The long staircase of Pangaea Castle.
The afternoon sun spilled over the white marble, reflecting blinding spots of light.
Four figures walked up the steps, the distance between them now more than three times what it had been when they arrived.
Zephyr led the way, his steps heavy and urgent, each footfall cracking against the stone as if he were pouring all his pent-up fury onto this path to power.
Kong followed closely behind, his brow furrowed into a knot. He glanced back at Kane several times, his lips moving as if to speak, but in the end, he remained silent.
Sengoku walked side by side with Kane, the arrest report in his hand crumpled out of shape. His gaze was profoundly complex—scrutinizing, yet also as if he were seeing this terrifyingly young junior beside him in a new light.
As for Kane himself?
His hands were in his pockets, his pace leisurely and unhurried, his face even wearing a look of weary exhaustion, as if he had "exhausted himself for Justice."
His acting had reached perfection.
This strange silence lasted until the four of them had completely exited the outer gates of Pangaea Castle, stepping onto the stone-paved road leading to the port, far from the sight of any guards.
Zephyr stopped.
His broad back blocked the narrow stone path, his shadow enveloping the three behind him.
"Kane."
The words were forced through gritted teeth.
"Today… you must give me an explanation."
Zephyr slowly turned around.
On his weathered face, anger and pain intertwined, bloodshot veins covering the whites of his eyes.
"Legalizing pirates?"
"Letting those murdering, arsonist scum obtain permits issued by the World Government?"
"Allowing them to roam the seas openly, while we in the Navy are even expected to clean up their mess?!"
Before he finished speaking, Zephyr took a sudden step forward!
His large, fan-like hand shot out, grabbing Kane by the collar and lifting half his body off the ground!
"Do you have any idea… how my wife, and my son who had just learned to walk… died?!"
As soon as these words were spoken, the air on the stone path instantly froze.
Fleet Admiral Kong's footsteps halted.
Sengoku closed his eyes in pain.
For Zephyr, pirates were blood enemies, irreconcilable and unforgivable!
"It was those scum." Zephyr's voice trembled violently, not from fear, but from extreme restraint.
"It took me years to convince myself—Justice will prevail, the Navy is the last line of defense on these seas."
"As long as Justice endures, their deaths have meaning."
He stared fixedly at Kane, tears welling in his fierce eyes.
"And today, you stand before the Five Elders and tell me—we should let those scum become the government's dogs?!"
"As long as they pay, all the crimes they've committed can be wiped clean?!"
Zephyr's lips trembled. This iron-willed instructor now seemed drained of all strength, appearing utterly helpless.
"Then what does my wife and son's lives count for?!"
"What about the lives of all the innocent civilians slaughtered by pirates?!"
"Sigh…"
Kong let out a long breath and stepped forward, reaching out to pat Zephyr's shoulder.
But Zephyr violently shook him off, directly knocking his hand away.
"Kong, don't stop me. If this matter isn't made clear today, I'll take off this uniform right now! This Navy, I'd rather not serve!"
Fleet Admiral Kong froze in place. He turned to look at Kane, whose collar was being grabbed, his eyes filled with the anxious frustration of seeing someone fail to live up to their potential.
Sengoku also let out a heavy sigh. "Kane, this move is too risky. This isn't just bowing to pirates; it's putting the Navy's dignity on the line to be roasted. You'll be cursed by civilians all over the world..."
Facing his furious mentor, Kane offered not the slightest resistance.
He simply allowed Zephyr to hold him by the collar, his deep eyes appropriately revealing a trace of unconcealable sorrow.
He remained silent for a full five seconds.
"Teacher Zephyr."
Kane's voice was steady, without any flashy embellishments.
"Do you know... how many junior Marines died on the Grand Line last year?"
Zephyr's breath hitched violently.
"Eight thousand, four hundred and twenty-three."
Kane looked directly into Zephyr's eyes and uttered the bloody number.
"This is the real data secretly compiled by my G-5 Branch, not the Headquarters' 'optimized' battle reports meant to whitewash the peace."
