https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-537-Is-It-Something-from-the-Incense-Burner-/13538267/
Chapter 536: Pirate is Crap
Chapter 536: Pirate is Crap
Kuro couldn’t hear Sakazuki’s words anymore. Right now, he didn’t want to hear anything at all.
Though he’d managed to console Kas, when he finally had a moment alone, a bitter taste lingered in his mind.
The more he stepped back to reflect, the angrier he became.
The angrier he became, the more powerless he felt.
“Damn it!”
The moment he stepped onto the ship, Kuro exploded with a curse.
This whole mess had even robbed him of the mood to ask Tina for the Black Gun.
Once aboard, he locked himself in his office.
“Don’t let anyone disturb me! I need some peace!”
After barking those orders, he slammed the door shut, leaving Klah and Kas outside.
As for Lida, she’d followed him inside moments ago.
“Still angry, Kuro?”
Lida plopped down on a sofa in Kuro’s office, casually untying her snack pouch and pulling out a bag of potato chips. She tore it open and began crunching loudly.
“What do you think?”
Kuro slouched in his chair like a dried-up fish, his voice listless: “I got promoted, Lida. This time it’s straight to the top. Think about it—I spent two years setting up so many schemes, tried every trick in the book. Why couldn’t I avoid this?”
He was drowning in self-doubt.
All that effort, and it felt like nothing. He’d known the World Government was holding him back, but now they’d promoted him anyway.
And to such a huge position!
How infuriating was that?!
“Isn’t this what you said would happen?” Lida replied carelessly, “The tide of history.”
“Use your brain for once!” Kuro snapped, glaring at her.
“Use my brain.”
“Don’t say ‘use your brain’!” Kuro cut her off, exasperated. “I’ve got a headache already—don’t add to it!”
Lida shrugged, munched a chip, and asked, “So what’re you gonna do?”
“What do you mean, ‘what to do’? I don’t know!”
Kuro slumped even lower, sighing: “Don’t hit me with annoying questions now. I’m in a terrible mood. If you’ve got nothing better to do, go eat your snacks outside.”
“Okay~”
Lida stood up. “You just lie here and wallow then.”
“Augh, see? No one cares about me!” Kuro groaned.
Lida turned, sighing in exasperation. “Then what do you want me to do?”
“What am I supposed to say? I already told you I feel powerless! Just stop bothering me!” Kuro glared.
“Okay~”
Lida turned to leave again, but Kuro’s sigh cut through the air once more.
“Go on, go on! Leave me alone to suffer!”
A blue vein throbbed on Lida’s temple as she spun around, furious: “What more do you want?!”
“I’m fine,” Kuro said coldly, “I just need some peace.”
Lida rolled her eyes with a white-eyed glare, then shoved the door open and stormed out.
Kuro curled his lips, shifted to a more comfortable position, and then—
His gaze went blank, his mouth slack, like a dried-up fish that’d lost all hope in life.
“Twenty-six years of life, like a dream, like an illusion. Life and death intertwined, promotion leaves regrets.”
Muttering like a broken record, he kept spouting random haikus, a broken parrot.
“With this capital ship in hand, I smile toward the Vice Admiral seat. Pirate is crap.”
……
The warship returned to Shabondy.
At the same time, the World Government began erasing Kuro’s name from records. In its place, a figure codenamed ‘Golden Lion’ gradually stepped into the spotlight.
Once a codename was assigned, the Navy would downplay the individual’s original identity. While this meant little to those who’d known Kuro personally, across the vast world, how many people had truly met him? Even with Lucius’s grand announcements, time had already dulled most memories.
Now, under the World Government’s cover-up, Kuro’s name faded further, replaced entirely by Golden Lion.
In this regard, things were going smoothly—
If he weren’t a Vice Admiral.
Truthfully, Kuro didn’t care about the title itself. He’d resisted promotion to avoid being sent to the New World, a place far too dangerous.
If he could stay in Shabondy or another location—even the first half of the Grand Line—he’d have accepted it.
But the odds of that were infinitesimal!
If he were just a Vice Admiral, it’d be manageable. He could beg the Storbery Brothers to station him at Marineford.
But now he was an Admiral Candidate. That meant no returning to the first half. Only two paths remained.
Either he guarded Mariejois.
Safe? Absolutely. Nearly no fool would dare assault that place.
But he loathed it.
The other path?
The New World.
That damned place.
A hellish realm where countless pirates who’d survived the first half’s bloodshed had surged through Shabondy’s final gauntlet.
Beyond the Four Emperors, dangers lurked everywhere.
A place Kuro had no desire to set foot in.
At the mere thought of the New World, his head throbbed.
His irritation grew until he finally locked himself in his office, ignoring all affairs, deaf to the world.
To hell with everything—he had no mood for anything now.
……
Two months later.
Shabondy, skies clear and bright.
13GR.
Bamboo Drum Bar.
Inside, an old man sat at the bar counter, newspaper in hand, a glass of liquor before him.
He flipped the paper, sighing: “Not much business lately.”
“Be grateful,” a young-looking woman behind the counter said, polishing a glass cup. “Ever since that Golden Lion arrived, Shabondy’s been nothing like before. Fewer pirates dare come in. I’m lucky to stay open. And these pirates who do come? They’ve all got coated membranes. You’re about to be out of a job, old man.”
“Haha, what can you do?”
The white-haired old man chuckled, flipping a page: “Still, some pirates get through. Lately, quite a few’ve slipped in.”
“Mm.”
Shaki nodded, glancing toward the Navy base outside: “That man’s been quiet lately. Wonder what’s up.”
“Plotting something?”
The old man turned his head the same way: “But this might be our chance.”
“Stay out of it,” Shaki warned. “That man already warned you.”
The old man smiled: “I’m just an old membrane-coater named Lei. What trouble could I stir? I’m too old for meddling anyway.”
Creak—
As his words faded, the tavern door swung open. A faintly green-tinged figure stood in the doorway.
“Oh! You’re first!”
The old man’s eyes lit up with a grin: “Finally here, huh?”
The figure’s boots hugged his calves. With each step, three golden teardrop earrings dangling from his left ear jingled.
He wore a green long robe, its collar wide open, revealing nothing but a brighter green loincloth beneath. A crimson sash cinched his waist, and at his hip hung Zoro.
Roronoa Zoro.
Compared to two years ago, a faint scar now marked his left eye.
“First one here?”
Zoro swept his gaze around, asking casually.
(End of Chapter)
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