Heavy Justice

When Long Yi set foot on the nameless island, all he saw was devastation.

After drifting for an entire night, he had still arrived too late and missed the pirates who had already set sail.

As he sifted through the ashes left behind by the pirates, Long Yi frowned deeply.

The ashes still retained a trace of warmth, proving that the Belik Pirates had not left long ago. But Long Yi did not dare pursue them rashly, because he had no idea which direction they had gone.

"Damn it!"

Having not slept a wink all night, Long Yi's eyes were bloodshot. He clenched his fists tightly, the unwillingness in his heart nearly bursting from his chest.

Standing on the chaotic beach, he felt utterly lost.

The North Blue was so vast. Having missed this chance, where was he supposed to look for Belik now?

"Whew..."

The sea breeze brushed lightly against him. Long Yi exhaled the stale breath in his chest and slowly closed his eyes.

"Slap."

Just as he waited for his emotions to settle and bitterly prepared to give up searching for Belik, something suddenly blew to his feet with a faint sound.

Long Yi froze and instinctively opened his eyes. Looking closely, he discovered that the thing at his feet was an old, tattered sea chart.

"A sea chart?"

Muttering to himself, he picked it up. A large red marking on it immediately caught his eye.

The moment he saw the large X-shaped mark, Long Yi's heart inexplicably tightened, and his breathing quickened.

Staring blankly at that mark, he softly spoke the name of the place.

"Guya Village."

"Please... don't let anything happen!"

Long Yi hurriedly left the nameless island and immediately followed the sea chart's directions toward Guya Village.

Staring at the horizon ahead, Long Yi's face was full of exhaustion. The prolonged voyage had pushed his mind to its limits.

Yet he still did not dare relax, afraid that his fatigue would make him miss another opportunity to intercept the Belik Pirates.

"My ship is fast! I should be able to reach Guya Village before Belik's fleet."

Estimating Belik's fleet's sailing speed and departure time, Long Yi felt that he should still make it in time.

No matter what, he could not stand by and watch another village be ravaged by Belik. Mosmar Village had become an everlasting pain in his heart, and he did not want anyone else to suffer the same pain.

To lighten the ship's load and make the sailboat faster, Long Yi unhesitatingly threw away all his food and fresh water, keeping only his weapons and the backpack Karp had given him before he left.

Pulling out the coat from the bag, Long Yi gently stroked the two words "Justice" on its back. A strange gleam gradually appeared in his eyes.

"Belik, this time, I'll definitely stop you!"

Gritting his teeth, Long Yi threw the backpack overboard and draped the coat over himself. Though the coat was light, he somehow felt as if something had been added to his shoulders.

That feeling was called responsibility.

Guya Village was a coastal village that lived by fishing and hunting.

It was situated in a remote area, at least an hour's journey from the nearest port town.

Though life was poor, the villagers were happy, because nothing was more satisfying than a peaceful life.

Especially recently, after the young people of the village brought back a strange fruit from deep within the forest, the smiles on the villagers' faces had grown even wider.

According to the village chief, who had gone to sea in his youth, that strange fruit was called a "Devil Fruit." It was a treasure of the sea, worth a fortune.

After some discussion, the villagers decided to sell the Devil Fruit and use the money to improve everyone's lives.

But more than ten days had passed, and the village chief still had not reached an agreement with the Marines' representative. The fruit remained unsold, leaving the villagers somewhat disappointed.

That day, the villagers were busy with their usual affairs when the arrival of a young man shattered their peaceful lives.

"Cough, cough, cough... Looks like I made it this time."

After coughing dryly a few times, Long Yi's eyes were filled with deep exhaustion.

Following another two days and one night of nonstop sailing, he had finally arrived at Guya Village, the place marked on the map, before Belik.

"I need to warn the villagers quickly..."

Severely dehydrated and extremely weak, Long Yi's consciousness was hazy. But he still remembered why he had come. He had to tell the villagers that the Belik Pirates were about to arrive.

"Run! You all need to run! Pirates are about to attack this place!"

With his hoarse voice, Long Yi ran toward Guya Village. Yet the instant he stepped into the village, his footing gave way and he fell forward.

"Ah!"

Several villagers drying fishing nets at the village entrance cried out in alarm and hurried over to Long Yi. Seeing his sallow face and cracked lips, they were all shocked and urgently shouted.

"Hey, go get some water! This child is dehydrated!"

Lying on the ground, Long Yi's consciousness began to blur. Ruthlessly, he bit through the tip of his tongue, only then regaining his clarity.

Relying on the strong will he had developed through training, he grabbed a villager's trouser leg.

"Sir... run! Pirates are coming!"

The villagers froze upon hearing Long Yi's words. After exchanging glances, the villager squatted down and gently patted Long Yi's back, urging him not to move around. The water would be here soon.

But the villagers' kind actions only made Long Yi frantic. He had rushed here without rest, not to beg for a drink of water. Belik's fleet could arrive at any moment, and judging by those pirates' habits, no one in this village would be left alive.

Struggling to rise, he spat out the blood in his mouth. Long Yi intended to force the villagers away, but a wave of weakness nearly made him collapse again.

