Fish-Man Island, Merman Bay.
"Vice Admiral Garp, what brings you here?" Kuzan looked at Garp, who had just stepped off the warship, with a face full of surprise and quickly stepped forward to greet him.
"Hahahaha, I was just passing by and thought I'd drop in to see you and the branch being built here. After all, the Coating technology here is the best in the world, so it won't take much time. It's no trouble at all!"
Garp threw his head back and laughed heartily, drawing curious glances from many mermaid ladies around. They had previously watched the live broadcast of the event known as the 'ONE PIECE Great Sea Battle.'
Thus, they were particularly curious about this Marine hero who could punch and obliterate such an exaggerated super tsunami.
In truth, Garp had visited Fish-Man Island many times before, but back then, the mermaids and Fish-men had no real concept of the Marine hero.
Now, however, he had truly shocked the entire world!
"Come on, take me to see how this branch differs from the ones above."
Under the admiring gazes of the Marine soldiers on both sides, Garp strode forward, with Kuzan following a step behind, guiding him from the side. The scene was quite interesting.
Although the former was known as the Marine hero, that was a title bestowed by the public. Within Marine Headquarters, he was just an ordinary Vice Admiral. However, the latter's title of Marine Admiral candidate was an official one.
Yet, Kuzan willingly followed behind Garp. In his view, even if he became a Marine Admiral, except for very formal occasions, he would still defer to Garp in private.
"By the way, is Kaido of the Beasts imprisoned on your ship? Can I take a look?" Kuzan asked with a smile, his hands tucked into his pockets.
Garp casually agreed, saying, "Sure, when I leave, you can come aboard with me and take a look. That guy's appearance is quite something—over seven meters tall with long horns like a bull!"
"Thank you, Vice Admiral Garp."
Before long, the two of them, along with a group of subordinates, arrived at the construction site of the branch. It was mostly completed, and the outline and basic style were already visible.
"Wow, this really is different from the branches above. The roof is made of large seashells! Interesting, I've never seen a Marine branch like this before!"
Garp was amused and directly pulled out a bag of Rice Crackers from the large pocket of his Justice Coat, munching on them. He even handed one to Kuzan, who didn't refuse and took a bite.
"Vice Admiral, I just received an order to go to the Polar Ice Continent to find the treasure of the Happo Navy's Garp from the Flower Kingdom, something called the Jewel Ice Sheet."
"Garp?"
Hearing the familiar name, Garp burst into laughter.
"I've heard about that! Ever since I punched his head flat, he hasn't been able to retrieve the treasure beneath the ice. He has to go check on it every year!"
After saying this, he thought of something and turned to Kuzan, saying, "Be careful if you run into him. Although he's lost half his combat power without his pointed head, his Armament Haki and Hasshoken Martial Art are still a significant threat to you."
"Understood."
Kuzan obediently accepted the warning and then said, "However, I don't have time right now. The Levely is about to begin, and I'll definitely be responsible for escorting King Neptune and Queen Otohime."
"Indeed, the royal families from the distant seas should have already set off," Garp nodded. He had experienced the Levely so many times that he was all too familiar with it.
"So I can only go after the Levely, but there's another problem. This place is too far from the icy continent in the South Blue. The round trip would take several months, and during that time, Fish-Man Island would be left without a strong presence."
Kuzan put on a troubled expression.
"You know as well as I do that this place is often visited by pirates from the 'New World.' While my subordinates can handle ordinary pirates, they're no match for the tough ones. We need a vice admiral stationed at the base."
Garp immediately understood the underlying meaning of Kuzan's words. He stuck his finger in his nose, glanced sideways, and said with a smirk, "You're trying to get me to guard the place for you, huh?"
"Hehehe, as expected of Vice Admiral Garp!" Kuzan gave a thumbs-up in praise.
"You brat, fine. I don't have much going on anyway. Once you head to the icy continent, I'll keep an eye on things here. Fish-Man Island has a nice environment, so staying here for a while won't be bad."
Garp didn't make things difficult for Kuzan and readily agreed.
"In the future, pirates from the first half of the Grand Line will definitely become fewer and fewer. Even fewer will be able to reach here through Sabaody Archipelago. Fish-Man Island only needs to guard against pirates from the 'New World,' so the pressure on you won't be too great."
"Yes, yes, Sabaody Archipelago is now under Dragon's watch, and he's doing a great job. It's very lively there. Just the other day, I heard that an assassin broke into the Marine base and was captured by him."
Kuzan knew Garp's temperament well—he wanted Kuzan to praise his son. That was easy enough to satisfy! "Besides, I heard from Sengoku that they're planning to set up a Marine base at the foot of Reverse Mountain, with Borsalino as the base commander. That'll effectively block the entrances from the four seas and the Grand Line. That's the key."
Kuzan exclaimed in surprise, "A base at Reverse Mountain? I've been there before, but I didn't see any nearby islands suitable for a base."
"Hmph, I didn't ask for the specifics, but they'll figure it out," Garp said dismissively, then added, "Alright, I've seen enough. I'll go meet King Neptune now. You go about your business!"
"Ah, take care on your way."
Kuzan quickly bowed and respectfully saw the big shot off. He then stood still, lost in thought, recalling the night they celebrated Dragon's promotion to vice admiral.
"Reverse Mountain, plus the four G-series bases, Sabaody Archipelago, Fish-Man Island, and the four G1 bases in the 'New World'—they've really set up multiple checkpoints along the entire Grand Line."
"Looking at it this way, pirates from the four seas won't be able to enter the Grand Line, stabilizing the pirate situation in the first half. At the same time, they've completely blocked off the latter half, the 'New World.'"
After pondering for a while, he couldn't shake the feeling that the Marine's higher-ups—no, the higher-ups of the World Government—were planning something big for the 'New World.'
Although Kuzan always appeared to be full of passion and energy, deep down he actually had a lot on his mind, especially when it came to his thoughts about the world, which were no less profound than Dragon's.
He could also see that the World Government had always deliberately maintained a balance between the Marines and the pirates—a state of confrontation without allowing serious conflicts to erupt.
But now, it seemed the World Government's attitude toward the pirates had changed!
"Ah well, I'll figure it out as things unfold. If they really do start clearing out those major pirates, it might be a good thing. But it'd be better if it happened a few years later. With my current strength, I wouldn't be able to play a significant role in such major events anyway."
Kuzan shook his head helplessly, feeling a bit impatient. Among the candidates for Admiral, he was the only one who hadn't awakened his Devil Fruit powers. Dragon had only eaten the Hurricane Fruit a year ago and had already awakened his abilities.
But how was he supposed to awaken his Ice-Ice Fruit powers? He had no clue.
He had even consulted Borsalino about it, but the latter simply said, "One day, I was sunbathing and took a nap, and then I just awakened." It was truly frustrating. Awakening seemed to have nothing to do with training or effort—it was all about chance! "Now I'm even doubting whether my current abilities would be enough to break through the ice layers of the polar regions. If I spent months getting there only to find out I couldn't do it, that would be a real joke. And if anyone found out..."