Sengoku's eyes snapped open, his face filled with shock.
Fleet Admiral Kong's complexion instantly turned as pale as paper.
"Of those eight thousand plus, sixty percent were recruits with less than two years of service."
"The youngest... had just turned twelve."
Kane's eyes reddened appropriately, even glistening with unshed tears.
"Teacher, you know the pain of losing loved ones... but don't they have it too?"
"They were also someone's husband, someone's father, even sons who hadn't yet confessed to the girls they loved! They put on this uniform filled with aspirations for Justice, and what happened?"
"They were torn apart alive on the sea by the evil tide Roger unleashed!"
"The Great Age of Pirates is out of control! The number of pirates is three times, five times, even ten times what it was before!"
"What do we in the Navy have to fight them with?"
"Are we supposed to fill this bottomless pit with the lives of those recruits whose hands tremble just holding a gun?!"
His voice suddenly rose, carrying a hoarse, grief-stricken indignation.
"Of course I know pirates are scum! And I know that by proposing this Seven Warlords of the Sea plan, my name, Kane, will be forever nailed to the Navy's pillar of shame!"
"I'll be pointed at by countless people, called the government's lapdog, the pirates' accomplice!"
Kane violently broke free from Zephyr's grip, roaring hysterically:
"But so what?!"
"If the Seven Warlords can shoulder even thirty percent of the pirate suppression pressure, if they can just clear out those small-fry pirates, even if it only reduces frontline casualty rates by ten percent!"
"If it lets just one more young Marine... return home alive to eat a hot meal made by his mother!"
Kane raised his head, a single hot tear tracing a path down his chiseled cheek.
"This infamy... I, Kane... will bear it!!"
Boom!
This resounding, impassioned, and utterly fervent speech detonated like a nuclear bomb in the hearts of the three men!
The plaza fell into a deathly silence. Only the howling sea wind whistled through their Justice Coats.
Zephyr's thick arm fell limply to his side.
He stared blankly at the young man before him, eyes brimming with tears, willing to bear all the infamy for the sake of the low-ranking soldiers.
The fury that had filled him moments ago was utterly shattered in this instant, replaced by an emotion called "self-reproach."
"Kane..."
Zephyr's psychological defenses completely collapsed.
Two streams of murky tears rolled down his weathered cheeks. Choking back sobs, Zephyr extended trembling hands and slapped them heavily, full of apology, onto Kane's shoulders.
"I... I wronged you!"
Fleet Admiral Kong let out a long, heavy sigh, his eyes also reddening.
He stepped forward and punched Kane hard in the chest, producing a dull thud.
"You damn brat! You planned to shoulder such a huge matter all by yourself? What do you take us for!"
Beside them, the strategic genius Sengoku let out a long sigh.
The last trace of wariness vanished from his gaze as he looked at Kane, replaced only by deep admiration.
To be willing to trample his own reputation underfoot without hesitation for the lives of soldiers—such courage, such magnanimity—this was truly the worthy future of the Navy!
"Fleet Admiral, Teacher." Kane took a deep breath, wiped the "tears" from the corners of his eyes, and his expression grew resolute once more. "Let the infamy fall on me. I will bear this humiliation tainted by pirates! Once we return, I will personally draft the list for the Seven Warlords of the Sea."
"You've worked hard." Fleet Admiral Kong nodded gravely. "The funding and policies have already been approved by the higher-ups. Go ahead and do it. Marine Headquarters... will always be your solid backing."
...
A moment later, Kane turned and boarded the warship returning to the G-5 Branch in the New World.
The moment his back was turned to the three men, the sorrow on his face instantly vanished without a trace.
His steps were so light they almost seemed to float.
Infamy? Who cares about that! All I care about is money!
With the slots in my hands, if I don't skim eighty percent of the "legal plunder annual tribute" those seven dogs pay each year as G-5's "brokerage fee," then my name isn't Kane!
What? Hand it over to the World Government? Like hell I will! That's funding I earned through my own skills of persuasion!
This deal is even faster than directly robbing the Celestial Tribute!