Just as Long Yi and the well-meaning villagers remained at an impasse, the villager who had gone to fetch water hurried back. At his side was an elderly, bearded man.

"The water's here! The water's here!"

As the man handed Long Yi the earthenware jug, Long Yi was so anxious that he did not know where to begin. Looking at the villagers, he stomped his foot fiercely, then took a large gulp of fresh water from the jug.

His body, long deprived of moisture, gradually improved. After a bout of violent coughing, Long Yi finally felt some of his weakness ease.

"Run! Belik's pirate crew is about to arrive!"

Once his condition had improved slightly, Long Yi again urged the villagers to seek shelter. He certainly did not believe that the red X marked on the pirates' sea chart had been drawn for fun.

Seeing that Long Yi did not appear to be lying, the villagers began to waver. Just as they were about to question him further, the bearded old man suddenly widened his eyes and slammed his cane against the ground.

"Hmph! It's you greedy Marines again! You failed to settle on a price last time, and now you're putting on this pitiful act to trick us?"

The bearded old man leaning on the cane was none other than Guya Village's chief.

After failing to sell the Devil Fruit to the Marines last time, he had worried that possessing such a treasure would draw covetous eyes. He had not expected that today, someone with ill intentions would truly come.

"Stop acting! You little brat won't fool me! You want to exploit our sympathy to lure us out of the village, then steal our treasure while you have the chance? Heh heh, dream on!"

The bearded old man wore an expression that said, You can't fool me, leaving Long Yi utterly bewildered. He had no idea what the old man was talking about. Causing trouble at a time like this was practically treating the villagers' lives as a joke.

"Old sir, I'm telling the truth! This is a sea chart left behind by the Belik Pirates. This village has been marked—you're in danger!"

Long Yi was so anxious he nearly jumped in place. Yet there was no time to explain. The Belik Pirates were on their way, and every second was precious.

"Heh heh, kid, if you want to fool me with such a trick, you should at least take off your uniform first."

The bearded old man stroked his beard, his eyes full of smugness. In his youth, he had traveled far and wide aboard merchant ships and had long witnessed the Marines' shameless ways. Trying to trick him into leaving with such an excuse? No chance!

"Damn it! I'm telling the truth!"

Looking at the smug bearded old man, Long Yi was nearly driven mad. This stubborn old man had decided that he was a spy sent by the Marines to seize their treasure and refused to believe a word he said.

The village chief was the absolute authority in the village. After hearing his words, the simple villagers began looking at Long Yi differently. They pointed at him and whispered things like, "So young, yet already so dishonest."

"I..."

The villagers' reaction chilled Long Yi to the bone. Overwhelmed by anxiety and anger, he was left speechless.

"Get out!"

In the end, their dissatisfaction turned into action. The villagers roared, no longer treating Long Yi as a child, but as a swindler—a thief trying to steal their treasure.

"Get out!"

"The treasure belongs to us!"

"Guya Village doesn't welcome liars!"

As they shouted, the villagers began picking up stones from the ground and throwing them at Long Yi.

Watching the stones fly toward him, Long Yi began to waver. He had no idea what he had done wrong. He had only wanted to prevent another tragedy from happening. So why had things turned out this way?

The stones were slow enough that Long Yi could have easily dodged them, but at that moment, he had lost the desire to evade them.

His heart was in turmoil.

A stone flew over. With a bang, it struck Long Yi at the temple, cutting open a wound.

Blood ran down from the wound, blurring his vision. Yet he showed no reaction, merely staring blankly at the villagers throwing stones at him. A silent grief spread through his heart.

Only after seeing Long Yi bleed did the villagers seem to suddenly remember that he was just a child. They stopped what they were doing, stunned and at a loss.

"Look, what's that?!"

Just then, a sharp-eyed villager suddenly spotted a large sailing ship on the distant sea.

The ship flew a black flag, and its enormous sail bore the image of a skull wearing an eyepatch.

"P-P-Pirates!"

The villagers who recognized the pirate ship were dumbfounded. Only then did they suddenly recall what Long Yi had been saying ever since he arrived.

The appearance of the pirate ship left the villagers panicked, and naturally did not escape Long Yi's notice. Casually wiping the blood from his face with the back of his hand, he slowly turned around and stopped paying attention to them.

"W-Wait!"

Before Long Yi had taken more than two steps, the pale-faced bearded chief called out to him.

Long Yi turned back and calmly looked at the chief, whose legs were trembling. There was neither sorrow nor joy in his eyes.

"Kid—no! Child, where are you going?"

Hearing the chief's question, Long Yi did not answer. He silently drew the katana at his waist and pointed its blade at the pirate ship.

"Are you planning to face the pirates alone?! But we just... Y-you, who exactly are you?!"

Guilt filled the chief's heart. Their kind warning had been met with cruel treatment.

They had called Long Yi a liar and a wicked person, yet now, the wicked person in their eyes intended to face the approaching pirates alone.

"Me? Heh heh. I'm Marine Third-Class Seaman Long Yi."

With a soft laugh, Long Yi turned and walked away, his steps slow and heavy.

Under the sunlight, the two words "Justice" on his back were deeply imprinted in the villagers' eyes.

Those two words, carried on that young boy's back, seemed as heavy as mountains.