"Hey, Red Flag, why are you daydreaming?"
"It's normal for this kid to daydream, it's his first time here, right? Last time, he seemed to be thrown into Udon, and it took quite a while for him to compromise. He's got a pretty tough backbone."
"Is that so? I only held on for three days. Off you go, Red Flag. It wasn't easy to come back, so go relax. I know a place where they grill amazing yakitori."
"Last time you ate over 700 skewers by yourself, the owner got exhausted, you know? He's probably scared to see you and might just close up shop."
"Hahaha, well, who made his skewers so small? Besides, he seemed pretty happy counting the money, there's no way he'd close the door."
Under Jack's lead, all his subordinates are workaholics, either fighting or recovering from injuries, rarely having any downtime.
If they wanted, battles on this sea never really ran out.
The regular pirates were chatting and discussing where to drink, and only after a while did they realize Drake was still in a daze.
"What are you looking at, kid?... Oh, it's Kuzan, huh, no wonder, you both were in the Navy before, meeting an old acquaintance, right?"
"Let's go, let's go. It has nothing to do with you. Even if you were close in the Navy, changing your boss isn't that simple."
High-level officials can pick the subordinates they have their eye on. If that subordinate belongs to someone else, they can discuss a transfer, but those who already have a boss are different.
Requesting to change bosses voluntarily is considered a slap in the face to the current boss.
"Do you look down on me?"
"No?"
"If not, why do you want to switch?"
Therefore, this kind of thing isn't realistic at all. Even if someone suggests it, other officials may not accept the person.
Someone sent as a spy might not need to be strong, but they must be mentally resilient, able to withstand torture, and resist temptations. If a spy defects, it becomes a big problem.
Drake's inner resolve can be considered extremely firm, yet even for him, seeing Kuzan felt somewhat off.
There was already one spy here; if another was being sent, he should have been notified.
Moreover, if they intended for Kuzan to be a spy, then what was the point of bringing him in?
He had suffered a lot to get in here, and Kuzan's vacationing demeanor was too different from his own.
Drake quickly adjusted himself, initially shocked to the point of spacing out, but there was no excuse not to pull it together.
With the situation unclear, he didn't engage with Kuzan and instead left with the other pirates. But a new worry also emerged in Drake's heart.
Does Kuzan know he's a member of SWORD, and has he truly joined Hundred Beasts? Would his identity be exposed because of this? These thoughts added immense pressure on him.
Drake could only gamble and wait for time to reveal these answers.
...
As Drake was dragged away by a group of pirates to relax, Kuzan didn't choose to follow. Watching the silent Kuzan, Who's-Who didn't know what he was thinking and casually changed the topic.
"That guy's unlucky, basically no one calls him by his name because of the name's association. We've long had a Drake, and this one is quite favored by King..."
At this point, Who's-Who seemed to think of something and glanced at the date on his watch.
Nowadays, the high-level officials of Hundred Beasts are all famous, with wanted posters ranking at the top. Not even second-in-command, most pirate captains don't match up to these high-level officials.
Apart from them, there are plenty of high-ranking officials. To understand the list of high officials in Hundred Beasts, the simplest method is not to gather information but to get Drake's ledger.
Drake's ledger, Setsuna's diary, these two things signify Hundred Beasts' network and historical development. When history is studied, they will become extremely important historical records.
"That's quite unfortunate, but this country... for every country on the sea to live like this, that's the goal the Navy should strive for, right?"
"Coincidentally, that's also the advocacy of the Arceus Sect, that the Lord's glory spread across the world to bring shared blessings; that's the recent doctrine."
"Doctrine, huh... things are getting peculiar here, but protecting this tranquility... is a pretty good choice."
Who's-Who didn't know what Kuzan was thinking, and Kuzan didn't bring up Drake much. Despite joining, Kuzan still leaned towards being free, more like finding a support after leaving the Navy.
He knew about the SWORD unit and its guidelines but had no intention to reveal it directly. There were some things he still wanted to observe.
Kuzan soon returned to his vacation state, and a broadcast sounded in Wano Kuni.
"Attention, attention, rain is expected today across the nation! Rain expected in 36 minutes and 28 seconds, will last for three hours, please take care to avoid the rain! Note, Pokemon knows to take shelter themselves, no need to worry about them.
Please stay away from Mareep flocks in the rain, and if you encounter a wet Whimsicott, you can contact the local sheriff directly, do not overreact."
Kuzan looked up at the sun, even with sunglasses the sun was quite glaring. He didn't understand how the weather forecast here could be precise to the second.
The World Government has weather forecasts, they possess such technology, but it's usually only concerned with sea weather when the Navy heads out.
Otherwise, most islands don't have this service; weather forecasts exist only in Mary Geoise and a few countries in the Future Country.
Kuzan was certain no country could predict weather with such precision.
"Isn't this a bit too accurate?"
"You get used to it. Wano Kuni controls not just land, but weather too. In time, Mr. Kuzan, you will see more interesting things."
The New World's weather is notoriously unpredictable, predicting the weather this precisely is almost beyond human effort, but Wano Kuni is different. Here, the weather isn't naturally occurring but is shaped by Pokemon interference for optimal climate.
In most cases, Pokemon do not interfere with natural weather, but recently Wano Kuni has been quite dry, so for the drought a bit of man-made rain is needed. The broadcast indicates the time for Pokemons' Rain Dance, so it can be accurate to the second.
"Mr. Kuzan, you better hurry with whatever you're planning to do. Since the broadcast says there's over thirty minutes, it won't be off by a single minute.
After the rain, it will be dark, and whatever you want to do will have to wait until tomorrow."
"Is that so? I'm going for a walk in the street, feel free to do as you like, Camel, you too, play around here for a bit."