Starting as a pirate, he rose to become the strongest Shinigami in Soul Society.

Chapter 211 Kuzan, Zephyr, and the King of the World!

In Zefa's office.

A group of people gathered here, with Kuzan and Nico Robin sitting opposite each other, both of them looking rather strange.

Robin was puzzled. This was Bane's territory, so why was Kuzan here? Bane had never mentioned him.

What Kuzan found strange was that, although this place was outrageous, it was still flying the Navy flag. How could Nico Robin, a wanted criminal who had been on the run for many years by the world's governments, openly enter and leave this place? Didn't that seem very unreasonable?

"I really didn't expect to see you here, Nico Robin," Kuzan said, taking a sip of his tea.

Robin nodded with a complicated expression and said, "I didn't expect to see you here, Kuzan."

"So," Kuzan hesitated for a moment before saying, "you're now working for Master Zeff?"

"No," Zephyr, sitting in the main seat, waved his hand with a smile and said, "This is also the first time I've met Robin today, so to be precise, she's currently working for Bane."

"Miss Robin, it's a pleasure to meet you. I am Genus. I'm sure Lord Bane has already mentioned me to you. I desperately need your help," Dr. Genus said excitedly.

Robin quickly responded, "It's an honor to meet you, Dr. Genus. Bane has mentioned your talent to me more than once. If there's anything I can do to help you, it would be my pleasure."

After some discussion, Kuzan finally understood the situation.

It turns out that Nicole Robin had already joined Bane's ranks, and not only that, she now helps Bane manage the massive underworld organization, Baroque Works. She has also contributed a great deal to the construction and development of Melview. For example, the transport fleets he saw in the port earlier were actually assets of Baroque Works.

The enormous funds needed for Melvure's development are supported by Baroque Works, managed by Robin, with the exception of a portion provided by Ben personally.

Now, with the downfall of the Don Quixote family, Baroque Works has begun its full-scale entry into the New World, and Melvure is merely one point in this process.

Without giving Kuzan much time to think, Dr. Genus clearly had little interest in this powerful former Marine Admiral and quickly pulled Nico Robin away to study the alien script.

After that, only he and Kuzan remained in Zephyr's office.

It was only then that Kuzan seemed to notice something was wrong with Zephyr, and he asked in surprise, "Master, your arm?"

"Oh? You only just noticed? You really don't pay enough attention to your teacher." Zefa flexed his perfectly healthy arm and teased him with a chuckle.

"I'm sorry, everything I saw before was far beyond my expectations and quite shocking," Kuzan said somewhat apologetically.

"This is Dr. Genus's technology; it can be called limb regeneration." Zeff smiled, then looked at Kuzan's left leg and said, "Sakazuki is very strong, isn't he?"

Kuzan wasn't embarrassed by this and nodded slightly, saying, "Better than me."

"Although it seems that your abilities won't affect you much, I still suggest you do what I did and take good care of your left leg," Zephyr said without keeping anyone in suspense.

Kuzan actually wanted to maintain a bit of composure. Indeed, as Zephyr said, given his mastery of his abilities, losing a leg didn't actually have a significant impact.

However, looking at Zephyr's warm and smiling face, Kuzan felt that he didn't need to be too pretentious in front of his teacher, so he smiled and nodded, saying, "Since it's your suggestion, teacher, of course I have no problem with it. I'm very grateful."

"Have some tea," Zefa said, picking up his teacup.

Kuzan also took the opportunity to drink tea with them.

The master and apprentice, who hadn't seen each other for a long time, started chatting casually, and the atmosphere gradually became more harmonious and pleasant.

About half an hour later, Zephyr finally spoke, "Originally, you wanted to leave the Navy, but it was through my mediation that you changed your mind. I invited you to Melvure this time, and you've probably already sensed some of my intentions. So tell me, what are you thinking? What did you originally intend to do after leaving the Navy?"

Kuzan put down his teacup, his expression turning somewhat wistful. "To be honest, I originally wanted to wander for a while. But these past years, the heavy burden of the Navy on my shoulders has truly been suffocating me. There are some things I've been avoiding in the past that I want to take some time to reflect on. Were the things I did right or wrong? Is what the Navy is upholding really what I thought it was?"

"Is this what I've been running away from?" Zephyr murmured the question softly, his expression gradually darkening.

Both men had served as admirals in the navy, reaching the highest levels of the navy and thus witnessing the terrifying darkness behind it.

Just as Kuzan said, he had been avoiding facing the darkness for many reasons. Now that he has "left" the Navy, looking back, he doesn't know if he was right or wrong.

Perhaps it was because of these things that he felt lost and confused.

