Rosinante stared in terror at his mouth opening and closing without a sound, then stared at Rain, flailing his hands wildly.
But because of the [Calm-Calm Fruit], it all looked like a bizarre silent pantomime—no matter what he did, not a single sound came out.
Rain leaned against the rock wall, his eyelid twitching.
The guy used to be clumsy. Now he was mime-clumsy, which somehow had even stronger visual impact.
Rain cut off Rosinante's frantic gesturing and made a "stop" sign.
"Focus," he mouthed. "Try to control your ability."
Rosinante hurriedly took a deep breath, sweating from the effort.
He forced himself to concentrate, trying to shut the power off.
A few seconds later, he cautiously… let out a sound.
"Ah!"
It wasn't loud, but it was real.
The moment Rosinante heard his own voice again, he almost collapsed. He dropped onto the ground, patting his chest in relief.
"S-scared me to death… I thought… I thought I'd never be able to talk again!"
"You'll be fine once you get used to it." Rain immediately shifted gears. "Right now the priority is finding survivors and a way out."
Rosinante's face snapped back into his trademark worry. "Then let's go!"
They didn't waste time and left the cave.
"This way," Rain said, picking a direction through the fog. "When I was clearing pirate sentry posts earlier, I saw a small patrol lifeboat tucked into an eastern cove."
He led Rosinante through the jungle, and sure enough, they found the boat hidden in the bay.
"Where do we go now?" Rosinante asked, tense.
"When the hull broke apart, the shockwave pushed everything southeast."
Rain judged quickly. "If Commander Dal is still alive, he's most likely on the shallows over there. Let's search that area."
He piloted the lifeboat precisely through fog and reefs, reaching a stretch of shallows littered with wreckage and boulders.
The scene was horrific.
Fragments of the cutter were everywhere. In the cold water, several unrecognizable bodies of Marine comrades drifted—clearly they hadn't survived the breakup.
Rosinante went pale again.
Just when Rain was starting to think no one had made it, his gaze locked onto something beneath a snapped mast.
Under shattered timbers, they found Commander Dal and two other elite Marines, both unconscious.
Dal was badly hurt—one leg pinned beneath the broken mast, the wound soaking in seawater. From blood loss, his mind was already foggy.
"Commander!" Rosinante cried out, about to rush forward.
"Don't!" Rain grabbed him, signaling him to keep watch, and moved in himself.
He looked at the heavy mast trapping Dal—no wasted movement, just a bend of the knees and a single hand braced underneath.
Crack…
Under Rosinante's stunned stare, the mast—something that would take four or five men to lift—rose effortlessly in Rain's hand and was tossed aside.
The noise jolted Dal awake. He snapped his eyes open, recognized Rain, and shock and relief flashed across his face.
"It's you… Rain?" His voice was hoarse as he tried to sit up. "Squard—where is he?"
"He's dead," Rain said calmly. "I killed him."
"…!" Dal froze, staring at this recruit's steady face, unable to connect "Rain" with "killed Squard" in his mind.
Rain didn't give him time to process. He crouched and met Dal's eyes head-on.
"Commander, you owe me a life. Back on the cutter."
Dal nodded without hesitation. "Yes. You blocked Squard and saved me."
"Now I need you to do me a favor."
Rain's tone left no room for argument. "To deal with Vice Admiral Sakazuki… Squard has to die a different way."
Dal's pupils shrank. "…What do you mean?"
Rain needed a perfect lie.
He couldn't let Sakazuki learn that a 17-year-old intern had solo-killed a notorious Grand Line pirate.
His record was too clean—raised by the Marines since childhood. There was no believable way to explain strength like that.
He needed a flawless explanation.
Rain glanced at Rosinante, who looked completely lost, and continued to Dal.
"Squard has to be killed by Rosinante."
"Huh?! Me???" Rosinante was crouched nearby trying to wake the other unconscious Marine. At that, he jolted and fell onto his butt.
Dal stared at Rain's calm face, then at Rosinante, who looked like he was about to cry, and his brain short-circuited for a moment.
Rain started constructing a perfectly closed logic loop:
"Rosinante found a Devil Fruit on the island—the [Calm-Calm Fruit]. After we got separated, Squard came ashore to hunt us."
"While I held him head-on, Rosinante used the Calm-Calm Fruit to erase his presence and footsteps completely, approached from behind…"
Rain's voice stayed icy and flat, as if describing an established fact.
"…and then executed a lethal ambush. One hit. Clean kill."
He delivered the fabricated story effortlessly.
Dal fell silent, staring hard into Rain's eyes.
Dal wasn't stupid. He remembered clearly—on the cutter, it was Rain who had blocked Squard's terrifying slash head-on.
And Rain had just admitted he killed Squard.
Now this monster of a man wanted Dal to hand that sky-high credit to a recruit who tripped over his own feet.
Dal looked at Rain for a long time.
Then everything clicked.
Rain was hiding his strength—he didn't want exposure.
Telling Dal the truth was both a trade and a reminder: Dal really did owe him that life.
And now, Dal owed him two.
Dal slowly closed his eyes, breathing through the pain in his leg. After a few seconds, he opened them again.
He turned toward Rosinante, who was still in total shock.
"…Rosinante."
Dal struggled, then gave Rosinante a salute—imperfect, but solemn. His voice was hoarse, yet deeply sincere.
"Thank you… for avenging Seagull-3… and us."
Rosinante: "Huh??? HUH—?!"