Pirate: My Piltover technology is far ahead!

Chapter 436 Aokiji and Akainu, the prelude to the opening.

Under Spandam's brilliant leadership, the man hailed as a genius of CP9 has successfully squandered his prime years. If Rob Lucci and his crew were to be dismissed from their posts for some reason, they should be able to find a decent way to make a living.

However, they are loyal dogs of the World Government, and working for the World Government has become a deeply ingrained idea in them. Even if the World Government wants to silence them forever for some reason, these people will still follow in the footsteps of the World Government.

Rob Lucci felt a surge of excitement at having a new mission; at least this way, he wouldn't have to waste his time like this.

Even though they launched a new round of operations, they didn't achieve any valuable results. The only intelligence they gathered was about the expansion of the army and the concert.

Neither of these news items needs to be investigated carefully, because Piltover has not hidden anything in this regard. The whole world knows what the country is doing, and the news of the concert has spread even more widely than the news of the military expansion.

After all, there was no extra publicity for expanding the army, but the concert was being promoted with all its might.

The soldiers on the island noticed something more subtle: some experienced veterans had been transferred somewhere, separated from their original units, and reorganized into a new, covert force in a place unnoticed.

Meanwhile, the Navy's global recruitment drive continues, a recruitment effort that has lasted for several months and is not yet over.

As is customary, they will recruit some personnel from the royal armies of other kingdoms.

Compared to ordinary people, members of the armed forces of various countries have undergone training to varying degrees and can be put into actual combat as soon as possible.

This would simultaneously weaken the military power of member states and replenish their naval power, making member states more dependent on the navy and the world government.

The methods of conscription are also related to national strength; the strong remain strong, and the weak remain weak.

The World Government and Navy of countries with strong national power will be very polite, even if it's just to make up the numbers, as long as some additional personnel are added.

Weak nations face forced conscription, resulting in the loss of many people. This explains why the quality of navies often varies after the global conscription movement.

"Kuzan, long time no see. How come you've ended up doing the recruitment work?"

At the port of Piltover, Kuzan arrived with a warship. Normally, a colonel would be sufficient to lead such a mission.

They're not here to fight, so having a leader who's too strong would be inappropriate.

"It's been a long time, Doctor. There's been so much going on at headquarters, I came out to clear my head."

"Is it about the marshal candidate?"

"Yes, Doctor, you already know?"

"I know all the facts that are common knowledge in the Navy. You're not here to campaign for votes, are you?"

"Oh dear, Doctor, you're joking again."

It would be great if the final decision were made by voting, but judging from the current situation, the final decision on who will be the marshal will still have to be made by force.

Kuzan leaned against the wall, seemingly lost about the future.

The election of a naval admiral may seem simple, but it is actually complicated. When Sengoku succeeded as admiral, he was the only suitable candidate in the entire navy.

Besides him, neither Garp nor Zephyr are suitable for that position, and both Kong and the Five Elders strongly support him succeeding to the position.

The situation is much more complicated now than it was then. Kuzan and Sakazuki are both candidates, and their overall reputation in the Navy is about the same. They are considered the leading figures of the doves and hawks today.

One side was more moderate, and the other more radical, which also divided the navy into two factions.

Ordinary soldiers cannot influence the election of marshals, but it is different at the lieutenant general level, where the support rate is still 50/50.

Looking at the Navy alone, the higher-ups actually support Kuzan more, whether it's Sengoku or Garp. However, the World Government favors Sakazuki, which has led to this matter remaining unresolved.

Just like Kuzan said, this thing would be less complicated if it were purely based on voting. However, this is a matter between the Navy and the World Government. Even though Oran has a close relationship with the Navy, the position of Fleet Admiral has nothing to do with this place.

Kuzan simply went out to relax and suppress the pirates who have been running rampant recently. He and Akainu haven't just been waiting for the results; the Navy still has work to do.

"Do you have a lot of issues with Sakazuki?"

"We have different perspectives on justice, and I cannot agree with his methods. Even if he leads the Navy, the Navy will still uphold 'justice,' just in a different way."

