King was the most pragmatic of the cadre, indifferent to means in battle, and when he judged the situation to be unfavorable, he wouldn't linger.
With his current ability, fighting an Admiral from the Headquarters wasn't difficult, and before the Blue Flame Mode ended, Kuzan couldn't do anything to him. The issue was that it was meaningless, Admirals aren't that easy to kill, and even if they were a truly equal opponent, it would take several days.
Unless seeking death, dealing with such monsters when they run is difficult, and with Momousagi nearby, facing Kuzan, King couldn't be distracted, making Momousagi a threat to him.
When the current battle situation is unfavorable, he'll retreat first and wait for another opportunity. He doesn't want a scenario where he needs rescuing after everything overturns — that would utterly disgrace him.
His fighting style could be described as having no bottom line, indirectly indicating he doesn't hold as much value for face as others, but that doesn't mean he doesn't care at all.
As a high-level official of the Hundred Beasts and part of Arceus's lineage, getting captured by the Navy would be too humiliating; he doesn't want to end up like someone under Whitebeard.
Mere "Navy fools" can only watch as he, part of a noble air unit, moves.
...
"Admiral Kuzan, why are you here?"
"At someone's request, although that wasn't my original purpose..."
According to the original timeline, he should have warned the Straw Hats because of Robin's situation, but now, things are different. He has no ties to them and was merely patrolling nearby waters.
His appearance here has some connection to Garp.
Although Garp plays around daily, he remains high in the Navy ranks, and internal news doesn't escape him. Strictly speaking, Momousagi is relatively close to Garp, making her a suitable leader for this mission.
Yet Garp was still uneasy, worried someone might target Ace midway, so he had Kuzan come to check, as for himself...
He is of the Navy and Ace's "grandfather," sending Ace personally might lead him to make a mistake, and the extent of the sea clearance during the top war remains unknown.
Given limited information, considering the damage Marinfanto suffered during Golden Lion's attack, one might suspect Garp caused it.
At this stage, a single error could go unnoticed, as the hero's halo provided Garp much convenience, and his strength justifies such a halo, making the World Government find it difficult to manage this troublesome person.
"Admiral Kuzan, Vice Admiral Strawberry..."
"I see, let's gather the remains first, we'll discuss this later, but what is that black thing?"
"That's... Blackbeard who captured Fire Fist Ace, the Flame Disaster was also targeting him; it's my judgment lapse, I should take full responsibility for Strawberry's death..."
"Alright, we're the Navy, such things happen, don't blame yourself too much, let's return to Marinfanto. The higher-ups seem to value Fire Fist; not sure what they're planning."
As he said this, Kuzan noticed the black unknown object on the ground; while Kuzan's ice extinguished King's flames, Blackbeard had been severely burnt beforehand, blood was still oozing from his eye socket. But judging by his rising and falling chest, this guy seemed to still have breath.
Despite Whitebeard being old and frail, losing half his head to Akainu, he still persisted for a while, so Blackbeard's condition wasn't surprising.
Most people, save for a few unfortunate ones, have extremely strong vitality, and Doc Q trembled as he approached Blackbeard.
After some searching, Doc Q removed the Seastone spike, and once the Seastone left the body, darkness engulfed Blackbeard again, and the damage reduction from the Dark-Dark Fruit began affecting this body once more.
"Captain Teach, it seems you might be saved..."
"Is it difficult?"
"Indeed, it's difficult, with more than 80% severe burns, his left eye pierced through; some power seems to have exploded inside as well, if not for Captain Teach's peculiar body, he'd be dead already."
Looking at the severely injured Blackbeard, Doc Q wasn't worried but rather excited, appearing somewhat interested in treating such a critical case.
"However, his blade is truly odd; did he fit it with explosives?"
"Not explosives, that's an Armament technique, it's too early to explain this to you now.
Van Augur definitely can't be saved; let's rescue Captain Teach first, otherwise, we should prepare to disband."
"Cough, cough, well, it's an entertaining activity, let's hope our captain is resilient enough, and that this Dark-Dark Fruit is as magical as claimed. But his eye is gone; is it fate that Captain must lose this eye?"
After Doc Q performed emergency treatment on Blackbeard, the Blackbeard Pirates accompanied the Navy Headquarters back for the subsequent affairs, while the pirates were wary that King hadn't departed, fearing retaliation if they acted alone.
...
Meanwhile, in the lab on Ghost Island, Queen was conducting a new experiment. The Rumble Ball previously delivered by Dragonites had entered his analysis station, providing him a good idea.
But the end result presented issues, as this drug wasn't suitable for humans. To allow human users to wield it would require updates, involving substantial fine-tuning.
Queen was currently using a strain for his experiment to assess the new Rumble Ball's results, yet he hadn't succeeded in cultivation.
Nonetheless, he wasn't just waiting. He was also shaping gunpowder.
His equipment wasn't ordinary Flintlock Guns, filled with black gunpowder and ready to use; those small missiles had high demands on gunpowder, not only in quality but also in shape.
Due to their small size, to guarantee enough range, the gunpowder fuel must burn fully.
Yet the missiles' accuracy was questionable, often causing self-damage. For precision, he redesigned the internal small missiles.
But such highly sensitive gunpowder couldn't just be mechanically manufactured in one go; tools had to be carried by hand for carving. Each cut must be extremely careful, without generating any static or sparks, otherwise, the gunpowder could ignite or explode.
"Good, slowly, slowly, just a little more..."
Queen muttered to himself about his progress, the knife in his right hand moving slowly.
"Lord Queen! Your petri dish succeeded..... succeeded....."
"Boom!"
He previously ordered his assistant to notify him immediately of any results, which they did obediently. But seeing Queen covered in dust, they felt slightly inconvenient about the timing...