Soldiers or Thieves

Although those who came to see him off were mostly naval officers and officers—his cadets—the scene was quite grand.

However, he did not demonstrate the strength expected of Marine Admiral.

And now... Zephyr is truly showing the level of a veteran Admiral. After all, 40 years ago, when he was 34 years old, he was already a master of Armament Haki and had earned the title of "Black Arm" Zephyr.

There must have been quite a few Marines Awakening Armament Haki back then. But he was the only one who earned his title through Armament Haki. This shows just how powerful his Armament Haki was.

36 years ago, at the age of 38, he was promoted to Marine Admiral.

In other words, by the age of 38, his physical skills and Armament Haki had already reached the level of Admiral.

He is now 74 years old.

36 years, the entire 36 years.

After reaching the level of Admiral, he cultivated for another 36 years. Although his physical strength and other aspects of his body declined due to his age, some things only grew stronger.

For example, physical skills, and Haki techniques.

That's absolutely true – old age doesn't diminish one's strength!

They get stronger with age.

Therefore, the power that Zephyr is currently displaying is reasonable.

He materialized his Armament Haki and combined it with its Armament Haki Emission, reaching a higher level. His externally released Armament Haki transformed into sharp arrows, shooting towards Moke.

"Tsk tsk..."

Moke did not back down; instead, the terrifying strength displayed by Zephyr excited him.

In an instant, Moke also changed.

He transformed into Dragon-Man Form, and simultaneously activated the Dice-Dice Fruit's power. He was now in his Dragon-Man Dice-Dice Form. Then, Ryuo) emerged from his body and wrapped around it.

Then he crossed his arms in front of his body, assuming a defensive stance.

He wanted to see just how powerful Zephyr's attack really was.

"Clang clang clang..."

Arrows rained down on him. Each arrow displayed a power no less than that of Zephyr's previous full-force attack.

Moke's expression was solemn, but he did not send the opponent flying.

However, under its terrifying power, each arrow exerted a tremendous impact on him, causing him to retreat ten or twenty meters. Under the continuous and dense attacks, he was blasted back a thousand meters.

His feet dragged two deep chasms, each half a meter deep, into the ground.

When he regained his balance and stopped.

Moke smiled; he hadn't felt this pressure in a long time. Pressure was motivation... that was what excited him.

"???"

But at that moment, Moke discovered that Zephyr was no longer where he was, but was speeding towards the port.

Moke understood instantly.

He was worried about Binz, Ain, Shuzo, though he hadn't shown it at all before. It seems he was preparing for this moment, to catch them off guard?

But how could Moke possibly let him have his way?

His entire body transformed into a giant golden dragon, hovering in the sky.

"Dragon Flame!"

Then he opened his dragon mouth, and flame energy gathered in it.

"Rumble..."

An extremely terrifying burst of fiery energy erupted, transforming into a pillar of fire that hurtled towards Zephyr.

"???"

As Zephyr ran at top speed, he immediately felt an unprecedented sense of crisis. He turned his head and paused, his eyes widening in shock.

It stopped a second later.

With his single arm outstretched, Armament Haki gathered in his hand, eventually transforming into a massive shield.

They actually managed to block Moke's attack, a strike capable of piercing an entire island.

"Huff huff..."

However, after blocking the attack, Zephyr was panting heavily, clearly having expended a lot of energy.

When everything returned to calm, Moke landed in front of Zephyr.

"Hahaha..."

Zephyr burst into laughter, but his laughter was tinged with sorrow.

Is he weak?

Not weak!

Even if Red-Hair and Whitebeard came, he could still put up a fight, even though he's old. But his stamina just can't keep up sometimes...

One must accept one's fate!

Whether you want to or not, you have to admit it!

If he were ten years younger, he would definitely have given that guy Moke a good fight today. But now, he's truly powerless to do so.

At that moment, he felt an unprecedented sense of powerlessness.

After a moment of silence, he said to Moke, "If I grant your wish and eat the Artificial Devil Fruit myself, and then eat the possessions of one of your subordinates, becoming a puppet in your hands, can you spare Binz, Ain, Shuzo?"

It has to be said that Zephyr truly treats Binz, Ain, Shuzo as his own children.

Their feelings for them were very genuine.

Moke paused slightly, "To be honest, my original intention was to take you down and then seize Binz and Ain's abilities. After all, their abilities are quite formidable. Especially Ain's Paramecia ability to Rewind-Rewind, which is extremely powerful."

However, since you've asked, out of consideration for your sincere feelings for those three, I can agree to your request. Even if I have to take his abilities, I will ensure their safety. I won't just kill them and then take them!"

"Where is Shuzo?"

Zephyr is good at grasping the key points.

Moke: "He's quite capable, so I plan to keep him as your second-in-command."

Zephyr's pupils contracted sharply.

He understood. Moke also wanted to capture Shuzo, make him eat the Artificial Devil Fruit, and ultimately make him Moke's puppet in the hands of that ability user.

Moke then added, "Actually, there's no need to worry so much. Even if you become my forces, you won't be puppets. You'll still have your own thoughts... Or, you can think of it as a forced change of your allegiance. You've gone from being Marines to pirates, that's all."

Zephyr laughed again, but this time his laughter was full of sarcasm. "You've already gone from being a Marine to a pirate, and that's all? One's a soldier, the other's a thief! Tell me... that's all?"

"What do soldiers matter? What do bandits matter?"

"If soldiers act as dogs for those wicked people, aren't soldiers themselves the most wicked thieves?"

"Thieves enable people in this world to live a good life. Aren't thieves also the strongest soldiers protecting this world?"

"I believe that with your status and position, you should be aware that under the jurisdiction of the Police Chief, Ikko, the lives of ordinary civilians in the area I control are getting better and better, right? In some already wealthy areas, the lives of ordinary civilians are even better than those of civilians under the rule of the World Government."

"So, are they soldiers or thieves?"

"It's not up to you, nor me, nor even the World Government. It's up to the ordinary people under our rule..."