Chapter 236: Zeff: I Want to Build a Neo-Marines!

Kuzan raised a hand to scratch his scalp, his tone once again returning to its usual laziness.

Yet his attitude toward Gao Wen was not as simple as that between a soldier and a thief; it was far more complex.

He could hardly call them friends, but Gao Wen's interpretation of the world had indeed forced Kuzan to confront the problem he had always been avoiding.

That was, when the Marines' will was no longer justice, where should he go?

He had not yet found the answer, but after Gao Wen's guidance, he had a premonition that the day would not be far off.

"By the way, this is what Teacher Zeff left for you."

Kuzan tossed a bottle of wine toward Gao Wen.

Gao Wen instinctively raised his hand to catch the bottle, glanced at the label on the bottle, and said:

"Sherry?!"

"Ah."

Kuzan took the opportunity to lean against the nearby wall.

"This is a fine vintage the old man stored himself; he said it was brewed the year his child was born, and it has now been over thirty years."

"Even we disciples haven't been allowed to drink it."

"I'm leaving."

Having said that, Kuzan turned, waved to Gao Wen, and walked away with lazy steps.

Gao Wen watched Kuzan depart.

The morning sun rose, casting a warm yet blinding light; Kuzan bathed in the radiance, the cape symbolizing an Admiral fluttering behind him in the wind.

The two characters "Justice" behind him, which received not a shred of sunlight, appeared even dimmer at this moment.

Thump—!

Gao Wen uncorked the bottle, took a slight sip, felt the strange and pungent taste on his tongue, and for a moment his expression became odd:

"This wine... has gone bad, hasn't it?!"

"Well."

"After all, it's high-grade goods sent by a former Admiral; perhaps I just can't drink it. Let Robin try."

"That's right, this wine really has gone bad."

Inside the Alabasta Royal Palace.

In a bedroom.

Robin set down the wine glass, frowned slightly, and passed a death sentence on Zeff's Sherry.

"It can no longer be drunk; throw it away."

Gao Wen carefully rubbed the bottle, a smile curling at the corner of his mouth, and shook his head:

"Never mind."

"This is a gift from a former Admiral to a pirate, and moreover, to a pirate he once hated most."

"Even though the taste of the wine has gone bad, the meaning it symbolizes will not change."

"Is that so?"

Robin leaned one hand on the table, propped her chin with the other, and looked at Gao Wen with burning eyes:

"The Captain is unexpectedly nostalgic, so when you said last time you had no favorite girl, did you still have Princess Ginevra in your heart?!"

"Hah?!"

Gao Wen's eyelid jumped, and he instantly realized:

"What did Nami tell you on the Den Den Mushi?!"

"Everything that should be said and everything that shouldn't be said, she said it all."

"Aiyaya—!"

Gao Wen's entire face immediately wrinkled into a bitter melon, feeling as uncomfortable as if he had eaten excrement for a moment:

"This broken joke really can't be gotten past, can it?!"

Seeing Robin's gossipy eyes, he felt even more scalp-tingling.

"Captain, won't you talk about it..."

"Farewell!"

Gao Wen flashed away from before Robin's eyes, and as he left, he also snatched the newspaper that had just arrived on Robin's table today.

Hearing the laughter behind him, Gao Wen's expression stiffened, and he took even faster steps.

A few minutes later.

Gao Wen escaped to a deserted corner, finally let out a long breath, and thinking of Nami's act of recklessly spreading his dark secrets, he ground his teeth in anger for a moment.

This kind of matter is simply that the more you explain, the less clear it becomes; now it is even like yellow mud falling into one's underpants—if it isn't excrement, it is excrement.

Originally he wanted to handle it with cold treatment, but because of this rat dropping Nami, even Robin, who had just joined the crew, knew his dark secrets.

"I spoke too soon last time."

"This time when I return, I will absolutely, absolutely confiscate all the Den Den Mushi in her hands!"

"Not one will be left!"

After muttering a few complaints.

Gao Wen shook his head slightly helplessly, then focused his attention on the newspaper in his hand, but in the next instant he held his breath:

"This is..."

"Former Warlord of the Sea Crocodile imprisoned; Edward Weibel, the Second Whitebeard, fills the Warlord vacancy."

"Because of my influence, the Second Whitebeard became a Warlord three or four years early?!"

"That Zephyr..."

At the same time.

The main Marine force gradually withdrew from Arubana, marching in an orderly fashion toward the Rapeseed Port; by everyone's pace, it would take at least a week of trekking through the desert.

