No-Kill Justice

At the center of the island.

Zephyr gripped Rock's wrist tightly, his knuckles white from the force.

His breathing was wildly uneven, veins throbbing at his temples like green snakes, as if he were using every shred of willpower to suppress something.

Barto Lomiu, beneath his feet, was trembling—not from fear, but excitement.

A crazed, almost deranged smile appeared in his eyes as he screamed inwardly:

"Purple-haired Marine!! Hahaha—it's him!! He won't kill me, I survived!!!"

Rock's Observation Haki slowly spread outward. Rather than blocking his senses, he deliberately gathered the voices he heard into his consciousness.

The next instant, lightning gently shook the air, transforming it into an Inner Voice Echo only Zephyr could hear.

Barto Lomiu's inner voice was "broadcast" into Zephyr's ears by the lightning: "Wonderful!! It's that purple-haired idiot!!!"

"I survived again!!!"

Zephyr's brow twitched violently.

"Hehe... when I get back to prison, that 'old friend' should be ready, right?

Will three hundred million Berry be enough to get me out again?"

Zephyr's fingers visibly trembled.

"North Blue is fucking bad luck. I ran into a tough one after wiping out a few villages... Next time, I'll go to East Blue! Yeah, East Blue—"

Rock sensed that the next sentence would be revolting, but he continued transmitting it anyway.

"I heard the nobles there like watching 'Mermaid shows'... What if I can't catch any mermaids? Then pregnant women will do—"

Zephyr's pupils instantly shrank to pinpoints.

At that moment, his breathing nearly stopped.

Rock opened his eyes and merely repeated it with calm, restrained clarity:

"He was thinking—

Next time he gets out, he'll go to East Blue, cut open pregnant women's bellies, stuff fish tails inside, and make them into mermaids to sell to nobles for entertainment."

No thunder sounded. The world was deathly still.

The sea breeze stopped. The shadows of the trees no longer moved.

Even the air seemed to have frozen into ice.

Barto Lomiu's face went deathly pale. His lips trembled as though he were having a seizure, and a terrified voice escaped him. "You... how could you know...?!"

At that moment, uncontrollable sobbing came from the shelter.

Someone had recognized that voice—the voice that had laughed wildly amid the flames years ago.

Three years ago, it had been this man—

Who killed their children,

Who killed their husbands,

Who killed their fathers,

Who killed the future of their entire village.

Through a crack in the shelter's wooden door, a child poked out half his face.

That face was pale, filthy, and streaked with tears.

Yet there was no trust in the Marines in his eyes, no light of hope for rescue.

There was only naked, blazing hatred—hatred hot enough to burn through a person.

The child shrieked, "That's him!! He killed my dad!!!"

His voice was so hoarse it broke apart, and the village women and elders desperately held him back.

Zephyr froze. It was as though an invisible hand had seized his chest—

Cold, cruel, and suffocating.

Lightning churned overhead as the earth awaited its descending judgment.

Zephyr's thoughts drifted between worlds: the smoking pirate limbs scattered across the ground; those tearful, hateful eyes at the crack in the door;

The horrific sight of pirates slaughtering the village years ago; the Non-Killing Justice he had always upheld.

All of it became a massive hammer that smashed into his heart.

The silence stretched on, so long it seemed even the thunderclouds were holding their breath.

His lips trembled before he finally forced out a fragmented murmur. "The law... procedure... justice... needs..."

But his voice was as weak as a candle flame in the wind.

Rock spoke softly. His voice was gentle, yet it struck the soul like thunder. "You heard him, didn't you?"

"The thing before you doesn't even count as human."

"It's just a plague wearing human skin."

"And you—"

"Are personally handing that plague a license to spread."

"—Boom."

Something in Zephyr's heart snapped.

His hand... trembling, slowly loosened.

Suddenly, rain poured down from the sky like severed beads, crashing down in a frenzy.

It fell harder and harder, as though it meant to wash the world into ash.

Thunder rumbled, illuminating Zephyr's pale, rigid profile. Rain and the stench of burning fused the earth into a bleak purgatory.

At last, Zephyr completely let go.

That hand, once a symbol of No-Kill Justice, now trembled faintly in the wind and rain.

He did not look at Barto Lomiu. With his back turned, he spoke steadily. "Thunder, how long will it take to... clean this place?"

Rock answered flatly, "One second."

Zephyr nodded.

