Zephyr Set Sail!

Zephyr's change had come quietly.

Yet whenever he was in the group, he discussed many things with everyone—most often the power systems of different worlds, how to teach disciples, his own cultivation insights, and how to deal with evildoers.

Perhaps the seed of his change had already been planted back then.

Black Arm Zephyr: If you saw an utterly evil villain, what would you do?

Hundred Year Old Virgin: This old Daoist has seen plenty of villains. If I ran into one, I'd just kill him. Consider it ridding the people of a scourge.

Great Fat Sheep of the Ninja World: Villains... if I encountered them, I might kill them. If they were spared, they might hurt many innocent civilians. Many villagers would pool their money and come to Konoha to post missions asking us to eliminate bandits and robbers. When I was still a genin, I grew up doing those kinds of missions. The newcomers probably still do the same now.

Yang Jian did not speak, but as the Heavenly God of Justice, he was actually much the same as Zephyr: he acted according to the law. But the Heavenly Rules were rather lenient in some respects. Killing a demon was only a minor matter.

Xiao Fugui did not speak either. Cooking occupied seventy or eighty percent of his life. He had once thought he could solve every problem with cooking, but in the end, he had accomplished nothing. Besides, the Qing Dynasty had its own laws. There was no need for him to worry about it.

Black Arm Zephyr: Can't they be judged by the law? Judge their crimes, then let them spend the rest of their lives repenting in prison. For tyrants like them, wouldn't that be the hardest outcome for them to accept?

That was the first time Zephyr had voiced his thoughts. It also made Chen Huang realize something. Right, this Zephyr was a little simple-minded.

Only then did Chen Huang remember to tell everyone in the group about the story of One Piece.

For example, Garp's grandson Luffy had been egged on by Red-Haired into becoming a pirate. By the time of the Summit War, he had infiltrated the Great Prison to save his sworn brother Ace and released a huge number of pirates. Then Blackbeard had seized the opportunity to take away the criminals on the sixth level. Some who had not gone with Blackbeard later returned to the seas as well.

Zephyr could imagine what kind of scene that had been. Most of the prisoners on the sixth level were ruthless killers. Many possessed the strength to conquer a small country alone.

It was simply a hell on earth. Like the end of the world.

Most of those criminals had been captured and imprisoned by Zephyr himself.

In other words, were all those evils his, Zephyr's, fault?

Chen Huang roughly knew what he was thinking. Was it numbness? Guilt? Frustration? Regret? Self-reproach?

Loli Connoisseur: Actually, you did nothing wrong—but you were also completely wrong.

His words left many people confused.

Chen Huang spoke of the red nation where he had lived in his previous life. Its public security was excellent, the best in the world. Foreigners were always amazed. Why did you dare go out at night, especially to places that looked so unsafe?

Loli Connoisseur: Does your world basically not have the death penalty? If someone commits a crime, they either do hard labor or go to prison.

Black Arm Zephyr: Yes.

Loli Connoisseur: That's exactly because there's no death penalty. That's why all those later events happened. If they'd just been sentenced to death and executed, there wouldn't have been so much trouble.

In the world of One Piece, prisoners had been executed—Roger and Ace, for instance. They were not executed because they had been sentenced to death. They were killed for the whole world to see, to display the authority of the World Government. Oh, right, and the giants of the Giant Warrior Pirates. Though they were later talked into guarding the gates for the World Government.

Loli Connoisseur: Your current problems and methods stem from the fact that your beliefs rely on the law. But if the law is wrong, would you still enforce it? What if it goes against the justice in your heart?

Loli Connoisseur: Laws can be changed, so I think you should have your own convictions. In my original world, obeying the law was worthy of praise. But in your world... I truly think killing them would be better. I think you should consider those they have harmed, as well as those they might harm in the future.

Or would killing an evildoer also go against the justice in your heart?

Of course the answer was no. The moment Zephyr had asked that question, the beliefs in his heart had already begun to waver. He did not answer, and everyone tacitly moved past the subject.

By now, he had naturally made his choice. Some people had killed countless others yet had no enemies at all, because everyone who held a grudge against them was dead.

Why had Zephyr's wife and son died? Because his enemies were still alive. The stupidest thing he had ever done was showing mercy to those who did not deserve it. The captain of a ship might have been captured, but weren't there still survivors among the rest?

Why not kill them? Because his dream had always been to become a hero. But if he could not even protect his family and students, what kind of teacher was he? What kind of hero?

Zephyr and Sakazuki talked for a long time afterward. Since becoming teacher and student, it was the first time they had spoken for so long.

The next day, Zephyr submitted an application to Sengoku. He did not apply to form a pirate guerrilla unit. He merely requested a warship so he could go stretch his legs.

Sengoku: "Hey, Zephyr, isn't this too reckless? Your arm just healed, didn't it? Won't it affect your combat strength? What if something happens?"

Zephyr laughed heartily. "Don't worry, Sengoku! I'll only have some fun in the first half."

Only after he repeatedly assured him did Sengoku agree to assign him a warship. His second-in-command was not highly ranked, but he was Zephyr's former student and a rising star in the Marines—Drake. He was still only a colonel.

"Teacher Zephyr!" Drake was overjoyed to see his mentor again after so long. He had heard that Zephyr had suffered an accident before. Seeing that he was now fine, he was relieved.

Most of Zephyr's students respected him immensely. To put it bluntly, if Zephyr had died before, every one of them would have attended his funeral and wept bitterly.

"It's been a long time, Drake." Zephyr smiled, but inwardly he thought, A Tyrannosaurus Fruit user, a future Marine rear admiral... and later he went undercover?

"Teacher Zephyr!"

"Teacher Zephyr!"

Of those two cries, one was crisp as a nightingale's song. The other was a rough man's embarrassingly feminine voice. Never mind him.

Ain and Binz, the two students who had survived.

They had not been badly injured, so when Zephyr lost his arm, they had often come to visit him. Sengoku had also assigned them to this warship.

Tears welled in their eyes. They were setting sail again, but everything had changed.

"Silly children, why are you crying? Everyone is watching." Zephyr smiled brightly. The soldiers aboard the ship were watching, and so were their dead classmates.

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