Chapter 276: Realization
After leaving Sengoku's office, Aokiji did not immediately open the file.
Instead, he walked along the road in silence, lost in thought as he wandered farther away.
Passing through the towering steel barriers, he eventually reached a low-lying residential district.
A voice called out to him.
The tone was flat, but not stiff. It was the kind of greeting exchanged between acquaintances.
"You're here."
"Yeah."
"Is it something important?"
Axel looked at him.
"Something important enough to make you hurry back like this?"
Although Aokiji had ridden his bicycle slowly across the sea, which was far slower than traveling by warship, that was not the main issue.
Normally, Aokiji stopped whenever he felt like it.
If he found a pleasant place beneath the sun, he would lie down and take a nap.
If he encountered a tourist attraction, he might wander around for a while.
Sometimes, he would even stop to enjoy a hot spring.
Among the Three Admirals, he was undoubtedly the one who knew how to enjoy himself most.
But this time, he had kept moving even through stormy weather.
Axel naturally found that unusual.
Aokiji thought for a moment before replying, "Well, it is fairly important. Otherwise, they wouldn't have notified me a month in advance."
"But even with a month's notice, you were still late," Axel pointed out bluntly.
Aokiji showed no embarrassment at being exposed.
Instead, he replied with mild humor, "I could have arrived on time, but carrying an extra person on the bicycle slowed me down."
In theory, additional weight would indeed have an effect.
But in reality, Axel's slender frame weighed no more than forty or fifty pounds.
For someone with Aokiji's physique, that amount was practically nothing.
It would not affect him in the slightest.
However, since Aokiji said so, Axel did not bother arguing.
Whether he was heavy or light was not important.
"So, are we continuing the journey, or do you have other plans?" Axel asked.
"The trip will be suspended for a while."
Aokiji rubbed the back of his neck.
"There's work to do. Important work."
Having once been taught by Garp, Aokiji preferred carrying out justice freely instead of being bound by rigid rules.
However, he also understood the importance of this matter.
He could not allow his personal feelings to endanger the peace of the entire world.
"Then what should I do?" Axel asked.
An ordinary child his age might have asked whether he could go play, or what there was to do nearby.
Axel's question was different.
He wanted to participate.
That gave Aokiji pause.
He did not want Axel becoming involved in such matters so early.
"Aren't you going to see Teacher Zephyr?"
"He seems to have developed a psychological shadow because of that incident."
"That incident?"
"When he returned from Grandma Tsuru's place, he seemed frightened."
Axel spoke calmly.
"I went to see him earlier, but he shut me out."
Aokiji was curious about the incident, but something else caught his attention first.
Grandma Tsuru.
The nickname made him laugh despite himself.
Garp was Axel's grandfather.
Calling Tsuru "Grandma" almost sounded like he was forcibly pairing the two of them together.
Aokiji wondered what Sengoku would think if he heard it.
This was the first time Aokiji had heard the name, so he asked curiously, "Did you come up with that yourself, or did someone else teach you?"
"Teacher Zephyr."
Axel answered naturally.
"Before you returned, I went back and forth between the two of them."
"Teacher Zephyr dislikes losing, so he thought of many ways to challenge Grandma Tsuru indirectly."
"I became a tool in their confrontation."
"During that process, the name appeared naturally."
"I don't mind it."
"Then why hasn't Teacher Zephyr's way of addressing her changed?"
Aokiji spoke without thinking.
"I don't think Vice Admiral Tsuru is especially forgiving."
The moment those words left his mouth, a faint sense of danger crept over him.
He quickly added, "Remember, I never said that."
Axel had never seen Aokiji react like this before.
He found it slightly strange, but still nodded.
Seeing that nod, Aokiji breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
"But you just let them use you like that?"
He looked at Axel.
"You never thought about resisting?"
"I certainly wouldn't tolerate it."
"It doesn't matter."
Axel's expression remained unchanged.
"There was no loss or effect on me."
"I really don't know how something with 'no loss or effect' managed to deal such a heavy blow to Teacher Zephyr," Aokiji muttered.
Axel interrupted his thoughts.
"You still haven't answered my question."
Aokiji decided to shift the responsibility elsewhere.
"For that, you need Teacher Zephyr's permission before I can decide."
He had made the condition up on the spot.
Since Axel had said Zephyr refused to see him, Aokiji assumed the matter would end there.
It fit his plans perfectly.
"Are you referring to this?"
At some point, Axel had taken a slip of paper from his pocket.
"I anticipated that you might say that, so I prepared in advance."
"Uh..."
Aokiji looked at the paper awkwardly.
He wanted to take back what he had just said, but could not find a natural way to do so.
In the end, he sighed.
"Since Teacher Zephyr agreed, I have no reason to object."
"However, I still can't be certain about the exact nature of the work."
"I'll need at least a few days before I can give you an answer."
At the very least, he needed to finish reading the files Sengoku had given him.
Only then could he make a decision.
Aokiji worried about it briefly, then dismissed the concern.
He was not the kind of person who would dwell on one issue and torment himself over it.
Besides, Axel was not weak.
As long as he did not encounter someone at Aokiji's own level, protecting himself should not be difficult.
"I'm hungry," Axel said flatly.
"I want to eat something good."
Aokiji glanced at him.
"Then let's go."
He paused.
"But first, tell me about Teacher Zephyr's psychological shadow."
"It sounds interesting."
"No, no, no."
Axel shook his head quickly.
"I promised Teacher Zephyr that I would keep it secret."
"Keep it secret?"
Aokiji stared at him.
"But you already mentioned it."
"At the time, Teacher Zephyr said, 'You must help me keep the contents secret.'"
Axel explained in a perfectly serious tone.
"I have strictly kept the contents secret."
"What I was asked to conceal was only the content itself."
Aokiji froze.
"Then by that logic, what did your nod just now mean?"
He narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Could it be interpreted as: Kuzan never said those words, but he once thought them, and they might later appear in another form?"
"Maybe," Axel replied.
"That's fraud!"
Aokiji's expression became exaggerated.
Anyone who saw his face at that moment would probably be startled.
Normally, although Aokiji gave off a lazy and peaceful impression, his extraordinary height and strength created immense pressure.
Combined with his freezing ability and the chill constantly surrounding him, he often seemed quite frightening.
Axel ignored his reaction and began walking in one direction.
"A large portion of human relationships is built on deception."
He spoke naturally.
"That is the realization I gained from traveling with you."
Setting Zephyr aside, Aokiji was certain of one thing.
If Garp heard those words, even he would suffer for it.
.....
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