"Old man! Should we take him out now?!"
Sentomaru shouted from the side when he saw Kizaru's expression.
He had genuinely never seen Uncle before.
He thought it was some kind of battle signal.
But Kizaru, looking thoroughly speechless, waved him off.
Then, he turned to Vir and asked, "What're you here for?~ I'm definitely not teachin' you anything else, y'know~"
As he spoke, Kizaru lazily started brewing another cup of tea.
"Hey~ I'm just here to thank you, Uncle! Look! I even brought you a banner!"
Vir pulled out a banner from behind his back as he spoke.
On it, in shining gold letters, was written:
"30-Second Devil Fruit Awakening Crash Course! Great Teacher Uncle Borsalino!"
Kizaru's eye twitched involuntarily.
Usually, it was Sengoku whose face spasmed like that.
But today, it was his turn.
If this banner made it back?
Never mind the whole teaching a pirate how to awaken a Devil Fruit thing.
They'd definitely assign him as an instructor!
30 seconds to awaken your fruit.
The Marines would never let a teacher like that go.
This kid was absolutely ruthless—ruthless!
Vir could tell exactly what was going through Kizaru's mind.
He casually tossed the banner to Sentomaru.
"Hold onto that—it's a symbol of Uncle's greatness."
Vir beamed with a grin bright enough to make Kizaru's blood pressure spike.
Then, Vir spotted Kuma nearby and waved.
"Hey, Kuma! Come take a seat with us!"
He cheerfully called out, conjuring a chair out of lightning next to him.
Probably realizing it was a bit too much, he switched it to steel instead.
But Kuma... looked utterly confused.
This whole situation made zero sense.
Then immediately started chatting with Kizaru.
Calling him uncle. Giving him a thank-you banner.
And Kizaru wasn't even trying to arrest him.
Was Kizaru really Vir's uncle?
That couldn't be, right?
One was ridiculously handsome, the other was... a bit sloppy.
No resemblance whatsoever.
So why wasn't Kizaru capturing him?
Kuma couldn't figure it out.
But he still walked over in a daze and sat down on the steel chair.
At that moment, though, Kizaru became a bit more alert.
Was this guy here for Kuma?
There wasn't anyone else he could be after.
Kizaru's expression didn't change, but he was running through everything internally.
But then... he smirked.
Sure, he couldn't stop Vir from leaving.
But trying to take someone away right in front of him?
Last time, he let Rayleigh get away because he switched targets mid-fight—he wanted to nab Vir instead.
Besides, Kuma doesn't even want to leave.
Taking Kuma away in front of him? Not a chance.
Let's see what kind of trick you've got up your sleeve this time.
Kizaru sipped his tea, amused.
As for why Vir was talking so much to Kizaru?
Obviously, you can't just shove a USB drive into someone's head in front of a Marine Admiral without warming them up first.
If Uncle Borsalino sensed even a hint of something fishy, he wouldn't let it slide.
Thankfully, he was too lazy to act unless absolutely necessary.
Otherwise, this job would've been impossible.
Vir just had to wait for the right moment.
And there it was—Kizaru raised his teacup to take a sip.
"Uncle! That tea of yours is garbage—I brought some good stuff, wanna try?"
Vir grinned, pulling out a steaming teapot from his medical kit.
Freshly brewed, ready to pour.
Without hesitation, he filled two cups—one for himself, one for Kuma.
A rich, heavenly fragrance immediately filled the air.
Even Kizaru closed his eyes for a moment as he inhaled.
Just from the smell, he could tell—this was some premium tea.
Way better than the junk he had in his own cup.
Vir downed his in one go.
He wasn't a tea connoisseur—to him, it was just fancy water.
Kuma glanced at him and followed suit, taking a sip.
Even he had to admit—it was good.
He usually preferred coffee, but this tea was on another level.
"Excellent tea." Kuma said flatly.
Vir wasn't surprised.
He had put in a lot of effort to make this batch.
After pouring himself another cup, Vir filled one for Kizaru this time.
Kizaru stared at the tea now inches from him.
He was deeply suspicious.
There was no way he was drinking it.
Chaton had told him Vir's beer was amazing.
There wasn't any actual beer in it.
Was this gonna be the same kind of thing?
But then he watched both Kuma and Vir drink it.
Was this brat actually just sharing good tea?
Could he really be that nice?
Still skeptical, Kizaru raised the cup and sniffed it.
Besides the overwhelmingly soothing aroma—nothing seemed off.
Just a really, really good cup of tea.
He brought the cup closer to his lips...
But he didn't notice Vir's grin getting wider by the second.
Just when everyone thought Kizaru was about to drink—
He suddenly put it down.
"Hmm~ Kowai ne~ Why do I feel like I'm in danger~?"
He turned sharply to look at Vir.
Light began gathering at his fingertips, his body poised to fight at any moment.
Had Vir messed with the tea?
Were they about to fight?
His life wasn't worth much, and he'd already troubled Vir with Bonney.
He couldn't let him get hurt here!
Just as Kuma prepared to act—
Vir suddenly burst out laughing.
Had he lost his mind?
Kizaru didn't waste time anymore.
He was ready to end this quickly.
He raised his hand to fire a beam right at Vir's face—
And then, something insane happened.
The blinding light... didn't fire.
It just... faded away.
Kizaru was dumbfounded.
He couldn't even feel the light inside his body anymore!
He turned to Vir in shock.
"You~?! You poisoned me?!"
Even he couldn't believe it.
Kuma looked just as shocked.
Then why was he fine?
While both of them were racking their brains—
Vir finally spoke, grinning ear to ear.
"You smelled it, right? Uncle..."
As he spoke, he suddenly lunged forward and jammed a weird device onto the top of Kuma's head with a clunk.
Kizaru tried to stop him—
Still reeling from the realization.
'Are you kidding me?!'
'I got poisoned just by smelling it?!'
'They drank it and they're fine!'
This was a new type of poison.
If you drank it, it would paralyze you.
And if you smelled it, it would temporarily suppress your energy fluctuations—meaning Kizaru couldn't generate or control light.
And without light, his body was too slow to react.
Giving Vir the opening he needed.
The poison's effect lasted only few seconds.
Kizaru would recover soon.
But that was all the time Vir needed.
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