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"So, you've recruited a bunch of pirate brats as soldiers?"
"What a pity. A pirate is still a pirate. Putting on a Marine uniform is nothing more than a monkey wearing a hat."
With that one sentence, Evans and the others' expressions changed instantly.
"Picking through trash in a garbage heap, you've learned that quite well. I heard that, back then, Kojin, you were picked up by Vice Admiral Garp in much the same way."
Sakazuki turned his head again to look at the man before him.
Kojin remained silent, his eyes calm as he met Sakazuki's gaze.
Behind him, grains of sand began to float around Crocodile's body. They gathered rapidly, forming the shape of a blade with its tip aimed straight at Sakazuki.
"The justice of the Marines has already been completely forgotten by scum like you within the ranks! Scum should be purged!"
"Sin doesn't disappear just because you change your skin!"
Sakazuki's voice rang out. Suddenly, half of his body turned crimson, and magma surged and churned within it.
Cold light flickered in Kojin's eyes, yet he continued to stare at Sakazuki without moving.
At that moment, Crocodile's body shook violently. The sand around him rippled violently as scene after scene flashed through his mind.
This time, there were far more images... so many that his brain nearly crashed under the flood.
In the end, the visions froze on a scene that made his pupils contract violently.
On a silent street, countless civilians knelt on the ground. He was among them. Not far away, a man wearing a bubble helmet slowly walked forward.
Directly opposite him was a narrow alley.
At an unknown moment, a figure appeared in the alley, dressed in Marine attire and casually tossing a pebble no larger than a fingertip back and forth in his hand.
The instant the Celestial Dragon reached the spot right in front of him, time itself seemed to freeze. Suddenly, blood sprayed out, splashing across Crocodile's shoulder.
And the figure tossing the stone had vanished without a trace.
Crocodile blankly raised his head. In front of him lay a headless body with blood pouring from the neck.
It was the Celestial Dragon's body.
Later, about three thousand meters behind him, he found a bloodstained pebble and at the same time, he etched the image of that stone-throwing Marine deep into his heart.
The scene abruptly disappeared.
Crocodile stared at the figure standing ahead of him with its back turned. His body began to tremble slightly, and shock filled his eyes.
"He..."
"Was he the Marine from back then?!"
Those fragmented memories allowed him to piece together his past, especially the incident from two years ago.
Shock. Horror. Unbelief.
All kinds of emotions surged through Crocodile's heart at that instant. He couldn't restrain them, and they spilled plainly across his face.
The stone-throwing Marine and the man standing before him with his back turned merged into one figure in his mind. Crocodile could not have imagined, even in his dreams, that his senior officer had such a past.
"Gurgle...!"
The temperature suddenly soared and killing intent no longer concealed in the slightest was evident on Sakazuki's face ahead.
Ever since he went out to sea on missions, he had shown no mercy to pirates. In his heart, a pirate who became a Marine was still a pirate.
The rapidly swelling heat made everyone present feel restless and oppressed in an instant.
Sakazuki was like a volcano on the verge of eruption.
"If you want to stop me, then try! As long as you can stop me!"
Cold words spilled from Sakazuki's mouth, and a faint sneer appeared in his eyes.
He was fully aware of Marine Headquarters' selection of three Devil Fruits back then. The man before him had possessed priority, the right to choose one of the three but had instead given it up.
That was why those Devil fruits had ended up with him, Kuzan, and Borsalino.
In the blink of an eye, two years had passed.
Whether it was him or the other two, their Devil Fruit development had advanced by leaps and bounds and their strength had soared with it. As for this man, two years at the Marine Academy likely meant little more than standing still.
So, in the next second, Sakazuki moved.
Scalding magma erupted like a volcanic explosion as he swung his arm, instantly transforming into the shape of a ferocious, vicious hound.
However, at that very moment...
Buzz!
A violent wave of domineering aura swept outward. Sakazuki's body jolted, and every Marine except two on the battleship behind him collapsed limply to the ground, losing consciousness.
"You think I'm still the same as before?"
"Kojin, you're far too naïve! Among the four of us, you're the only one who's stayed in place!"
Sakazuki snarled with a cruel grin. The magma on his arm grew hotter as he swung it forward again.
"The naive one is you." Kojin replied coldly.
His right hand clenched into a fist as a surge of Haoshoku Haki-infused aura wrapped around it, and he threw a punch of his own.
Boom!
A dull, thunderous collision rang out.
But the magma-laden strike halted there, completely unable to advance even an inch.
"Busoshoku (Armament)?" Sakazuki's pupils shrank as shock surged through him.
He stared blankly at his opponent, unable to fathom that the other man had already mastered Busoshoku Haki.
Then, in the next instant, a fierce gust of wind swept past, and Kojin vanished from his sight.
"Behind me!"
Sakazuki spun around sharply. But at that moment, a large hand shot out, fast as lightning and clamped firmly around his throat like an iron shackle.
In an instant, Sakazuki's entire body went limp. The power of his Devil Fruit was draining away at an astonishing speed.
"Don't overestimate yourself, Sakazuki. And don't forget, you're the same one who was knocked unconscious by a single wisp of my aura back then." Kojin lifted him up and spoke in a calm yet unmistakably condescending tone.
Sakazuki's body was completely powerless. He couldn't muster even the slightest bit of strength. He quickly noticed the black gloves on the other man's hand.
"Damn it! Is it Seastone?"
Rage and unwillingness boiled in his heart.
This man not only possessed Busoshoku Haki, but he was also wearing Seastone gloves. He had clearly been prepared for Devil Fruit users from the beginning.
"Hand over the mission item."
Holding Sakazuki up with one hand, Kojin shifted his gaze to the two remaining Marines standing nearby.
"Yes, Rear Admiral Kojin!"
The two Marines glanced at Sakazuki and immediately responded as they dared not involve themselves in a conflict between superiors.
Moments later, they returned carrying a locked wooden box. Evans stepped forward and accepted it with both hands.
"The mission item has been transferred. Sakazuki... farewell."
Kojin released his grip, causing Sakazuki to collapse limply to the ground, gasping for breath.
"You should be grateful that we are colleagues."
Those icy words reached his ears. He jerked his head up, but all he saw was the other man's back and the battleship turning its bow away.
"Detestable..."
He slowly clenched his fists, his expression ugly beyond measure. He had thought he had already surpassed him, yet he was still behind.
"Next time... Next time, I'll definitely become stronger Kojin!" Sakazuki roared inwardly.
Meanwhile, Kojin took the wooden box from Evans's hands and fell into thought.
The conflict with Sakazuki didn't concern him much. What truly piqued his curiosity was the item inside the box.
What kind of object would prompt the Marine Headquarters to insist that he personally escort it?
After all, although he was still a Rear Admiral, he was extremely strong, surpassing the so-called young Three Monsters.
At the same time, he noticed something else.
Raising his head, Kojin looked at Crocodile beside him, who had been acting strangely since earlier.
"Crocodile Chan, did you remember something again?"
Hearing this, Crocodile's body trembled. He then raised his head.
"Two years ago, at the Sabaody Archipelago… That person… was it you?" The sudden question made Kojin freeze, and in the next instant, his pupils contracted sharply.
Standing nearby, Rosinante and the others suddenly felt as though the atmosphere on the ship had completely solidified.
(End of Chapter)