After a moment, Zephyr said in a deep voice, "The reason you are at a loss is that what you cannot face is not the darkness, but yourself. You are unwilling to admit that the Navy you have served for so many years is so despicable, and you are unwilling to admit that you have more or less become an accomplice to this darkness. If you cannot see yourself clearly, of course you will feel confused."

Before Kuzan could say anything, Zephyr said firmly, "Is there any need to think about whether it's right or wrong? It's definitely a mistake, a sin, an insult!"

Zephyr's words ruthlessly tore away the fig leaf, and Kuzan's expression became somewhat agitated. He seemed to instinctively want to refute something, such as that everything was for the greater good and that order needed to be maintained no matter what.

But looking into Zephyr's deep gaze, Kuzan's lips moved, but he couldn't bring himself to say those self-deceiving words.

The crimes committed by the Navy as accomplices of the Celestial Dragons are simply undeniable!

As a naval admiral, the sins he carries are probably no less than those of those damned pirates.

After a long while, Kuzan's expression gradually calmed down. He sighed and said, "You're right. I just didn't want to face my past, filthy self."

Zephyr picked up his teacup again, took a sip, and then said with a hint of sadness, "When I was promoted to Admiral, I also witnessed this darkness. Perhaps it was because I refused to collude with them that the farcical incident of an Admiral's family being murdered by pirates occurred in Marineford, the so-called stronghold of justice?"

"After that, although I realized these things, I, like you before, deceived myself, harboring thoughts of 'putting the big picture first,' thinking that although the world's government had such a despicable side, without them, who knows what this ocean would become. Someone has to persevere, and someone has to find a way to change things. In fact, I know very well that Sengoku and Garp both tried to change things, but as it stands, they both failed, and I failed too." Zephyr gradually concealed the sadness on his face, and his gaze became more resolute.

Not a single mistake, not a single poem, not a single post, not a single piece of content, not a single look!

He looked at Kuzan and said, "The path we've taken ultimately couldn't change the Navy's predicament. Decades of perseverance have been a joke. So, I've given up those illusions. Today, I've made up my mind to use real iron and fire to wash away this darkness and evil, and make the Navy a pure Navy!"

"So you and Bane formed Melvure here?" Kuzan asked, looking at Zephyr.

"That's right!" Zephyr admitted without hesitation. "Actually, even without Bane, I had already started planning something, but now that I think about it, it was just a foolish and insane act. My original plan was to build a new navy and wipe out all the pirates in the New World in the most insane way. Once the New World is completely destroyed, the navy will be freed from this long and endless quagmire war with the pirates. At that time, the navy will probably have more energy to deal with the darkness of Mary Geoise."

After a slight pause, Zephyr chuckled self-deprecatingly, "Looking back now, I must have been insane back then, driven mad by this damned world, so cruel and tyrannical. If I had actually done something like that, I doubt any of you would have forgiven me, would you?"

Kuzan looked at Zephyr's self-deprecating expression and didn't quite understand the meaning behind it. Although his teacher said something about completely destroying the new world, he didn't really understand what that meant.

However, it's clear that Kuzan has no intention of pursuing the matter further.

After Zephyr fell silent, he asked, "What does the teacher want to do? What does Bane want to do? Perhaps only by getting these two answers can I truly make a decision."

"This old man?" Zephyr laughed heartily. "What I want to do is wipe out these bastard pirates of the New World, then drag all those incompetent, disgusting parasites on Mary Geoise to the guillotine and chop off their ugly heads, completely destroying the rule of the world's government and sending those so-called Celestial Dragons to their deaths!"

At this point, Zephyr paused, his tone softening considerably as he said, "At that time, the Navy, which should be righteous, will be able to become pure."

Upon hearing this, Kuzan also smiled gently and said, "If that's the case, I'd like to lend a hand to your ideal, Teacher! But let me ask one more question: what about Bane?"

"Him?" Zephyr said with a helpless expression when he mentioned the guy, "That brat wants to become the king of the world."

"The King of the World?" Kuzan was taken aback at first, then burst into laughter: "Hahahaha, I told Binz before that maybe I was too shallow in thinking that Bane was a guy with a strong desire for power. Now it seems that I was too early to reflect. His ambition is much grander than I imagined."

However, Kuzan didn't think there was anything wrong with it. In this world, whether you want to admit it or not, there are indeed people standing at the highest point, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call them "kings".

So if Bane can bring about better changes and prevent the world from becoming as corrupt and decadent as it is today, then what wrong would he be to want to become the new king?

"Perhaps it won't be long before you realize that you still don't understand him enough," Zeffa said with a knowing smile, looking at Kuzan meaningfully.

The world's king is not his final destination!

(End of this chapter)