But for these Marines, such a long journey was already a matter of course.

Even though the surroundings were harsh, it was at least solid ground, far better than sailing on a sea that stretched endlessly to the horizon.

Yet the two leaders, Kuzan and Aokiji, wore expressions of deep concern.

"Have you seen the latest news?!"

Kuzan asked in a low voice.

Aokiji nodded, dropping his usual carefree demeanor, and his gaze swept subtly over Zephyr behind him:

"Whitebeard II, Edward Weevil, has become the new Warlord of the Sea. The one most struck by this is probably the old man."

"How is the old man doing?"

"No reaction at all, but that is precisely what worries me."

Aokiji couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

Among the elite squad Zephyr had brought along, Aokiji was among those with the worst relationship with Zephyr, yet even Aokiji could not understand the higher-ups' decision this time.

Kuzan, standing nearby, wore an expression of outright indignation.

He understood clearly.

It was true that Sengoku and Zephyr had been in conflict within the Marines recently, but the two were comrades who had stood side by side for years; given Sengoku's character, there was no way he could have done such a thing.

Therefore, this decision, which was nearly an insult, could only have been a direct order from the World Government's higher-ups.

"What exactly are those few thinking?"

"Years ago, Whitebeard II attacked the training ship led by Zephyr-sensei; not only were an entire ship of new recruits slaughtered right before Zephyr-sensei's eyes, but Zephyr-sensei also lost an arm at that time."

"Making such a person a Warlord of the Sea? That is practically mocking him to his face."

"I'm afraid it's not that simple."

Aokiji silently looked ahead; the sunlight refracted through his glasses, hiding his specific expression from Kuzan beside him, and only Aokiji's Solemn voice reached his ears:

"Since they knew the consequences this might cause yet still made such a choice, it can only prove they are targeting Zephyr-sensei."

Kuzan also realized this, his brows furrowing into a frown:

"Are you saying they are forcing Zephyr-sensei to rebel?!"

"Given the old man's originally fiery character, facing such a situation, what choice do you think he will make?!"

Kuzan's breath hitched.

Within the Marines, Zephyr was almost one of the few with the most unshakable belief in justice.

But often, firmness also means stubbornness.

Once such a person's belief collapses, they often plunge directly into the opposite extreme; it is not even impossible that they might fall completely into the evil path.

Aokiji continued:

"A few days ago, Sengoku my lord warned me about this, telling me to keep the old man in check to prevent him from doing something extreme in a fit of impulse."

"After all, everyone knows I have a bad relationship with him, so even if I really took action, it would be understandable."

Kuzan fell silent for a moment, his gaze uneasily shifting toward Zephyr behind them, who wore a blank expression, and murmured:

"Perhaps what the old man said at the meeting back then reached those few's ears."

There was half a sentence Kuzan did not say.

The Marines were, after all, merely a tool in the hands of the World Government; once they lost their utility or posed a risk of backlash, they would be discarded immediately.

Even Zephyr, a former Admiral who had established countless merits and trained countless elites, was no exception.

"We should start thinking about the meaning of the Marines' existence."

Aokiji paused, turned his head to look at Kuzan, and said:

"I heard nothing."

"Heh, then can you choose to think nothing? Ambiguous justice is not the kind of justice that lets you just get by."

Facing Kuzan's sarcasm, Aokiji showed no reaction, merely saying calmly:

"You go watch the old man."

"Mm."

Kuzan responded, stopped walking, picked up a water bottle and bread with one hand, and walked toward Zephyr, who was trailing behind the main force.

Quickly.

A sprightly old man appeared before Kuzan; on Zephyr's person at this moment, where was even a trace of being struck down?

But the more so, the more uneasy Kuzan's heart became.

He had seen a similar situation before: a Marine Vice Admiral whose family had been killed by pirates and who had himself been betrayed by the civilians he protected initially appeared completely fine.

Yet when everyone had relaxed their guard, he committed suicide by shooting himself in his office.

The blood spraying from the back of his head dyed the two characters "Justice" hanging on the wall a deep crimson.

"Zephyr-sensei, have some water."

Kuzan shook the water bottle in his hand and then shoved an entire loaf of bread into Zephyr's hand.

"Coincidentally, I'm a bit hungry too."

Zephyr was not polite; he directly uncorked the bottle, drank all the water in one go, and then swallowed the bread in a few hurried bites.

