Outside, after Zeraora and the others entered its stomach, Wailord retreated to the inland sea, and with a burst of speed, it directly leapt over the outer defensive wall of Wano Country.
Its round body traced an arc through the air, and its blue fins flapped constantly. Wailord was using this method to adjust its posture.
Although its figure looked clumsy, jumping was Wailord's specialty. This was also its way of fighting. Wailord would use the shockwaves generated when its body collided with the waves to stun opponents.
After arriving in the outer sea of Wano Country, Wailord took a deep breath and, after filling itself with air, dove into the deep sea.
No matter how turbulent the waves outside Wano Country were, the deep sea was ultimately much gentler. Inside, Kuzan could feel the shaking gradually disappear, and the surroundings fell into silence.
Zeraora occasionally gave Wailord directions, while Shayna sat quietly with her eyes closed, resting. After thinking for a while, Kuzan eventually took out a sleep mask and began his afternoon nap.
Wailord's internal space was very spacious, and even with three people inside, it didn't feel stuffy at all.
[Flame Blood and Thunderclap, quite a familiar combination.]
He had joined the Marines two years later than Sakazuki and Borsalino, but thanks to his strength, Kuzan was something of an accelerated student. In the end, he became one of the monster rookies of the same generation as Akainu and Kizaru.
Magma, light, and ice—the three great Logia-type abilities laid the foundation for an era of the Marines.
Now, magma and light were replaced by flame and lightning. In a way, this was an era that felt very familiar to him.
After some time, the smoothly sailing Wailord suddenly let out a muffled roar.
"Egghead is just ahead, but things seem a little unusual here. Wailord has run into some trouble."
From Wailord's roar, Zeraora detected a sense of displeasure and understood its message.
"It's time for action. We'll do as discussed before. Kuzan, this is your first mission, so take it seriously. Let's see what an Admiral can really do."
"Ara ara, you're making me nervous talking like that. But don't worry, just like we agreed, I'll handle the tough ones. You two just go after what we came for."
As the three of them talked, Wailord also launched its attack.
Wailord's underwater approach was meant to be stealthy, but as it neared Egghead, it encountered a large number of sea beasts. They had strange mechanical devices attached to their heads.
These sea beasts became interested in the approaching Wailord and blocked its path.
The seas surrounding Egghead were a restricted zone, and the blockade was enforced by these sea beast weapons controlled by Vegapunk. Sea lions, sea giraffes, sea wolves, and many other fierce sea beasts had surrounded Wailord.
They hadn't necessarily noticed anything unusual about Wailord. It was simply a biological instinct. Sea beasts needed to feed too, and Wailord, with its dopey appearance, seemed like easy prey to them.
Buzz—!
Wailord's eyes glowed blue, and the seawater under its control released a powerful shockwave to the surrounding area. Wailord wasn't just a defenseless transport ship; it was at least an armed one.
Water Pulse forced back the approaching sea beasts, and Wailord began to rise. It had already broken through the outer defenses from the deep sea and reached the vicinity of Egghead. It was time to launch the real operation.
The power of Water Pulse repelled all the sea beasts trying to get close to Wailord and also triggered Egghead's alarm system. Nearby, Lilith received the alert and piloted a giant robot toward the scene.
"Lilith, what's going on over there? Lilith?"
For some reason, he suddenly lost contact with Lilith. No matter how loudly Shaka shouted, there was no response. At the same time, the alarm on Egghead began to blare.
Egghead had been modified by Vegapunk, with a device called the "Island A.C." integrated into the ground. Through this device, Egghead was maintained at a constant temperature.
But as Lilith lost contact, the island's temperature also began to plummet rapidly.
"Low-temperature warning?"
Vegapunk had anticipated that someone would come looking for the plate, but when exactly, and who it would be, were beyond his predictions.
"Dr. Vegapunk! An intruder is approaching Egghead! The old man sent me to assist you in evacuating!"
Before Shaka could figure out what was happening on the island, Sentomaru burst through the door where Vegapunk's main body was located, carrying a large axe. At this point, he was still the captain of Vegapunk's security team, with the duty of protecting him.
"An intruder? Who is it?"
"Former Marine Admiral Kuzan. But here's the bad news: it's now confirmed that he has joined the Beasts Pirates."
Sentomaru didn't sound relaxed. Previously, rumors of Kuzan joining the Beasts Pirates had only surfaced sporadically.
After being persuaded away by Yamato, Kuzan had entered Onigashima, but during that time, he had no missions and seemingly vanished from the world.
But this time was different. When Kuzan appeared together with Shayna and Zeraora and used his powers without hesitation, everything was already settled. This former Admiral, who had left the Marines, had fully embraced the path of a pirate.
Vegapunk didn't say anything. He simply followed Sentomaru and left. At the same time, a special mission was transmitted to all of his clones through a communication device developed by Vegapunk.
"Ice Time!"
Outside Egghead, apart from the area where Wailord was located, all surrounding sea beasts and the giant robot that had just emerged from the sea had turned into ice sculptures. This was the reason Lilith had lost contact.
Inside the robot at that moment, Lilith's hand was still on the communication device, but she never got the chance to press the button.
She had just arrived and hadn't even had time to initiate contact before being completely frozen by Kuzan, who had exited Wailord's stomach.
Neither the special cold-resistant suit nor the mech's armor provided Lilith any protection.
At the same time, Wailord once again submerged, returning to the safety of the deep sea. Not far off in the sky, Kizaru's figure had already appeared mid-air.
After the World incident was resolved, Fujitora and Ryokugyu took on more responsibilities. The job of guarding Mariejois had been handed over to Ryokugyu, which naturally freed up Kizaru for more missions.
He had once worked with Vegapunk on many research projects. Now that part of Vegapunk's research was nearing its conclusion, Kizaru had naturally been dispatched here.
Kizaru originally thought this would be another easy mission like a few years ago; after all, pirates intentionally heading for Egghead were extremely rare.
Even if some tried, most would fall along the way. The few who made it close to the island would be wiped out by the sea beast army.
But today, the enemies were destined to be anything but ordinary.
"How scary... Flame Blood and Thunderclap. Why would senior officers of the Beasts Pirates show up here at the same time?"
Kizaru received no response from Shayna and Zeraora. The red and yellow figures completely ignored his presence and charged straight toward the interior of the island.
"Hm? Ignoring me like that isn't very polite."
"That's my line, Borsalino. I don't enjoy being ignored either."
Kizaru's body began to scatter, clearly preparing to elementalize and pursue, but at that moment, a surge of intense cold pierced into his body, forcibly halting his plan.
"Kuzan, what are you trying to do?"
"Can't you see it? I'm obviously trying to stop you."
"You used to be a Marine. Is this really the right thing to do? As a former Marine Admiral, teaming up with pirates isn't exactly honorable."
"That doesn't matter anymore. But remember to pass a message to Sakazuki for me: battles can be heated, or they can be... utterly cold."
****Please support on pat*eon for extra chapters; there is date to date subscription enabled on patreon. [There is a 7-day trial version availabe on patreon.]
https://www.pat*eon.com/dmtranslations
You can read ahead upto 75 chapters on my pa*reon.