Defection! A Marine Rear Admiral Dared to Attack a Celestial Dragon

Zephyr was right.

In the Marines, someone as "disobedient" as Lin Yuan wouldn't live long.

Word spread faster than he had expected.

Somehow, Lin Yuan's conversation with Sengoku that night had gotten out. Perhaps someone had overheard them, or perhaps Sengoku had deliberately put him to the test.

Whatever the case, three days later, Lin Yuan was summoned to an interrogation room at Marine Headquarters.

Two

The interrogation room was dim, with a single lamp hanging above the table, leaving half of Lin Yuan's face in shadow.

Three people faced him.

In the middle was Onigumo, a vice admiral at Marine Headquarters, his hair standing on end, a cigarette between his lips, and his eyes like a viper's. A CP Agent stood on either side of him, both wearing black suits and sunglasses, their faces expressionless.

"Lin Yuan, a recruit from Marine Branch 153. You enlisted two years ago and were specially recruited into headquarters by Instructor Zephyr for your talent in Soru." Onigumo read from a document, his voice unhurried. "But according to our investigation, your 'Soru' isn't Soru at all. It's a Devil Fruit ability. Isn't that right?"

Lin Yuan said nothing.

"Staying silent won't help you." Onigumo tossed the document onto the table. "We found information on the Door-Door Fruit in your dormitory. Someone also saw you steal the fruit from the warehouse."

Lin Yuan raised his eyes and looked at Onigumo.

"So?"

"So?" Onigumo sneered. "Keeping a Devil Fruit for yourself and concealing it is a serious crime. Under Marine law, you'll be locked up for at least twenty years."

Lin Yuan's expression didn't change.

"But that's not the point." Onigumo stood, walked over to Lin Yuan, and looked down at him. "The point is, five nights ago, you let five of the Celestial Dragons' slaves escape at the docks."

Lin Yuan's pupils narrowed slightly.

Not because he was afraid, but because he had thought he'd covered his tracks well enough.

"Surprised?" Onigumo blew a cloud of smoke into Lin Yuan's face. "Did you think those five children really made it to the beach on their own? We've had our eyes on you for a long time. CP agents were watching when you rescued people on the island."

"Oh?" Lin Yuan suddenly smiled. "Then why didn't you arrest me on the spot?"

Onigumo froze for a moment.

Lin Yuan stood, knocking his chair over with a clatter.

"Because you had no evidence," Lin Yuan said. "You knew I saved them, but you couldn't find those five children, so there was nothing you could do to me. Right?"

Onigumo's expression changed.

"But now it's different," Lin Yuan continued. "You found information on the Door-Door Fruit and evidence that I went to the warehouse, so you think you can move against me."

"That's right." Onigumo sneered. "You're finished, kid."

Lin Yuan lowered his head and fell silent for a few seconds.

Then he looked up, his lips curling into a strange smile.

"Heh heh heh..." The low, deep laugh rumbled out of his chest, like a snake flicking its tongue. "Did you forget—"

He raised a hand and swept it through the air beside him.

A door opened out of thin air.

Beyond it was the corridor outside the interrogation room.

"I can leave whenever I want."

Three

Onigumo reacted quickly.

The moment Lin Yuan opened the door, Onigumo's hand transformed into a spider's claw and stabbed at him.

Zoan-type Spider-Spider Fruit.

But Lin Yuan was faster.

He stepped through the door, and it closed behind him. Onigumo's claw stabbed through the air, grasping nothing.

"After him!" Onigumo roared.

A CP Agent immediately pulled out a Den Den Mushi. "Seal off every exit from headquarters! Lin Yuan has defected!"

Lin Yuan didn't flee far.

He came out through the interrogation room door and entered the room next door. Then he opened another door and entered the warehouse at the end of the corridor. Another door took him into the basement beneath the training ground.

He wasn't running. He was "jumping."

He leaped from one space to another, moving through the headquarters building as if playing checkers.

He had only one destination: the docks.

Four

An alarm rang throughout Marine Headquarters.

"Lin Yuan has defected!"

"Seal off the docks!"

"Don't let him board a ship!"

Marines converged on the docks from all directions, loading their guns and drawing their swords.

Lin Yuan stood at the edge of the docks, his back to the sea, facing his pursuers.

Behind him lay an endless ocean. Before him stood hundreds of armed Marines.

"Lin Yuan! Surrender!" a rear admiral shouted sternly.

Lin Yuan tilted his head and looked at the rear admiral.

"What's your name?"

"Rear Admiral Bogard!" the man answered instinctively, then said angrily, "Why do you want to know?"

"No reason. I just wanted to remember who was the first to catch up with me."

Bogard's face turned livid. "Fire!"

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Gunfire erupted, and bullets rained down on Lin Yuan.

Lin Yuan raised a hand and opened a massive door in front of him.

The door was wide and tall, like a wall.

Every bullet aimed at him flew into it.

Beyond the door was the sky, a hundred meters above.

The bullets fell from the sky and struck the sea, sending up a spray of splashes.

The Marines froze.

"Wh-what kind of power is that?!"

Lin Yuan didn't answer.

He opened another door beneath his feet. Beyond it was the sea, fifty meters from the docks.

He stepped through and appeared in the air above the water.

Then he opened another door and took another step.

One step, two steps, three steps.

As if he were walking across the sea.

Five

The Marines could only watch as Lin Yuan went farther and farther away.

They couldn't catch him.

They had no ship, no ability, and couldn't even hit him with their guns.

Gritting his teeth, Bogard called Sengoku on his Den Den Mushi.

"Admiral Sengoku, Lin Yuan has defected! We can't stop him!"

On the other end of the Den Den Mushi, Sengoku was silent for a few seconds.

"How much should his bounty be?" Bogard asked.

Sengoku fell silent again for a moment.

"Five hundred million."

"Five hundred million?!" Bogard was shocked. "He's only been in the Marines for two years, and he hasn't even learned all of the Six Powers!"

"But his ability is worth five hundred million," Sengoku said. "Notify every branch. If they discover any trace of Lin Yuan, they're to report it immediately and not act alone."

"Yes, sir!"

Bogard hung up and stared in the direction Lin Yuan had disappeared, saying nothing for a long time.

All that remained on the sea were spreading ripples.

Six

Lin Yuan found an island in the Calm Belt.

It was small and shrouded in thick fog. Even the Sea Kings couldn't be bothered to visit it.

He landed on the beach, soaked to the skin and breathing heavily.

Opening doors and jumping through space in succession had drained a great deal of his stamina.

He slumped onto the beach and gazed up at the sky.

The moon was full, and the stars shone brightly.

"Heh heh heh..." He laughed, his laughter tinged with exhaustion and relief.

"Goodbye, Marines."

He pulled a crumpled wanted poster from his pocket. It was his own, for five hundred million Beli.

The photo was ugly, but Lin Yuan didn't care.

He folded the wanted poster into a paper airplane and threw it toward the sea.

The paper airplane flew over the water for a while before a wave flipped it over and it sank.

"Next..." Lin Yuan stood and brushed the sand off himself. "It's time to find some companions."

He closed his eyes, and his spatial perception spread outward.

There was no sign of a living person within five hundred meters.

But in the distance, about thirty nautical miles away, a ship was burning.

A faint but exceptionally tenacious life force was aboard.

Lin Yuan opened his eyes, a smile curling his lips.

"Heh heh heh..."

"Found one."

He opened a door in front of himself and stepped through.

(End of Chapter 4)