Chapter 285: Parting

Several days later.

The Grand Line.

Nearly endless glaciers stretched out into a harbor.

Busy dockworkers were clearing floating ice from the sea surface, but their movements froze in the next instant.

This was because, on the distant ice, countless dense pedestrians, like ants, grew from small to large, gradually merging into a single mass.

"We... have arrived!"

From among the survivor faction, a cheer suddenly erupted, like a drop of cold water thrown into hot oil, instantly causing an explosion of noise.

Some people, overcome with emotion, bowed their heads to kiss the ice beneath their feet.

Others simply collapsed where they stood, wailing loudly, venting the emotions that had been pent up inside them for so long.

They looked as if driven mad.

"Hahahahahaha..."

"Water Seven is gone, but I am still alive, alive... as long as there is life, there is hope!"

"That disaster, the nightmare that lasted for several months, has finally ended, yet I have lost everything."

"But now we finally have hope again..."

"These emotions, these sounds, must have been pent up in their hearts for a very long time."

Fujitora looked at the crowd losing control around him and subconsciously tightened his grip on the hilt of the sword at his waist.

If the Marines had taken action immediately instead of remaining inactive as they are now, these people would not have endured such a long nightmare.

Nor would the number of survivors be merely a few tens of thousands.

Yu Gaowen nodded:

"They are all... just ordinary people."

He had said these words many times, yet every time he felt a fresh weight to them.

The arrival of the survivors quickly caused an uproar in the harbor; harbor guards blocked the crowd, fearing it was a pirate attack.

After all, the densely packed crowd stretching to the very limit of vision was simply too large, even exceeding the total population of the island itself.

However, the harbor's lord soon ordered the guards to let them pass, even designating an area around the harbor for these survivors to settle.

It was not out of the lord's kindness, but simply because he saw Yu Gaowen leading the group.

This place was only a few hundred nautical miles from Water Seven; what had happened there could never be concealed from him.

The title of Knight Yu Gaowen had spread throughout the vicinity of Water Seven, essentially equating to one of the Four Emperors.

He knew what to provoke and what not to provoke.

Under the arrangement of Paulie and others, the crowd soon entered the temporary camp in an orderly fashion to settle down.

Row upon row of tents were erected; warm soup and bread alleviated everyone's exhaustion, allowing their long-suspended hearts to gradually relax.

Yu Gaowen and his companions immediately selected a sufficiently large ship in the harbor, preparing to depart.

After all, this was all Yu Gaowen could do for these survivors.

The greatest crisis had passed; the lives of these survivors were still long, and the road ahead could only be traveled by relying on themselves.

Early the next morning.

In the harbor.

A cargo ship was about to set sail; Yu Gaowen stood at the bow, while in the distance were the survivors of Water Seven who had come to see them off.

The crowd surged, and from time to time, excited words of gratitude could be heard.

Fujitora also stood within the crowd, waving to Yu Gaowen.

He had already decided to stay here temporarily, to do his part for these ordinary people who had survived through suffering.

Yu Gaowen had expected this, so he merely gave Fujitora a faint nod.

However, there were also things that exceeded Yu Gaowen's expectations.

Paulie, who had previously insisted on building a dream ship, along with all the shipwrights of the Galley-La Company, also appeared in the farewell procession.

But upon second thought, Yu Gaowen understood why they had made such a choice.

The people of the Galley-La Company were different from the Franky Family.

They were all direct protégés personally nurtured by Mr. Bingshan; their emotional attachment to Water Seven was far deeper than that of the Franky Family, making it even less likely for them to abandon these people and leave alone at such a time.

Making the current choice was only logical.

"Paulie?!"

Franky looked at Paulie in the distance, momentarily confused:

"You bastard, didn't you say you would join me to bring that dream ship into reality?!"

Paulie's expression stiffened, his eyes filled with obvious reluctance; even now, he still clutched tightly to that blueprint in his hand.

He took a deep breath, and his gaze quickly turned resolute:

"I'm sorry, Franky."

"I must stay here; Water Seven is the life's work of Mr. Bingshan, and I cannot give it up."

"After overcoming the current difficulties, I will inherit Mr. Bingshan's last wish, lead these people to rebuild Water Seven, and recreate that train racing across the sea!"

"Until one day, we connect the entire ocean into one!"

Paulie nearly shouted these final words.

He was very afraid.

Afraid that he might accidentally make a different choice right here.

But he knew even better that if Bingshan were here, he would absolutely not abandon these people.

