"Alabasta's... guardian deity?" Vivi repeated, her voice barely a whisper.
She looked up at the towering Admiral, completely bewildered.
"Hmm..." Kuzan didn't answer right away.
He let out a long, slow sigh, as if he needed a moment to sort through the absolute chaos of the last hour in his own head.
He'd seen the whole thing, from start to finish.
He had a front-row seat to Mike's performance, and every single moment was burned into his memory.
Other people might not get the full picture, but as an Admiral of the Marines, he knew exactly who Mike had just faced.
He ran down the mental checklist.
First, there was "Fire Fist" Ace.
A Logia user who could turn into pure fire, the second division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, with a crazy bounty of 550 million Belly.
A serious heavy-hitter.
Then, "Diamond" Jozu.
A Paramecia user who could turn his body into diamond, making him the ultimate shield for the Whitebeard crew for the last 30 years.
Basically indestructible.
And finally, "Flower Sword" Vista.
The fifth division commander and one of the most famous swordsmen in the entire New World.
A guy whose skill with a blade was legendary.
These three were absolute monsters in the New World.
Any one of them could flatten a village without breaking a sweat.
And yet, all three of them working together, could barely handle a single attack from Mike.
And the craziest part? Mike wasn't even trying to kill them.
He was holding back.
As one of the top fighters in the entire Marine organization, Kuzan prided himself on being able to read a battle, to see every little detail.
But Mike's technique, that "Azure Dragon Strike," still left him completely floored.
The whole sky had seemed to shake from that one slash.
The roar of that dragon was a sound that could shatter anything, and the sheer pressure from the sword's aura was enough to make it hard to breathe.
And according to what Smoker told him earlier, that wasn't even Mike's strongest move.
The other one, "Mugetsu" apparently caused even crazier stuff to happen in the sky—an attack that could supposedly slice sky in two.
'Mike, you little bastard…' Kuzan thought, a rare sense of marvel washing over him.
'Just how many more insane surprises do you and Borsalino have cooked up?'
"That kid Mike..." he marveled to himself. "He really is the future hope of the Marines. In this new generation, there's no one else even close to him."
It wasn't just about his overwhelming power either.
It was Mike's completely new way of thinking, his different set of values, that had really left an impression on Kuzan.
Looking at Mike, he could see a whole new path for the Marines, a brand-new possibility for the future.
That free-spirited, rule-breaking attitude made the old, stuffy traditions of the Marines seem kind of foolish and outdated.
Kuzan looked up at the sky, his heart pounding with a strange excitement.
If Mike could really lead the Marines down that new path… what kind of amazing era would that be?
But first, he had to deal with the problem right in front of him.
You can't talk about the future until you've sorted out the present.
Kuzan snapped out of his thoughts, his sharp gaze locking back onto Vivi.
'Logically', he thought, 'as a Marine Admiral, I shouldn't have to be explaining any of this.'
'Alabasta is a member of the World Government, but this is way below my pay grade.'
'But… from what I've seen, that kid genuinely wants to make this country stronger and better than ever.'
'Crocodile has already shown he's on board through his actions. And I've always heard good things about Vivi's father, King Cobra, the "Wise King."'
'Alright then. I'll put in a little extra effort. I'll lay it all out for her, nice and clear.'
'I need to make sure Alabasta's future can get on the track Mike is building for it.'
He paused, then spoke slowly, his voice calm and steady.
"I have a pretty good idea of what Crocodile did to Alabasta before all this."
He gestured vaguely in the direction of the desert.
"You've seen the new city of Yuba, right?"
"That city was built by Crocodile. He did it in a single night. And how great Yuba is doing now… that's just a small taste of what the future of Alabasta can be."
Vivi listened quietly, her mind racing.
Kuzan continued, his tone firm, leaving no room for doubt.
"I guarantee you, on my honor as a Marine Admiral, that everything Crocodile does from this day forward will only be to help Alabasta."
He paused, looking her straight in the eye.
"So… everything that happened before? It's in the past now."
"..."
Vivi was silent for a long moment, a hurricane of emotions swirling inside her.
Was it really that simple? She lowered her head, her thoughts a tangled mess.
She remembered the shock she felt when she first walked into the new Yuba.
The old Yuba had been a wasteland, a dead town with no hope.
But the city she saw now was bursting with life, more prosperous than she could have ever imagined.
'Maybe… maybe it really was all just some kind of horrible misunderstanding.'
Vivi gave a small, hesitant nod, feeling the wall of doubt in her heart start to crumble.
After all, if the great Admiral Aokiji himself was telling her this, who was she to argue?
More importantly, if this was a chance to make Alabasta a better place, then she was willing to believe in it.
Vivi looked up at Kuzan, her eyes filled with gratitude.
"Thank you, Admiral Aokiji."
"Nah, don't thank me," Kuzan said, stretching lazily. He casually pointed a thumb over his shoulder toward Mike in the distance.
"If you want to thank someone, thank that kid."
"Without him, this whole mess in Alabasta probably wouldn't have gotten solved the right way."
Following his finger, Vivi saw a sight that made her blink.
Mike was completely surrounded by a huge crowd of women in bikinis, and he couldn't seem to get away.
They were all laughing and cheering, acting like he was the center of the universe.
"Mike-sama!"
"Whoa! That transformation you did was so cool!"
"Captain Mike with that long, flowing hair is just… irresistible!"
"So majestic!"
"Do it again! Please, please!"
"Pretty please with a cherry on top!"
"Mike-sama, I wanna touch your silver hair!"
"Me too, me too—"
"Ahahaha!" Mike just laughed, wrapping his arms around a few of them in a big hug.
"Hold on, ladies, don't rush me! Let me finish up my business first! None of you little troublemakers are getting away!"
In a flash, he smoothly slipped out of the crowd, lit a fresh cigar and turned to Smoker, who was standing nearby.
"Hey, Smokey. Get on the horn and let the commander and Tashigi know what's up."
"—Puff—" Smoker blew out a perfect ring of smoke.
"Next destination confirmed?"
"Confirmed," Mike said with a grin. "Next stop—Skypiea!"
"A sky island?" Kuzan chimed in, looking genuinely interested.
"Is that where the 'Mermaid Island Guardian' you promised Whitebeard is located?"
Mike nodded, a strategic gleam in his eyes.
"Yep."
Instantly, a plan started forming in his head.
While he was up there persuading Enel to join him, he could also take some time to have a little fun.
Those Sky Island girls with the cute little white wings on their backs… that sounded delightful!
But, of course, the most important thing was—
'Shandora.'
Shandora, the legendary "City of Gold" on Jaya Island.
A glittering city where literally everything was made of solid gold, especially the massive golden bell at its center that was said to ring loud enough for the heavens to hear.
Four hundred years ago, a massive knockup stream had shot half of Jaya Island into the sky.
And the City of Gold had been sleeping up there ever since.
'That gold,' Mike thought with a greedy smirk.
'I'm definitely claiming it.'