Absolute Justice

"Vice Admiral! They're charging us!" a marine reported.

Rosinante nervously drew his pistol, his hand shaking badly.

Rayne also "nervously" gripped his sword hilt. He had already prepared for a boarding battle, calculating how much strength he needed to use to make his act more convincing while accidentally killing a few more pirates.

However, Sakazuki had no intention of giving them a chance to board.

He merely watched coldly as the pirate ship drew closer and began firing its cannons. Every cannonball missed laughably wide.

When the two ships were still nearly a thousand meters apart, Sakazuki raised his right arm, which was covered in magma.

The instant Sakazuki raised his arm, Rayne's Observation Haki sensed a terrifying heat capable of destroying the world gathering there!

But at the same time, his Observation Haki pierced through the pirate ship, clearly "seeing" deep into its hold—there were not only the auras of dozens of pirates, but also several civilians who had been tortured beyond endurance and were giving off faint signs of life!

Alarm bells rang in Rayne's mind.

He abruptly turned to look at Sakazuki.

He believed that, with Sakazuki's strength, there was no way he could have failed to sense it!

Yet Sakazuki's expression did not waver in the slightest.

Damn! He's trying to steal my kills.

That thought had barely crossed Rayne's mind before it was replaced by another, far angrier one: He's going to take the civilians with them too...!

The next second, a gigantic magma fist trailing black smoke and flames tore through the sky faster than a cannonball.

Before Rosinante could react, the gigantic magma fist struck the center of the pirate ship with perfect accuracy.

There was no earth-shattering explosion.

There was only a deafening Sizzle—!!!!!

The wooden pirate ship, along with the dozens of arrogant pirates aboard, was like plastic trash tossed into a blast furnace. Before their screams could carry very far, they were melted through, ignited, and vaporized by the extreme heat in an instant.

Several seconds later, all that remained on the sea was a patch of violently boiling water and several charred wreckage fragments floating on the surface, still burning.

Annihilated.

A deathly silence fell over the deck.

Clang.

Rosinante's pistol fell onto the deck. His face went pale as paper as he stared at the boiling sea, his stomach churning. He rushed to the side of the ship, gripped the railing, and began dry-heaving violently. "Blergh—"

His entire body trembled, and only one thought remained in his heart: This... this isn't justice... this is slaughter...

Behind him, Rayne was stunned as well.

He did not throw up, but his entire body was trembling slightly, and his face had gone somewhat "pale."

Rosinante was sickened and terrified.

Rayne, on the other hand, was consumed by rage. He clenched his fists so tightly that his nails nearly dug into his palms. That bastard... he actually wiped out those innocent victims along with them?!

Rayne did not consider himself some saint. For the sake of the Crime Index, he could slaughter pirates without mercy.

But to indiscriminately bring destruction upon innocent victims kidnapped by pirates as well...

Is this your "Absolute Justice"...?

Sakazuki slowly turned around, the magma on his arm still sizzling.

He saw Rosinante vomiting his guts out, and undisguised contempt flashed through his sinister eyes.

Then he saw the other new recruit.

Rayne was also "trembling slightly," and his face was somewhat pale—Sakazuki assumed Rayne had been frightened as well, though he reluctantly approved of the fact that Rayne had not vomited on the spot.

He spoke. "There is no need for even a shred of mercy or hesitation toward evil."

"Your internship has only just begun. Over the next three months, I will teach you what justice truly is."

After saying that, Sakazuki ignored the two recruits, lit a cigar, and turned to enter the cabin.

He could not even be bothered to order the wreckage salvaged, because nothing valuable would remain under his Magma-Magma Fruit.

Only after Sakazuki's figure had completely disappeared did Rosinante shakily straighten himself from the side of the ship. He collapsed onto the deck, gasping for breath, his face as pale as paper.

Rayne remained where he was, his tightly clenched fists slowly loosening as he took a deep breath of sulfur-scented air.

That night, in Rayne and Rosinante's dormitory, the atmosphere was oppressive to the extreme.

Rosinante had not eaten anything all day. He simply sat blankly on his bunk without saying a word.

Rayne sat calmly at the table, slowly wiping down his sword. It was a habit he had developed from Gion, one that allowed his mind to remain absolutely calm.

"Rayne..."

At last, Rosinante spoke in a hoarse voice.

Rayne's hand paused as he wiped the blade.

"Don't you... don't you think that was too much?" Rosinante suddenly raised his head, his eyes bloodshot and his voice filled with trembling confusion.

"He didn't even... he didn't even try to board the ship... didn't even try to arrest them..." he growled. "He just... burned them all... every last one of them!"

"How is that any different from pirates?!"

Hearing that, Rayne set down his sword and the cloth.

He turned around and calmly looked at Rosinante, who was on the verge of breaking down.

"There is a difference," Rayne said flatly.

"Pirates act for their own selfish desires. Vice Admiral Sakazuki acts for the 'justice' he believes in."

"That still isn't—" Rosinante tried to argue heatedly.

"Rosinante," Rayne interrupted him, "you feel sick, and you think it's wrong, because you're too weak."

Rosinante froze. "...What?"

"Why can Vice Admiral Sakazuki do something like this?" Rayne's tone was as cold as iron. "Because he has strength."

"He has the strength to decide everything. And we are only two interns. We do not even have the right to vomit in front of him."

Rosinante was stunned by those cruel yet realistic words.

Rayne stood and walked over to him, looking down at him.

"If you don't want this kind of thing to happen, if you want to save people with that gentle justice of yours, then you must work hard and become stronger."

"Become stronger than him. Strong enough... that he will have to listen to your voice."

Rosinante stared blankly at Rayne. There was no emotion in Rayne's dark eyes, yet they seemed to possess the power to see through everything.

"...Become... stronger..." Rosinante clenched his fists, and his trembling body seemed to find a direction.

"I understand..." He lowered his head. "Rayne, thank you."

Rayne patted him on the shoulder and said nothing more.

He did not tell Rosinante that there had been innocent civilians kidnapped by pirates aboard that ship as well.

Rosinante had nearly broken down simply because the pirates had been wiped out. If he learned the truth that even the innocent had been destroyed alongside them, Rayne had no doubt that this big blond would draw his gun and charge straight into Sakazuki's quarters. That would be true suicide.

Some truths were not for the weak to know.