After all, a city is constituted by its people; without them, Seven Waters Capital would fall apart.

If even he himself left, then the once-glorious Seven Waters Capital could only be submerged in history.

"So cool~"

"You~"

Franky raised a hand to adjust his sunglasses, leaped onto the deck's railing, and struck his classic pose to send off his friend's choice:

"Super! This is a man's romance!"

"Are you a pervert?!"

Paulie retorted, yet his face did not show the disgust it once had, bearing only a faint smile.

If anyone could understand him best after Bingshan, it was only the Franky standing before him.

Woo—!

After a single whistle, the cargo ship set sail, slowly disappearing from everyone's line of sight.

……

At the same time.

Marine Headquarters, Marineford.

A report concerning Yu Gaowen's recent actions was delivered into Sengoku's office.

He scanned it, but his gaze halted at that moment:

"Does such a pirate truly exist in this world?!"

Originally, in his prediction, the target of Yu Gaowen's actions should have been the same as most pirates: going after the Pluton blueprints.

But now Seven Waters Capital was destroyed, and the Pluton blueprints were completely exposed; Yu Gaowen had no reason, nor any standing, to do such a thing.

Yet he did it.

He even escorted these civilians all the way to a safe harbor before departing.

For a moment, Sengoku fell silent, his expression shifting as he pondered whether he had missed something, whether Yu Gaowen had some other purpose.

After all, no matter how one looked at it, a group of pirates could not and would not do such a thing at this time.

Especially when the Marines had become the executioners, Yu Gaowen's actions appeared even more like a slap across his face.

But when he reviewed all of this, what flashed through his mind were only the praises from high-ranking Marines who had previously interacted with Yu Gaowen.

Not to mention Zephyr, Kizaru, and Aokiji; even Akainu, who had the lowest tolerance for pirates, remained tight-lipped regarding Yu Gaowen's affairs.

Spouting nonsense like "there are outliers among pirates too" or "compromised justice cannot save anyone."

"We…"

Sengoku opened his mouth, but for a long while, not a single word came out.

Yet Zephyr, sitting beside him, could not help but curl a slight smile onto his lips:

"In this world, there are ultimately some pirates who are different."

"You were once captured by that guy; does he have some special Devil Fruit ability?!"

Zephyr shook his head, utterly unaffected by Sengoku's reaction:

"Precisely because I was captured by him, I know what true justice really is, or rather, who it is that has shaped this era."

"…"

Sengoku did not respond; he set down the report, took a deep breath, and looked out the window.

Sunlight passed over the Justice flag at the center of Marineford; its projection blocked the sun itself, also obscuring Sengoku's view.

He slowly turned his head to look at Zephyr, a trace of determination flashing in his eyes:

"I admit that my past actions and choices had certain problems; after all, even if one wishes to construct a stable order for the seas, there cannot be unchecked power."

"Zephyr, I need your strength; I need another voice within the Marines. Only thus will I have the bargaining chip to negotiate with those above."

Zephyr paused slightly, but in the next instant, the corners of his mouth split open, and deep within his eyes lay a hidden… madness!

It turns out I'm not the only one who's mad!

Sengoku, you are too!

Zephyr slowly spoke:

"Just one voice is probably not enough."

"What do you mean?!"

"Why can't it be another… Marine?!"

Sengoku stood up, his breathing nearly stopping at that moment:

"Do you know exactly what you are saying?"

"Of course; I am perfectly clear-headed."

Zephyr sat up straight, retreating not an inch:

"You want to negotiate with those above; you want the Marines to gain enough power to restrain the World Government, even Mary Geoise; merely having one voice…"

"Is not enough."

"You are simply insane!"

Sengoku flew into a rage:

"Do you know what kind of risk this brings? Once something goes wrong, the entire world order will collapse, and countless people will be buried as sacrifices for your choice!"

"Is that so…"

Zephyr remained seated, his expression calm.

He naturally understood the consequences Sengoku described.

But even the worst outcome—the Marines completely losing control of the sea—would only push this world toward the ending Roger had foreseen.

The endlessly swelling number of pirates would utterly overwhelm the World Government's pressure valve.

The era would run rampant, and the world order would be reshaped.

Compared to that, borrowing the Marines' power now to constrain the World Government in return is already a relatively peaceful choice.

Besides, Zephyr understands Sengoku...

"You'll agree to it."

"You're splitting the Marines! I can't possibly accept this!"

Sengoku flew into a rage and waved Zephyr away, but called him back just as the latter's hand gripped the door handle.

"Come back!"

