Kuzan kept his hands in his pockets, the white mist he exhaled freezing instantly.
He turned his head slightly, looking at the bronze-skinned man beside him.
Although the wounds on Abel's body were no longer bleeding, the dense network of cracks looked shocking, as if he would shatter completely with just a light touch.
Even though the two sides had reached a brief cooperation, seeing this outsider who had been so arrogant just moments ago suffer a setback made him feel somewhat gloating.
Creak, creak.
The tooth-grinding sound of bones rubbing against each other came from Abel.
Out of the corner of his eye, Kuzan noticed that the cracks on Abel's body, which were deep enough to see bone, were healing at a visible rate.
Dark red granulation wriggled frantically, like tens of thousands of tiny red threads sewing the broken body back together.
Less than three breaths had passed.
The body that was on the verge of shattering was now perfectly intact, and even the bronze skin regained its metallic luster.
"What an enviable constitution."
Kuzan exhaled a breath of cold air, his tone carrying a hint of teasing, but his eyes grew increasingly solemn. "It seems that besides that red-clothed lunatic, you are also an unkillable monster."
"Don't lump me in with that thief who only relies on a virus."
Abel twisted his neck, letting out a crisp crack.
He casually threw the severely deformed black tower shield onto the ice, smashing it into a deep pit.
"Broaden your horizons; it's just mere biomedical technology. If you joined the Foundation, you could do it too."
"I'll pass on that."
Kuzan kept his hands in his pockets, not getting angry at the other's offense.
He just asked lazily: "Since you're so strong, why were you beaten so badly by that thief? That doesn't seem like the performance a Captain of a task force responsible for pursuit should have."
"Intelligence error."
Abel coldly spat out those two words.
He pointed a finger at the monster in the distance, which was radiating waves of black and red energy.
"In the Foundation, that guy is just a non-combatant; his usual job is to conduct research on anomalies."
Kuzan's eyes, hidden behind his sunglasses, widened for a split second.
"Non-combatant?"
That guy who just swallowed three CP0 elites whole, turned an entire warship into a slaughterhouse, and could even go toe-to-toe with him, a Marine Admiral... you call that a non-combatant?!
"Are you joking?"
Kuzan's voice lowered. "If a guy like that is a non-combatant, then what does that make you, a Mobile Task Force Captain?"
"That's why I said, intelligence error."
A flash of impatience crossed Abel's eyes, as if he were explaining quantum mechanics to an idiot.
"The compatibility between this planet and Blacklight is too high. As he said, this place is simply a breeding ground for Blacklight; the virus is constantly absorbing and evolving."
Abel took a deep breath of the cold air, his brow furrowed.
"The air is filled with highly active energy factors, which caused the virus to undergo an uncontrollable malignant mutation. A virus that originally could only infect ordinary carbon-based organisms can actually devour so-called Haki and ability users here."
At this point, Abel glanced at Kuzan with a hint of mockery in his tone.
"If it weren't because the target was originally a loser, the Foundation wouldn't have sent a Mobile Task Force member like me, responsible for physical cleanup."
"Instead, they would have directly applied to mobilize those lunatics from the Gotei 13 to suppress him with Reiatsu."
Kuzan's finger holding his cigarette paused slightly.
"Gotei 13?"
"Reiatsu?"
Another term he had never heard of.
It was just one thing after another!
How much terrifying armed force was hidden behind this so-called Foundation?
Kuzan looked up, his eyes behind his sunglasses staring intently at Abel.
"Above that so-called Gotei 13, there wouldn't happen to be an even higher-level armed force, would there?"
Abel gave a cold snort and replied arrogantly.
"Curly, you've finally shown a bit of insight that a native shouldn't have."
Kuzan was already too lazy to correct him on the nickname.
Abel looked at Deadpool, who was slaughtering Marines in the distance, with disdain in his eyes.
"In the Foundation's hierarchy, the Gotei 13 is only responsible for handling anomalies below the world-ending level."
"Above them is the supreme force directly under the O5 Council the 'Red Right Hand'."
"That is the true imperial guard of the gods."
"When they execute missions, they usually carry out erasures on the scale of galaxies."
"At their level, they can be called gods from myths and legends to us."
"Detected Marine Admiral Kuzan experiencing extreme shock, astonishment value +800!"
Mordred was overjoyed in his heart.
This wave of lore-selling was totally worth it.
It really does come down to bluffing.
Kuzan's expression was already numb; fine, say no more, let it all be destroyed.
"Wipe that look of mourning off your face and swallow your ridiculous worries back into your stomach."
Abel brushed the ice shards off himself, his tone as flat as if he were talking about the weather.
"Although the Foundation has the ability to restart civilizations, we are not a group of lunatics who take pleasure in slaughter."
"Our mission is Secure, Contain, Protect."
"Under normal circumstances, as long as this planet is not designated as a containment object, or an uncontrollable doomsday crisis occurs, we don't even bother to interfere with the self-evolution of you native civilizations."
Hearing this, Kuzan's tense nerves relaxed slightly.
Although being called a native was annoying, at least it sounded like as long as they didn't seek death, the world was still safe.
"Then..."
Kuzan exhaled a puff of white mist and asked the most crucial question.
"Regarding the definition of a containment object, what exactly is it?"
"Who decides it? Is there a specific standard? For example, power level, or degree of harm?"
The corner of Abel's mouth curled into a cold arc.
"Standard?"
"Curly, you've got one thing wrong."
Abel extended a finger, pointing at the gloomy sky above and then at the ice field beneath his feet.
"It's not because it is a containment object that we contain it."
"But rather..."
His voice was low, each word hitting Kuzan's eardrums like a heavy hammer.
"If the Foundation says it is, it is."
Boom!
Those few simple words exploded in Kuzan's mind.
No standards.
No reason needed.
This is absolute hegemony.
In comparison, the World Government's so-called justice is like a green recruit compared to you.
Mordred whistled in his mind.
This is the ultimate authority.
It's like a trainer entering a field they beat up the natives, stuff them into capsules, and simply decide they are the new property.