The Person Turned Out to Be You!! / Aokiji's Illegitimate Child?

"Actually, it's about a friend of mine from Fish-Man Island!"

Dongze raised an eyebrow.

"Octopus Hachi?"

Rayleigh froze again. The young man before him did not look particularly old, yet he knew such secrets inside and out.

"So you do know!"

"Back in the East Blue, I spared him. I hadn't planned to leave a single one of those Fish-Men alive!"

The thought of what those Fish-Men had done in the East Blue brought a murderous edge to Dongze's voice.

The killing intent then burst from him like a flood through a broken gate, sweeping over everything.

Since leaving the East Blue, countless pirates had died beneath Forgottten Dust. Before Dongze had unlocked Sword Intent, he had raised his proficiency by fighting pirates.

There had also been Sea Beasts and Sea Kings, of course.

It might not have seemed like much at a glance, but a closer look at those major skills with proficiency requirements of 100,000 or even a million was enough to make anyone's scalp prickle.

The killing intent he had amassed was intimidating enough to surpass even Conqueror's Haki.

The instant it spilled out, every pore on Rayleigh's body went cold. His hair stood on end, and he swiftly put distance between himself and Dongze.

Enel was even quicker on the uptake. Sensing that something was wrong, he flashed away so fast that even Rayleigh clicked his tongue in amazement.

That left Robin, who had been walking behind Dongze, to suffer. The killing intent struck without warning. Its bone-chilling presence seemed to freeze her blood, like an invisible hand clamping around her throat.

Even breathing felt like a luxury. In moments, it drained the strength from her body. Her legs gave way, and she pitched forward.

Chest to back. In that moment, Robin gave the phrase an entirely new meaning.

Sensing movement behind him, Dongze snapped out of his memories. His killing intent receded into him as quickly as an ebbing tide.

He looked at Robin, limp against his back, and sighed softly. Then he crouched and lifted her onto his back.

"Sorry."

"It's fine. I'm a little sleepy, so I'll take a nap."

Without waiting for his response, Robin turned her face, found a comfortable spot, nuzzled it twice, and fell fast asleep. A faint, triumphant smile curved her lips.

"Hey, Boss! Did those Fish-Men really disgust you that much?"

"What they did was just like what the Celestial Dragons do on the Sabaody Archipelago. They enslaved more than twenty nearby towns!"

Rayleigh frowned at Dongze's words. "What happened there, young man?"

Dongze glanced at him. Rayleigh's eyes were full of doubt, as though something did not add up.

Dongze thought for a moment, then said, "After Fisher Tiger died, the Sun Pirates fell apart. Without a leader who could unite all Fish-Men, they split into two groups. One hated humans to an extreme. Most of them grew twisted and took pleasure in torturing and killing people."

"The other group carried on Queen Otohime's wishes. They sought peaceful coexistence between Fish-Men and humans."

"Arlong was one of the extremists. Kizaru arrested him for his violent conduct, but Jinbe secured his release by taking a position as one of the Shichibukai. After that, Arlong gathered a band of Fish-Men who hated humans, formed the Arlong Pirates, and settled in the East Blue!"

"Perhaps because of Garp, the powerful pirates in the East Blue had either been captured or killed. That made it paradise for the Fish-Men!"

"With the help of a few corrupt Marines who deceived their superiors and covered up the truth, Arlong's crew enslaved nearly twenty villages nearby. They followed the Celestial Dragons' example!"

"They preached Fish-Man supremacy and believed themselves above everyone else. Anyone who couldn't pay for the right to live was killed!"

"The people there had nowhere to turn. I happened to pass through, so I killed those Fish-Men who were guilty of the worst crimes, one by one!"

Understanding dawned in Rayleigh's eyes. After a moment's thought, he said, "So that's what happened."

Dongze continued, "I imagine you've worked out the rest, Mr. Rayleigh."

Rayleigh's expression changed. "Sounds like you've guessed it too."

Dongze chuckled. "It wasn't hard. Octopus Hachi is the only one of them connected to you. To tell you the truth, he was the only Fish-Man there I didn't attack. I gravely wounded the others and threw them into the sea. Without outside help, none of them would have survived!"

"After seeing that, Hachi would naturally have sought help. You're the only person I can think of."

"That's right. He told me his companions had been killed and asked me to avenge them. But you disappeared a few days later, so the matter ended there."

"Seeing you again was unexpected. I wanted to find out what kind of person you were and what had really happened back then."

"Then what do you think I should have done?"

"You did well to kill them! If it had been me, I might have gone further: cut them down, dug a pit, and buried them!"

So You Were the One! "Hey! Isn't that kid the new Shichibukai?"

As Dongze walked along, someone quickly recognized him. He was a newcomer who had drawn plenty of attention over the past two days, making him hard to miss in the first half of the Grand Line.

"I heard he got into the Shichibukai through the back door!"

"The back door?"

Hearing that, several pirates with rather dirty minds thought of something else and shuddered.

"Whose back door did he use?"

"Not sure. I heard Admiral Aokiji and Garp the Hero pulled strings for him."

"Gulp."

The pirates swallowed hard.

Several eye-watering images flashed through their minds. They hurriedly shook their heads. Some things were too much to imagine.

Their captain noticed their strange looks and finally caught on. He had been explaining himself until his mouth was dry, and none of them had listened!

