Outside the main castle tower, Kuro walked out and gazed at the sky for a long while before turning back to look at the Fleet Admiral's office at the very top. He pursed his lips and couldn't help but utter a remark:

"What the hell is this?!"

Performance review?

He came here to be scolded and lectured.

The dignified, ruthless Sakazuki, a representative of the "tough guy" who doesn't talk much, actually said a lot of things. It's ridiculous!

But from this perspective, it seems he has no way to escape and is truly destined to be stationed in Wano Country.

Kuro sighed softly.

"Kuro?"

Just then, a voice rang out from the side. Kuro glanced over and said irritably, "At least call me Admiral, Smoker!"

Approaching them were Smoker, who was chewing on three snake-shaped cigars tied together, and Tashigi behind him.

Tashigi, holding Shigure in one hand and raising the other above her head in a standard naval salute, said, "Admiral Kuro."

He looked somewhat excited.

"Long time no see, Tashigi. You've become even more beautiful."

Kuro nodded, then looked at Smoker, "Why aren't you guarding G-5? What are you doing here at headquarters?"

"When I give my report, I need to ask headquarters for more people."

Smoker exhaled a puff of smoke and then said, "You've done a great job. Now the seas are starting to get chaotic, and G-5 needs new strength."

Tashigi couldn't contain her excitement, "He ended the era of the Four Emperors, he ended all evil, Admiral Clow is truly amazing!"

"Just picking up a bargain."

Kuro shook his head, and with a flick of his finger, a serpent flew out from among the many cigars tied to Smoker's clothes and landed in his hand.

"Could I borrow a light?"

He bit his cigar and leaned his head toward Smoker.

"Hey, you again! Don't you have your own cigars?!"

Smoker's temple bulged with a vein, but he still pulled out a lighter and lit it for Kuro.

"It's nice to try something a little bit of the 'little stuff' now and then..."

"Shut up!"

Smoker interrupted Kuro's taunts, angrily saying, "You saw me just to say things like that?!"

"Of course not."

Kuro thought for a moment, "I haven't eaten yet, and it's rare to run into you. Let's go eat."

Smoker immediately became alert. "Hmm?"

"Don't worry, Lida is in Wano Country. It's just the two of us. Let's have some drinks and a meal. Stop dawdling and let's go."

With that, he turned around and headed towards the commercial area behind headquarters.

"You bastard..." Smoker clicked his tongue, then reluctantly followed.

The usual place, Zhengyi Barbecue Restaurant.

The exquisite grilled sea monster meat sizzled on the iron plate. The three of them sat around the table. Kuro picked up his wine glass, clinked it with Smoker and Tashigi, drank it down in one gulp, and exhaled slowly.

"You have no idea how dangerous Wano Country is. Several major powers are there. I even ran into Shanks on the way. If I hadn't had the advantage on the sea, I would have gone to Wano Country injured, and the outcome would have been uncertain."

Kuro was making sarcastic remarks.

Even a brief review of the events left him feeling terrified.

If Shanks hadn't been so foolish as to intercept him halfway through the journey, but instead had chosen an island or simply blocked him near Wano Country, he would definitely have won if a fight had broken out, but at a considerable cost.

If we go to Wano Country again then, it probably won't be so easy.

"You've already ended the era of the Four Emperors, so stop pretending to be innocent here."

Smoker took a sip of his drink, then lit a cigar and said, "You're going to be stationed in Wano Country next, right? Although the newspapers didn't say it, there's a lot of talk about it. That place is very chaotic, so you should be prepared."

Kuro picked up a piece of meat and put it in his mouth, chewing as he said, "I know."

"Because of you, the sea is more chaotic than before, and G-5 is no exception. Otherwise, I could apply to be transferred there."

"Come on, worry about yourself. G-5 base has a bad reputation, and most navy personnel don't want to go there. As for those troublemakers you're looking for, their combat strength is not bad, but only you can handle them." Kuro rolled his eyes.

Troublemakers are disliked everywhere, and the troublemakers and criminals in the Navy are basically all there. Moreover, this ratio is not nonexistent; every now and then, Navy personnel are reassigned to G-5.

Smoker said softly, "Those people aren't inherently bad..."

Tashigi nodded vigorously. "Yes, Admiral Kuro, those people are actually quite nice."

“Your men are your business, I have no say in that,” Kuro said.

"Oh, right..."

Smoker looked up at Kuro, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "Where's Straw Hat? You said you picked up a bargain, so it's not like what the newspapers said, but that Straw Hat defeated Kaido, right?"

"I knew you were going to ask that."

Kuro scoffed, "That kid's strength has indeed increased rapidly, but that's all there is to it. In a place like the New World, those silver medalists won't let them off so easily. Let them fight each other."

Smoker fell silent upon hearing this, his thoughts unreadable.

After eating for a while, Kuro put down his chopsticks and said, "Alright, you can go do whatever you need to do now. I have to go to Mary Geoise later; those five old men are looking for me."

"Hmph, those wretched old men?" Smoker clicked his tongue. "They're not easy to deal with."

Kuro shrugged. "Let's go."

With that, he stood up and left.

Smoker was still deep in thought when he exhaled a puff of smoke and slowly said, "It's not that simple... That straw hat kid will definitely do something even more surprising, Kuro, you need to be careful..."

"Lieutenant General Smoker, Admiral Kuro has already left," Tashigi said weakly.

"Forehead..."

Smoker paused, then suddenly realized something and roared, "This guy didn't pay again!!"

This is perfectly normal...

When Admiral Kuro and Lieutenant General Smoker are together, it seems that Lieutenant General Smoker always pays the bill.

Tashigi pursed her lips and didn't dare to say anything more.

...

After leaving the barbecue restaurant, Kuro didn't head towards Mary Geoise first. Instead, he found the Navy, got a permanent Dominican Log Pose, and flew there directly.

Now that he knows he will inevitably be in Wano Country, there are some preparations he needs to make, and for that, he needs to find the old man.

Although he had retired, Kuro knew where the old man was.

The old man was on Comoric Island, the Dominican Kingdom that was destroyed by Kuro's Buster Call...

"I don't know if it will even work..."

Kuro glanced down at the briefcase in his hand, then released his grip, and the briefcase flew into the sky and disappeared.

He accelerated, cutting through the air like a shuttle, flying away like a shooting star.