Perhaps This Is What's Called Justice!

Every punch should have blasted with cannonball force, but now, injured and exhausted, his strikes had been weakened to this pathetic degree—Cook was naturally furious.

"Planning to scurry around like a coward again? Go ahead, run all you want. Let's see how many of those folks on your island are still breathing in a little while."

Cook swung another punch. Wood had meant to dodge, but hearing those words and glancing at the townsfolk lying dead and wounded on the other side, he gritted his teeth and charged forward with his blade!

"Clang---!"

A metallic clash rang out. Wood met Cook's Arm Gauntlets head-on with his right-handed slash, and an indescribable, crushing pressure slammed into his arm.

The immense impact traveled through the blade straight into Wood's arm. His bones groaned in protest, as if they might snap at any moment.

His left arm was already broken, his left shoulder dislocated—he couldn't leverage any strength from that side.

Just as Wood felt his right arm about to give out, he shot his right foot forward, stomping onto the back of his own blade. Using that extra leverage, he pried Cook's heavy punch aside.

Cook's face flickered with surprise as his blow was deflected. He'd expected Wood to dodge, or even get flattened by the punch, but he never imagined the kid would overturn the strength disadvantage like this.

But Cook still had his left hand. Though a normal person's left arm was weaker than their right, if Wood took this punch unprotected, Cook was confident he could cripple him in one blow!

Seeing Wood charge straight into his reach, Cook swung his left fist in a sweeping hook aimed at Wood's ribs, targeting his kidney for a devastating hit.

Yet as the punch came flying, Wood's face twisted with ruthless resolve.

Just as Cook had said, the longer the fight dragged on, the worse it was for Wood.

Or rather, the "worse" wasn't about Wood himself—it was about everyone else on Maple Leaf Island.

After two years of pirate raids, most of the island's original inhabitants had already fled.

Those who remained were mostly women, children, and the elderly who couldn't leave, along with a few who still held feelings for this place.

Facing the vicious Iron Arm Pirates, these poorly armed civilians stood no chance.

Every minute Wood wasted here meant more people could die at the pirates' hands. He couldn't afford to drag this fight out!

As the heavy fist screamed toward him, Wood didn't dodge. Instead, he drove his knee straight into Cook's left arm.

"Crack---!"

The result was predictable. Cook was already stronger than Wood, and his iron Arm Gauntlets only amplified that advantage.

Under the collision, Wood's left kneecap shattered instantly!

The searing pain from the broken bone made Wood bite down so hard that blood seeped through his teeth.

But before Cook could savor his victory, he saw the boy's face twist with savage determination. Using his only good leg, Wood leaped straight at him.

A glint of ferocity flashed in Wood's eyes. Beneath the skin of his right hand gripping the blade, veins bulged clearly.

"One-Sword Style: Cutting Steel!"

Cook, off-balance, watched as Wood—his left arm and left leg already ruined—sprang at him with a look crazier than anything he'd ever seen. Shock painted his face.

"You madman! Mon...ster!"

An ordinary man whose kneecap had been shattered would have lost all will to fight from the agony alone.

But the boy before Cook felt like a demon that didn't know pain!

No matter how he looked at it, the kid couldn't be more than a teenager. How could he possess such an iron will!

Silver Blade light exploded through the air. Cook's hurried attempt to block with his Arm Gauntlets couldn't stop the blade's edge.

The iron gauntlet and his arm were severed in one clean cut. A clear gash appeared on Cook's throat, and blood gushed out in torrents.

Cook tried to clamp his other hand over the spurting wound, but it was useless.

As blood poured out, his consciousness began to fade. The pupils staring at Wood slowly went vacant.

As for Wood, who had just executed the Ultimate Technique: Cutting Steel, he lost his support and slammed hard into the ground. The impact made him cough up a mouthful of blood.

The longsword in his hand, after that Cutting Steel strike, had not only sliced through Cook's gauntlet but also reached its limit—snapping clean in two.

This blade was originally looted from a pirate who had landed on the island before. It was nothing special. After taking so many of Cook's punches and then enduring Wood's Cutting Steel technique, it was only natural it gave out.

Looking at Cook lying in a pool of blood, then at the fallen residents of Maple Leaf Island, Wood used the broken sword to prop himself up.

But after just a few steps, his vision started to blur, and the world ahead grew hazy.

"Remarkable kid. Forget strength for now—the willpower you've shown is like nothing I've ever seen in my life.

When I was your age, I was far inferior to you in both strength and will.

You've done more than enough. Leave the rest to me..."

Through his fading sight, Wood vaguely caught a glimpse of a white cloak emblazoned with the word "Justice." A bold, vigorous voice spoke beside him, and just as Wood was about to collapse, a hand steadied him.

Looking down at the black-haired boy in his arms, whose left arm and left leg were twisted at grotesque angles, Zephyr's face showed deep emotion.

He had only arrived at the very end of Wood's fight with Cook, but he had witnessed that final moment of resolve.

With Zephyr's experience and strength, he could tell that if Wood had fought Cook methodically, he could have won at a much smaller cost.

But instead, the boy had chosen a desperate, all-or-nothing approach. At first, Zephyr didn't understand—he thought it was just inexperience.

But when he saw Wood, half-crippled, still propping himself up on a broken sword and limping toward the other direction, even Zephyr—a Navy man for decades—was moved in that moment.

Wasn't the justice that boy had fought with his life to uphold exactly what it meant to be righteous?