...
The Five Elders, facing Shiki's curses and the complex gazes of the Marines, still maintained that lofty, ice-cold, emotionless demeanor.
To them, Zephyr's personal tragedy, the morale of the Marine officers and soldiers, even the lives of ordinary civilians!
In the face of the "overall interests of the World Government," they were all merely chips that could be weighed, or even sacrificed.
The decision to recruit that pirate as a Warlord of the Sea—if a similar situation truly arose in the future, to maintain the deterrent power of the Warlord system, balance the forces at sea, or achieve some political goal…
They would still make the same choice without the slightest hesitation.
Indifference was the underlying color that ran through their long lives.
"The World Government… is this ruthless even toward the heroes under its command?"
The young Giant King Harald witnessed all of this, and the last sliver of expectation and illusion he once held about joining the World Government flickered like a small flame in a cold wind—shaky, on the verge of extinction.
Zephyr's ordeal was like a heavy hammer shattering his naive imaginings of justice and mercy from the so-called "highest authority in the world."
If even a highly decorated, staunchly principled Marine Admiral like Zephyr could be so easily betrayed and sacrificed…
Then Elbaf… even if it joined, what kind of "kind treatment" would it receive?
Most likely just a disposable pawn at any time, or… a "divine weapon" to be brandished when needed to display military might.
While Harald was lost in thought, the Giant warriors behind him gradually awoke one after another under the ship doctor's treatment.
Hearing his comrades let out pained groans only solidified certain thoughts in Harald's mind.
Elbaf must rely on its own strength—at least for now, it absolutely could not entrust its fate to such a heartless World Government.
In reality, after a brief emotional fluctuation and the support from the Marines, Zephyr had already reignited his fighting spirit.
But everyone's eyes could not stay away from the light screen for long—the one revealing cruel possibilities.
The light screen continued: Luffy, having failed to catch Nami, extracted from pursuing Marine soldiers the clue that Zephyr might be hiding somewhere on this island of Saiken.
Near an area close to volcanic activity, Luffy encountered Zephyr once again.
The moment the two met, Luffy's eyes immediately turned bloodshot. Without any extra nonsense, the battle erupted instantly!
Zephyr's massive Seastone mechanical arm, the "Destroyer," remained the natural counter to Luffy's abilities.
Luffy tried to launch a fierce assault using Gear Second's speed and Jet Pistol barrages, but Zephyr's rich combat experience and masterful use of the Destroyer always allowed him to predict or withstand Luffy's attacks in advance.
He then delivered powerful counterattacks with the heavy mechanical arm.
Every collision between the "Destroyer" and Luffy's body caused Luffy to feel his strength rapidly draining away, his movements slowing as a result.
"Boom!"
A violent shockwave shattered the surrounding rocks into fragments.
Luffy was forced back several steps by the rebound force, his arms faintly aching.
"Is that all you've got, Straw Hat brat!"
Zephyr pressed his advantage mercilessly. The Destroyer began firing bullets in rapid succession toward Luffy!
These were no ordinary lead bullets—extremely fast, with tricky angles.
Luffy relied on Observation Haki and the flexibility of his rubber body to absorb and deflect the bullets amid the hail of fire.
Just as he thought he had dodged the volley and prepared to charge again…
"Bang!"
A slightly muffled gunshot rang out.
A bullet—faster, with an even stranger trajectory—struck precisely on Luffy's chest in the instant his old force was spent and new force had yet to rise!
"Urgh!"
Luffy cried out in pain. A familiar, utterly debilitating sense of weakness spread instantly from the point of impact throughout his entire body!
His legs buckled, and he dropped to one knee, breathing becoming labored.
"This is…" Luffy struggled to lift his head, looking toward the gun in Zephyr's hand.
"Seastone bullets."
Zephyr explained coldly, slowly lowering the still-smoking barrel: "Although the manufacturing process is complex and the cost is exorbitant, making mass production impossible—and useless against those monsters who don't rely on Devil Fruit powers and have reached the pinnacle of physical techniques and Haki…
But against pirates who overly depend on their Devil Fruit abilities like you…"
His words fell like an icy verdict: "This is the most effective weapon."
The elasticity and impact resistance granted by the Rubber Fruit were indeed a crucial foundation of Luffy's fighting style.
However, the weakness and excruciating pain from the Seastone bullets temporarily robbed him of most of his combat ability.
The second direct confrontation ended with Luffy's defeat.
The scene shifted: Due to the earlier volcanic eruption and the aftermath of battle, Saiken Island had plunged into even greater chaos.
Lava flowed, volcanic ash blotted out the sky, buildings collapsed, and terrified crowds ran about like headless flies. Cries, pleas for help, and explosions wove together into an apocalyptic dirge.
