"Well... he really knows how to make a mess..."
The New World.
The waters around Punk Hazard.
Cloud banks scattered apart as a gigantic bird circled high above, its wings blotting out the sky. Hurricanes coiled around its body, making it seem like a divine bird passing over the world.
On its back, a long-haired man in a black robe sat lazily with his hair tied into a casual braid. In one hand, he held a glass of orange juice. In the other, a newspaper.
His eyes swept lazily across the article, and a few laughs escaped him.
Printed on the paper was a massive chain of islands.
It had already been sparse before, but now it looked even more battered.
The wreckage of countless Marine warships was scattered everywhere, and emergency rescue work was underway.
In the center of the photograph, a giant had leaped high into the air, raising a fist as large as a small island.
This report should never have been allowed to be published, but the King of News, Morgans, did not care about that.
I am only doing my job.
If you have the guts, go complain to my boss.
And so, after the great battle at the entrance of the New World, a battle the newspapers titled the "Black and White Island War," the young giant named Sadgeo officially entered the eyes of the world's strongest figures.
Bounty: 1.6 billion berries.
Record: Escaped a Buster Call, injured Fujitora, and heavily wounded Rob Lucci.
At the end of the article, there were even pictures of Fujitora with bandages wrapped around his head and Lucci being fished out of the sea.
"The thing I made seems a bit too active~"
Ozz did not care much.
After all, he had created Sadgeo precisely to replace Joy Boy and give the World Government a headache.
"It's just that little Shirahoshi following him might be a little unsafe..."
For one thing, Sadgeo was just like Monkey D. Luffy. He caused trouble wherever he went.
Although Shirahoshi, as Poseidon, was nearly invincible in naval warfare, once she went ashore, she would inevitably be affected by Sadgeo's trouble-attracting aura.
For another, Sadgeo was far too domineering. It would not be good if he frightened his little Shirahoshi.
"As expected, it still isn't suitable. I'll deal with it after a while..."
For now, he had something more important to do.
"Punk Hazard~ The place where little Ice-Chicken and Sakazuki supposedly fought to the death?"
Ozz stood up and walked to the edge of the Seagull King's back, looking down below.
Under the wild wind, the hem of his black vacation robe did not move in the slightest.
"It does look the part. They even permanently changed the island's terrain..."
Ozz rubbed his chin, a faint smile appearing on his lips.
"But they're still too tender. Sea Ice, the information didn't say you lost a leg."
"So that fight was definitely staged, wasn't it~"
After decades of getting along with Kuzan, Ozz considered himself quite familiar with him.
If Kuzan had not even lost a leg, then he probably had not fought seriously. Maybe he had not fought at all.
His purpose in leaving the Marines was most likely to act as an undercover agent or something similar, continuing to uphold his own justice.
As for his target?
Of course it was Ozz himself.
Right now, he might be hiding in some corner of the New World, waiting for a chance to ruin Ozz's plans~
Ozz shook his head, pained by Kuzan's hostility. Then he patted the Seagull King on the back.
"Descend."
"Screech!"
The Seagull King understood and began diving downward, its target clearly the half-ice, half-fire island of Punk Hazard.
"Speaking of which, Caesar should have been released back here after the experiment ended, right?"
He just did not know whether Caesar was still working with Doflamingo to research artificial Devil Fruits.
The Seagull King slowly landed on an ice mountain, then transformed back into its original seagull form and perched on Ozz's shoulder.
Facing the extreme cold and snow, the two seemed not to feel anything at all as they walked through it.
"Speaking of which, Momonosuke should be about here by now. The timing is about right."
Ozz walked through the world of ice and snow with his hands in his pockets.
It was not as if he had come here to finish him off. If Ozz wanted to kill Momonosuke, he could have done it twenty years ago. It would only take a snap of his fingers.
The current Momonosuke had already been changed by him from a cowardly, weak, lecherous brat into a cowardly, weak, useless brat.
Without lust, he would naturally lack the courage to act lecherous.
So this time, Ozz had come not only to see an old friend's son, but also for a Devil Fruit.
Zoan-Type Devil Fruit, Fish-Fish Fruit, Mythical Model: Pink Dragon.
It was not that he wanted to eat it himself.
He simply felt it was a waste for Momonosuke to eat it.
After all, it was a Mythical Zoan. Even if Ozz did not want to eat it, he could give it to someone else.
As for the reason?
A pink dragon looked far too ugly to him.
Even the proud Vegapunk had considered the final product, the Pink Dragon Fruit, a failure just because the color was wrong.
So how could Ozz eat a flawed fruit?
At Ozz's current level, if he truly wanted his strength to go one step further, it was not something that could be solved by eating another Devil Fruit.
The gap was in Haki.
If Ozz wanted his raw strength to reach Joy Boy's level, then his Conqueror's Haki had to become just as strong as Joy Boy's.
Otherwise, eating more Devil Fruits would not matter much.
Power was about refinement, not quantity.
Soon, Ozz found an experimental site.
In fact, "found" was not quite the right word. A sweep of his Observation Haki was enough to see it.
He headed toward it, only to encounter someone unexpected first.
"Teacher Ozz!"
A surprised female voice rang out.
Ozz turned his head, somewhat puzzled.
"Oh? Isn't this Kuina~"
"Long time no see."
The woman before him was dressed in thin clothes and shivering from the cold. She was none other than Zoro's childhood friend, Kuina.
Although Ozz had accepted Zoro and not her as his disciple, he had taught her swordsmanship before. It was perfectly reasonable for Kuina to call him teacher.
Ozz simply had not expected to run into her here.
With a snap of his fingers, a black cloak instantly appeared.
Kuina's shivering body finally eased after she put it on.
"I didn't expect you to come to the New World too~"
After so many years, Ozz had almost forgotten about this young girl he had casually saved back then.
"Yes. In order to catch up to Zoro, I followed the teachings you gave me back then. I decided to seek breakthroughs through battles against strong opponents!"
Ozz's theory as a master teacher was still spreading.
Who knew how many people it had influenced?
Even Old Gick now regarded this method as sacred doctrine. His training philosophy was simple: if they would not die, beat them as if they might.
And while Ozz did believe in the theory of becoming stronger through battle, he looked at Kuina's thin, damp clothing and the graceful figure it revealed, then secretly shook his head.
After all, that method was only suitable for monsters whose ceilings were already high.
After a brief silence, the corners of Ozz's mouth slowly rose.
"Do you want to become stronger, Kuina?"
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