Akainu and Aokiji are now comrades-in-arms, and only comrades-in-arms. They will help each other on the battlefield and will not hinder or cause trouble for each other.

However, after the battle, the two had no personal relationship whatsoever. Ever since the Ohara incident, Aokiji and Akainu had no interpersonal relationship whatsoever.

Kuzan did not approve of Sakazuki, and in turn, Sakazuki did not approve of him; neither side could accept the other leading the navy.

The opinions of the naval leadership and the World Government differ, and it is basically a foregone conclusion that the two will decide the Fleet Admiral through a duel.

"Different ideologies are understandable, but Kuzan, what would you do if one day you discovered that the justice you uphold is merely an order, and that the person who sets the standards of justice is the greatest evil?"

"It doesn't have much impact. My justice is just my justice. If it goes against my justice, then I won't continue to fight for it."

Those who can become admirals in the navy have absolute confidence in their own justice and will not easily change their beliefs. They value their sense of justice more than their stance or faction.

"Doctor, why are you suddenly asking about this?"

"It's nothing, I just said it casually. Maybe you'll understand in a while."

"Is this some kind of new riddle? I'm quite curious about the answer."

As Kuzan himself said, he only came out to relax and left soon after. Some people in Piltover also responded to the global recruitment drive and went to the Navy together.

However, these people were carefully selected and joined the Navy with special missions.

After the global draft, people from all over the world will be reorganized and assigned to different naval branches.

This is to prevent them from forming cliques and disobeying orders, but it also means that everyone will come into contact with more colleagues. These people, scattered like tiny sparks, can play an unexpected role at specific moments.

In 1521 of the Sea Calendar, Admiral Kuzan and Sakassadin engaged in a duel on Punk Hazard due to their differing ideologies, vying for the position of Admiral of the Navy.

After ten days and ten nights of fighting, the entire Punk Hazard was permanently altered in terms of weather and terrain due to the battle between the two, turning it into the harsh Ice and Fire Island.

Kuzan was defeated, losing his left leg and suffering severe burns on the right side of his body.

Sakazuki also bore the marks of frostbite, but compared to Kuzan, this injury was insignificant, and the position of Fleet Admiral ultimately fell into Akainu's hands.

Sengoku's position was changed to Grand Inspector of the Navy Headquarters, responsible for overseeing the entire navy.

In the same year, the World Government discovered a criminal named Aramaki in the prison of the Kingdom of Taya in the South China Sea.

Because of his exceptional abilities, he was pardoned and recruited into the Navy, where he was directly granted the rank of Admiral, codenamed Green Bull, to fill the vacancy left by Akainu's promotion.

"Kuzan, have you thought this through? Oran can handle your injury perfectly well. With a custom-made prosthetic, even if you're a Logia-type Devil Fruit user, the prosthetic body will adapt very well to your combat."

At Marine Headquarters, in Zephyr's home, Kuzan is having a heart-to-heart talk with Zephyr.

In the original timeline, Zephyr had already left the Navy at this point.

He couldn't accept that the World Government would recruit Edward Weevil, who had severed his arm and killed many of his students, as a Shichibukai.

The situation is different now. He has neither lost his wife and children nor witnessed the slaughter of his students after losing his arm. He continues to be his head instructor, and Kuzan now has someone he can confide in.

As a result of the chain reaction, Kuzan did not immediately leave the Navy and become a free man, but instead entered a period of confusion and remained in the Navy.

"There's no rush. Luckily, I'm made of ice, so I can make a prosthetic body out of ice and use it as is."

Kuzan held his icy leg in his hand, seemingly unconcerned, but Zephyr could sense that Kuzan's mind was in turmoil.

The original text can be found at 6#9@book/bar!

"I heard that the new Wild Shepherd idolizes Sakazuki. Sakazuki is probably in for a treat."

Kuzan brought up the topic of Green Bull. Among the current three admirals, Kizaru and Akainu were classmates and comrades-in-arms since the Naval Academy. Their relationship has always been friendly.

