After Morgans left, Kozuki Oden did not run outside to dance naked.
Instead, he sat on the tatami mat, staring intently at the envelope.
His expression was more serious than ever before.
In his eyes, there was even a trace of sharpness.
Kin'emon sat upright beside him the whole time, until...
Kozuki Oden reached out and opened the envelope.
"Oden-sama! What does it say?"
Kozuki Oden seemed not to hear Kin'emon's voice. With a solemn expression, he began reading the contents of the letter.
But the moment he saw the first word, the solemnity he was forcing vanished into thin air.
With each line he read, Oden's expression grew more animated.
Crying and laughing.
Rage and sorrow.
He even began rolling around on the floor.
"Roger! So that's how it is! You actually ushered in an entirely new era!"
"What an incredible life you've lived!"
"I'm so jealous of you!"
Kin'emon looked at Oden, who seemed completely deranged, and couldn't help but step forward and grab his hands.
"My lord!"
"Kin'emon!" After venting hysterically, Kozuki Oden completely composed himself.
The smell of alcohol was long gone, and the weariness in his eyes had disappeared without a trace.
Those eyes had never been so clear.
"I will continue to dance."
"W-What!?"
Kin'emon was utterly shocked and was about to object, but Oden raised a hand to stop him.
"Don't rush. Let me finish."
"Kin'emon, I said I'll continue to dance—so the enemy will lower their guard."
"The Kozuki family can no longer just sit and wait for death!"
"Starting tonight! Gather all the samurai who are still willing to follow us!"
"One year from now will be our chance to reclaim our country!"
"And also..." Oden hesitated for a moment, still struggling internally, but when he thought of all of Wano, he clenched his jaw and continued, "Secretly imprison Kanjuro in a Seastone cell. He's a spy from the Kurozumi clan."
"Oden-sama! Just where... where did you get this information?"
"Big News Morgans—the world's greatest intelligence broker. If it's something he sent... it must be true."
That's what Kozuki Oden said.
But in his heart, he was wondering...
Why is that man named Michael helping Wano?
...
"Helping Wano? Of course it's for the sake of our Navy."
"Huh?" Garp tilted his large mouth, utterly confused. "Wano's not even a member of the World Government. They've got nothing to do with us Marines."
"The fact that they're not a member is exactly why I want to help them."
"Don't you think that a future Marine manpower base that has absolutely no goodwill toward the World Government—even hates it—is... just perfect?"
Michael leaned in toward Garp mysteriously and whispered,
"The Navy too, old man Garp. Don't you think that only a Navy free from the World Government's control can truly carry out real justice?"
Garp turned sharply to look at Michael.
But he found the guy completely unfazed. In fact, he looked amused.
"You know, just for saying that, I could expel you from the Navy right now and throw you straight into Impel Down."
"No doubt about it! You definitely could!" Michael smirked. "If you were a Celestial Dragon's lapdog..."
Garp's expression shifted several times before finally settling into a sigh.
"Why are you so much like that guy... Dragon?"
Michael rolled his eyes.
Like Dragon?
No, no, no. His ideals and methods were far more advanced than Dragon's primitive revolutionary tactics.
After all, his skills were passed down through generations—much more refined than those who picked it up halfway.
"Come on, old man, haven't you wondered why I'm telling you all this?"
"Even the old man... I haven't told him a single word of it."
Michael knew that Sengoku, at this point, still hadn't realized the Navy's current crisis.
He was still the sharpest blade in the World Government's arsenal.
But Garp was different. He was never one to blindly follow orders.
And the D clan seemed to carry a natural distaste for the Celestial Dragons.
"So what exactly... is your plan?"
After calming down, Garp finally grew curious about Michael's intentions.
No matter what he planned to do in the future, the Navy was indeed facing a problem right now...
A massive reduction in recruits.
Because of Gol D. Roger's final words, countless people threw themselves into the sea.
But as pirates.
Many who once hesitated between being pirates or Marines had, after the execution, completely leaned toward piracy.
This was the power of the new era—the Great Pirate Era.
Its effects were already beginning to show.
"My idea is to replace quantity with quality."
Michael held up four fingers.
"I've identified four recruitment bases across the world."
"And Wano is one of them."
"The samurai of Wano start off at swordsman level."
"Stronger ones—great swordsmen—are not in short supply either."
"And when it comes to Armament Haki... oh right, they call it 'Ryuo'. For those samurai, Ryuo is as vital as swordsmanship itself."
"Tell me, with such a powerful manpower base, why should we let a pirate like Kaido take it?"
"Just because Wano isn't part of the World Government?"
Michael smiled.
Right now, Kaido wasn't nearly as powerful as he would become at his peak.
He was still far from being a true 'Emperor'.
Even someone like Gecko Moria, whose will had not yet been shattered, could still fight him evenly.
And Michael had already informed Kozuki Oden of the full timeline regarding Kaido's upcoming battle with the Gecko Pirates through that letter.
As long as Oden had even the slightest will to reclaim his country, he would seize the opportunity without hesitation.
"Hehehe... Right now in Wano, the Beasts Pirates and the Gecko Pirates are in a standoff. If Kozuki Oden seizes the moment to backstab them... it just might work."
Most importantly, Michael despised people like Kaido—sly and despicable.
Even more, he loathed Kaido's cruelty, no different from the Celestial Dragons.
Just thinking about how people in his past life used to call him "Kaido-sensei"...
Michael wanted to laugh.
Trash like that should not—and could not—exist in the future he envisioned for this world.
To him, even Crocodile or Charlotte Linlin were more human than Kaido.
After listening to everything Michael had to say, Garp remained silent, but deep down, he was already in partial agreement.
At the very least, he approved of Michael's idea to prioritize quality over quantity.
"Michael, you just said you had four recruitment bases."
"Besides Wano, what are the other three?"
Seeing that old man Garp had finally taken interest in the topic, Michael revealed a satisfied smile.
After all, in the future—what better banner to wave than that of a Marine Hero?
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