A storm of fists promptly rained down on their heads.

"Damn it, you filthy-minded bastards! Women will be the death of you one day!"

The pirates thought they were too far away for Dongze's group to hear them. They did not know about Observation Haki. Dongze had heard every word.

Dongze was used to people talking behind his back, but this was a first. His face darkened. "Enel!"

Enel rubbed his head. He had heard the filthy conversation too and had been looking forward to watching the show. At Dongze's call, he answered helplessly, "On it!"

He turned into a bolt of lightning and rushed toward the loose-tongued pirates.

Thunder cracked. Lightning flashed, and several agonized screams tore through the air. Enel clenched his hand, making the lightning flare brighter. He stopped only when the pirates had been reduced to ash.

Since joining Dongze, he had made a habit of finishing off his opponents. Once they went down, he no longer tossed a casual Raigo their way and left their survival to chance. He poured on the power until nothing remained but ash.

As Dongze put it, "Leave the roots behind, and the weeds grow back."

At first, Enel had not believed him.

Then one pirate, after Enel had beaten him into the ground countless times and blasted him in the face with a Raigo, had gotten back up half an hour later. Enel had never been quite so confident in his lightning since.

He had learned firsthand just how tenacious pirates could be.

From then on, he stopped only after turning his opponents to dust. As he liked to boast, "Go on, get up again if you can! If you do, I'll call you Dad!"

"That young man is ruthless."

Rayleigh narrowed his eyes at what remained of them. His voice had grown stiff.

"Forgiving them is God's job. Saving their souls is Buddha's. We're only mortals. Our job is to send them to hell."

Dongze's reply was heavy.

Since going to sea, he had seen plenty of pirates. Crews like the Straw Hat Pirates were almost nonexistent.

Pirates were called pirates not merely because they opposed the World Government and the Marines. More importantly, they pursued a life without rules or restraints.

Murder, betrayal, cruelty, exploitation, and greed were far more common among them.

Dongze rarely felt pity for them.

Besides, everyone had a choice. Those who chose to become pirates and sail these seas had long since accepted the risks.

The same was true of Dongze. With his current strength, though, the chance of that happening to him was almost nonexistent.

After all, if he could not win, he could run.

The thought of his Water-Walking skill made his lips curl. Even Garp going all out could not catch him. Kizaru would probably be dumbfounded too.

"Young man, I looked into you before. You came from the East Blue, and whenever you faced pirates, you left almost no survivors. Some even call you a second Akainu, one who works outside the Marines."

"But I want you to know that there are heroes among pirates too, men who value loyalty and honor. You can't judge them all alike!"

Dongze stopped walking. "What makes you think I judge them all through the same lens?"

"Don't you?"

The air between them grew tense.

Dongze narrowed his eyes. "If I did, an old pirate like you would already be dead by my sword."

Rayleigh met him head-on. "You're young, but you certainly talk big!"

Dongze patted Robin lightly and woke her.

Then he continued, "Be honest with me. Don't tell me you don't know what those people are really like."

After a long pause, Rayleigh replied, "They have their faults, but they're a powerful force capable of overthrowing a rotten order!"

Dongze gave a dry laugh. "So Roger set this age loose?"

Rayleigh answered with a sigh full of old memories. "By then, he had no other choice."

Dongze fell silent. He knew Rayleigh had finally reached what he truly wanted to say.

A long while later, standing atop a small hill, Dongze sighed.

"If Mr. Roger chose to entrust that hope to a new era, why won't you believe in it?"

Rayleigh shook his head with a bitter smile. "So you know about that too."

"But what you did in the East Blue worried me. One person alone can't overthrow this rotten order. This world still needs those rising forces!"

"This lovely young woman is Nico Robin, isn't she?"

"Hello, Mr. Rayleigh."

"Young man, Roger and I never met again at the end. But we understood each other so well that I knew what he was thinking!"

"I know you aren't the person he was waiting for!"

Rayleigh's gaze grew resolute as he spoke.

Dongze looked into the distance. "The Pirate King?"

"You have your plans, and I have my own path. If our paths truly clash, I'm sorry, but I won't back down!"

"Besides, what I do isn't purely about justice. Sometimes I'll use any means necessary to reach my goals. I'm not a good man!"

"Haha!"

"You certainly speak your mind!"

Dongze suddenly asked, "Do you want to know my dream?"

Seeing the look in Dongze's eyes, sharp enough to pierce the heavens, Rayleigh grew interested. "I'd like to hear it!"

Dongze set Robin down, took the Sword Case off his shoulder, and tapped it. Its mechanism clicked open, revealing the first three of the seven longswords inside.

"I've put everything into these!"

Rayleigh looked at the seven swords—or rather, at the first three: Forgotten Dust, Long River, and Thunderclap. His eyes lit up. He sensed the same presence he had felt that day.

"So you were the one!"

Aokiji's Illegitimate Son? When two strong people faced each other, ordinary arguments rarely got through. Dongze had known that all along, so in the end, he chose to settle his discussion with Rayleigh by the sword.

Yes. Once they fought, everything would become clear.

Garp, after all, had practically beaten a third-generation Marine into becoming the Pirate King. Fate had a strange sense of humor.

Of course, Dongze stood a good chance of getting beaten himself. But he had also awakened an undefeated Sword Intent: Non-Contention Sword Intent.