The Reason

Batia Island.

Hospital.

"Although he sustained an impact to the head, strangely, it wasn't very hard. He'll be fine after some time to recover."

"Mm, I understand. Sorry for the trouble, Doctor." Momonga nodded expressionlessly.

The doctor gave him a complicated look, then walked out of the ward with a dejected expression.

In the empty ward, Momonga looked at the man lying unconscious in the bed, pressed his lips together, and let out a long, stifled sigh.

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!"

Not far away, Gion's partner roared, his eyes bloodshot, as he slammed his fist into the wall again and again.

Dust sifted down from the wall.

Holes marked with blood appeared one after another in the ashen wall.

"She called me Uncle... She called me Uncle!!!"

Gion's partner let out a beastlike roar.

Blood seeped from his fists, but he didn't seem to notice.

Gion sat motionless beside the bed, eyes closed, her fingers interlaced and pressed against her brow.

Then, suddenly, she stood up.

Her delicate eyes were bloodshot as she turned and glared at the man smoking by the window.

"Darren!!"

"How can you still be in the mood to smoke?!"

An inexplicable fury surged up her throat, making her voice hoarse.

"Weren't you the ruler of North Blue?!"

"Didn't you think you were so capable?"

Darren finished one cigarette, then immediately lit another.

Gion's anger flared even hotter, and tears welled in her eyes.

"—Say something!!"

She bit down hard on her red lips, so fiercely that she drew a shocking streak of blood.

"Phew..."

Darren exhaled a long stream of smoke, seemingly ignoring her as he tapped off the ash.

The ashtray on the windowsill was already piled high with cigarette butts.

The ward was terrifyingly silent.

Like a grave where people's hearts were buried.

Momonga watched Gion suddenly roar at Darren. He opened his mouth, but in the end, he couldn't bring himself to say anything. His expression was conflicted.

"What else could I do?"

The Marine Captain's voice suddenly broke the silence.

Gion froze.

She saw a mocking smile slowly lift the Marine Captain's lips.

Darren slowly turned around, his face full of scorn.

As he spoke, he glanced at the clock on the wall.

The color drained from Gion's face.

She was at a loss for words.

Yes. What else could he do?

Forget a mere North Blue Admiral or a headquarters captain. Even if Admiral Sengoku himself were here... he still couldn't change how this story ended.

They were Celestial Dragons.

The World Government's Celestial Dragons, with every privilege in the world at their disposal.

If they dared to act, it wouldn't just be the Marines present who suffered. The civilians across the whole of Batia Island might lose their lives because of their foolishness and impulsiveness.

"Am... am I still alive...?"

Just then, an extremely weak voice rang out.

Gion and the others started at the sound and quickly turned to look.

The man struggled to lift his heavy eyelids and slowly woke up.

"Lia... Lia..."

He murmured her name in a daze. Then the corner of his eye caught sight of Darren smoking by the window, and his whole body suddenly trembled.

"Marine... Sir... Darren..."

Gritting his teeth, he struggled to sit up in bed, but then weakly toppled onto the floor.

"Just rest for now..." Gion hurried forward to help him, but he waved her away.

His eyes bloodshot, the man gazed at Darren's profile with a desperate, pleading look.

"Sir Darren... You saved me..."

At his words, Gion and Gion's partner froze.

They both remembered what the doctor had just said.

The impact hadn't been very hard...

Could it be...

They noticed the metal buckle on the man's dirty clothes and understood at once.

"Since you survived, then live well."

Darren took a drag of his cigarette and looked calmly at the man.

"Under my command, no civilian is allowed to die an unnatural death."

"No, Sir Darren..."

Kneeling on the floor, the man looked at the Marine Captain in anguish.

"Please, I beg you, save my daughter..."

"Her mother died of an illness when she was very young..."

"She's such a good, sensible child. She never cries or makes a fuss, and she even helps me sell flowers on the street..."

"Sell flowers..." The man suddenly looked as if he'd been struck by lightning.

Smack!!

He slapped himself hard and began sobbing loudly.

"It's all my fault... If only I'd been more capable, if only I hadn't let her sell flowers on the street... none of this would have happened..."

The man wept uncontrollably, pounding his forehead against the floor.

