The cruelest thing in the world is not the absence of hope, but having hope and then having it shattered, turning into despair – Lucilfer Kuro.

Therefore, one cannot become a philosopher unless one suffers extreme hardship.

Kuro is suffering now.

Even bile isn't as bitter as his.

It's Cass again!

It's him again!

It's always him!!

On the high seas, who has Kuro ever been afraid of? Even Kaido, he would dare to fight him for a few rounds. Although it's best to avoid fighting if possible, if Kuro really encounters trouble, would he be afraid?

Will it?

Really?!

But the only thing I fear is not the enemy, but the merciless blows from my own people.

Unfortunately, that person was his subordinate, and in principle, he hadn't done anything harmful to him. Moreover, in other people's eyes, what he did was absolutely right.

Ever since that battle against six million lizardmen in the East China Sea, he felt like the world had turned upside down.

Kuro shakily pulled out a cigar, his hand trembling as he held the lighter, and it took him a long time to light it.

"Anyway, let me smoke a cigar to calm down... I can't calm down, you bastard!"

Kuro wanted to slap himself twice. He leaned back weakly in his chair, biting his cigar, the smoke drifting up his face. His eyes looked as if they had been ruined, dull and lifeless.

"I was wrong. I shouldn't have gone and killed that six-million-dollar lizardman pirate. If I hadn't killed him, I wouldn't have gotten promoted. If I hadn't gotten promoted, I wouldn't have gone to headquarters. If I hadn't gone to headquarters, how could I have gotten into all this trouble..."

The ten years in the East Blue, though marked by some caution, were also the most reassuring time for Kuro, as he never openly dealt with more than three million pirates.

Even pirates with a million or two million in assets would team up with many marines to gang up on and win, hiding among the crowd and remaining inconspicuous.

But everything changed after that lizard man.

He shouldn't have made that stab!

Seeing Kuro's lifeless appearance, Lida thought for a moment and said, "Kuro, do you want me to chew some rice to make sake for you?"

"Shut up, Lida! The Qing Dynasty is long gone, don't talk about such outdated things!" Kuro glared at her, his eyes almost murderous.

Lida shrugged, poured another plate of steak into her mouth, and continued eating her meal.

"Calm down, I need to calm down, I still have a chance..."

Kuro rubbed his head haphazardly. "Just a commodore. Is a commodore a general? No, just a reserve general. It's like the transition from sergeant major to lieutenant. The warrant officer is there to help an ordinary naval soldier gradually adapt to the role of command before he can become a lieutenant."

"The same applies to the promotion of colonels. There is also a transition process for naval officers, such as brigadier generals. Brigadier generals are not considered officers. In addition, Sengoku only asked me to return to headquarters to receive my medal. I can still stay in the West Blue. As long as I am not a proper rear admiral, it is fine."

Naval admirals are not stationed in any of the four seas, except for patrols. Admirals are either in branches on the Grand Line or leading troops on missions abroad. There is no way they can be base commanders in branches on any of the four seas; their rank does not allow it.

But a brigadier general can.

"So my chance, my chance...Crow!!!"

Kuro racked his brains for a long time, but could only think of one solution besides not making any contributions. However, he lacked a concrete action plan, so he shouted out the window.

"Mr. Clooney, please try the freshly roasted meat."

Inside the town streets, a shopkeeper smiled and handed Crowe a piece of roasted meat wrapped in oil paper.

Kro, who had been enjoying being greeted by people for several days in a row, was still outside entangled with the townspeople, showing the close bond between the military and the people. He smiled and was about to accept the gift when suddenly his ears twitched and his expression changed.

"Let's save it for next time."

With that, Kro disappeared from the boss's sight in a flash.

The word 'shave' was used.

Very quickly, very quickly, Kro pushed open the door to the upper office of the base with a snap.

"Mr. Kuro, did you call me?"

As soon as Kuro finished speaking, his heart skipped a beat, because he saw Kuro's gloomy, grief-stricken face.

“Clo…”

Kuro exhaled a puff of smoke, rested his hands on his chin, and said to him earnestly, "You know, I've always used you as a tool, no, as a strategist. Whenever we encounter a problem, you always do your best to come up with a solution."

Upon hearing this, Kro stood up straight, a hint of pride appearing on his face.

It's a pity Cass isn't here, otherwise I would really have let him hear Mr. Kuro's praise.

Hmph, Cass is dim-witted, Lida is reckless, only I, Kro, have the right to laugh.

He slowly extended his hand, smoothed his hair, making his already slicked-back hairstyle even further back, then pushed up his glasses and said confidently, "Mr. Kuro, have you encountered any problems?"

Kuro picked up his cigar, flicked off the ash, and said, "Oh, it's like this. Just now, Marshal Sengoku called and asked me what happened last time. How could I possibly know what happened? Then he told me in detail."

"When I heard that, I exclaimed, 'Oh, so it's about the incident in the Insect Kingdom last time.'"

"He initially lied to me, saying I had been demoted. When I heard that, I thought, 'Great!' I was so happy. But then he suddenly told me it was a lie. I hadn't been demoted. I was careless and unprepared. Not only was I not demoted, but because of the Insect Kingdom and Cass in the Twin Horse Kingdom, I was promoted."

"You mean it's okay for such a high-ranking naval admiral to try and deceive a young man in his twenties like me? That's not right!"

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