At that moment, a massive burning volcanic boulder rolled down the slope with destructive force, smashing toward women and children below who couldn't escape in time! A tragedy seemed imminent—
An ice wall instantly rose from the ground—thick and solid—firmly blocking the tumbling boulder and freezing it in mid-descent, saving the despairing civilians below.
The one who acted was Kuzan.
He stood not far away, gazing at the hellish scene before him and at the civilians he had saved—still shaken, looking toward him with grateful eyes…
His own eyes filled with an indescribable daze and complexity.
"The one who started all this…"
Kuzan murmured to himself, his voice carrying a trace of bitterness: "…turns out to be the former Teacher Zephyr—who believed in 'no killing,' unwilling even to take the lives of pirates, beloved by countless people…"
Nothing in the world is more fickle than this.
The scene returned to Luffy's side. Zephyr looked down at Luffy kneeling on the ground, struggling to breathe, with no trace of pity in his eyes.
He had refrained from crushing Luffy directly with the "Destroyer" earlier—already giving Garp that last bit of face.
But he never expected this kid to be so reckless as to come chasing after him again.
This time, Zephyr still did not choose to finish Luffy off. He slowly approached, bent down, and with the cold fingers of his mechanical arm, gently picked up Luffy's straw hat—that item of profound significance to him.
Too much time had passed; even it had become worn and tattered…
"Gi… give it back!"
Luffy struggled to raise his head, eyes bloodshot, voice trembling from weakness and urgency.
"That's… something important Shanks entrusted to me! I have to… give it back to him someday!"
Hearing the name "Shanks," the coldness in Zephyr's eyes instantly ignited into an even fiercer blaze of rage!
The hand holding the straw hat trembled slightly, his voice hoarse and distorted from fury: "So… the one who led you onto this dead-end path of piracy… was that bastard Red-Haired Shanks!!"
Old and new grudges piled together!
In Zephyr's view, Shanks was likewise a beneficiary and instigator of the "Great Age of Pirates"!
One of the "sins" standing at the pinnacle of piracy.
In Zephyr's eyes, Luffy—as Garp's grandson—once had the chance to walk the "right path," yet was "tempted" into becoming a pirate by Shanks with a single hat!
This infuriated him beyond endurance!
"Bang!"
In a fit of rage, Zephyr grabbed Luffy and once again sent him flying.
Zephyr gripped the straw hat tightly, killing intent and fury nearly overflowing from his eyes: "This hat… along with this New World polluted by pirates… I will reduce them all to ashes!"
Ignoring Luffy, Zephyr turned, straw hat in hand, boarded the waiting warship, and slowly sailed away from this sea region he had personally turned into purgatory amid the sky-full of volcanic ash and lava glow.
Standing at the bow, looking back at the burning island and the fleeing crowds, there was not a shred of regret or human fluctuation in his eyes.
Only a dead, icy silence—and flames of rage burning to the extreme, enough to incinerate everything.
The scene switched again, time advancing to another morning.
A faint morning mist blanketed the sea as Zephyr's warship sailed quietly.
At that moment, a low, slightly hoarse yet soul-piercing song began to play slowly as background music.
The lyrics seemed to be a military anthem praising fallen Marine soldiers, but in this context and scene, it carried an indescribable sorrow and irony.
Inside the cabin, Ain looked at Zephyr—who appeared unusually weary and aged—with heartache in her eyes, along with an increasingly thick sense of bewilderment.
Is the path Teacher is walking truly the right one?
Using even more destruction and sacrifice to put an end to destruction and sacrifice…
The song grew clearer again. Zephyr, who had been asleep, seemed to sense something. His eyelids twitched, and he slowly awoke.
Without alerting anyone, he rose alone, dragging his heavy mechanical arm, somewhat unsteadily yet with abnormal determination, heading toward the deck. He then climbed the companionway to the highest point of a nearby desolate small island.
There, a tall figure had already been waiting for some time.
It was Kuzan.
"Teacher, songs praising fallen Marines and all that are the most boring thing…"
Kuzan grumbled, then raised his hand and tossed over a bottle of Zephyr's favorite strong liquor: "Ah la la, anyway, idle is idle. You should like this booze, right?"
Zephyr caught the bottle, unscrewed the cap, and tilted his head back to take a large gulp.
The spicy liquid burned his throat, yet it seemed to temporarily numb the pain in his heart.
Two men who had both come to fundamentally question so-called "Marine Justice" and ultimately chose to leave.
In this moment, they shared a strange, kindred tacit understanding. Both had once been guardians of the system, and both had become its "traitors" or "lost ones."
...