Roy pointed deeper into Ohara, where the sounds of artillery explosions grew closer.
The flames and thick smoke had spread to the outskirts of their area, and the air was filled with the smell of burning and the heat of the air.
Kuzan, supporting Saul, looked at the powerful and well-coordinated trio of Roy companions.
He glanced back at the panicked but protected scholars and the mother and daughter.
Then think of the civilian boats on the sea that were swallowed by cannon fire, and Saul's desperate act of protecting them...
The tower of faith in his heart was groaning under its own weight.
Seeing that he didn't act immediately, Roy relaxed his tense nerves a little.
Looking at Kuzan's struggling and confused eyes, he suddenly spoke,
" Kuzan, have you ever thought about why the world has become like this? Why are there so many pirates, as if they can't be killed off?"
Kuzan raised his head and looked at him coldly.
Roy, unconcerned, continued...
"The exorbitant ' Heavenly Tribute,' enough to cripple a nation's economy, exists solely to support the extravagant lifestyle of the Celestial Dragons in the Holy Land Mary Geoise. Countries that cannot afford this 'Heavenly Tribute'..."
Without naval protection, pirates roamed freely, and the people suffered terribly; even those nations that could afford to pay were overwhelmed by heavy taxes, and the people, unable to survive, either rose up in rebellion.
"Or... the only option is to go to sea and become a pirate, to rob, to fight for a way to survive."
Roy's words, however, were like daggers to the heart.
" The World Government uses Heavenly Tribute to screen 'qualified' Affiliated Nation and uses its navy to maintain the stability of these 'qualified' states."
Essentially, it's nothing more than maintaining their system of bloodsucking and pleasure.
The so-called 'justice' and 'order' are nothing more than a fancy cloak wrapped around this corrupt system. Your navy...
Ultimately, it's nothing more than a rather ferocious "dog" used by the World Government to guard its territory and suppress unruly "cattle and sheep."
"Shut up! What do you know?!"
Kuzan shouted sharply, but his voice carried a hint of anger and embarrassment.
Roy's words resonated with some of his deepest doubts and resentment, a reality he least wanted to face.
"I may not know much."
Roy shrugged.
"But I at least know that true justice should not be built on the blood and tears of the innocent, nor should it serve the extravagant desires of a small group of people."
Kuzan, you are a person with your own ideas, not an absolute 'order' machine like Akainu.
Think about it carefully, what exactly are you defending right now?
He said no more, signaled Tesoro and Bullet to be on guard, and then waved to Olvia, Robin, and the scholars behind him.
"Get on the boat! Quickly!"
As if waking from a dream, everyone quickly helped each other and ran towards the nearby Ark Maxim.
Kuzan stood still, supporting the injured Saul, watching Roy and the others quickly board the ship, without stopping them again.
His eyes were incredibly complex, a mixture of anger, confusion, wavering, and exhaustion.
Roy's words and the burning civilian boats on the sea acted like two keys, unlocking the door of doubt that had always been tightly closed in his heart.
Saul spoke weakly, " Kuzan... I think... what he said... might not be entirely wrong... The Navy... might really need to change..."
Kuzan didn't answer, but silently used his abilities to stabilize Saul's injuries.
Seeing this, Saul sighed inwardly and pushed Kuzan's hands away.
"I should go too!"
" Saul..."
The hatch of the Ark Maxim closed, the engine started, and the dark golden hull began to glow faintly as it slowly lifted off the ground.
Roy stood at the porthole, looking down at the ever-shrinking Ohara (parts of which were already engulfed in flames), and at the lone figure on the shore.
Finally, he used a loudspeaker to leave a message in Kuzan's direction, and the sound carried clearly.
Kuzan, when one day...
You've seen the true filth behind this military uniform, and when you want to find a different path...
I will invite you again. Perhaps the answer you seek can be found on my ship.
Having said that, the Ark Maxim accelerated upwards, transforming into a streak of light.
Breaking through the smoke that gradually enveloped Ohara, it disappeared into the distant horizon.
On the shore, Kuzan looked up at the direction where the spaceship had disappeared, remaining silent for a long time.
Only the continuous explosions on Ohara in the distance reminded him of the harsh reality.
He touched the shallow, now-stopped, knife wound on his neck, then glanced at the fading embers of the shipwreck on the sea.
Finally, he let out a deep, weary sigh.
"Different paths..." he murmured to himself, the confusion in his eyes seeming to deepen.
The Ark Maxim pierced through the clouds, leaving the burning Ohara and the sea shrouded in smoke and sorrow far behind.
The atmosphere inside the cabin was heavy and oppressive.
The rescued scholars, including young people like Clover, mostly slumped in their chairs, their eyes vacant, silently shedding tears.
Although they survived, their homes were destroyed, their teachers and colleagues perished, and the sacred site of their life's research was reduced to ashes. This blow was almost devastating.
Some people clutched the few personal notebooks they had brought from the island, as if they were their last lifeline.
Nicole Olvia held her daughter Robin tightly, and the two wept together, feeling both relief at surviving the ordeal and immense sorrow for Ohara and their fallen compatriots.
Robin's little face was still streaked with tears; she nestled tightly in her mother's arms.
This embrace was both familiar and strange to her, its warmth mixed with the coldness of having lost so much.
Saul sat in the corner, his massive body slightly hunched from the pain and his emotions, receiving simple bandaging from a scholar on the ship who had some medical knowledge ( Ohara scholars often had a wide range of knowledge).
The fractures in both arms were temporarily immobilized with wooden boards and bandages, and the cold air from Kuzan also had a certain analgesic and hemostatic effect.
He remained silent, his gaze fixed on the rapidly receding sea of clouds outside the porthole, lost in thought.
Tesoro inspects the damage to the Ark Maxim's energy system.
His brow furrowed slightly. This full-power, overloaded flight, combined with the previous combat losses, had taken a toll on the ship.
Bullet leaned against the wall, closing his eyes to rest, as if his brief encounter with the Marine Admiral had been nothing more than a warm-up.
Roy stood in the cockpit, looking out the observation window at the vast sky and the azure sea below, his heart feeling relatively calm.
The tragedy at Ohara was within his expectations; he was able to rescue these people, especially Nicole Robin and some of the key scholars and documents.
This was already considered exceeding expectations, but it also unexpectedly planted a seed of doubt in the mind of Marine Admiral Aokiji.
"Captain,"
Stella's voice came through the internal communication system.
"Everything is normal on Hachinosu, no unusual activity has been detected. What's the situation on your end? Have you received the person?"
"Received, returning to base."
Roy gave a brief answer.
"They encountered Marine Admiral Aokiji and had a brief clash; no one was seriously injured."
Ohara... has been covered by the Buster Call.
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the communication line before Stella's voice came through again, tinged with seriousness.
"Understood. Please be careful on your return journey. Do you need assistance?"
"Not for now. The flight route has been planned, and we'll be back as soon as possible." Roy ended the call.