The next morning, Yahn woke up with a splitting headache. As he slowly opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was a complete mess in the room.
Groaning, he rubbed his temples, trying to piece together the events of the previous night—only to suddenly realize… someone was lying beside him.
Startled, Yahn turned his head sharply—and was met with the sight of Kuzan's large, dark-skinned face.
"Kuzan?!!"
Hastily, Yahn lifted the edge of the blanket covering Kuzan and peeked underneath. He breathed a long sigh of relief.
"Whew... clothes are intact. Looks like nothing happened. Thank goodness."
Just then, Kuzan's voice drifted over lazily.
"What do you mean, 'nothing happened'?"
…
Yahn groaned.
"Nope. That's it. I'm gonna throw up—I'm seasick…"
He clutched his forehead dramatically and made a show of trying to escape the situation.
Unfortunately for him, after a whole night of "bonding," Kuzan was now far too familiar with Yahn's little tricks. He exposed him casually.
"Come on, drop the act. You told me everything yourself last night. Voluntarily."
Yahn froze in place as he was about to get out of bed. His brow twitched. Some memories from the night before began creeping back in.
It seemed… he had indeed said quite a bit.
His face immediately collapsed into a look of despair.
Damn alcohol... How could he have been so careless?
Never drink and "drive." Never "drive" while drunk.
And here he was, making the most rookie mistake imaginable.
Face full of regret, Yahn shuffled out of the room.
"Yahn, where are you going?" Kuzan asked.
"Don't talk to me. I need a moment."
Without turning back, Yahn walked away, shoulders heavy with shame.
Too many secrets.
He had no idea how much Kuzan had learned about him—or how much he'd blurted out in his drunken stupor. Right now, all Yahn wanted was some peace and quiet to reflect... and to try to remember every detail from last night.
Still, judging by Kuzan's reaction, things hadn't gone too badly.
If it had been serious, he wouldn't have woken up in bed—he'd have woken up shackled in sea stone chains and hanging from a ceiling somewhere.
—
Half a day later, on the deck of Kuzan's ship—
To the utter confusion of the nearby Marines, two parasols had been set up at the edge of the deck, shading two lounge chairs and a small table piled with fruit and snacks.
There, in full view of everyone, the famous Vice Admiral Kuzan—renowned across the seas as a symbol of "Burning Justice"—was sprawled out lazily, snacking without a care in the world.
Next to him, also lounging, was Yahn, now wearing a pair of sunglasses.
"Vice Admiral Kuzan, isn't this… a little too relaxed?" he asked.
Kuzan, eye mask pulled down, yawned.
"You don't like it?"
"Not necessarily..." Yahn replied, then sighed.
"It's just… this kind of lifestyle feels a bit too decadent for a Navy officer. It's weighing on my conscience. Oh, hey—what kind of fruit is this? Juicy and sweet."
"No idea. But your conscience doesn't seem too troubled," Kuzan replied casually.
Yahn burst out laughing.
"Haha—who says it's not? I am troubled! I mean, this whole trip was something the old man carefully arranged so I could earn some merits—and now look at me... sigh… this is good stuff."
He popped another fruit into his mouth and continued.
"Just thinking about how the old man is probably still hunched over paperwork in his office back in Marineford… makes me feel a little guilty."
Kuzan gave him a sideways glance as Yahn munched away and replied,
"How noble of you, Yahn."
"Not at all. Serving the Navy and the sea is its own reward," Yahn said, before shifting the topic slightly.
"But what I'm really curious about is... whether the higher-ups at HQ will accept the 'new' you, Kuzan."
"Oh?" Kuzan replied, unfazed. Then, stretching lazily, he added,
"Justice shifts with the times and our perspectives. That's only natural. From now on, I plan to uphold a new kind of justice—'Lazy Justice.'"
Yahn looked at him with a faint change of expression.
"Sounds like a good kind of justice to me, Vice Admiral Kuzan."
A faint smirk played at Kuzan's lips—but then he shifted tones.
"By the way, last night you kept calling me 'Big Brother Kuzan' and shouting, 'One more round, then three more!' Now you're suddenly all polite again?"
Yahn's expression froze.
Back in his previous life, Yahn had a high alcohol tolerance—"As long as Snow Beer doesn't fall, neither do I." But the liquor in this world was on a whole other level.
Especially with his current body being on the weaker side—it couldn't compare to Kuzan's monster-like constitution. Just a few drinks and he was already tipsy.
"Let's… not talk about last night. I'm never drinking again," Yahn growled through gritted teeth.
This incident had made one thing very clear to him—he was at the absolute bottom rung of the alcohol world. Forget Kuzan—even a random woman could probably outdrink him.
This time he was lucky. After reviewing his memories, it seemed the things he spilled while drunk were still within acceptable limits.
But what if he wasn't so lucky next time?
What if he accidentally revealed something truly dangerous?
What if the person he woke up next to the next day wasn't a straight-laced Kuzan—but… someone else?
Dangerous! Extremely dangerous!
The only solution—avoid danger at all costs!
"Really? That's a shame," Kuzan said teasingly. "We promised each other last night that we'd have another wild night back in Marineford."
"Big Brother Kuzan, please stop messing with me," Yahn groaned.
Desperate to change the topic, he asked,
"So… what's the plan now? Just patrol the West Blue a bit, stabilize things, then head back to Marineford?"
"More or less," Kuzan replied, slipping his eye mask back on.
"When I filed the report to HQ, I used the excuse that the underground criminal scene in West Blue was out of control. So we should probably arrest a few mafia groups to show we're doing something."
Hearing this, Yahn couldn't help but offer a moment of silence—for the unlucky crime families of West Blue. Then, he apologized internally.
All my fault.
He'd just casually thrown out "mafia" as an excuse—and now they'd drawn the attention of Kuzan himself.
"I wonder who the lucky ones will be… to get picked by Big Brother Kuzan," Yahn said sympathetically.
"There's already a target," Kuzan replied lazily. "There's a well-known mafia family operating near this sea zone."
---
Currently at chapter 235 for advance chapters
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