From the outside, after Zeraora and the others walked into its belly, Wailord retreated to the Inner Sea and directly jumped over the defensive wall outside Wano Kuni with a burst of speed.
Its rounded figure arched through the air, the blue fins fluttering nonstop, Wailord was adjusting its shape in this manner.
Though it looked clumsy and naive, jumping was Wailord's specialty, and it was their method of combat. Wailord would cause opponents to faint by using the shockwaves generated from body collisions with tidal waves.
Upon arriving in the outer sea of Wano Kuni, Wailord took a deep breath, stored air within its body, and dived towards the depths.
No matter how turbulent the waves outside Wano Kuni were, the depths were ultimately much gentler, and Kuzan could feel the turbulence gradually disappearing, while silence engulfed the surroundings.
Occasionally, Zeraora would guide Wailord's direction, while Shaina was by the side resting with closed eyes. After pondering for some time, Kuzan eventually took out an eye mask and began his nap.
The space inside Wailord was very spacious, none of the three felt stifling.
[Flame Blood and Thunder Light, truly a familiar combo.]
He joined the Navy two years later than Sakazuki and Borsalino, yet Kuzan managed to leap through the ranks due to his own ability, eventually becoming a monstrous rookie together with Akainu and Kizaru in the same Navy cohort.
Magma, Flash, Freeze, the three major Logia-type abilities laid down the foundation of an era for the Navy.
As things stand now, Magma and Flash are gone, replaced by Flame and Thunder, in a way, this feels like a familiar era to him.
...
After some time, the smoothly sailing Wailord suddenly let out a dull roar.
"Aeghede is almost here, but it seems something special is up, Wailord ran into some trouble."
From Wailord's roar, Zeraora detected a kind of displeased emotion and grasped Wailord's meaning.
"Time to prepare for action, same as the previous allocation, Kuzan, this is your first operation, please take it seriously. Let us witness the skill of an Admiral."
"Ala ala, saying that makes me nervous, but don't worry, as agreed, the pesky ones are mine to handle, you guys go find what you need."
As the trio conversed, Wailord also launched its attack.
The purpose of Wailord moving underwater was infiltration, but upon nearing Aeghede, Wailord encountered numerous Sea Beasts, with strange mechanical devices on their heads.
These Sea Beasts became interested in the approaching Wailord and blocked its path.
The waters surrounding Aeghede were a no-go zone, sealed from ships by these Sea Beast Weapons controlled by Vegapunk, Sea Lions, Sea Giraffes, Sea Wolves, numerous fierce Sea Beasts encircled the arriving Wailord.
It wasn't that they discovered a problem with Wailord, it was merely a biological instinct as Sea Beasts also need feeding, Wailord appeared as clumsy prey, an easy target for them.
Buzz-!
Wailord's eyes glowed blue and, under its control, the seawater released a powerful shockwave around, Wailord was not a defenseless troop carrier at least, it was an armoured troop carrier.
Water Pulse drove back the approaching Sea Beasts, while Wailord began to ascend, it had broken through the outer guard from the deep sea, reaching near Aeghede, it's time for official operations.
The force of Water Pulse repelled all Sea Beasts trying to approach Wailord while simultaneously triggering Aeghede's alarm. Nearby, Lilith piloted a huge robot closer after receiving the alert.
"Lilith, what's the situation there? Lilith?"
For unknown reasons, Lilith suddenly lost communication, no matter how Shaka called, there was no response, concurrently Aeghede's alarms also started sounding.
Aeghede, after undergoing Vegapunk's modification, incorporated a device called "Island Air-conditioning", maintaining a constant temperature everywhere.
Yet, as Lilith lost contact, the island's temperature began to plummet.
"Low-temperature alert?"
Vegapunk guessed someone would come for the Plate, but when exactly and who would come were not within his expectations.
"Dr. Vegapunk! An intruder is approaching Aeghede, the old man sent me to assist you in taking refuge!"
While Shaka was sorting out the island's situation, Sentomaru burst through the door with a big axe as Vegapunk's security team leader, carrying the duty to keep him safe.
"Intruder? Who?"
"Former Headquarter Admiral, Kuzan, but there's bad news, now he.. has already been confirmed to have joined the Hundred Beasts."
Sentomaru's tone was not relaxed, previously Kuzan joining the Hundred Beasts was just sporadic information.
After being lured away by Yamato, Kuzan entered Ghost Island, but during that period, he had no tasks, rather it was like he disappeared from the world.
But this time it's different, when Kuzan, Shaina and Zeraora appeared together and used their abilities without hesitation, it was all settled, this former Admiral who left the Navy, had embarked on the pirate road.
Vegapunk said nothing, just followed Sentomaru, meanwhile, a special task through Vegapunk developed communicator transmitted to all his avatars.
...
"Ice Time!"
Outside Aeghede, aside from the area where Wailord was, surrounding Sea Beasts and the giant robot just surfacing turned to ice sculptures, which caused Lilith's loss of connection.
Inside the robot, Lilith's hand rested on communication equipment, yet she never had the chance to press any button.
She had just arrived, even before sending any contact, she was entirely sealed in ice by Kuzan who left Wailord's belly.
Neither the special cold-resistant suit nor the outer Mecha provided Lilith effective defense.
Meanwhile, Wailord's posture once again submerged back to the safe deep sea, while not far above, Kizaru appeared in the sky.
After the Wald incident concluded, Fujitora and Ryokugyu received more tasks, guarding Mary Geoise was passed to Ryokugyu, so Kizaru who was freed naturally received more tasks.
He had once cooperated with Vegapunk for many studies, now as Vegapunk's studies neared an end, Kizaru was naturally dispatched over.
Kizaru originally believed this task would be as light as years prior, since pirates voluntarily heading towards Aeghede were scarcely rare.
Even if there were, most would fall halfway, only the very few who approached islands were destroyed by Sea Beast Legion.
But today, bound to be some extraordinary enemies.
"How terrifying indeed, Flame Blood, Thunder Light, why are High-Level Officials of the Hundred Beasts appearing here simultaneously?"
Kizaru received no response from Shaina and Zeraora, a red and yellow silhouette ignored Kizaru's presence, rushing straight towards the island's interior.
"Hmm? Ignoring this old man isn't very nice."
"I should be the one to say that, Borsalino, I dislike being ignored."
Kizaru's body began to disperse, seemingly intending elementalization for pursuit, but just then, a massive chill pierced his body, forcing his original plan to halt.
"Kuzan, what are you up to?"
"You've seen it, clearly I am of course here to stop you."
"You used to be in the Navy, is this really right? As a former Admiral, teaming up with pirates isn't a particularly honorable deed."
"That situation is insignificant now, but remember to convey this to Sakazuki, battles can be fiery, but also... incredibly cold."