Sakazuki

"Hahaha! He really does resemble you when you were young, Sakazuki!"

Vice Admiral Jonathan laughed heartily as he turned around. Standing behind them was one of the Navy's three highest powers, a Headquarters Admiral, a man who upheld justice to the very end—Sakazuki!

"I never thought of becoming a pirate when I was young!" Sakazuki's words were as scorching as magma. "One after another, anyone with a bit of ability runs off to become a pirate. Then who's supposed to uphold justice!"

"Admiral Sakazuki, there is one thing you're mistaken about. Fundamentally, I am not a pirate. As a Navy higher-up, I believe you should know why there is a bounty on my head."

Akainu naturally knew that Cifer was not a pirate. Otherwise, the first thing he would have said upon meeting Cifer would have been "Great Eruption."

Although Cifer was now generally regarded as a pirate and was about to become one of the Shichibukai, Akainu still felt some regret. He had learned about Cifer's recent massacres of pirates.

Whether it was for bounties or something else, Cifer's way of doing things truly suited Akainu's tastes. Pirates and the like—evil people should all be exterminated, so the world could welcome justice!

If not for the Celestial Dragon incident, this fellow should have been a comrade fighting alongside me!

Seeing that the atmosphere between the two seemed somewhat off, Vice Admiral Jonathan quickly stepped between them to smooth things over.

"Gentlemen! The base has prepared lunch for you. It should be about time, so why not eat first?"

Inside the Navy cafeteria, countless Marines stared at the scene before them in stunned disbelief.

Cifer and Akainu sat at two neighboring tables, continuously shoveling food into their mouths with their chopsticks. Empty plates and bowls had already piled up like mountains before them.

"Big Sis Jessica! Hurry and help! The kitchen can't keep up anymore!"

The chefs, frantically working their woks, were on the verge of tears. Vice Admiral Jonathan had told them in advance that two big eaters would be coming today, but he had not said the two of them could each devour enough food for sixty people at once!

Jessica watched the two consume food at terrifying speed. After only a moment of shock, she quickly rolled up her sleeves and joined the chefs.

Hina's hand holding her cigarette froze in midair. Having spent so long aboard Cifer's ship, she knew he could eat a lot—dozens of people's worth in a single meal on average—but this was also her first time seeing him eat so much, so fast!

"Isn't it ready yet?"

The Marines beside Akainu constantly cleared his table and replaced the dishes with fresh food, yet the serving speed still could not match the speed at which he ate.

Cifer, who was bent over his food, suddenly sensed a wave of hostility. By the time he tried to reach out and protect the last Braised Lion's Head in front of him, it was already too late.

Akainu's chopsticks had already pierced the meatball, and under Cifer's disbelieving gaze, he stuffed it into his mouth in one huge bite.

"You bastard!"

Just as Akainu was enjoying himself, Cifer caught the meatballs that were about to be placed on Akainu's table with one hand, then immediately poured every last one into his mouth.

"Hm?"

The two instantly began competing, crazily snatching food from each other's tables while swatting away the other's hands.

"Got you!"

Cifer's outstretched left hand was firmly locked by Akainu's palm like a pair of pincers, while Akainu's other hand reached toward Cifer's dining table.

As though a gust of sinister wind had swept through, everyone felt chills crawl over their bodies. A pair of massive wings spread open as Cifer entered his first-stage Resurrección.

"So this is the form that even Aokiji found troublesome enough to retreat from?"

Akainu's attention was diverted by Cifer's transformation. As a result, Cifer exerted a little force and broke free from his grip with Sound Step, appearing behind Akainu at the same time.

He smoothly reached toward the Marines waiting behind Akainu for their food. In the blink of an eye, every dish in the cafeteria was gone!

"The food was delicious. Thank you for the meal!"

Cifer even returned to his own table, pulled out a napkin, and elegantly wiped the corners of his mouth.

"What kind of monster is that?!"

Almost everyone's eyes were about to pop out. Eating nearly a hundred people's worth of food in an instant was simply unheard of!

Akainu and Jonathan were not overly surprised. In this world, the stomachs of powerful people were like bottomless pits. They would have found it strange if Cifer did not eat much.

"Mr. Sakazuki, why have you stopped eating? Are you full already?" Cifer did not forget to mock Akainu while wiping his mouth.

The temperature in the cafeteria suddenly soared.

"Since you are full, why not let me see whether you are truly as fearsome as that fellow Aokiji claims!"

Akainu had always had a fiery temper. With such a rare opportunity, he naturally wanted to see what this prospective Shichibukai was truly capable of, to find out whether this "colleague" was really worthy of his expectations.

"Wait, Sakazuki!"

Vice Admiral Jonathan was not pleased. If those two monsters started fighting inside this fortress, wouldn't the G-8 Base be turned into ruins?

"Hina, check whether there are any uninhabited deserted islands nearby, or somewhere suitable for the two of us to have a proper fight."

Cifer could tell that Akainu had no killing intent toward him. There seemed to be more regret in his eyes, as though he thought Cifer was one of his own kind.

But since Akainu had invited him so sincerely, Cifer also wanted to see just how far his first-stage Resurrección could go. As for his second-stage Resurrección, he naturally could not reveal his trump card so casually. That would depend on whether Akainu had the ability to force it out.

"You two..."

Vice Admiral Jonathan still wanted to persuade them, but the two raised their hands in tacit understanding, signaling him to be quiet.

Hina had already begun studying nautical charts and records from the Navy branches. How could a decision made by two peak powerhouses be changed by a few words from minor figures like them?

"Found it!"

Only a few minutes after Cifer and Akainu had stared each other down, Hina found their battlefield—a place called Reksenor Island.

It was only about a hundred nautical miles from the G-8 Base. The entire island was almost entirely covered by jungles, mountains, and rivers, with all kinds of ferocious beasts roaming within.

The harsh terrain, brutal ecosystem, and inconvenient location had left it almost completely ignored for many years.

It could not have been more suitable as a battlefield for Akainu and Cifer.

Aboard a Navy warship, the two stood together on deck and looked toward Reksenor. In unspoken agreement, none of the Marines remained there, including Hina and Jonathan.

"I'm curious. Twenty years ago, during the Ohara incident, what did it feel like to give the order to bombard the refugee ships carrying civilians?"

Cifer asked the question he had long been curious about without any hesitation.

"When the city gates catch fire, the fish in the moat suffer."

Akainu did not care about the matter. In his convictions, it could not shake the justice in his heart in the slightest.

But he did not explain any further to Cifer either. In his eyes, Cifer was merely a young man who suited his tastes and whom he thought highly of, not someone he needed to tell everything to.

"Upholding it to the very end..."

Cifer could actually guess some of it. Just as Doflamingo could not accept Corazon's betrayal, Akainu could not tolerate even a grain of evil in his eyes.

Cifer could not bring himself to bombard refugee ships, but someone had to do such things. The seeds of evil had to be eradicated completely, and sacrifices were unavoidable in the process!

As for whether Ohara had truly been guilty?

Only those at the top had the authority to decide. If they said you were guilty, then you were guilty. If they wanted to accuse you, they would always find an excuse.

Akainu had probably experienced too much and seen everything too clearly, which was why he had fought so desperately to climb upward.