"Please, Sir Darren... Save Lia... She's everything to me..."

"If you save her, I'll do anything."

"I can be your servant. I can kill for you. My garden... and my money, too. You can take anything..."

"Please..."

Frantically searching his mud-caked clothes, he pulled several crumpled, dirt-stained bills and a handful of coins from his pockets.

Perhaps because he was so weak, his hands trembled uncontrollably. The coins slipped through his fingers and clattered across the floor.

They spun on the ground, their surfaces smeared with dirt and blood, then toppled over.

Their gleaming surfaces reflected the world's light and shadow.

And the Marine Captain's stern face.

"No, you don't understand what I mean."

Darren spoke calmly.

He glanced at the clock on the wall again, then stubbed out his cigarette and took the white cape from the coat stand, draping it over his shoulders.

The imposing, merciless "Justice" unfurled across his broad back... surging like waves.

It seemed to brim with endless iron and blood.

The man stared blankly at the Marine Captain before him, bewilderment written across his pale face.

Seeing this, Darren sighed softly and looked the man squarely in the eyes.

"I'll say it again... Under my command, no civilian is allowed to die an unnatural death."

He glanced at the bills in the man's hand and the coins scattered across the floor.

"As for the money..."

Darren smiled.

"I've already been paid."

With that, Darren strode toward the ward's exit.

"Where... where are you going?"

Gion couldn't help asking.

For some reason, a vague sense of foreboding rose in her heart.

Gion's partner stared fixedly at Darren's back, blood dripping from his fist.

"It's about time."

Darren didn't look back. He merely spoke in an even tone.

Time?

Gion and Gion's partner froze.

They suddenly remembered a detail.

Ever since they'd entered the ward, Darren had kept glancing at the clock on the wall from time to time, as if he were waiting for something.

Before they could react, Darren had already left the ward.

He walked down the hospital's long, cold corridor, his military boots striking the floor with crisp footsteps.

Darren's gaze gradually turned cold and defiant.

"Darren!"

A voice suddenly called from behind him.

Darren stopped and turned to look at Momonga, who had hurried after him.

Momonga hesitated.

"Before it happened, Lieutenant Gion had crossed paths with the little girl. She bought flowers from her... Lieutenant Gion didn't do it on purpose..."

"I know."

Darren cut him off.

Looking at Momonga, he smiled.

"Seems you think highly of Gion."

Momonga smiled bitterly, a flicker of emotion crossing his eyes.

"There are far too few people in this sea who cling to justice as purely as she does."

Darren said nothing.

It was true.

And that was why he didn't dislike Gion.

Her anger wasn't directed at him.

She knew full well that, with everyone watching, no one could change how things had turned out.

Her anger was directed more at herself.

Anger at her own helplessness.

Anger at justice's powerlessness.

Anger at the injustice of the world.

"Is there anything else?"

Darren asked again.

Momonga fell silent for a moment.

"Are you sure you're going?"

"No Marine has ever done anything like this."

You don't have to do this... You don't need to...

He stumbled over his words.

Darren suddenly smiled.

"Momonga, you know what?"

"You're right. I have plenty of reasons not to go. I could easily list dozens of them..."

"This world is full of tragedies, and countless more are caused by the Celestial Dragons. I'm just one North Blue Admiral. I can't deal with all of them;"

"If I do this, I could very well bring trouble down on myself. If I'm found out, no one will be able to protect me;"

"As a Marine, I should've understood long ago that the Marines serve the World Government. It's natural to feel angry, but you get used to it;"

"There's no need to take such a risk for a little girl I don't even know. One careless move, and everything I've worked so hard to build in North Blue will be ruined..."

"Yes, there are far too many reasons not to go."

Darren smiled.

"But I've only come up with two reasons to go."

"Those two reasons are enough to overturn every reason not to."

He spoke each word distinctly, his tone defiant and cold, like a series of icy nails driven deep into the air.

"First, North Blue is my territory. I won't allow something like this to happen on my turf... even if the culprit is a Celestial Dragon."

"Second, that bastard's face was so disgusting, it made me want to kill him."

Darren's grin twisted into something almost cruel.

"—the kind you just couldn't control, no matter what."

Please, anything at all would be greatly appreciated.