https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-684-A-Ten-Billion-Bounty-A-Nine-Billion-/13538989/
Chapter 685: My Snacks Are Gone Again
Chapter 685: My Snacks Are Gone Again
Chopping Jack the Disaster into pieces was completely normal. To deal with Zoan, you had to go all-out.
Zoan’s greatest strength lay in his physical constitution—his regeneration ability was unbelievably powerful.
Once reaching the Awakening stage, he truly became an immortal monster that couldn’t be killed.
The jail beast guards in Impel Down were just failed Awakening Zoans.
But even failures, after Awakening, weren’t easy to kill.
After all, Awakening had nothing to do with strength.
Jack the Disaster was one of the Three Disasters under Kaido’s command. Even without Awakening, he was close enough.
However, Kuro likely hadn’t achieved it yet. Though he looked aged and massive, he hadn’t even turned thirty.
Still, his Restoration ability couldn’t be underestimated.
If he survived the cuts, he’d eventually heal.
And besides—
“Fishman? Half-fishman?”
Kuro remembered the face he’d revealed when cutting apart Jack the Disaster’s metallic jaw armor earlier—distinctly showing fangs and gills.
Probably a Half-fishman. If he’d been a bit more playful back then, letting Jack the Disaster simply be frozen by Aokiji’s Ice Age, the pirate might’ve survived.
But—
Kuro exhaled a puff of smoke, arrogantly addressing the sea, “Your boss gave me quite a beating back then. Can’t beat Kaido? I’ll settle the score with you first.”
Back when he met Kaido, it was like encountering a ghost. He hadn’t faced anyone as terrifying as Kaido even when battling Big Mom.
After all this time, his strength had increased. When facing Big Mom now, he felt far less fear.
But back then, he’d been a weak, pitiful, and helpless Navy officer.
Just disengaged from Whitebeard, Kaido had relentlessly pursued him from the sky. If Gramps hadn’t arrived in time, he’d have had to lie low for half a year. Even with Lida’s help, he’d still need to stay hidden for a while.
Comparing shadows, the shadow cast by Charlotte Big Mom was nothing compared to the one Kaido had given him.
On the deck, Sengoku watched Kuro standing on the sea surface, laughing heartily, “This little brat’s gotten significantly stronger.”
Crane smiled slightly, “Compared to when he first joined Headquarters, he’s improved a lot. His Devil Fruit ability has become far more proficient. I remember he hasn’t had the Devil Fruit for long, right?”
Sengoku nodded, “Back then, there was intelligence from East Blue about news of Sky Islands falling into East Blue. That stopped two years ago. If Shanks had been in East Blue at that time, that would’ve been when Kuro obtained the Devil Fruit.”
“In barely two years, his control over the Devil Fruit ability is already so refined. This little brat’s absolutely terrifying now.”
“He’s really impressive.”
Crane agreed, “His personality’s good too—cunning when needed, brave when required. Not stubborn at all.”
If they’d been optimistic about Kuro before, now they’d placed him in a future pillar role.
After their generation had mostly retired, the next generation led by Sakazuki, though at their prime, still lacked a suitable successor.
Though Yi Xiao and Tatsumaki were decent, they weren’t “insiders”—temporary additions, with age not on their side either.
If Kuzan were still around, they wouldn’t be so anxious—Kuzan could wait for the younger generation, like Smoker and Tina, to grow. Then the torch could be passed.
Perhaps by the time Smoker and others took over, their skills and strength could be further honed, but inevitable decline would come. It wouldn’t be as stable.
Compared to Grand Line’s current situation, Smoker still didn’t measure up.
Kuro had given them peace of mind. With this man existing, the Navy’s condition would remain accident-free for at least the next fifty years.
“Talking about me?”
After waiting for the vortex to churn a bit, Kuro left the sea surface, flying toward Golden Lion’s deck. As soon as he arrived, he saw Sengoku and Crane whispering.
“Did a good job.”
Sengoku laughed heartily, “Kuro, your strength has grown again! That was Disaster of Drought—according to Borsalino’s words.”
