Being Weak Is Not a Sin

The Air Door slowly closed behind Ron.

Hundreds of soldiers lay sprawled across the warehouse.

The corpse nearest the door had its hands bound behind its back, the rope marks on its wrists rubbed raw. Half an unfinished piece of dried rations lay beside it.

Ron crouched down and reached out to touch the marks. The blood around the wounds had not yet dried.

"I'm too late."

Lucci turned around, his expression changing slightly. "Ron."

Ron looked up. "You know me?"

Lucci looked at him.

"Sakazuki's adopted son, Ron."

"Looks like the government's intelligence work isn't bad."

His name was in Cipher Pol's files.

There was only one line in the notes: Do not provoke him unless necessary.

Ron glanced at him. "Likewise. The government's little genius."

Lucci did not reply.

Ron stood up. "Did you kill them?"

"Yes."

"Were they all tied up at the time?"

"That's right."

Ron nodded. "All right."

Lucci frowned instead. "They gave up resisting for the sake of a few villagers."

Lucci glanced down at the corpses.

"Five hundred soldiers, and they couldn't even complete their own mission."

"What's the point of trash like that staying alive?"

"Weakness is a sin."

Ron looked at him for a while.

"So you think what you did was right?"

"At least I completed my mission."

"Killing five hundred people who were tied up counts as completing a mission?"

Lucci's gaze instantly turned cold.

"On my way here, I just saved forty-seven hostages."

Ron pointed at the floor.

"Forty-seven people, not one missing."

Lucci sneered. "Forty-seven people and five hundred people. Can you compare them?"

"They certainly aren't the same."

Ron looked at him.

"But they're all prisoners now."

"You didn't kill enemies. You killed five hundred people who couldn't even fight back."

Lucci's face darkened.

"They were trash who surrendered to pirates!"

"So you killed every one of them?"

Ron scoffed.

"After killing a few people who couldn't move, you think that makes you some kind of great powerhouse?"

Lucci said nothing more. The stone slab beneath his feet suddenly exploded.

"Soru!"

Lucci used Soru repeatedly, his figure flashing back and forth around Ron.

Shigan strikes stabbed toward Ron's throat and chest one after another, but every one missed.

Ron never drew his sword, avoiding the attacks with nothing more than slight turns of his body and tilts of his head.

After several exchanges, Lucci finally realized something was wrong.

This guy wasn't reacting quickly—he had seen through the paths of Lucci's attacks from the start!

"Quit playing tricks!"

Lucci used Soru again, lunging straight at Ron's chest.

"Shigan!"

This time, Ron did not dodge.

Bang!

The finger struck his chest hard, denting his uniform slightly without even breaking the skin.

Instead, Lucci's finger joint went numb, and his entire arm instantly stiffened.

Ron looked down at his chest, then back at him. "Were you just... poking me?"

Lucci's face went completely dark.

"Rankyaku!"

Lucci swept his leg through the air, sending a sharp blade of compressed air slashing straight at Ron.

A Spatial Door suddenly opened in front of Ron.

The air blade entered it and vanished instantly.

Lucci was just about to attack again when the air to his right suddenly split open.

The same air blade flew out from inside!

Lucci jerked sideways, but it still cut his cheek.

Ron nodded. "That kick wasn't bad."

Gritting his teeth, Lucci charged again.

The moment Ron's hand rested on the hilt of the Zhenyuan Sword, Lucci immediately crossed his arms and tensed every muscle.

"Tekkai!"

But Zhenyuan never left its sheath.

Gripping the sheath, Ron swung it horizontally from his hip!

Boom!!

Lucci flew sideways, smashed through the wooden wall, and crashed heavily into the stone wall outside.

The two kingdom scouts on the distant high ground stared in stunned silence.

That arrogant monster of a boy had been casually swatted away by another boy wielding a sword sheath!

"Pfft!"

Lucci opened his mouth and spat out a mouthful of blood.

Ron held the sword sheath and shook his head.

"Who do you think you are, Garp? Going on about Tekkai this and Tekkai that."

Lucci braced himself against the stone wall and stood up. A sharp pain shot through his chest, and his breathing became ragged.

He glanced at Zhenyuan, still sheathed in Ron's hand.

"It's not over yet!"

"Geppo!"

Lucci stepped on the air, changing direction repeatedly before suddenly kicking out a Rankyaku.

Ron had barely turned aside to dodge when Lucci used Geppo to close in.

"Shigan!"

Ron finally lost patience. "Are you ever going to stop?"

Click.

A door suddenly appeared in front of Lucci.

Charging at full speed, he couldn't stop himself and plunged straight through.

The next second, a door opened in the air beneath Ron's feet.

Bang!

Lucci crashed headfirst into the ground, cracks spreading across the stone slab like a spiderweb.

Before he could get up, a military boot planted itself on his back.

No matter how hard he struggled, the foot did not budge.

"Kill me!!"

"Why?"

Lucci raised his head, his eyes still defiant.

"I lost... so I should die."

Ron looked at him and took his foot off his back.

"There's something seriously wrong with your head."

He looked down at Lucci.

"If losing once means you have to die, how many people on these seas would still be alive?"

Lucci opened his mouth but said nothing.

"Being weak isn't a sin."

Lucci raised his head.

Ron looked at the corpses in the warehouse.

"Turning your blade on people who can't fight back is."

Lucci stared at him. "Then why aren't you killing me?"

Ron glanced at him.

"Killing you would be letting you off easy."

"Someone has to answer for five hundred lives."

Lucci clenched his teeth.

"You think I'll admit I was wrong to those weaklings?"

"Who cares whether you admit you were wrong?"

"How the killings happened, the orders you received, and who else was involved."

Ron looked at him.

"Tell me everything, one thing at a time."

He glanced at the World Government emblem on Lucci's chest.

"As for the person who taught you to do this, I'll find them too."

Ron turned to leave, but Lucci's hoarse voice suddenly came from behind him.

"Ron."

"I'll remember what happened today."

Ron did not look back.

"Then make sure you remember it well."

"Major Ron!"

Two masked CP Agents came running from outside the warehouse.

At the sight of Lucci lying among the rubble, one of their expressions changed at once.

"Major Ron! Do you know who you just attacked?"

"He struck first."

"We're CP Agents! You attacked us without authorization—"

"Good timing."

Ron jerked his chin toward the corpses in the warehouse.

"You can explain those five hundred deaths in there to me too."