"You probably don't understand us young sailors who just enlisted. We chose to join the navy because of the sense of justice we believe in. Now that we know about this ugliness, you're telling us to turn back?"
Where is our justice? Where is our faith? Destroying someone's faith is less satisfying than simply killing them. Do you think we can agree to that?
Vic dismissed Zero's threat, and his words reflected a position of supreme authority within the Navy. But how many of these people truly joined the Navy for the sake of justice?
Rebecca might be the only one with a pure heart, wanting to inherit her parents' will and carry out her own justice. As for Vic, he joined the Navy partly to learn the Six Powers and Haki, and partly because of the original owner's obsession.
He wouldn't say he has any deep faith in the navy; after all, he knows quite a bit about this world, and for him, it's just a career choice.
However, as a soul from another world, he still has a strong sense of right and wrong. He will not stand idly by when he encounters injustice. He handled things the same way before becoming a Marine, it just so happened that it aligned with the Marine's sense of justice.
Barnett joined the Navy to seek revenge, but now he no longer expects the Navy to avenge the massacre of his family.
In the New World, pirates are mostly left to their own devices and fight amongst themselves; actively provoking powerful pirates requires orders from headquarters.
Moreover, one's own status and strength must be very high. Barnett originally wanted to push Vic to a high position and then use Vic's hands to destroy that pirate crew, but as he spent time with Vic, his thinking changed.
Under Vic's guidance, he is now confident that he can destroy that pirate crew with his own strength. Of course, that's not now, so his current idea is to follow in Vic's footsteps, become stronger and stronger, and become Vic's right-hand man.
It's hard to say about Wendy now. Although she is also pitiful and weak and will help civilians, that seems to be her nature and has nothing to do with whether she is a Marine or not.
Vic didn't sense a strong sense of belonging to the Navy from her; he felt that her purpose was the same as his own—to strengthen himself within the Navy.
It seems that her initial decision to join his ship was also attracted by his own formidable strength, which would allow her to grow stronger more safely during her future tenure.
Later, through his and Rebecca's sincere treatment and guidance in their spiritual practice, and after a long period of time together, he finally integrated into this small group and formed a bond of friendship.
However, Vic noticed that Wendy still hadn't fully integrated into the group. She kept things on her mind without sharing them so everyone could come up with a solution, preferring to bear it all alone.
As for Frodeku, it's even simpler. He was taken in by Vic and was reborn in Vic's care. He has new goals and values, and now he entrusts his whole heart and soul to Vic (similar to how the Straw Hat Pirates treats Straw Hat Luffy two years later).
As long as Vic takes him along, they can go anywhere and witness the wonders of this world.
And Ain, needless to say, is a die-hard fan of Vic, someone who will do whatever Vic tells her to do.
Why did these people insist on getting involved? The first reason was their belief in their own strength, especially Vic's.
Another issue is values. When faced with such inhumane acts of evil, they can't get over it; they can't simply turn away without looking back.
They may have experienced harm to varying degrees, perhaps not as much as the civilians on the island, but it was enough for them to understand the difference between good and evil.
Just like Nami later on, she experienced such a childhood, and even after becoming a pirate, she was still able to maintain the kindness in her heart. It was because of her tragic childhood experiences that she was able to better understand the pain of others and wanted to help others escape their suffering so that they wouldn't feel as helpless as she did when she was a child!
"So you've decided to get involved in this mess? That's a real shame for this year's Elite Camp. It was supposed to be their most glorious class, but now they might be at the bottom. Lao Jiu! Make your move!"
Zero spoke calmly at the beginning, with a slight hint of regret in his tone, but when he called out to Lao Jiu at the end, his murderous intent was fully revealed.
When he called out to Lao Jiu, he had already used the Six Powers of Shave to disappear from the spot, and Lao Jiu seemed to have been waiting for his command, disappearing from the spot almost at the same time.
When Zero reappeared, he was already right in front of Vic. The scene seemed to freeze. He was slightly bent over, his right hand was stretched out at a ninety-degree angle to Vic, and his straight index finger was pointing directly at Vic's heart.
This finger has turned completely black, which is the effect of Armament Haki Hardening. It looks like an upgraded version of the Shigan. With the addition of Haki, its power is more than a hundred times stronger than a regular Shigan.
However, Zero's black finger could not advance at all. Just thirty centimeters in front of Vic, a black longsword, half-drawn from its sheath, blocked the finger.
The blade stopped precisely in the center of his fingertips. The blade wasn't Allen's, which was wrapped in Armament Haki, but rather the original color of Blood Wither. Zero's sudden attack was blocked by Vic drawing his sword on the spot.
Meanwhile, Lao Jiu attacked Frodeku, who was sitting cross-legged on the ground. This was the task Zero had given him: to eliminate the key figure as soon as possible.
Zero attacked Vic to cover his surprise attack, but Vic had already been on guard against the two of them. Before Zero even called out "Lao Jiu," he had already used Secret Sound Transmission to instruct Rebecca to protect Frodeku.
Just then, Rebecca, who had been eyeing Lao Jiu and wanting a different opponent, appeared in front of Frodeku Rebecca of time, her longsword tip now touching Lao Jiu's index finger.
The blue sword remained perfectly still, yet a drop of bright red liquid oozed from Lao Jiu's fingertip.
Vic noticed that these two last people to appear liked to use Shigan to kill. Zero's fingers were wrapped in Haki and were unharmed, but Lao Jiu's fingers were not wrapped in Haki and he was no match for the Great Grade Sword.
This seemingly simple attack caused Zero's heart to tighten. Although he had sensed the two's attack using his Observation Haki and had seen the news, he had already overestimated their strength.
However, he hadn't expected that the two's strength would exceed his expectations. This might be the toughest battle in history. Zero's heart was filled with turmoil. Although Lao Jiu's fingertip was dripping blood, he showed no change in expression, as if the injury wasn't his own finger.
"Heh! You're ready to fight at the drop of a hat? And you even attacked one of us who was completely unprepared? You really are just someone else's tools, not worthy of being used in public!"
All you do is play these pathetic little tricks. If you're so unsure of your abilities, why don't you just run away? Are you clinging to the hope that we're not strong enough? You really are nothing special. I overestimated you before!