Without another word, without another glance at that collection of sin, he turned and walked step by step toward the shelter's entrance.

When Barto Lomiu saw Zephyr truly leaving, his twisted expression instantly became utter terror.

He struggled desperately, flailing his limbs toward Zephyr like a mad dog.

"Wait!! You can't leave!!!"

"You're Zephyr the No-Kill!! You swore an oath!!!"

"Didn't you say you wouldn't kill us?!!"

"You bastard!! Get back here—!!!!"

The gale tore his cries to pieces.

Zephyr's steps paused in the rain for half a second. A voice so faint it was nearly inaudible was swallowed by the downpour:

"That Zephyr... died just now."

The next instant, the sky split open.

"Rumble—!!!"

Thunder roared down from the heavens like a spear of judgment.

The screams were instantly drowned out. The remains of the Bloodsail Pirates turned into charred ashes beneath the lightning.

Sin was burned clean. Rain washed away the scorched stench, while white vapor rose from the soil.

Zephyr reached the shelter. The children stood behind the elders' protection, trembling all over, yet glaring at him.

It was not fear.

It was not reliance.

It was hatred and incomprehension buried for three years, a burning question that pierced the heart.

Zephyr clenched both fists. His nails tore through his palms, and blood mixed with rainwater.

"I'm sorry..."

He slowly bent his knees, a gesture a Marine would never make lightly in his lifetime.

Not for atonement, not to weep, but—

To face the collapse of his own convictions.

Just as he was about to kneel, the old village chief's hand gripped his shoulder like an iron clamp.

That withered hand possessed astonishing strength.

Lightning illuminated the old man's bloodshot eyes. His voice was hoarse, yet his roar struck hard enough to hurt the ears:

"Don't say you're sorry—!!!"

Zephyr abruptly raised his head.

The old village chief's eyes were bloodshot as he panted, every word sharp as a blade:

"Look at these children!!!"

"They're alive because you took their lives back!!!"

Zephyr's throat tightened. "But I—"

The old man's furious roar cut him off. "Who have you wronged?! The people you couldn't save???"

The old village chief shook his head fiercely, rain and tears mingling together. "No! The one you've wronged—is yourself!!!"

Zephyr was stunned.

The old village chief's voice carried the raw fracture of his chest, yet it was incomparably resolute. "You value life more than anyone. You value justice more than your own life."

"But do you know?"

"These beasts won't wait for you to slowly reform them."

"You cling to your ideals, while they keep committing evil by relying on your mercy!"

"Rumble!!!"

Lightning Roar seemed to roar alongside the old man. At last, the children in the shelter could no longer hold back their wails. "We... we waited for the Marines for three years!!!"

"Why did you let him go!!!"

"Why could he still kill people!!!"

The cries struck Zephyr with such force that his chest ached sharply, as though all the convictions he had upheld for years had suddenly been tallied up and smashed down upon his heart.

Trembling, the old village chief took a bloodstained scrap of cloth from his chest. Dried fingerprints and burn marks still remained on it.

"Before my daughter was dragged away... she shouted to me, 'Dad, the Marines will come!'"

Tears streamed down the old man's face, but he showed a faint smile twisted by pain. "Want to know what happened?"

"You really came."

"Maybe you were late. Maybe you couldn't save everyone... but you came in the end."

The old village chief shoved the scrap of cloth into Zephyr's palm. Behind him, a teenage boy suddenly shouted hoarsely:

"Uncle Marine!! Next time... next time you meet people like that... can you stop letting them laugh anymore?"

Zephyr's entire body shook, as though a sharp blade had cleaved into his chest.

The old village chief's voice was hoarse and trembling, but no longer angry. "Your No-Kill Justice isn't wrong."

"What's wrong is that this world doesn't deserve it."

"But if clinging to a pure ideal means more innocent people have to bleed—"

He stared at Zephyr. "Then your ideal is an accomplice."

Thunder rolled in, as though waiting for Zephyr's answer.

At that moment, Zephyr finally raised his head.

He saw the fire in the children's eyes, the elders' expectations, and Rock's figure quietly waiting in the distance.

Rain ran down his face, but this time, it was not only rain.

Zephyr clenched the bloodstained cloth, veins bulging on the back of his hand as he slowly spoke:

"I understand..."

His voice was shattered by the rain, yet it could not conceal that resolve.

A new era's Zephyr was born amid thunder, blood, and tears.