one of the Numbers someday. Captain Jack has already promoted you to team captain, that's a great start."
The ordinary members, unaware of Drake's true identity, had already regarded him as one of their own. Seeing him daze off, they thought he was just worried.
What they didn't know was that Drake was worried, but not for the reasons they imagined.
[Admiral Aokiji... how could it be… no way… this must be a plan by Headquarters. It has to be.]
A former Admiral joining a pirate crew. This kind of news was like a bolt from the blue for Drake.
As someone carrying out an undercover mission, he hoped Kuzan was the same as him. But he simply wasn't high-ranking enough to know the movements of someone like Kuzan, so he could only comfort himself this way.
Aside from undercover agents like Drake, most pirates were very excited about this. This indirectly confirmed the strength of their crew.
A very small number of pirates, however, shared thoughts similar to Queen's.
But regardless of what they were thinking, the Pokémon Ship continued sailing as usual and smoothly returned to Wano Country a few days later.
"Finally back. Welcome to our territory - Wano Country."
The Pokémon Ship re-entered Wano Country from Mogura Port. Kuzan's Camel swam up the waterfall on its own. Without being attacked by Gyarados, this kind of penguin did indeed have the ability to climb the waterfall on its own.
"Wano Country, huh? What a mysterious place."
The closed-off nation of Wano had always been shrouded in mystery. After the Beasts Pirates took control, Wano Country gained even more invisible barriers. Outsiders had heard of it, but never knew what it was truly like.
"Looks pretty nice."
"Of course! This is our home turf. Who would let their own home become a mess?"
Leaving aside the Wano Country of the original timeline, the current main territories of the Emperors of the Sea mostly followed this style.
Whole Cake Island, although it demanded lifespan offerings and had to constantly guard against Charlotte Linlin's uncontrollable eating disorder...
Aside from those two points, the happiness index of Whole Cake Island was also quite high. Even the cruel Perospero would act like a gentleman there, handing out lollipops to children.
There's the calm and peaceful Sphinx Island, the prosperous Wano Country. These territories were more prosperous than most affiliated nations.
"Alright, stop looking around. Come with me for identity registration. I'll prepare a special badge for you."
Queen planned to give Kuzan his own classification. He wasn't a confirmed undercover agent, but couldn't be fully treated as one of their own either. He also wasn't just a regular stranger. Queen intended to create a new category for him.
But just then, Speed walked over holding a Den Den Mushi.
"Miss Yamato, Lord Queen, orders from Lord Arceus: Miss Yamato is to take, um... take Mr. Kuzan for registration, and Lord Queen, you are to take that penguin to Onigashima to see him."
Speed hesitated for a moment over how to address Kuzan before relaying Arceus' request. The order had been conveyed by Shayna via the Den Den Mushi on the Pokémon Ship, which was why it had to be passed along in the first place.
"Lord Arceus wants to see me and that penguin?"
"Yes."
"He wants me, not Kuzan?"
"Yes, Lord Queen. I'm certain I didn't mishear the name."
Queen pointed at himself and repeatedly confirmed that Speed hadn't miscommunicated the order. Only then did he hand over the identity registration task to Yamato. This work could be done by anyone. At worst, he could revise it later.
However, he still didn't understand why Arceus wanted to meet him, and not Kuzan.
It wasn't until he arrived at Onigashima that he understood the reason, and was even somewhat moved.
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