Chapter 1099 - 1086: Empoleon and the Pot of Conservation

Chapter 1099: Chapter 1086: Empoleon and the Pot of Conservation

It wasn’t just Queen who couldn’t figure it out; Kuzan himself didn’t understand either. The fact that the Hundred Beasts had two people in charge was no secret on The Sea.

Before the War of the Best, Arceus’s presence hadn’t been very strong. Aside from the operation on Kuraigana Island, most of the time there was simply no information about him.

But all of that underwent a drastic change with the War of the Best. The Navy and the Whitebeard Pirates both paid a huge price, while the Hundred Beasts were the final beneficiaries, and Arceus also displayed abilities that far surpassed mere natural disasters.

Someone like that could not possibly remain unknown, nor would he willingly live under another’s shadow, so the outside world redefined the internal structure of the Hundred Beasts. Their dual-leader system was beyond doubt, and there were even greater secrets hidden within.

It wasn’t strange that Arceus could order the High-Level Officials of the Hundred Beasts around. What was strange was that he only wanted to see his penguin.

Kuzan didn’t care about his former Admiral status, but that was still an impressive credential. Those Super Rookies, at best, were fresh graduates from prestigious schools joining the "company" called Hundred Beasts.

But that "former Admiral" title, put into corporate terms, was equivalent to having worked in a top-tier conglomerate. Yet in the end, he was still less eye-catching than a camel.

He wasn’t worried about Camel, though. This kind of penguin wasn’t a Sea Cat living in Alabasta’s inland rivers that could only survive peacefully by being respected for its symbolic value. Wild creatures living on The Sea all had their own means of self-preservation.

Fast enough that predators couldn’t catch them, tough enough that predators couldn’t bite through them, and failing that, they had to exist in sufficient numbers to keep the hunters fed. Only then could the species continue.

These penguins that liked to stand up while swimming had a bit of fighting power too. While that level of power meant nothing on Ghost Island, he believed that the people here wouldn’t go out of their way to target a penguin. No matter what, the target should be him.

"Is this supposed to be a show of force?"

"No way. My adoptive father wouldn’t use such a weird method. Anyway, he definitely has his own plan. Just come with me first; getting your identity registered is very important."

"You really do trust your adoptive father."

According to Kuzan’s rough calculations, on the journey back to Wano Kuni, Yamato cursed Kaidou every single day—pervert, demon, bastard—such terms were constantly applied to her biological father, in stark contrast to the heartfelt respect she showed Arceus at this moment.

"You’ll understand why once enough time passes. You think being Kaidou’s daughter is easy or something?! A world without my adoptive father is way too terrifying..."

"You look like you just remembered something really terrifying."

Kuzan tucked his eye mask back into the pocket of his coat, covering one eye with his hand. Having just left the Hidden Port, he found the sunlight a bit dazzling. Yamato’s expression, however, was a bit abstract, as if she were witnessing a scene straight out of Hell.

"It’s not my imagination, it’s... forget it, you wouldn’t get it even if I told you. Just come register with me first."

Thinking of that other world’s Wano Kuni, and then of that abstract "Oden version" of herself, Yamato just felt a splitting headache.

[I don’t know how you’re doing now. I hope you’ve gotten back on track...]

Yamato led Kuzan to the registration office, while Queen followed his orders and headed to Ghost Island. By the time he arrived, Camel was already sleeping in the shallows beside the island. In this regard, it was very much like Kuzan—capable of falling asleep anytime, anywhere.

"Wake up, your luck’s come knocking, you fool. Come with me and cherish this chance, or you’ll never be qualified to meet this person in your entire life."

"Gaa?"

Woken up, Camel stared at Queen in a daze, having absolutely no idea what he was talking about.

"Oh, right, I forgot. You’re just an ordinary beast. Talk to Pokemon too much and you start making this kind of mistake."

Communicating with Pokemon was far easier than with normal beasts. A small number of Pokemon could even speak human language directly or use Telepathy to communicate with people. Faced with this wild penguin, however, Queen ultimately had no choice but to resort to the special method of sign language.

Kuzan’s Camel couldn’t speak human language, but it did have some intelligence. Under Queen’s exaggerated gestures, it shakily followed him into Ghost Island.

...

"Lord Arceus, I’m here. I brought that penguin as well. What plans do you have?"

Ghost Island had been designed so that members of the Giant Race could walk through it freely, so even though Camel was huge, it wasn’t hindered in the slightest. It was only the stairs that were a problem, and in the end it had to climb them bit by bit.

"You should have some guesses about what I’m planning, right?"

"A bit, but Lord Arceus, are you really planning to do this? If that guy has issues, the news is bound to leak."

"At this point, it doesn’t really matter. No matter how powerful a ’biological war weapon’ is, it’s nothing compared to what we showed during the War of the Best.

What, you seem a little reluctant?"

"No, no, you misread me. I’m actually very happy about this."

Queen didn’t know exactly what Arceus wanted to do, but he had a faint guess, and as it turned out, Arceus did intend to modify this oversized penguin.

Unlike normal experiments, Arceus’s biological modifications took very little time. If Arceus modified Camel, it was essentially telling Kuzan that the Hundred Beasts’ ability to transform giant animals had nothing to do with Queen, but came from some other method.

As for who was responsible, it was obviously Arceus, the one who had summoned the penguin.

This was only one part of the many burdens Queen had to bear. It might not completely shift the blame off him, but it at least offered him a glimmer of hope. After all, if one thing turned out to be false, then the rest became questionable as well.