Chapter 182: I Will End This Era (Part 2)
"Say that again."
Spandam stared at the group before him in disbelief.
"What did you just say? You failed?"
His father, Spandine, had once served as the director of CP9. Because of that, Spandam understood better than most just how terrifying CP9 truly was. They were monsters raised by the World Government itself, assassins trained since childhood to complete missions by any means necessary.
With their strength, and with such a perfect excuse to act openly, failure should have been impossible.
Impossible.
How could CP9 fail?
How could his promotion fail?
Unable to hold back any longer, Spandam roared, "How could you possibly fail?!"
Lucci answered him.
"The mission failed. We were unable to bring back the target."
His tone was flat and cold. There was no respect in it, no apology, no attempt to soothe his superior's anger. It sounded as if he were merely reporting the weather.
"I'm asking why!" Spandam shouted.
What kind of subordinates treated their superior like this?
Worse than their attitude was the result itself. If the mission had failed, did that not mean his path to promotion had failed as well?
But Spandam was not the only one angry.
The CP9 members were angry too.
In the end, part of the responsibility lay with Spandam, their current superior. Their assessment of Axel's strength had come from CP5's intelligence, which was to say, from Spandam's side. That information had been completely wrong.
Even Lucci had failed to take down the boy.
If they had known that from the start, they could have prepared properly instead of splitting their forces.
And now, after Lucci had returned injured, their so-called superior cared only about whether the mission had succeeded.
For CP9, the mission came first. That had been carved into them since childhood.
Even so, a flicker of anger stirred in them.
Only their strict discipline kept them silent.
"We underestimated his strength," Lucci said.
"Underestimated?" Spandam barked out a laugh, as if he had heard something absurd. "How much strength can a child have? Are you telling me he defeated even you? Stop wasting my time and give me the real reason!"
He spoke with the confidence of a man who believed he had seen through everything.
To the CP9 members, he merely looked foolish.
"I have stated the facts," Lucci said. "Whether you believe them or not is your decision."
Spandam's face twisted with rage.
Before he could explode again, Kalifa adjusted her glasses and spoke.
"Lucci is not lying. The Marines present at the base all witnessed the battle. You may send someone to question the Enies Lobby Marines and verify it yourself."
Her words finally made Spandam hesitate.
Was that brat really that strong?
If he had that kind of strength, why was he stationed in a place like this? Should he not be training at Marineford and climbing the ranks under proper supervision?
"Damn it!"
Spandam slammed his hand against the armrest.
"No matter what, you must capture that hateful brat for me!"
After saying that, he immediately sent several subordinates to question the Marines from Enies Lobby and confirm whether Kalifa's words were true.
Meanwhile, in another corner of the base, Euleia's question still hung in the air.
Would Axel entrust his fate to another person?
Axel did not answer.
He did not need to.
His expression and the thoughts behind his eyes had already given Euleia the answer.
No.
He would never willingly place his fate in someone else's hands.
He had already experienced what it felt like to be meat on a chopping block, unable to decide his own life or death. When he had fooled Vergo, one wrong move would have killed him. If not for his childlike appearance, his naive act, and the directness he used to win Vergo's trust, he might have died long ago.
Back then, he had relied far too much on luck.
And luck was not something he could count on twice.
Seeing Axel's reaction, Euleia continued, "Self-preservation, power, and desire. Those three things are born from this era. They were also the reasons I was hostile toward you before. You must have seen through that, which is why you acted the way you did afterward."
Axel nodded.
He had sensed Euleia's hostility from the beginning. That was why he had handled him with caution.
"Then, after I revealed my strength," Axel said, "you decided I wasn't just some high-ranking official's child who came here to collect merit without effort. So you changed your mind and chose to submit?"
At Marineford, such cases might be rare.
But in branch bases and remote waters, people who relied on connections to rise through the ranks were not uncommon. They called it earning merit. But once pirates appeared, their true nature was exposed.
"Not only because of that," Euleia said. "From the moment you entered this base, I have watched your every move. Your strength made me reconsider. Your intelligence made me decide."
His meaning was clear.
When he was inferior in both wisdom and strength, submission was the most reasonable choice.
Axel did not fully accept that.
"Aren't you afraid I won't agree?"
"That would not matter," Euleia said calmly. "I came here only to express that I no longer wish to be your enemy. Whether you accept that is up to you. Even if you do not, I believe you would not strike down someone harmless."
His wording was clever.
He did not say, "I believe you won't refuse," which would have placed too much importance on himself. Nor did he press too hard. He simply made one thing clear: he did not want to be an enemy.
That gave Axel no immediate reason to move against him.
"That's not certain."
A smile appeared on Axel's face.
It was not a smile that belonged on a child. It was sharp, cold, and just cruel enough to make Euleia's breath catch.
Euleia froze.
His feet unconsciously shifted back half a step.
Only then did he remember that everything he had said was merely deduction. Deductions could be wrong. A single error could bring disaster, or even death.
Just as Euleia's heart tightened, Axel suddenly laughed.
The killing intent vanished as if it had never existed.
"I'm joking," Axel said. "Unfortunately for you, while I'm not exactly overflowing with kindness, I'm not someone who enjoys killing indiscriminately either. However, you still need to be punished."
"Punished?"
Euleia repeated the word softly.
Rather than fear, he felt relief.
Punishment meant the matter could end.
"Originally, you might have had a chance to avoid this," Axel said. "But because of what happened to the warship, your punishment is this: from now on, all of your salary will be distributed as compensation to the families of the Marines who died."
Euleia paused.
"That's all?"
He could hardly believe the punishment was so light.
"That's all," Axel said. "Anything beyond that has no practical use."
Euleia could not understand him.
As a powerful person, should he not follow the rules of the strong?
The strong dominated. The weak endured.
Euleia had violated the rules and should have been crushed for it. He had already prepared himself before confessing. As long as he endured this period, once the boy eventually left, he could still become Captain.
The transition of power among the strong was often like that. He was prepared to be stepped on by someone stronger.
That was the conclusion he had reached after careful thought.
Yet the young Captain before him had caused trouble for himself by protecting a shipwright. Now, instead of using this chance to crush Euleia, he chose to help the families of ordinary Marines.
"In this era of evil," Euleia said, "shouldn't the strong prove themselves? The strong become stronger, while the weak become the foundation that supports them. Simple protection only makes the weak a burden. I cannot understand your actions."
Axel looked at him.
"An era of evil?" he said softly. "You're right about that."
His voice was calm, but there was something beneath it that made Euleia fall silent.
"The desire to protect can drag someone down. It can become a weapon for the enemy to use. But isn't that what makes it interesting?"
Axel's crimson eyes were steady.
"I don't know who counts as strong or weak. I only know that I want to do what I want to do."
He took a step forward.
"If this is the era's fault, then one day, this era will be ended by me."
Euleia's pupils contracted.
Axel's voice was not loud, but each word struck like thunder.
"If weakness is a sin, then I'll carry the weak forward on my back."
For a moment, the room fell completely silent.
Then Euleia laughed.
He had always been good at schemes, good at patience, good at hiding behind a calm face. He could no longer remember the last time he had laughed like this.
Perhaps he was laughing at Axel's absurd ambition.
Perhaps he was laughing at himself.
Perhaps he was laughing at this era that forced children to speak like kings and old soldiers to live like foxes.
"Maybe that day will come," Euleia said at last.
His smile faded, returning to its usual calm.
"But for my part, I only hope you leave soon. After that, I will be the Captain."
He lowered his gaze slightly.
"I have no interest in anything beyond that."
.....
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