Kuzan (2)

Ignoring the desperate scream, Marco began to spin around. The blue wings, with a wingspan of over ten meters, enveloped Kuzan in their infernal embrace, generating a whirlwind of blue flames.

At a dizzying speed, they pierced the surface of the frozen sea like a drill, plunging into the depths of the ocean.

The scorching heat of Marco's flames intensified as they came into contact with the wind, melting the frozen waves that had stopped near the coast.

The moment Marco plunged into the sea, chunks of ice flew through the air like a frozen machine gun, while seawater gushed under pressure from the hole created by Marco. Cracks spread across the surface of the ice, a consequence of the fractured icy shell.

___

In the depths of the frozen sea.

Marco, deactivating his Phoenix transformation upon entering the water, firmly held Kuzan. He felt how the resistance and cold emanating from the admiral subtly dissipated. Letting go, he kicked him forcefully towards the bottom of the sea.

"*BOOM*..Ugh..." In a state of extreme weakness, Kuzan groaned in pain and drifted aimlessly towards the depths. The groan allowed water to enter his lungs, weakening him further. Unable to use his devil fruit underwater, he could only thrash his arms desperately to try to surface. But the curse of the sea weakened his entire being.

Yet, as he looked up to continue fighting to escape, his face filled with incredulity at the sight of Marco, who was already calmly swimming towards the surface!

'How is this possible? Isn't he affected by seawater? How can he swim so calmly?!'

Despite the disturbance caused by the scene, Kuzan did not let himself be distracted and, with titanic willpower, fought with all his might to reach the surface.

In his Marine training, he had been trained to face such situations countless times. But no matter how many times it happened, the moment he touched the sea and felt his entire body weaken was something he could never get used to.

"Cough, Cough, Cough!" Due to his strong physique, in just a few minutes, Kuzan finally surfaced, coughing forcefully as he struggled to stay afloat.

Taking a deep breath and calming his breathing, he looked up and saw Marco flying in the air with his blue fire wings, in perfect condition, looking down at him with disdain.

"Gja..." Upon seeing him, Kuzan choked again, but before he could do anything...

*Roaring*

From behind, a huge wave approached at an astonishing speed and completely engulfed him.

Dragging him into the depths of the sea and drowning him once more.

—

*Plunge*

In the distance, a huge figure observing everything quickly dived into the sea.

—

*Whack* *Whack* *Whack*

Marco, who was flying in the sky patiently waiting, finally saw movement in the sea.

"Gurgling…Gurgling…" First came simple bubbles, which gradually grew larger. Until an enormous penguin over 15 meters emerged from the sea.

Looking exhausted, the penguin swam quickly to the island's beach and gently deposited Kuzan on the shore.

Once its task was done, the exhausted penguin threw itself face down in the sand and fell asleep with a bubble of snot coming out of its nose.

"Cough!..Cough!..Cough!"

As soon as he landed on the beach, Kuzan, without his dark glasses, opened his eyes quickly and immediately vomited several liters of seawater.

*Tsp*

Landing softly near Kuzan, Marco made his wings disappear, keeping his gaze fixed on him.

From the beginning, his intention was never to kill anyone. That's why he let Camel rescue Kuzan from the depths of the sea.

He knew that a prolonged battle against a former Marine admiral was suicide, despite possessing a Mythical Zoan. So he decided to end the fight quickly with that risky move, taking advantage of his superiority in the sea.

"Why... didn't you kill me?" After expelling all the water from his lungs, Kuzan lifted his head with difficulty, looked at Marco with a puzzled expression, and asked, confused.

Kuzan had no idea why Marco hadn't finished him off when he had the chance, knowing that he was now a member of the Blackbeard Pirates.

"Ha... Teach will definitely die by my hands, along with all his captains—Yoi!... huh?!" Letting out a light chuckle, Marco replied, but at the end of his response, he was surprised because it seemed the original Marco's speech pattern was affecting his speech.

Back to the point, while Marco never intended to kill Kuzan, he did have some ideas on how to use him. Having a former admiral on his side would always be better than having him as an enemy.

Moreover, he understood that Kuzan always doubted the world's justice, which gave him a significant weakness.

And a man who doubts his ideals in this world is nothing.

But... he is a man of honor and will not let this favor go unreciprocated by not killing him and letting him live.

Furthermore, they have a common enemy... Akainu, who also seeks to completely eliminate the remnants of the Whitebeard Pirates.

Therefore, the benefits far outweighed the cons of letting him live and gaining his favor.

Well... all of this was calculated with the idea that Kuzan was the same as in the manga, but if not... Marco will attack with everything he has and won't let him escape alive at any cost!

Getting up with difficulty and approaching the sleeping Camel, he sat down and leaned on him. His tired gaze turned to Marco again.

"While you may have defeated me... you're still no match for Teach..." Hearing Marco's words, Kuzan said unconsciously. The current Blackbeard, being a user of two devil fruits, was very difficult to defeat, coupled with his strange body. It was not unusual to say he was on par with the other emperors.

".....!!!" But remembering how Marco could swim effortlessly underwater, his eyes widened as he recalled it.

"Ah la la... what a crazy world..." Sighing in exhaustion from thinking so much, Kuzan stopped pondering the matter.

An uncomfortable silence settled between the two. Marco watched Kuzan with an inscrutable expression, while the former admiral gazed at the horizon, lost in his thoughts.

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Author: If I see that you like it, I'll write a few more chapters for those who want to support me financially on Patreon.