"Ah, it's Kuzan. It's been twenty years, hasn't it?"
Saul didn't seem particularly excited, because he had already known beforehand that Kuzan had arrived here. Otherwise, Saul would be running his little farm up on the Sky Island, not on the land of Wano Country.
But it was different for Kuzan. After being recruited by Yamato with some strange objective, Onigashima had opened up many areas to him. Most regions of Wano Country were now accessible to him, with the only exceptions being Queen's laboratory and the cluster of Sky Islands above Onigashima.
Given Kuzan's personality, even if he knew the scholars of Ohara were up there, he probably wouldn't do anything. When it came to Ohara, Kuzan shared the same attitude as Saul.
But things like this didn't need to be revealed in advance. Although Saul had come to meet Kuzan, he was even more secretive about the Ohara matter than the members of the Beasts Pirates. After all, he had left the Marines because of this incident.
"Hey, hey, come on, we haven't seen each other for 21 years. And this is how you react?"
Kuzan's tone was as calm as ever, but it carried a hint of dissatisfaction.
Humans are social creatures, and they tend to look for kindred spirits. Twenty-one years ago, back when they were both in the Marines, Saul and Kuzan had been close colleagues.
But after the Ohara incident, Saul, who escaped from prison, had vanished. And that disappearance wasn't good news for him.
Kuzan hadn't seen Saul at Ohara back then. Even Giants appear quite small on an island. Before Saul could be discovered by the main forces, he was taken away by the Beasts Pirates.
But there had been many people on the island, and based on later intelligence reports, someone had seen Saul appear on Ohara before its destruction.
In Kuzan's understanding, no one could've survived that kind of firepower.
The term "missing" was just a veil the Marines used to smooth things over with the Giants. After all, "dead" and "missing" implied very different outcomes—"missing" always left a sliver of hope.
Kuzan had thought Saul was dead. He even erected a memorial for him.
"Dereshishishi, you're still the same, Kuzan. Long time no see. So... is that the kind of answer you were hoping for?"
Saul's way of speaking hadn't changed much, but his tone was now completely different.
That familiar laugh echoed in Kuzan's ears. That strange tone sounded oddly comforting.
When he had first joined the Marines, Saul's unique laugh had seemed strange to others, but now, things were different.
"I thought you were dead. Someone said they saw you on Ohara. How did you escape? And how did you end up here?"
"I thought I was going to die too. As for why I'm here—sorry, Kuzan, there are some things I still can't tell you."
"Seems like you've been living here for quite a while, huh?"
Saul was dressed like a farmer, carrying a huge hoe on his shoulder and wearing a bamboo hat. If he had just arrived, he wouldn't look like this.
"And from your tone, you probably already knew I had come here? And yet you kept hiding here?"
Judging from the traces nearby, he had clearly been farming for some time. If Camel hadn't come over here, Kuzan might never have spotted Saul, who was being concealed by the mountain.
"You ask too many questions. I was planning to surprise you, but I didn't expect that penguin to be related to you."
Saul had known Kuzan had come here but didn't know he'd brought a pet along.
"When I first came here, I just wanted a quiet place to live. Back then, I couldn't understand or accept what Admiral Sengoku had done. But now, here, I've found new hope.
What about you? I only know you fought with Sakazuki. So why did you come here?"
"Why? Let's just say someone told me I could come here to assassinate Kaido. Do you believe that?"
"Dereshishishi, it must've been Miss Yamato. That's definitely something she'd do. But Kuzan, I advise you to keep your calm."
Saul lived on a small Sky Island. From there, he had a clear view of Kaido sparring with Arceus. At first, it was shocking. But over time, that feeling had turned to numbness.
Saul couldn't even imagine how one could possibly defeat those two monsters.
"I know, I just wanted to see some other things too. As for the rest… we'll talk about it later."
"You're still the same. Come on, no matter what, I've been here longer than you. Let's find a tavern and have a proper talk."
Some time later, in a tavern in the Flower Capital.
Saul and Kuzan chatted about the past and discussed the changes in the world. At the same time, Saul was helping Kuzan understand the changes that happened in Wano Country.
He had personally witnessed twenty years of history, watching Wano Country evolve from a closed-off ancient nation into the modern state it was today.
"Saul, am I drunk, or are those two ducks dueling?"
"Oh, that's a Sirfetch'd. You must've seen it already, this country is full of strange creatures. The one who created them calls them Pokémon, and they are an incredibly wondrous species.
Your penguin has undergone a similar transformation, you must've noticed it long ago, right? Some things have already gone beyond the realm of science. That's the power of the God."
"Ara ara, that really is shocking. Are you trying to tell me Beasts Pirates' religion actually has a god?"
"Kuzan, I'm not joking with you. Why else do you think a pirate-ruled nation would become like this? You haven't been here long enough. Give it some time, and you'll understand what I mean."
Saul's expression turned serious. The relaxed mood from drinking earlier had already been cast aside. But Kuzan still looked as laid-back as ever.
"Got it. I'll see for myself.
But those things in their hands are leeks, right? Why is the color of that leak so strange?"
In Kuzan's view, the leek in Sirfetch'd's hand seemed a bit darkened, but it didn't look like a direct application of Haki. He was a Marine Admiral, after all, and he had at least that much discernment.
"Maybe you were seeing things. Or maybe it's just a different variety of leek."
"Maybe. Anyway, where were we just now? Let's continue."
Saul resumed sharing his experiences, and Kuzan put his previous thoughts aside. In that moment, a word flashed through his mind—Black Blade.
As the name suggests, a blade that's black in color is Black Blade. But these blades don't start out black, the color changes over time.
The greatest feature of a Black Blade is its durability, and the source of that durability is Haki.
Every sword has the potential to become a Black Blade. A swordsman can temper their weapon into one through their own Haki. Kuzan knew those two dueling Sirfetch'd could use Haki, but no matter how he thought about it, the idea of ducks forging Black Leek was just too absurd.
But in fact, what Kuzan found hard to believe was the truth: the leek Sirfetch'd were using was a very special plant, even its seeds were created by Arceus.
Normal Sirfetch'd need to periodically search for new leeks to replace their wilting weapons. But these Sirfetch'd were different. In their lives, they had learned to use Haki and had discovered that leek blades were more easily imbued with Haki than metal ones.
Right now, it was just a prototype. But given time, they might truly be able to forge a durable Black Leek. In a sense, this could be considered a new regional form of Sirfetch'd.
A new group of Sirfetch'd, wielding Haki-infused shields and blades, training in the way of the sword in Wano Country.
None of this was impossible. The Seastone variant regional form of Rock-type Pokémon had already proven that.
It was just that, for Kuzan at this moment, it was hard to accept. Even though Saul clearly pointed to the existence of a God, everything before Kuzan was reshaping the worldview he had built over decades.
Arceus himself was unaware of Kuzan's thoughts. At this moment, Arceus was receiving a report from Acier. Acier had made new breakthroughs in materials science and had invented several meaningful things.
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