He imitated Lucius Kro, pouting with his lips, “So scary~”
Kuro rolled his eyes.
“Sengoku-san, you’ve gotten younger since retiring.”
“You can just say he’s an old child. No need to spare his feelings.”
Crane glared at Sengoku before continuing, “But compared to back then, he truly has grown stronger. Or should I say, he’s not hiding it anymore?”
Kuro twitched his lips.
Hiding?
After Sakazuki exposed his entire dark history that day, he’d abandoned that idea.
He wanted to hide, but the problem was—you all already knew!
Hiding? Nonsense!
Hiding only made sense when he was still a rookie Navy officer.
Now he was an Admiral candidate—what was there to hide? It was ridiculous!
What use was hiding now?
Would hiding get him demoted?
Could he remove himself from the Admiral candidate list?
Or get reassigned back to the first half of Grand Line?
Better to find other solutions.
Anyway, he’d reached the peak—Gramps wouldn’t retire, so he couldn’t ascend. And Gramps retiring was at least a decade or two away. He still had time.
What if Gramps retired suddenly?
No such chance!
Kuro would prop Gramps up there by force!
Grand Line was dangerous, but he could fly. Combined with his usual caution and avoiding major mistakes, things should be fine.
Facing unknown Devil Fruit users, he’d just blast them from afar, denying them any chance.
As for known threats—
The Float-Float Fruit had too many escape methods. Not to mention he had more tricks up his sleeve.
“Report it tomorrow, Kuro. You—”
“Stop!”
Kuro instantly tensed, looking at Crane, “He Popo, report what?!”
“Don’t worry, we won’t mention your involvement. That’s internal Navy business. For the public, we’ll just attribute it to the Navy as a whole. Unless we need to use it as a propaganda example, like Garp, we won’t disclose specific names.” Crane smiled.
This eased Kuro’s tension. Sakazuki’s betrayal had left him paranoid.
That time, when the entire Navy had been publicly informed—though technically internal, who else had such exaggerated exposure?
Kaku and Zoro were far more low-key.
Crane’s approach represented the standard Navy protocol. After Zeff’s family was killed, most Navy officers used codenames and kept merits internal unless absolutely necessary.
The Port Incident orchestrated by Koby and Law was an exceptional case where they’d made a public example.
But for Kuro, Koby was still too young to shoulder such fame.
“You little brat, you think too much.”
Crane said, “We naturally know how to handle it. After all, they’re Four Emperors. Killing Jack the Disaster—”
“What Jack the Disaster? There’s no Jack the Disaster! Don’t think you can speak freely just because you’re old. I didn’t do anything. I don’t know who Jack the Disaster is.” Kuro quickly interjected.
“Alright, alright. Anyway, you know what we mean.” Crane chuckled helplessly.
How could they possibly report Kuro killing Jack the Disaster? That wouldn’t boost his reputation—it would endanger him.
Kuro didn’t need a Three Disaster to inflate his fame.
Detailed reports would only draw Kaido’s attention.
This was Kuro’s exact concern. If this repeated, Kaido might find an opportunity to attack G-3.
This guy wasn’t stupid. The saying went, “Don’t fear thieves, fear being watched.” If Kaido kept thinking about this, would he even have G-3 anymore?
But if this meant letting Jack the Disaster go, that was impossible.
Who told him to be so fragile to cuts?
If he could withstand the Sea Whirl Hell and survive, he wouldn’t have died, right?
With Jack the Disaster gone and his pirate ship destroyed, there was no need to count casualties. The groups dispersed, returning to their posts.
Kuro returned from the deck to Golden Lion’s fortress interior. As soon as he entered the corridor, he saw Lida standing at the door, her expression one of wounded indignation.
“Kuro.”
“What’s wrong?”
Kuro raised his eyebrows, “Who bullied you?”
In the next moment, he spotted a familiar object in her hands.
A spiral-patterned Devil Fruit shaped like a hami melon.
“Almost ate it.” She muttered resentfully, “My snacks are gone again.”
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
