Sear remained standing at the spot, observing the severed head of Don Krieg. The blaze that was raging in his chest was somewhat soothed.
Yet he felt nothing but empty inside.
'I should have spent more time with them. This regret, again people I cared about; my benefactors have died just like that.'
"AHHHHHHH!!" Sear tried to suppress his voice, while inside, his lungs screamed.
'Just why? Why do I have to feel like this. I am so selfish'
As he walked away aimlessly, the blood that had spilled on his boots left a bloody trail behind.
"Are you ok with things ending this way? Want me to help, chase after him?" Sear inquired of the girl, Alvida, regarding her father.
"It's fine, he will never dare show his face to me again," she reassured.
—If the girl believed so, Sear had no way to convince her otherwise.
A sign of relief washed over him, seeing that the girl had escaped her mental shackles.
He thought; 'Getting betrayed by her own father, that's rough. Probably, it's what had led to this innocent girl to end up as that gangster lady in the series.'
The surviving criminals, including her father, had escaped with tails between their legs.
All the dead criminals were given sea burials.
Afterwards, Sear collected the modified set of armor from Krieg's body. He and the revolutionary also gathered every weapon they could find.
Some of the other things in the warehouse that weren't of much use to them would be distributed among the townsfolks.
As the day neared evening, Saga and the rest of the revolutionaries returned from their mission. A few appeared missing.
The guys told him that 2 of the dead were traitors whom Saga himself killed, and a further 3 were martyred during the skirmish with the Marines, directly because of the betrayal.
Sear was also reprimanded by Saga for disregarding the order to retreat; he was told to avoid doing things without permission, again.
In the coming days, the revolutionaries agreed to have a long-term presence on the island. After informing the higher-ups and getting approval, it would be a forward post to increase their influence in this part of East Blue.
But for the time being, they needed to lay low as the Marines ought to be on their lookout.
During this interval, something had been troubling Sear; he was unsure what to do with Ron and Jackey's boat.
Letting it rot at the warehouse felt wrong, but using it for my own purpose wouldn't have been good either.
He faced a dilemma.
At last, after much thought, he decided to modify the boat and gift it to the revolutionaries—at least it was going to have a purpose.
At the Revolutionary Army hideout, Goat Island —
"You are too young to be joining someone on a journey," Sear firmly rejected Alvida's request, who was standing across from him at the front door.
"You yourself aren't much older."
"That may be, but I am stronger," he snorted.
"I know I am dead weight right now, but promise; I will be of great use one of these days. You know, I am even studying navigation. If you don't believe me, I can show you the books," she reasoned.
He looked at her, half annoyed. "Alright, but I will have to discuss it with the others first."
Suddenly, their interaction was cut short by someone.
"Take me with you too."
It was a familiar face; the tanned boy from the warehouse, whose actual identity Sear recently learned. Gin, the same Gin who in the future would go on to become the right-hand man of Don Krieg.
"Please, I want to follow you and prove something of myself."
Having seen how the crime boss disregarded the loyalty of his men, even discarding them as he saw fit, Gin regretted everything he did for the man.
Thus, he was determined to move on from that whole chapter of his life.
—Sear sighed at the sight.
At the day of their departure from Goat Island...
Having stepped onto the accelerator, the boat picked up speed. Sear turned back, his gaze falling at the three people onboard.
Saga was with them, having tagged along to more quickly reach the revolutionary headquarters at East Blue; he had already given instructions to their comrades at Goat Island, so there was nothing to worry about.
Furthermore, he was joined by Alvida and Gin.
Honestly, he was impressed by the boy's bravery when he had stood up to Krieg, even willing to get shot instead of his buddies.
At that time, Sear himself was willing to sacrifice the lives of one or two of them if it meant saving the rest and putting an end to the man.
Regarding Alvida, however, he felt mixed. 'She does have the potential, enough to be a relevant pirate in the future. Having such an asset in the REV Army wouldn't be bad, right?'
Sear was busy in his deep contemplation while Saga was handling the helm.
Alvida was reading her books and Gin was practicing to use one of Don Krieg's weapons, which Sear had all stored in the boat.
The boy felt interested and picked up the chain mace at random; of course, it was after getting approval from Sear, its new owner.
Right now, he was training with just a regular rope to get a feel of how to swing such a long and flexible weapon before he properly tried the real thing.
Improvement in his technique had been a moderate success.
While everyone's attention was occupied, the transponder snail (Den Den Mushi) brought along by Saga rang and buzzed.
Unlike the smaller walkie-talkie, this one was a complete package, fitted with an external dialing mechanism and all.
Saga picked up the receiver.
Shortly into the call, his face paled..
After the call ended and he puts the receiver down.
"We have to hurry up. It's an emergency!" he told the crew in a serious tone.
. . .
—Breezing past difficult weather, the boat arrived at Cozia Island.
[A/N- For anyone wondering, yes Cozia is the place where Sanji escapes from his family. questions regarding the timeline may arise, but worry not there's gonna be a simple explanation in the following chapter.]