Chapter 412 The Bottom Line of Being a Man
Vice Admiral Mozambia of Marine Headquarters.
A character previously unheard of in the original series, Mozambia took over G-5 after squeezing Vergo out of his position with the information provided by Rowen.
However, on the eve of the revenge war with the Hundred Beasts Pirates, Mozambia was attacked by the "Drought" Jack and "Conflagration" King, two of the Three Disasters, and suffered unimaginable torture, leaving him severely injured and on the brink of death.
Now, after a year and a half of recovery and treatment, Mozambia has finally recovered from his severe injuries.
"And this is Caesar's work, isn't it?" Vegapunk, looking at the steel body of Mozambia, pondered, "I see, I will help you adjust it."
The steel body still retained Caesar's signature style of prioritizing functionality over aesthetics.
Individually, each component would be commendable for its exquisite craftsmanship but put together, it resembled a child's haphazardly assembled blocks, lacking cohesion.
"Cyborg" Mozambia, that's what he should be called now.
Without Rowen's self-healing ability, even if his external wounds healed, his body would not be able to support him in continued combat.
Therefore, unwilling to retire, Mozambia chose to undergo Caesar's modifications, becoming a Cyborg.
Well, naturally, he didn't adopt the absurdity of "Cyborg" Franky's need for cola as fuel; instead, he generated electricity through an internal furnace similar to a generator to power his body.
In this world, where bioengineering like this was not uncommon, even Kaido had a Cyborg force that replaced their bodies with various weapons.
As the "foremost scientist in the world by 500 years," Vegapunk easily identified the flaws in Mozambia's body and readily offered his assistance.
Upon receiving Vegapunk's assurance, Mozambia's crimson face, devoid of skin, revealed a sinister smile, expressing his delight.
"Thank you, Mr. Vegapunk!"
It wasn't that Mozambia didn't trust Caesar's technology, but rather that after installing various weapons on him, Caesar couldn't solve the problem of excessive power consumption!
This resulted in inevitable inefficiency and waste due to the overall lack of coordination.
Mozambia had a body equipped with weapons capable of destroying islands, but due to power consumption issues, they were rarely used.
As a result, even as one of the Headquarter's 16 Vice Admirals, his overall combat effectiveness after modification barely equaled that of the previous generation's peacekeeper, Pacifista PX-4.
This time, he volunteered to come to the new G-5 as Base Head, aside from washing away the shame, he also harbored the idea of completely resolving this issue with the help of Vegapunk's research capabilities.
"You're welcome! The stronger Vice Admiral Mozambia is, the safer my research base will be."
After agreeing on a simple time for Vegapunk to check him over, Mozambia turned to Rowen and locked eyes with him.
After a moment, Rowen sighed, "Human yet not human, ghost yet not a ghost... Is it worth it?"
Apart from his head, Mozambia's entire body, including his internal organs, had been replaced by mechanical parts. Even his skull was made of a special alloy, granting him various combat capabilities.
Franky modified himself because he had no choice; if he didn't, he would die. But Mozambia, driven solely by hatred, accepted this modification.
Mozambia stared at him with an inexplicable gaze, then sighed, "It's not about whether it's worth it, Vice Admiral Soryu (Azure Dragon)."
"I chose this path myself, so you don't need to blame yourself."
If it weren't for Rowen allowing him to use the information to expose Vergo, Mozambia might have had a much better outcome.
There was resentment, of course.
But as an adult, a military man with clear loves and hates, a mature man, Mozambia knew that his choices were the root cause of all this.
"Well, since you put it that way..."
Rowen raised an eyebrow in a strange manner, exchanged a glance with Vegapunk, and shrugged. "Then I have nothing to say!"
"Oh, by the way, Vice Admiral Mozambia, do you still need to eat now?"
"A nutrition solution can sustain my brain's daily needs, but I wouldn't mind satisfying my appetite!"
The new generation Cyborg, "Red Skull"... Oh no, Mozambia, grinned with his skinless mouth in a sinister manner. "After all, this is one of the few pleasures I have!"
"That's good then!"
Rowen called over a soldier. "Spread the word, we'll have a banquet tonight!"
...
Half a month later, in the first half of the Grand Line, Gaya Island.
Rowen, who had just disembarked from the aircraft, suddenly felt a headache and looked towards the crowd.
"Ain, long time no see!"
At the front of the crowd, Ain, dressed in a short shirt and wearing the Justice cloak, looked at him with a fake smile. The corners of her delicate face carried a chilling implication, sending shivers down Rowen's spine.
