Justice Caught in Doubt

Meanwhile, aboard the warship's deck, a large number of Marine Soldiers were closely watching the commotion inside the cabin.

Until...

"I think I just heard Vice Admiral Sakazuki apologizing!"

A major exclaimed in disbelief.

"Nani?"

"How is that possible?"

"Did you hear wrong?"

For a moment, the Marine Soldiers were in an uproar.

What kind of figure was Vice Admiral Sakazuki?

Even looking across the entire Marines, he was an absolute powerhouse known as a "monster," and rumors even said he was on the verge of being promoted to Marine Admiral.

Vice Admiral Sakazuki was notoriously a man who would sacrifice everything to accomplish his mission, never allowing even a shred of "evil" to remain, and upholding "Absolute Justice."

Yet, it was almost unimaginable for such a man to actively apologize, let alone to someone he considered a criminal.

Just as the many Marine Soldiers were discussing among themselves, Sakazuki's scorching figure walked out of the cabin, instantly making the deck fall completely silent.

"What is all this racket? This chaotic attitude, completely lacking discipline—how is it any different from wicked pirates?" Sakazuki's reprimand rang out, instantly causing all the soldiers to lower their heads.

"Alright, alright."

Seeing this, Vice Admiral Spandine on the side took the initiative to ease the atmosphere. "The soldiers just finished executing the Buster Call, so they really do need to relax a bit."

Sakazuki glanced at Spandine and spoke directly. "As Marines, as long as we are still sailing the ocean, we cannot be careless for even a second. Vice Admiral Spandine, I must ask you to be a bit more rigorous with your subordinates."

Right after, Sakazuki directly used Marine Six Powers: Moon Walk to leave the warship and returned to his own flagship.

Vice Admiral Spandine did not pay too much mind to Sakazuki's words, instead waving his hand to disperse the Marine Soldiers so they could prepare to set sail and return to Marineford.

The Buster Call was over, and they still needed to return to Marineford for rest as soon as possible and throw themselves back into the suppression of the seas.

Ever since the Great Pirate Era, even though the Marines continuously stepped up their suppression of the ocean, newborn pirates still emerged endlessly, and their total number grew year by year.

It could be said that even a behemoth like the Marines was gradually beginning to feel a sense of powerlessness.

Soon enough, as the situation was reported to Admiral Sengoku—who was in charge of this Buster Call operation—and the World Government, and after an inspection of the Ohara waters confirmed that nothing had been missed,

under Sengoku's orders, the ten Marine Warships that participated in the Buster Call, which could be called iron beasts, began their return journey.

However, during the return trip, Kuzan's flagship broke away from the main force and headed alone along a different route.

"Hey, hey, hey, Vice Admiral Kuzan, stop messing around. The current situation on the ocean is so tense, especially in the second half of the Grand Line where those Great Pirates are constantly kicking up a fuss—and now you're taking me to catch a Mafia?"

Yaen's expression twitched slightly, to the point that the bandages he had put on as an act loosened quite a bit, and he asked repeatedly.

"Are you serious?"

"Serious." Kuzan nodded expressionlessly, revealing no emotion.

Yaen.

"Vice Admiral Kuzan, you've changed. You're trying to slack off now; you used to uphold Passionate Justice."

To Yaen's words, Kuzan remained silent for a moment before finally speaking. "Perhaps I really do need to rethink what true justice is."

Hearing this, Yaen suddenly understood.

Kuzan... was in doubt!

The past Kuzan had been a student of Marine Admiral "Black Arm" Zephyr, and after graduation, he became a subordinate of the Marine hero Vice Admiral Garp whom he adored. Thus, Kuzan could be said to have been deeply influenced by Garp.

It could be said that compared to Sakazuki, who stood firmly on the side of the World Government, Kuzan was not nearly as steadfast.

In fact, in a sense, Kuzan's level of recognition for the World Government was practically identical to Garp's.

Precisely because of this, during this "Ohara Incident," Yaen—whom Sengoku had been worried about—did not suffer any psychological impact; instead, Kuzan had fallen into self-doubt and confusion.

So, rather than saying Kuzan specially brought me along to catch a Mafia, is it more like he wants to use this opportunity to get some peace and quiet and do some self-reflection?

While Yaen had a vague judgment in his heart, looking at Kuzan's expression, which was like an iceberg, Yaen stopped talking and quietly returned to his room to lie down.

Fine, you go ahead and think slowly. Anyway, I'm not in a hurry to go back and see the old man, lest I end up subjected to other forms of 'persecution' by him.

Yaen said leisurely to himself, looking at the scenery by the window while taking a sip of juice "gifted" by the cafeteria.

It truly was a "gift," not stolen, and even the kind of gift Yaen couldn't refuse no matter how much he tried to push it away.

Originally, in the eyes of Kuzan's subordinates, Yaen was just a sickly, extraordinary-looking strange person who probably had a considerable background, so they naturally hadn't taken him too seriously.

However, after experiencing the "Ohara Incident," they had witnessed Yaen block Sakazuki's cannonball and save the entire evacuation ship.

According to various rumors, Yaen had even caused Vice Admiral Sakazuki—who held the same status as Vice Admiral Kuzan and possessed a notoriously tough and unyielding personality—to proactively visit the ward and offer a sincere apology for the incident of "mistakenly firing on the evacuation ship."

Yes, "mistakenly firing on the evacuation ship"!

If Sakazuki had truly blasted the evacuation ship completely to the bottom of the sea, the outside world naturally would not have known of its existence.

Yet, under the circumstance where the evacuation ship was saved by Yaen, this matter inevitably got spread abroad.

To prevent the Marines' reputation from being damaged, after discussions within the Staff Department at Marine Headquarters Marineford, that incident was quickly classified as a mistake.

The reason for the mistake was that a Marine Cadet temporarily acting as a gunner had failed to operate according to regulations, causing the cannon platform to mistakenly fire in the direction of the evacuation ship.

As for why several more cannonballs were fired consecutively after the first shot,

that was also because the Marine Cadet, having made a mistake and grown nervous, accidentally made another misoperation.

For this reason, the Marines made the decision to dismiss that Marine Cadet, send him back to his original hometown, and offer a sincere apology to the frightened people on the evacuation ship.

Because of this, when Yaen woke up completely bewildered, he learned from the mouths of the Marine Soldiers that the reason Sakazuki had gone to his hospital bed had evolved into apologizing and expressing gratitude for Yaen preventing the "mistakenly firing on the evacuation ship" incident.

This resulted in Yaen not even having joined the Marines yet, yet his popularity on Kuzan's flagship had inexplicably skyrocketed, to the point where it could even be called deeply respectful.

And as someone who had no way to clear his name, the only thing Yaen worried about was...

The old man won't treat this as my achievement, will he?

Yaen took a sip of juice, his mood growing somewhat melancholy.