"Robin, I still haven't heard your answer from your own lips."
The sudden change brought Robin sharply back to reality.
That "Dereshishi" laugh was drowned out once again by the noise in the street, and for the first time, she spoke her heart.
"I don't know..."
"That's all right. I still chose you."
"Trust is simply something we don't need."
"If you've lost your way, find it again by my side.
If you decide to leave then, I won't stop you either, because I chose you."
Robin admitted that his words had thrown her heart into disarray. Was this another sign of danger?
Or was it the fateful encounter he spoke of?
"You're a stubborn man."
"I need your strength, Robin."
The cannon fire at Ohara still thundered in her mind.
The fleeing crowds had screamed themselves hoarse.
They had called her a monster, again and again, and mocked her as a child abandoned by her mother.
When she was eight, people had said she was someone who must not be allowed to live in this world, that her very existence was a symbol of evil.
But her only friend had said:
"The sea is vast. Someday, companions who will protect you will appear. Live on with them."
The faint cries she had heard as she left the island had told her: live on! Robin!
The girl had set out to sea to survive, to prove that her friend's words were bound to come true.
Even with so many enemies along the road to her dream, she had continued to brave the wind and waves alone.
"Of course."
Amid the gloom, the loveliest flower bloomed.
During the days Lofan was away, Ain had been helping Laiyin and Geluusi of the Search Bureau confirm the membership roster.
It was not much work, but since it involved future personnel assignments, she naturally needed to familiarize herself with these members first.
Just as she was considering things carefully, the door to her office opened.
She looked up and saw an extremely familiar figure, as flashy as ever.
"Yo! Ain."
Binz's appearance startled Ain, but she immediately approached him with a beaming smile and asked with concern:
"Why didn't you contact me beforehand? Let's go see Mr. Zephyr together in a bit. He'll be overjoyed."
Binz scratched his head through his headscarf, looking a little embarrassed.
"The Admiral said I should give you a surprise. He'd already contacted me earlier to ask whether I wanted to transfer to the Navy Criminal Search Bureau."
"Huh?"
Ain knew that under the system Lofan had established, anyone who joined the Navy Criminal Search Bureau would retain their original military rank, but would never again be promoted for meritorious service.
This was the key to safeguarding the Search Bureau's reputation and authority, as well as a way to filter out those merely seeking to pad their résumés and other unwanted personnel.
"Do you know the Search Bureau's current rules?"
Binz nodded, his eyes showing that he had already steeled himself.
"Evil doesn't exist only out at sea. To make our teacher proud, this is a duty I cannot shirk."
Both of them had survived that attack, and Ain knew Binz had always hoped to fight on the front lines.
He wanted to personally arrest pirates who had committed countless crimes, demonstrate what Mr. Zephyr had taught him, and become a hero like their teacher.
Looking at the surprised Ain, Binz placed his application for the position on the desk.
As he looked up, he happened to see six newly written characters hanging on the office wall:
Fairness, impartiality, transparency.
"Not only those who stand in the light are heroes."
"Did that hands-off Admiral tell you that?"
Ain recognized Lofan's way of speaking immediately. Only he would always look at this unchanging world from such utterly unique perspectives.
"Haha, sometimes I really admire that Admiral. He always manages to open people's eyes and help them find where their hearts belong."
Looking at the girl he regarded as a younger sister, Binz knew that Ain, too, had stepped beyond their teacher's teachings and begun walking toward a brand-new future.
"Right, Ain?"
At that, Ain smiled faintly and glanced at the blue sky outside the window.
"Yes... I always feel as though he's standing somewhere very, very high, as if he's standing above those unreachable white clouds, looking down at us."
Yes, just like the photograph in that newspaper.
He had worn his coat of Justice and looked down over Marineford's naval harbor.
"But someday... someday!"
Ain's eyes revealed the same resolve and determination.
"I'll stand confidently beside him and show those damned pirate scum!"
As those unwavering eyes swept over him, every hair on Binz's body stood on end.
"What it means for justice to reign over the world!"
In her slender, graceful figure, Binz seemed to see a future, a future in which a female commander presided over Marineford.
"Let's go see Mr. Zephyr first. He was talking to me about you just a few days ago."
Her tone was gentle. Perhaps Ain had never changed.
"Of course. I specially brought a flask of Drunkard Island's local specialty today. It cost me quite a bit of my pay. We're not going home sober today!"
"Not going home sober!"
Geluusi looked at Laiyin, who was staring at him, and felt his temper flare. Why was he staring instead of getting on with his work?!
"What are you looking at?!"
"I'm really looking forward to meeting this Cloud Gull Admiral more and more."
Their workspace was right beside Ain's office, so even without meaning to, they had still overheard quite a bit of the conversation.
"Someone like that naturally inspires admiration."
Geluusi exhaled.
"You weren't a recruit at Marineford's training camp back then, so naturally, you never experienced firsthand the brilliance of figures like that."
Laiyin's eyes lit up, and he quickly put down his pen.
After rummaging noisily around his desk for a while, he finally bent down and took out a bottle of aged liquor.
He had carefully kept it ever since buying it five years ago at a price that had pained him.
Originally, he had planned to share it with Geluusi only on his fiftieth birthday.
But the topic Geluusi had brought up instantly awakened his craving for a drink.
How could a story of such momentous times go without fine liquor?
Wouldn't that be one of life's great regrets?
He knew that Geluusi had been one of the recruits who had personally experienced what was called the age of monsters twenty-six years ago.
But because it involved certain memories he was unwilling to revisit, he had never discussed it with anyone, and no matter how desperately curious Laiyin was, he had been unwilling to put his old friend in a difficult position.
Now, however, an opportunity seemed to have appeared, and naturally, he had to hurry and give his old pal a push to get past it.
That year, two monstrous recruits had appeared.
One was twenty-three, the other twenty-six.
And now, those two men.
One was the Admiral who upheld absolute justice, Akainu Sakazuki!
The other commanded the Marine Science Unit: Admiral Kizaru, Borsalino!
Both were Admirals, hailed as Marine Headquarters' greatest fighting power!
Today was precisely the day this liquor ought to be drunk.
For this liquor was called Hero's Blood.
He set out the cups, poured the liquor, as vivid as fresh blood, and hurriedly urged him on.
"Tell me more, tell me more."
Geluusi closed his eyes as the aroma of liquor filled the air, then took a sip and smacked his lips.
"Back then..."
The fragrance spread, drifted through the gap in the door, and wafted outside the building.
After mingling with Marineford's peaceful atmosphere, it slowly dissipated.
Before you continue