Father and Son

Dragon stood before the window, the light in his chest slowly fading, but the invisible link had already been established.

He could feel it.

A heartbeat from thousands of miles away, strong and fast, full of the vigor and recklessness of a seventeen-year-old boy.

It was Luffy's heartbeat.

"Mr. Dragon."

Sabo walked over to him, lowering his voice.

"Are you all right?"

"I'm fine."

Dragon raised a hand and pressed it against his chest.

"There's just something more there now."

His tone was even, but Sabo noticed one detail.

After placing his hand on his chest, Dragon didn't immediately take it away. He held it there for several seconds.

The information on the sky screen continued to unfold. The assessment of Dragon's combat strength in the first punishment sparked an unprecedented wave of discussion.

[Additional combat strength assessment: Monkey D. Dragon's Storm-Storm Fruit can control regional weather disasters, including but not limited to hurricanes, thunderstorms, and tornadoes. His fruit has been developed to an advanced state of awakening and theoretically possesses the power to destroy an island]

[Haki assessment: Conqueror's Haki awakened; all Three Types of Haki are at the highest level]

[Overall combat strength assessment: Equal to or above a Marine Admiral]

The assessment report hung in the sky, sending military analysts all over the world into a frenzy.

On an island somewhere in the New World, pirates raised their drinks and shouted.

"Admiral-level strength! The leader of the Revolutionary Army is actually Admiral-level!"

"The Storm-Storm Fruit? Controls the weather? Isn't that even more terrifying than Akainu's magma?"

"No wonder the World Government kept his bounty secret. If a monster like that had a price on his head, the whole Underworld would go wild."

In the intelligence analysis room at Marine Headquarters, a group of staff officers were rapidly copying down the information on the sky screen, every hand trembling.

"An awakened Logia."

A staff officer wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Our previous assessment of Dragon's combat strength only said he was above Supernova level. The details were unknown."

"We're only finding out now that he's Admiral-level. That gap in our intelligence could get us killed."

"Should we report this to the Fleet Admiral?"

"Report what? The whole world saw it. The Fleet Admiral knew before you did."

Sengoku stood in the Fleet Admiral's office, looking at the assessment report on the sky screen, so detailed it pained him. A breath caught in his chest, unable to come out or go down.

"Garp."

He muttered under his breath.

"Your son is Admiral-level, your grandson has Conqueror's Haki. Just what did your Monkey D. family grow up eating?"

Vice Admiral Tsuru stood beside him, also looking at the report.

"The Storm-Storm Fruit. That explains the storm in Loguetown in the East Blue."

"Two years ago, when Smoker caught Luffy in Loguetown, a strange storm suddenly blew in and saved him."

"The meteorological department's report called it a natural phenomenon at the time."

She glanced at Sengoku.

"Now it seems that was no natural phenomenon."

Sengoku's brow furrowed deeply.

"You're saying Dragon went to Loguetown?"

"To save Luffy?"

Tsuru said nothing, but her silence spoke more forcefully than any affirmative answer.

"That man..."

Sengoku gritted his teeth.

"He didn't go to Marineford to save his son, but he secretly went to Loguetown to save his son."

"How exactly does he decide? Does it depend on his mood?"

After the punishment information had finished being announced, the sky screen began playing supplementary material.

[Supplementary material: Monkey D. Dragon's past]

The scene returned to more than thirty years ago.

A young man in a Marine uniform stood on a training ground. His face was handsome, and his eyes held the restless spirit of youth.

Beside him stood another young man in a Marine uniform, powerfully built, with a booming laugh.

It was Garp in his younger days.

"Dragon, what are you spacing out for again, boy? Get up and train!"

Garp slapped Dragon on the back, nearly sending him flying.

"Father."

The young Dragon looked at Garp, a trace of a bitter smile on his lips.

"Have you ever thought about who the Marines' justice actually protects?"

Garp froze for a moment, then burst out laughing.

"Ordinary people, of course. Do you even have to think about that?"

"Is that so?"

Dragon turned and looked at the sea beyond the training ground.

"Then what about the ordinary people of Ohara?"