After exhaling a long breath, he finally turned his head to look at Aokiji beside him:

"Are you worried that after I learn Whitebeard II has become one of the Seven Warlords, I will do something impulsive?!"

"Uh..."

Aokiji was stunned for a moment, but did not deny it.

Zephyr shook his head and continued:

"If I truly went hysterical because of this, or even defected from the Marines, that would be playing into their hands and falling into their trap."

"Kuzan."

Zephyr lifted his gaze to look at Aokiji; his eye sockets were entirely red, yet his voice remained as cold and hard as a block of stone:

"They are afraid."

"Afraid I will awaken true justice, afraid that this ideal originating from Knight Gao Wen will ultimately push the Marines completely to the opposite side of the World Government."

"I should not be in pain, I should not be hysterical, I should not break down; I should be happy instead..."

"But I will not let them have their way!"

The final sentence was almost squeezed out from between Zephyr's teeth.

He was striving to control his anger, exerting all his strength to suppress the surging emotions in his heart that were about to burn his reason to ash.

This pain of being stabbed in the back, which had penetrated to the very marrow of his bones, made Zephyr even more convinced.

Gao Wen's view of the World Government and the world order was accurate, even penetrating to the very marrow of his bones.

The tumor making this world so chaotic is precisely the order constructed single-handedly by the World Government, or rather, the Celestial Dragons standing at the pinnacle of power, looking down on everything.

"Roger took the first step, so I will take the second!"

A great panic surged in Aokiji's heart:

"Teacher Zephyr, you..."

But when he lifted his gaze to look at Zephyr, all he saw was a pair of eyes so calm they could almost be called cold:

"What do you think I will do? Go hysterical and use Dynamite Rock to blow up the entire New World?"

"Don't be ridiculous!"

"Such a childish method would have no actual effect; if the New World is destroyed, the World Government would be the biggest winner."

"According to Knight Gao Wen, the Marines play the role of a pressure relief valve within the stable order constructed by the World Government."

"Then I will show him that the Marines can not only be a pressure relief valve under the order constructed by the World Government, but also the blade that stabs toward the World Government's heart."

"To establish a new order, the old order must inevitably be destroyed; there must be bloodshed and sacrifice."

"Since revolution means bloodshed and sacrifice, then I will bear all of this myself."

Accompanying Zephyr's words, Aokiji's expression grew increasingly Solemn.

He knew clearly that Zephyr had, after all, walked into an extreme just as he had suspected.

But unlike the extreme he had anticipated, Zephyr at this moment was extraordinarily calm; only Aokiji, as his disciple, could feel the extraordinary rage within Zephyr's heart.

"Teacher Zephyr, there might still be a turning point in this matter."

Aokiji instinctively tried to comfort Zephyr, but was immediately rebuffed by the latter:

"Turning point?"

"That sort of thing doesn't matter at all."

Zephyr waved his hand, raised his head to gaze into the distance; the Conqueror's Haki radiating from his body had even reached a degree that made Aokiji's scalp go numb.

Haki, this power of the will, largely means that the more extreme one's thoughts, the stronger the Haki one obtains!

Zephyr at this moment was exactly like that.

In just a few breaths, the oppressive pressure Zephyr's Haki brought to Aokiji had increased by more than a level.

"What do you think of the name Neo Marines?!"

The voice fell to the ground.

The wind around them instantly fell silent; under the light of the rising sun, Aokiji nonetheless felt an inexplicable chill run down his spine.

Damn it!

I am the user of the Ice-Ice Fruit, how can I feel a chill down my spine?!

Aokiji finally realized at this moment what Zephyr intended to do—

Split the Marines.

But what made Aokiji feel even more terrified was that he noticed he was himself secretly anticipating this event.

Burning away all that is rotten, sprouting new buds upon the ashes; this is the true...

Burning Justice?!

For a moment, Aokiji felt his mouth dry and his throat parched; then he saw Zephyr's outstretched palm, and a deep, hoarse voice sounded in Aokiji's ear:

"Kuzan, come help me."

"The World Government, no, the Celestial Dragons have become the true tumor on this great tree; only by overthrowing the old order can this world possibly welcome new life."

"I need your strength..."

"You also possess this resolve."

Although countless voices in Aokiji's mind told him that Zephyr's choice might not be right, that things might not have reached this point yet, and that there were more moderate methods with less sacrifice.

Yet his body's instinct was utterly unstoppable; Aokiji's hand slowly rose, and in an instant, was about to clasp hands with Zephyr...

"Brru-brru—!"

(End of this chapter)