Sengoku closed his eyes; when he opened them again, several visible blood vessels had appeared in his gaze:

"Vergo has been confirmed as Doflamingo's spy planted inside the Marines. He was imprisoned in Impel Down a few months ago. That position is temporarily vacant—fill it. What you want to do with it is none of my business."

"I won't give you any support... forget it, the Sword unit is yours too."

"Hmph~"

Zephyr paused his steps, turned to look at Sengoku, a hint of mockery surfacing in his eyes:

"You're even more short-tempered than before~"

At the thought of the possible consequences, Sengoku's hands were trembling.

But what he knew even more clearly was this: if the World Government, if the Celestial Dragons, were allowed to keep wantonly abusing the power in their hands—

Incidents like Water 7, like issuing orders directly to Marine officers over his head, would only grow more and more frequent.

"You madman!"

"Hahahahahaha..."

……

……

……

The Grand Line.

The sea rose and fell, crashing against the hull of the cargo ship, yet unable to shake it in the slightest.

Xiang Keluo and the other grinders, along with Luo—who had just been assimilated—were training with great fervor on the deck.

For a moment, the deck was filled with bare-chested, sweat-drenched burly men.

Even quite a few members of the Franky Family joined in, savoring the thrill of pushing past their physical limits—and once they started, they couldn't stop.

Yu Gaowen sat in the captain's cabin, looking through the porthole with satisfaction at the leeks below who had already awakened and begun self-replicating.

Luo's potential was unquestionably gold-tier, on par with Sanji and Zoro; his abilities also leaned toward swordsmanship and a Paramecia Devil Fruit.

The latter was naturally useless to Yu Gaowen, but with Luo's addition, the swordsmanship experience harvest rate had skyrocketed by nearly half, and it wasn't far from leveling up to LV-15.

By Yu Gaowen's estimate, within a month or two at most, the upgrade conditions would be met; by then, Yu Gaowen's swordsmanship could also unlock the next trait in turn.

Yu Gaowen was immensely looking forward to it.

The two traits swordsmanship had previously provided—Godspeed and Extreme Blade—had essentially defined Yu Gaowen's early combat style of lightning-fast thrusts, and even now they were still immensely helpful to him.

The third trait had a high chance of continuing to build along this path; when that time came, Yu Gaowen's frontal suppression power would become even more overwhelming, even more unanswerable.

After a brief consideration, Yu Gaowen had a clear picture in his mind, and shifted his gaze to the distant sea.

After leaving that port, Yu Gaowen had set out on the journey back to Alabasta.

The Crow had been destroyed, and there was no way to count on this cargo ship to sail through the New World—entering the New World directly was impossible for now.

All that remained before him was the single path of returning to Alabasta to rebuild the ship and thoroughly resolve the sailing problem.

Although the top shipwrights at the Carrera shipyard hadn't boarded Yu Gaowen's ship, and Kakku and Blueno had also chosen to return to CP after completing their mission.

Yu Gaowen still had two top shipwrights under him—Franky and Roubo Luqi—and with the Franky Family's people added in, building a top-quality pirate ship posed no problem at all.

Besides, Yu Gaowen had other plans.

Before entering the New World and establishing a foothold in Britannia, Yu Gaowen had no intention of building a large fleet.

That thing not only took a long time to build, it was also a money-devouring beast—no amount of wealth would be enough to throw at it.

Moreover, Yu Gaowen had no Devil Fruit user under him like Golden Lion Shiki, who could directly turn a ship into a flying warship and seize absolute advantage in naval combat.

At a time like this, a large fleet would be nothing but a drag for him.

On the other hand, once the Canola Flower Port was rebuilt, it would become the first stop of the Martial Arts Tournament on the Grand Line.

As the one in charge, Robin also needed some capable people under her.

The Franky Family's shipwrights, in terms of combat power, naturally couldn't compare to those big-name pirates with bounties over a hundred million, but under normal circumstances dealing with ordinary pirates was basically enough.

Besides, these people's true value lay in their excellent shipbuilding skills rather than combat. Setting aside a plot of land near Canola Flower Port and opening a shipyard would be easy and pose no problem at all.

It was purely killing two birds with one stone.

Earning like crazy.

Suddenly.

A burst of urgent knocking interrupted Yu Gaowen's thoughts.

"Come in!"

Creak—!

Roubo Luqi pushed the door open and entered, an unmistakable resolve shining in his eyes.

"Captain, CP has issued me a summons. I need to leave for a while first."

(End of this chapter)