Green Bull admires Akainu for some unknown reason, but at this point the reason is no longer important. Unlike Sengoku, who is a moderate, Akainu can do whatever he wants and make big moves at will.

Recently, Akainu has been planning to move the Marine Headquarters to the original G1 branch to better suppress pirates in the New World.

"I've heard of him. He was originally the sheriff of the Kingdom of Yata, but he got involved in a serious incident because of a woman and ended up in the national prison."

The World Government, having somehow heard of his reputation, directly recruited him.

"This kind of guy would actually go to jail. Could it be that he offended Riley and is trying to hide like this?"

The World Government isn't stupid. If they can directly grant someone the rank of General, that person's strength must be up to par. Such a person is generally impossible to keep in prison unless they encounter some more terrifying monster.

"I haven't heard of such news. Piltover has no connection with that country, so theoretically it's unlikely."

"Oh my god, Professor Zephyr, your sense of humor is getting worse and worse. You actually answered this kind of question seriously."

"Kuzan, you little brat."

"Just kidding, I was just thinking about what the professor said a while ago."

"So what are you thinking now? I'm getting old, and I need an assistant here."

Zephyr understood Kuzan's feelings at this moment and did not want him to leave the Navy directly. At worst, he would let Kuzan follow in his footsteps and go behind the scenes due to disappointment, and do things in a different way.

"Now, I want to go to a concert."

"A concert?"

"Zeff, are you really out of touch with the times? This is probably the biggest event on the high seas recently."

Kuzan pulled out a promotional poster from somewhere, showing Brook's laughing skull and Uta's black silhouette.

Ordinary people don't care about the change of leadership in the navy; it doesn't matter to them who becomes the marshal.

Life went on as usual, and besides, they had no control over the matter at all; apart from a small number of people who cared about military and political affairs, no one paid any attention.

"I just didn't think of it for a moment. This global draft has recruited too many new soldiers. The temporary training is already quite a headache."

"Isn't that Oran's youngest daughter? Yerklik usually listens to her live streams, is she about to make her official stage debut?"

In addition to personally leading the annual recruit training camp, Zefa was also responsible for recruiting other recruits. Since the start of the large-scale conscription, Zefa's work had become equally busy, which is why he hadn't thought of what was going on for a while.

"I remember Oran saying during the promotion that this was a simultaneous live broadcast across the entire ocean?"

"That's right, they even developed a new type of live-streaming Den Den Mushi and are distributing it to the whole world for free. They spoil their kids rotten. I'm going to the concert, Zephyr-sensei, do you want to come with me?"

"No, you young people should handle this kind of thing."

"Dad, the tickets Uncle Oran sent arrived. The seats you booked are really close to the front. Uncle Kuzan, you're here too? Why aren't you guys saying anything?"

The room was eerily quiet. Kuzan couldn't remember how he left the room, only that he had a new ticket in his hand when Zephyr threw him out.

"Professor Zephyr is truly...still going strong for his age."

Egerhard, Vegapunk, and his six clones are busy at work.

These six clones did not make Vegapunk's life easier; on the contrary, they made him even busier. After all, Vegapunk was researching these clones to conduct more research within a limited time, not to allow himself to relax.

Now, Vegapunk has even transferred the functions of rest and eating to one of his clones. As long as York, who represents desire, does these things, the other clones can recover their energy together.

The Seraph project was basically finalized under Vegapunk's control, but today Vegapunk suddenly paused for a moment, and then his expression became blank.

Meanwhile, in another special space, Vegapunk's consciousness arrived and met Oran, who was already waiting there.

When Kate was asked to perform the brain separation surgery on Vegapunk, with Vegapunk's consent, Kate used the power of the Op-Op Fruit to cut off a piece of Vegapunk's brain.

This brain doesn't usually affect Vegapunk, but Oran can use this world, which combines the Book-Book Fruit, to have special interactions with Vegapunk.

Aside from the initial experimental phase, this was the first time Oran had contacted Vegapunk in this way.

Moreover, Vegapunk received a very informative statement as soon as they met.

"Punk, it's time to make my move."

(End of this chapter)