Tatsuki stretched, then turned to look at Roger, who had an expression like he was constipated.
"Roger-san, don't look at me with that look you'd give a devil."
Roger looked up, his gaze complex to the extreme.
This method of playing with people's hearts in the palm of his hand...
It made even Roger, who had seen all kinds of storms, feel waves of palpitations.
"You..." Roger's voice was raspy.
"You're even crazier than Rocks."
Rocks' madness was written on his face, it was the kind of domineering ambition that wanted to swallow the world.
But the man before him named Tatsuki...
His madness was hidden beneath a mask of "justice," a deeper, more bottomless terror that could toy with the entire world.
"You flatter me." Tatsuki waved his hand dismissively.
"Let's get back to business."
Tatsuki set down his wine glass and leaned forward slightly, a warm smile on his face, but his words made Roger's eyelids twitch uncontrollably.
"Regarding the ownership of the treasure on your ship, the Oro Jackson."
Tatsuki pointed solemnly at his perfectly intact chest, his tone sorrowful. "After all, I did break twelve ribs. Collecting some mental distress fees, battle damage repair fees, lost wages, and site destruction fees... all of this is very reasonable, right?"
Roger: "..."
Roger suddenly felt that the bad things he'd done in the past were as pure as an infant's. He even began to feel a little sympathy for the World Government. Encountering a monster with zero loyalty to "justice," their future days would likely never know peace.
—
Half a month later.
Marineford, Crescent Moon Bay Plaza.
The sea breeze howled, yet it could not disperse the atmosphere that had solidified to the extreme with oppression and fanaticism.
A white phalanx of a hundred thousand elite Marines stood like a silent forest of steel. Everyone's gaze was locked onto the G-5 warship slowly docking at the port.
On both sides of the red carpet, multiple high-ranking officers gathered.
The Vice Admirals of Marineford, who were usually elusive, all stood at attention with solemn expressions, without a single wrinkle visible on their uniforms.
"Gulp..."
A young Captain's Adam's apple bobbed, his voice barely audible. "This lineup... it's even more exaggerated than a Fleet Admiral's inauguration."
"Shut up, you idiot." The Marine beside him scolded in a low voice, though he couldn't suppress the fanaticism in his eyes. "That man is the one who personally dragged the Pirate King from his throne and trampled him underfoot."
The massive anchor crashed into the sea, the piercing sound of the chain echoing.
The breathing of the entire plaza came to a standstill.
"He's here."
Standing at the very front of the line, Zephyr's facial muscles under his sunglasses were twitching uncontrollably.
It was the pride of a teacher and a sense of relief, mixed with a hint of complex emotion at seeing his student surpass him.
Click.
Under the watchful eyes of the multitude, the cabin door slowly opened.
Sakazuki, Kuzan, and Borsalino were the first to step out, spreading out in a triangular formation.
They stood with cold expressions, emitting monster-like auras that blocked all prying eyes.
Then, that figure appeared.
Tatsuki.
Leaning on Tensa Zangetsu, he walked with great difficulty, step by step. He was covered in blood-stained bandages, his left arm was in a cast, and his neck was locked in a brace.
Especially the silhouette of the hideous wound on his chest. Even through layers of gauze, it still emitted a tragic aura that caused phantom pain.
And behind him...
The once-arrogant Pirate King who had been a headache for the World Government for twenty years—Gol D. Roger.
Wearing shackles and with disheveled hair, he was easily escorted by the "heavily injured" Tatsuki.
Roger kept his head down, no one could see his expression. Only he knew that the sense of absurdity in his heart at this moment was wider than this ocean.
This scene not only shocked the retinas of the hundred thousand Marines present, but was also transmitted to the whole world through dozens of pre-installed visual den den mushi.
"Tatsuki!!!"
A roar ignited like a spark hitting gunpowder.
Following that was an earthquake whipped up by the collective beating of a hundred thousand hearts.
"Hero! Hero! Hero!"
Countless young soldiers had tears in their eyes, not caring even as their voices cracked from screaming.
Looking at the man who was "heavily injured" for the sake of justice but still kept his back straight, the blood in their bodies boiled like lava.
Tatsuki was already laughing inwardly, but his face managed to squeeze out a perfectly timed, pained, and pale smile.
He walked up to Kong, who had been waiting for a long time, and struggled to raise his cast-covered hand to attempt a standard military salute, but his body suddenly swayed and he almost fell due to the "intense pain."
"Enough! Tatsuki!"
Kong's eyes instantly turned red as he supported Tatsuki.
"Your military salute is already engraved on Roger's shackles! That is enough!" Kong's voice was trembling
Looking at this young man who had almost burned out his life for justice, his heart surged with hot emotions.
"Fleet Admiral..."
Tatsuki panted weakly, his voice just faint enough to be captured by the nearby recording den den mushi.
"I have fortunately fulfilled my mission. Although I've broken over a dozen bones and my lungs were shattered, as long as I could capture Roger... cough cough! I think those innocent civilians who died tragically under the pirates' blades should be able to rest in peace now, right?"
These words were like a tear gas bomb. Countless emotional Marines on the scene immediately covered their mouths and burst into tears.
Beside them, Sengoku adjusted his glasses, his brow furrowing imperceptibly.
As a Strategic General, his top-tier Observation Haki vaguely sensed that although Tatsuki's aura was chaotic, wasn't his vitality... a bit too exuberant?
'This kid... he couldn't be acting for us, could he?'
A ridiculous thought flashed through Sengoku's mind, but he immediately forced it down.
He glanced at the fanatically worshipping faces around him, then at the very real Roger behind him.
Who cares if he's acting?
Roger is real, the achievement is real, and the victory the Marines desperately need right now is also real. That's enough.