Due to Dante's voluntary challenge, Rowen had reluctantly brought him along. Subsequently, all the overwhelming tasks of the massive G-10 fell on Colonel Ain.
This made Rowen feel somewhat guilty, and judging from Ain's current expression, she clearly intended to settle the score!
Fortunately, Ain was reasonable. She stepped forward to salute Rowen and then raised an eyebrow, "Where's that asshole Dante?"
Only Rowen and the aircraft had returned; Qilin and Dante were nowhere to be seen.
"He felt that his strength was insufficient, so he chose to stay in the New World to gain experience, and incidentally help Mozambia integrate the new G-5..."
The night raid by [The Drifter] had a profound impact on Dante, prompting him to immerse himself even more urgently in practice upon his return.
Since he lacked the wisdom of someone like Rowen, he decided to rely on his sword to protect what he wanted to protect! Dante finally found the path he wanted to take, and as a contemporary colleague and secretary-cum-enforcer, Rowen had no reason not to support him.
If he could find a way to control the overwhelming evil aura of the Moonlike Stream Murdering Sword through this determination to protect, it would be something everyone would welcome.
However, as Rowen spoke, he suddenly had an ominous premonition.
"Hehe! So, even if you're back, I still won't get any rest, right?"
Ain chuckled, but her laughter was as chilling as the winter wind, sending shivers down Rowen's spine for no apparent reason.
It seemed like that was the case! If Dante didn't return, then the only person Rowen could trust in the base would be Ain, and the responsibility of handling official missions would fall on her shoulders.
"Um... look, I brought you a gift!"
Rowen quickly changed the subject, and behind him, a soldier brought out the cosmetics and clothes he had bought from Sabaody.
When it comes to facing challenges, he, Marine Vice Admiral Soryu (Azure Dragon), never goes into battle unprepared!
However...
"You're quite adept at changing the subject."
"But Vice Admiral Soryu (Azure Dragon), do you think I'm the kind of girl who can be fooled by gifts?"
Ain's face remained cold as she directly threw a pink light ball at the gifts, causing them to disappear with a "poof."
These were all synthetic items made this year, and even the raw materials had vanished without a trace as if they had been sent back twelve years.
The soldier responsible for moving them looked at Ain with eyes that seemed to see through everything, realizing that Colonel Ain, who had always been low-key in the base, actually had such means!
Rowen broke out in a cold sweat, realizing that if the light ball had deviated a little, it would have landed on his head.
"Damn you, Oda, for creating such an unreasonable Devil Fruit like the Modo Modo no Mi (Return-Return Fruit)!"
Cursing someone from another world in his heart, Rowen was about to use his ultimate move.
But at that moment, Ain snorted and walked towards the port.
"Where are you going?" Rowen instinctively shouted.
"Back to see Sensei!"
Ain jumped onto the battleship deck and immediately ordered the ship to set sail.
Rowen was dumbfounded before he suddenly realized something and was left horrified!
She was going to cut off the lifeline of the base!
Ain came to help voluntarily, but she wasn't officially assigned to G-10. Since she wasn't under his jurisdiction, there was no reason for her to stay if she wanted to leave.
"Don't go, senior sister! What about the base?!"
However, Ain, determined to leave, paid no attention and didn't even look back.
After a moment, Captain Henry silently approached and said, smacking his lips, "Vice Admiral, aren't you going to chase after her? Let me tell you, this woman is insincere. Once you catch up and sleep with her, cut through the chaos with a quick knife, and she'll be devoted to you."
"...And then I'll be publicly criticized by a female corps led by Chief of Staff Tsuru, and even laughed at by the Fleet Admiral and those shameless assholes, right?"
Rowen rolled his eyes, leaving Henry speechless.
Female soldiers in the Marines are not to be trifled with!
Not to mention him, even Sengoku couldn't afford to offend them!
The last person who dared to use force against a female soldier, I heard, was a high-ranking government official, and the grass on his grave is five yards high!
"Ugh... this gives me a headache!"
For Ain, Rowen didn't have that kind of mindset for the time being. He was willing to fulfill her needs if she came willingly, but when it came to emotions...
"At least, it's not the right time yet!"
What he had to do was too dangerous, and it wasn't a good time to settle down. Even if he wanted to spend his whole life in this world, Rowen wanted to provide a peaceful environment for his family after everything stabilized.
Instead of letting his family worry about him and endure unnecessary risks and crises.
It might sound pretentious, but that was the bottom line for Rowen as a man.
"Go, contact Admiral Fujitora Issho for me!"
Henry: "..."
Do you realize that your two sentences put together can easily give people the wrong idea and when the hell did a pirate become Admiral?!
...
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