A Mere "Position"

Long before Lindsey began charging up, Crocodile had already sensed that something was terribly wrong.

He had spent quite a while with Aiven Lindsey, so he naturally knew what kind of person this Primitive Man was.

Call him arrogant, or call him unreliable.

But the most important thing was—

He was impossible to predict!

Crocodile had schemed against countless people along the way, yet Aiven Lindsey was the one person he could never handle.

Why?

Because Aiven Lindsey never thought things through before acting. He simply did whatever he felt like!

People like him didn't "go crazy"—they got "serious."

And once they got serious, they didn't care about the consequences. They just threw themselves into whatever they were doing!

Just like now—

Facing Garp on the shore, Aiven Lindsey's body began to change as he gathered power in his mouth.

But they weren't on shore. They were on the deck!

If that Primitive Man unleashed a full-power attack here, he might shatter the entire ship!

"Tch, I can't be bothered going ashore to shoot the breeze with the Navy!"

Crocodile's brow furrowed. He decisively turned his body into sand, letting it climb the mast and spread over the already unfurled sails.

He had been ready to set sail, so the sails were fully spread. But now he had to bring them in as quickly as possible.

The situation was urgent. He couldn't afford to take his time.

So he simply swept his hand out, using sand to tear the sails to shreds and reduce the drag they created as much as possible.

The next instant, a roar erupted!

"ROAR!"

As the roar rang out, Crocodile felt himself go weightless. His body drifted uncontrollably off the deck.

He hurriedly gripped the nearby railing, while turning his feet to sand and letting a large quantity seep into the deck beneath him to anchor himself more firmly.

At last, Crocodile managed to keep his footing on the deck. He looked around at the scene.

The sky was blue, and the clouds were white.

It was quite a nice view.

Wait.

Why could he see "clouds" outside the ship?

Crocodile looked around and immediately understood.

As expected, Aiven Lindsey had unleashed an astonishingly powerful roar, sending the entire ship flying away from the Sabaody Archipelago docks.

The enormous sailing ship shot away from the sea and straight into the sky.

But as he watched the Sabaody Archipelago grow farther and farther away, Crocodile breathed a sigh of relief.

Whatever else happened, at least they wouldn't provoke the Navy and the Celestial Dragons any further.

As for the matter of "Aiven Lindsey leaving with Crocodile," even if someone had seen it, Crocodile could deal with it.

But speaking of that...

Crocodile couldn't help frowning as he looked toward Aiven Lindsey.

Lindsey had just endured the aftershock of his roar, and a trace of Armament Haki even seemed to be leaking from the corner of his mouth.

That extremely abnormal Mythical Zoan Animalization slowly faded, and Lindsey's body gradually returned to the form of a "perfect human."

"Whew..."

Lindsey let out a long breath, wiped the corner of his mouth, and looked back at Crocodile.

He spread his arms and asked excitedly, "How was that?"

How was it? There was no way it could have been "good"!

Did this Primitive Man have any idea what a mess he'd caused?

Crocodile was left speechless. His eye twitched, and he stopped paying attention to Aiven Lindsey.

All they had to do now was wait for the ship to land back on the sea, set their course, and make straight for Alabasta.

Before long, the ship landed safely.

It was built for long voyages, after all. A mere fall from the sky was something it could withstand.

Crocodile took out a compass and worked out their current position. Before long, he had settled on a heading.

Just then, a faint noise came from nearby.

"Hmm?"

Worried that the Navy might have caught up with them, Crocodile turned his right hand into a sand saber and cautiously approached the edge of the ship to investigate.

"Who's there?"

Looking down, he saw a towering Fish-Man with crimson skin gripping the netting on the side of the ship before climbing onto the deck.

It was the Fish-Man who had been with Aiven Lindsey on the Sabaody Archipelago—Fisher Tiger!

Seeing that Tiger had caught up so quickly, even Crocodile couldn't help raising an eyebrow.

"I'd heard Fish-Men could move through the sea as easily as walking on land. I didn't expect you to be this fast."

"..."

Tiger glanced at Crocodile a few times.

He didn't like the man's air, but this seemed to be a friend of Aiven Lindsey's, and it was his ship, so Tiger still nodded to him.

Then Tiger went over to Lindsey.

The latter was still thinking about the move he had just used, trying to come up with better ways to apply the many theories he had yet to put into practice.

Armament Haki...

Could he master it completely?

When Lindsey saw Tiger, he gave him a casual nod and grinned. "Coming with us?"

"..."

"Thank you very much!"

Tiger thought it over again and again, then lowered his head and said solemnly, "I'm grateful you rescued me, but for now... I can't travel with you."

He explained earnestly, "There's something I need to do, so I have to return to Fish-Man Island first, and then..."

He stopped there.

He already had a plan in mind.

He would return to the Holy Land of Mary Geoise, wreak havoc, destroy the filth he had witnessed, and free more slaves!

It was what should have happened in the original course of events.

But Tiger clearly didn't want to drag Lindsey into it, so he simply buried the plan in his heart.

Lindsey didn't mind, though.

Once a Fish-Man entered the sea—especially a skilled fighter like Tiger—the humans on land couldn't do anything to him unless they had the abilities of a Marine Admiral.

Tiger had already regained his freedom, yet he had gone out of his way to catch up with Lindsey just to say goodbye. That was proof enough that his gratitude was sincere.

"Whatever it is, if you want to do it, then go ahead!"

That line sounded so much like Aiven Lindsey, yet this time it came from Tiger.

"Lindsey, your next words are going to be those, aren't they?"

Tiger suddenly spoke.

Lindsey blinked. Those were exactly the words he had been about to say, but he hadn't expected Tiger to say them first.

Seeing this, Tiger simply sat cross-legged on the deck, lowered his head slightly toward Lindsey, and said earnestly, "I have a question."

Lindsey sat facing Tiger, while Crocodile quietly smoked his cigar and watched.

Tiger considered it for a moment, then slowly said:

"When I was in the Holy Land of Mary Geoise and saw the cruel atrocities humans committed against the Fish-Man Race, I couldn't hold back any longer."

"No matter the risks, I had to save them!"

"I hate humans."

"But..."

Tiger recalled everything that had happened on the Sabaody Archipelago.

The civilians, and the Navy soldiers who had helped them—he just couldn't bring himself to hate them.

"I'm a little confused."

Tiger murmured, "Should I stick to my original beliefs and refuse to associate with humans, or agree with Queen Otohime's views and try to live peacefully alongside them?"

At this, Lindsey immediately understood.

Because of the commotion he had caused, Fisher Tiger had encountered another side of humanity sooner than he otherwise would have, and it had left him uncertain about what he believed.

"Which side should I stand on?"

The person I used to be?

Or Queen Otohime?

"..."

Lindsey thought for a moment, then said, "Actually, I have a question too."

"Hm?"

Tiger was taken aback.

Lindsey pointed to his own head, then Tiger's, and even gestured toward Crocodile nearby.

He continued, "You, me, and him—we all have different ideas."

"Even brothers aren't the same person."

"Every living being is different. We all have our own thoughts and our own positions."

"..."

Lindsey paused, then continued:

"We're all individuals, each with a life of our own."

"So why should a mere 'position' decide our 'fates' for us?"

This was, perhaps, a story about "fate."