Arceus's Pirate Journey

Chapter 1094: Chapter 1082: Hook-Line Fishing for Kuzan

Yamato’s response completely disrupted Kuzan’s train of thought, not because she was wrong, but because she was too right.

”It’s quite intense when peers are pitted against each other.”

This was Akainu’s exact words. The problem was how Yamato knew this; neither of them held back during the battle at Punk Hazard, even the terrain was permanently altered, and this phrase was akin to private conversation.

Unless Yamato was around them during the fight, it’s impossible for her to know such things.

But their battle mode was always at full power, so for a Logia-type Ability User, Observation Haki is far more important than Armament. Using Observation Haki to dodge preemptively is their best way to avoid damage.

To evade the Observation Haki of two Admirals and remain unaffected by magma and extreme cold—this isn’t just a matter of strength, it’s absurd.

”Mind reading? Is your Observation Haki that special?”

If Kuzan had to guess, this would be his suspicion. Mind reading abilities have emerged before, but that shouldn’t belong to Yamato. The only explanation that makes sense to Kuzan is the special nature of her Observation Haki.

Unlike the uniform Armament Haki, Observation Haki can give rise to some special powers.

”No, I don’t know any mind-reading technique. If I did, I would have escaped from that old man’s clutches a long time ago.”

”So how do you know this phrase... has your intelligence capabilities reached that level of terror?”

Kuzan couldn’t fathom that the words were spoken by another ”Kuzan” himself; it’s beyond his capacity to imagine.

”Impossible, no intelligence can reach that level. By the way, using ice as a prosthetic must be troublesome, right? Have you considered getting a false limb? It might be inconvenient in battle, as prosthetics can’t elementalize.”

”You can really read minds... Do you also know my retort was ’That’s damn well because you’re magma’?”

Kuzan’s expression was a bit stiff. It was the first time he felt his thoughts were completely exposed, what he wanted to say was spoken ahead of time. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling. Those words he had only shared with Camels, and by no means should she know them.

”Can’t recall, don’t mind those details. It’s just a coincidence, but now that you aren’t with the Navy anymore, want to consider switching sides to be a pirate?”

”Are you kidding? I just came to say hello to ’some acquaintances’. Although I’m not with the Navy now, I have no interest in the plundering pirates.”

”Don’t say that; plundering is what the lowest class pirates do.”

”Low-class pirates... but ultimately you are all pirates. Doing whatever you want isn’t the way to go. Even if I say I want to join you, can you actually trust me?

Someone who was in the Navy for decades, nobody would be comfortable with that, right?”

”I wasn’t planning on trusting you..”

”What did you say?”

Yamato’s words puzzled Kuzan even more; he felt their thinking was not on the same level, recruiting someone they couldn’t trust sounded absurd.

”Ahem, what I mean is, let me analyze the benefits of joining us. First, assuming you’re an undercover agent, your real identity is still with the Navy.

For the Navy, my father is the most troublesome Great Pirate now, so isn’t the opportunity to betray him extremely valuable?

You could deceive my father’s trust and then find an opportunity to betray him.”

”Hold on... let me process this, are you teaching me how to betray your father???”

”A bit weird... but that’s basically it.”

Unfortunately, Kuzan couldn’t read minds; otherwise, he would know what Yamato was really thinking. Betraying Kaidou sounds like a good idea, but the difficulty of executing it is sky-high.

Even she might not succeed in ambushing Kaidou, let alone Kuzan who is weaker than her. Although he has the ability to restrain, Kuzan’s success rate of targeting Kaidou is nearly zero.

Assuming Kuzan wanted to betray Kaidou for real.

The ice burst isn’t enough to instantly kill Kaidou, and fully controlling Kaidou isn’t feasible; he couldn’t achieve an effective backstab, only infuriate Kaidou.

If Kuzan then escapes, Kaidou would be distracted by anger, allowing her to gain some peaceful time. That’s Yamato’s plan.

Moreover, the Hundred Beasts doesn’t only consist of Kaidou; even if Kuzan wanted to make a move in other battles, they could still stop him.

Whether Kuzan’s defection is genuine or fake, it doesn’t matter if he truly leaves the Navy or wants to be an undercover agent; she only wants Kuzan to take the fall.

If Kuzan truly doesn’t want to be with the Navy, then let Kaidou train this ”newcomer”, there’s no loss in whatever way you think.

As Kaidou’s biological daughter, Yamato understands too well his monstrous power, combined with the growing strength of the Hundred Beasts as a whole; that’s why she dares to proceed like this.

”It’s a rare opportunity, otherwise you wouldn’t get close to him. By the way, Uncle Queen’s bounty is still only alive, and he is extremely cautious normally, this is a great chance for a live capture.”

Far away on Ghost Island, Queen felt a sudden chill, as if something was targeting him. Yamato wasn’t selling out Queen, she was merely fishing; according to Ghost Island’s defense regulations, she, Kaidou, and Arceus would have one of them stationed on Ghost Island.

No matter who, Kuzan doesn’t have the ability to take someone away in their presence. Queen here is just a juicy bait that might get frozen, but would be safe, as his means of preserving his own life could stall for a considerable time.

”Do you know what you’re talking about.....”

”Yes, you’ve always wanted to know our secrets, haven’t you? This is the perfect chance, you need to seize it.”

Ghost Island has secrets, but since Arceus made his move openly during the Paramount War, the mysterious veil over the Hundred Beasts began to fade; Arceus didn’t want to make too much noise, simply wished to quietly search for the Plate.

But as the Plate gradually returned, his movements became more significant. Queen’s scapegoat period would eventually end, and in fact, many in the World Government already made judgments, but didn’t want to publish or accept the more terrifying outcome.

Of course, the timing of publication isn’t up to Yamato, so her words were only half-truths. Even if Kuzan decided to join, directly entering Ghost Island wasn’t realistic.

This didn’t matter much to Yamato; after all, Kaidou would be roaming around, as long as it’s on the Hundred Beasts turf, her Ice Substitute plan could be smoothly executed.

Yamato’s unrestrained thinking nearly brought Kuzan’s mind to a halt, telling him to his face we’re suspicious of you, but don’t mind you joining, and even offering a detailed roadmap to stir things up.

If it weren’t for her credible identity, he might suspect whether Yamato herself was an undercover agent from some organization...