Island.
Akainu stared blankly.
The rulers he remembered had always been lofty and overbearing.
Wherever the Celestial Dragons went, commoners had to kneel. One misstep meant certain death.
Even for an admiral like him, the Navy's highest combat power, commoners felt nothing but awe and deep fear upon seeing him.
"Sir."
"You're blocking my way."
Suddenly.
A childish voice rang out by his feet.
Akainu looked down and saw a little boy carrying a large bag of red apples.
The boy had been smiling sweetly.
But when he saw the Navy coat on Akainu's body, emblazoned with the word "Justice."
The smile instantly froze on his young face.
Thud.
The paper bag slipped from his arms, and bright red apples rolled all over the ground.
"Na... Navy!"
The little boy screamed in terror.
He staggered backward and fell onto the filthy ground.
That scream was like cold water splashing into boiling oil.
The bustling, prosperous street instantly fell so silent that a pin drop could be heard.
Everyone's eyes converged on Akainu's towering figure.
There was no respect or expectation in those gazes.
Only undisguised disgust, wariness, and bone-deep fear.
"World Government lapdogs..."
A suppressed, venomous whisper came from the crowd.
"What are they here for again? Didn't the Empire already drive them away?"
"Pull the child back! Don't go near that murderous devil!"
A woman boldly rushed out from the crowd.
She scooped up the little boy and retreated deep into the crowd as though fleeing from a plague.
Akainu was struck as if by lightning, frozen in place and unable to move.
The Absolute Justice he had been so proud of was, in these commoners' eyes, no different from a plague or disaster.
"We..."
"Are protecting you."
Akainu's lips moved.
But even he found his own voice pale