The image froze on those words, then quickly switched to the next point in time.

Dragon took off his Marine uniform, folded it, and placed it on a table. A Marine medal also lay on the table.

He put on a green cloak, pushed the door open, and walked out.

Garp stood outside the door, arms folded across his chest, blocking his path.

"Have you made up your mind?"

"I have."

"You know that once you walk out this door, you'll be an enemy of the Marines."

"I know."

"What about your son? Luffy isn't even two yet."

Dragon stopped in his tracks.

He was silent for a long time, so long that the image seemed to zoom in on his expression of its own accord.

"I'll leave him with you."

"I can't protect him. At least until I've finished what I have to do, I can't stay by his side."

"Because what I'm going to do will make everyone close to me a target of the World Government."

Garp's lips moved several times before he finally forced out a word.

"Bastard."

Dragon lowered his head and walked past his father.

He didn't look back.

After the footage ended, the sky screen went blank for a brief moment.

Emotions across the world grew exceedingly complicated.

"So Dragon used to be a Marine."

"Did he leave because of the Ohara Incident?"

"So when the Marines destroyed Ohara, they didn't just harm Robin, they also drove a man to become the leader of the Revolutionary Army?"

"He dumped Luffy on Garp before he was even two, and then left?"

"And he stayed away for more than a decade?"

On a ruined street in Dressrosa, a mother held her child and looked up at the sky screen, her eyes reddening.

"No matter the reason, it's wrong to abandon a two-year-old child."

"Even if it was for the whole world, he couldn't do that."

A man beside her spoke up in a low voice.

"But if he hadn't left, the World Government would have used Luffy to threaten him."

"Just like Roger's son, Ace."

The mother held her child tighter, unable to speak.

On the sky screen, the system's voice rang out again.

[Supplementary material concluded]

[All punishments have been carried out]

[The war criminal judgment of Monkey D. Dragon is hereby concluded]

[At the same time, the system will provide a supplementary clarification concerning a person associated with this incident]

[Although Monkey D. Dragon was absent from the Paramount War, the Revolutionary Army he founded is the only armed force in the world today whose goal is to overthrow unjust rule. Its very existence exerts continuous strategic pressure on the World Government]

[In view of this, the system judges that Dragon's crime lies not in what he did, but in what he did not do]

[He possessed the power to change the course of the battle, yet let his son bear everything alone]

[This is a father's crime, unrelated to justice or evil]

The commentary hung on the sky screen, its golden letters looking especially weighty in the afterglow of the setting sun.

At Revolutionary Army Headquarters, Dragon looked at the words "this is a father's crime" on the sky screen and finally closed his eyes.

His back remained straight.

His hand remained clenched in a fist.

But the invisible link in his chest was growing slightly warm. It was the heartbeat from thousands of miles away, beating stubbornly.

Sabo stood behind him, wanting to say something, but swallowed the words.

He saw Dragon's shoulders tremble.

Just once.

Then Dragon opened his eyes again, his voice returning to its usual steadiness.

"The information from the seventeen operation records should be coming out soon."

"Tell the staff officers to keep waiting."

Sabo looked at him for a long moment, then nodded gently.

"Understood."

As he turned to leave, he paused at the door.

"Mr. Dragon."

"Yes?"

"When all this is over, go see Luffy."

Dragon didn't answer.

The door closed, leaving only the sound of the wind and the changing images on the sky screen in the room.

Lin Qi rubbed his nose in the tavern, pushed the empty beer can aside, and pulled a fresh one from the refrigerator.

"Dragon's storyline was done so well. I almost got tricked into crying."

He took a big swig and wiped his mouth.

"All right, the sentimental part's over. Time for the main course."

He looked at the name of the second-ranked war criminal recommended by the system on the screen, an uncontrollably excited grin spreading across his face.

"Number two."

"I've dreamed of seeing this name exposed for what it really is."

His finger came down on the confirmation button.

On the sky screen, new golden words were slowly taking shape in the air.

Hearts around the world rose into throats once more.

[Ten Great War Criminals, number two, about to be revealed]

[Hint: This person is not "one person"]