Aokiji

When it comes to the upper and lower limits of a pirate's professional conscience, there's plenty to discuss.

The worse ones engage in arson, murder, and plunder—nothing good to say about them.

The better ones are adventure crews sailing under a pirate flag, gathering like-minded comrades on board with a cheerful atmosphere and decent overall strength.

After all, if their strength isn't enough, their odds of dying are far higher than those of the more unscrupulous pirates.

Representative crews include the Rumbar Pirates and the future Straw Hat Pirates.

These two crews actually share a bit of a connection—one was Brook's crew before his death, the other the crew he joined as a skeleton.

But honestly... neither of these crews are exactly proper pirates.

The Straw Hat Pirates go without saying—their captain Luffy is an idiot, and the other two main fighters are a directionally challenged swordsman and a perverted cook.

The rest include a thief, a liar, a sly archaeologist, a perverted shipwright, a mascot, and a bag of bones.

Despite their various quirks and less-than-glorious professions, they all share one common trait.

Hmm... to sum it up, they're basically a ship full of kind-hearted goofballs...

Their moral compass is straighter than some corrupt Marines.

And from the East Blue all the way to the New World, they keep doing good deeds, while bad ones...

Huh, wouldn't storming Impel Down count as the worst thing Luffy's ever done?

After all, he let out so many prisoners.

Anyway, back to the Rumbar Pirates—their flag is a wide-faced skull with horns.

The figurehead is a bull's skull.

Their motto is: "Make even crying children laugh."

Look at that—does that sound like pirates to you!

There's too much to say about a pirate's professional conscience, and Dawn doesn't want to dwell on it.

But not having to gamble his life on someone else's unknown choice—that's the best option for Dawn.

After all, having your life in someone else's hands is no pleasant feeling.

As he relaxed, Dawn couldn't help but marvel at his connection with the Marines.

He'd been captured as a slave before and saved by the Marines, and now, stranded on a deserted island, he'd run into a Marine warship again.

As the warship approached the beach, its full form came into view. When Dawn saw the figure standing on the bow, he couldn't help but be stunned.

The man was tall, yawning lazily as if he were sleepy, with a green eye mask strapped above his forehead, paired with a white vest and dark blue shirt.

With that look, Dawn recognized him instantly—it was Aokiji, one of the future three Marine Admirals!

But why would Aokiji come to this island??

Dawn's expression flickered with surprise and uncertainty.

"Hahaha, Dawn boy, I knew you were still alive!"

Yukimura reached the bow and spotted Dawn standing on the shore. Without waiting for the ship to dock, he stomped through the air with Geppo and charged over.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

With the muffled cracks of Geppo bursting through the air, Dawn felt a tall shadow loom over him as Yukimura scooped him up.

"Mmph mmph, put me down, Uncle Yukimura." Though grateful that Yukimura had come specifically to find him, being hugged by a man still made Dawn resist.

"Hahaha, got carried away, got carried away. I never thought you'd actually survive this godforsaken place.

On the way here, I kept worrying you'd end up as this island's fertilizer—you were thrown off the ship so suddenly, and the fight was too intense to look after you. Plus, you didn't know anything about this island, so it'd be easy to fall into a trap..."

Yukimura set Dawn down and patted his shoulder, his expression full of relief and joy.

"Ara ara, so this is the kid you said was amazing at surgical suturing? Surviving on this island isn't easy—looks like you've gotten a lot stronger."

Aokiji said, yawning as he spoke, now paying a bit more attention to Dawn.

Dawn had grown noticeably taller than before, his bare muscles and the wild aura he unconsciously exuded making him look more like an ancient youth who'd fought beasts than a small child skilled in medicine.

"Ah, Vice Admiral Aokiji, you're right—I didn't notice until you mentioned it. Dawn boy, how'd you get so tall?!" Yukimura, prompted by Aokiji, belatedly realized the change in Dawn.

"Maybe the island's nutrition was pretty abundant. When I got here, the island fed once, and I figured out its secret. So to avoid getting fat and eaten, I had to train like crazy."

Dawn rubbed his nose, telling a small lie—he couldn't exactly tell the truth, since he still looked like a kid. Maturity was fine, but no ordinary kid would have his foresight.

Saying this also gave him the best excuse for the changes in him.

After all, no matter how much he changed, if it was for the sake of survival, it was understandable.

"Haha, you were really lucky to run into the Stomach Baron's feeding time."

Yukimura laughed. "If it had fed after you'd gotten fat, you'd probably be dead by now."

That was true—for someone unaware of the Stomach Baron's nature, the first feeding was the hardest to survive.

And if you made it through once, you'd definitely train and diet like mad to stay alive.

With that, Yukimura laughed and slapped Dawn on the back, the "thump thump" making Dawn wince.

"Yeah, after that, to resist the temptation of the food, I had to keep switching between eating and nonstop training, or I'd have turned into a fat slob long ago."

Dawn recalled the struggle of fighting against the food when he first arrived on the island, a lingering fear written all over his face.

This wasn't an act—it was genuine lingering fear.

The food on that island was addictive to a degree that probably rivaled the future Four Emperors Big Mom's dependence on sweets. That feeling of going mad from not being able to eat it was no joke.

"Then you've suffered." Yukimura, seeing Dawn's expression of lingering fear, couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt.

This kid had been well-behaved and sensible ever since he was rescued, and Yukimura had regarded him as a future Marine prospect, planning to send him to headquarters for training.

But later, because of the pirate crew's attack, there was no time to search for him, and he had to give up. Yukimura still felt guilty about it, but at the same time, he hated his own lack of strength.

"It's fine, I'm doing well now, aren't I?"

Hearing Yukimura's words, Dawn couldn't help but smile and comfort him. "Besides, I turned misfortune into fortune and got stronger."

He paused, then dropped a bombshell without hesitation. "Not only that, I even ate a Devil Fruit!"