Inside Sakazuki's office, the heavy curtains were drawn halfway shut, sealing the room in a dim, oppressive stillness. A faint scent of tobacco lingered in the air, stubborn and bitter.Sunlight slipped through the narrow gap between the curtains, carving a sharp blade of light across the dark wooden desk.
"Sit," Sakazuki said curtly.
He strode straight to the desk, yanked open a drawer, pulled out a thick stack of documents, and slammed them down with a sharp bang.
Gern Reginald Sigmar didn't bother with politeness. He dropped onto the sofa casually. Lipo, meanwhile, looked around with unconcealed curiosity before finally stepping behind Gern, resting her hands lightly on his shoulders. Her long, drooping ears swayed faintly.
"The Golden Lion's Third Division Captain—'Death Knell' Davy," Sakazuki said in his usual low, gravel-heavy voice, as though stating the most ordinary fact in the world."He's been taken out."
"Oh?" Gern raised an eyebrow, his expression unchanged. "Taken out, huh? That's… unfortunate."
Sakazuki's sharp gaze swept over Gern's face, probing, but without accusation.After all, the truth of that incident had already been buried. Among Marine high command, only Zephyr and Steelbone Kong knew the full details.
"Unfortunate?" Sakazuki let out a cold laugh. "For the Marines, it's good news.But the problem is—"
He snapped open the file and shoved it across the desk toward Gern.
"Now, forces under the Golden Lion are using this incident as an excuse to launch large-scale attacks on World Government–affiliated nations. Even ordinary island villages aren't being spared."
Gern lowered his gaze and skimmed the pages.The reports were dense—line after line of recent incidents.
Merchant ships plundered.Villages razed to ash.Marine patrol vessels ambushed at sea.
Every page felt soaked in blood.
"And that's not all," Sakazuki continued, his voice growing colder still."Quite a few pirate crews that had been lying low have seized the opportunity to attack our patrol ships. Some are even openly provoking other Marine bases."
Gern tapped the edge of the file lightly, thoughtful.He had already received a rough overview from Gion, who had gotten it from Tsuru—but seeing the full reports with his own eyes drove home just how severe the situation really was.
The Golden Lion himself needed only a single sentence to make waves.But the forces beneath him were far more than something a single sentence could describe.
Using Davy's death as a rallying cry, these pirates were expanding like mad—burning, killing, pillaging—as if determined to turn the entire New World upside down.
No wonder the World Government and the Marines are so reluctant to go to war with a Yonko, Gern thought.If this is the level of damage just from tension alone… a full-scale war would be catastrophic.At that point, letting pirates tear each other apart almost seems preferable.
"Then why don't we just declare war on the Golden Lion?" Lipo suddenly spoke up.
Her pink eyes reflected the photographs embedded in the reports—images of pirates slaughtering civilians.This was the first time she had truly seen the "pirates" Zephyr and Gern always spoke about.
These weren't the adventurers Pedro used to talk about when he ran with Cat Viper and Dogstorm.
These were cruel.Inhuman.Silent in their brutality.
"Isn't he the real culprit?" Lipo stared straight at Sakazuki, her expression rigid and trembling."Aren't we supposed to be partners of justice?"
Her pupils shook.
"Why should justice listen to anyone else? Shouldn't justice come from the heart?These people deserve to die!"
Sakazuki cast her a cold glance. Outwardly unmoved, inwardly shaken—completely overturning the first impression of "naivety" he had formed upon meeting her.
"Justice…" Sakazuki began, intending to explain—
—but Gern answered in his place.
"Because the cost is too high," Gern said calmly, tapping the file."The Golden Lion isn't one man. He's the Flying Pirates—and countless factions that cling to him.If the Marines go to war with him directly…"
"The New World will descend into total chaos," Sakazuki cut in, his voice grim."At that point, other pirates will counterattack en masse. World Government member nations will suffer even harsher reprisals.Even Marine strongholds in the New World would be picked off one by one."
Gern nodded. "That's why the World Government would rather endure humiliation than ignite a full-scale war."
At that, Sakazuki's fist slammed into the desk with a dull thunderous thud.
"Endure?" A violent glint flashed in his eyes."Pirates are pirates. Letting them run free only makes things worse!"
He turned his gaze to Lipo, as if finally answering her challenge head-on.
"Seventeen warships attacked. Six islands wiped out. Over three thousand civilians missing or dead—sold off as slaves."
His knuckles turned bone-white as he clenched his fist. Heat rose from his body, the air itself beginning to scorch.
"I care about justice more than you ever could!"
Gern didn't argue. He simply watched Sakazuki in silence.He knew the man's fury wasn't unfounded.
Letting pirates rampage would only lead to more innocent deaths.But open war would cause the entire situation to spiral out of control.
A perfect deadlock.
So we stoke the fire, Gern thought.Let the volcano erupt. Add one more party to shoulder the blame.
At last, he spoke, his tone level.
"So. What's your plan?"
"The order's already come down," Sakazuki replied, staring at Gern, his voice squeezed through clenched teeth."From above. They want… the situation handled quietly. No escalation."
Gern leaned back on the sofa, crossing his legs. A silver coin danced between his fingers, flashing as it flipped.
"Oh?" He lifted his eyes slightly. "So we do nothing?"
Sakazuki smashed his fist down again. The wooden desk instantly melted beneath it, leaving a charred, molten imprint.
"Those idiots!" he roared. "Letting pirates run wild will only embolden them!"
Gern didn't respond. He simply flicked the coin upward and caught it again.
"This was a port attacked just yesterday," Gern said, pointing to the newest report."They hung the villagers' heads along the mast—lined them up like wind chimes. A trophy display."
Sakazuki's pupils shrank violently. Lava-like patterns crawled along his arm.
He knew exactly what Gern was doing. Intentionally, he asked coldly,"Gern. Are you testing my bottom line?"
"What about the villagers who were gutted alive?" Gern shot back."Where was the bottom line they saw before they died?"
"Sakazuki, the order is—"
"Fuck the order!!"
"I'll say it one last time. Justice that arrives late doesn't deserve to be called justice!Sakazuki—justice is already late. Are we not even allowed the chance to make it right now?!"
"Or is it…" Gern suddenly stood and strode to the window, yanking the curtains open.
Blinding sunlight flooded the room, illuminating the words hanging on the wall:
ABSOLUTE JUSTICE
"Is your justice not justice anymore?!"
Sakazuki had no answer.
Because it was his jurisdiction.His protected civilians had been slaughtered.
As Gern said—his Absolute Justice had arrived too late.
"Sakazuki," Gern continued, his back still turned, each word cutting like a blade."Do you know what the most ironic part is?"
"When weak soldiers and civilians are butchered by powerful pirates…""When the iron fist of justice hesitates, and the wise Buddha falls silent before bureaucracy…"
He slowly turned, meeting Sakazuki's burning gaze.
"At that moment, there's only one thing left.Only one thing that will stand up."
"Blazing. Absolute. Magma."
The air froze.
Sakazuki's breathing grew heavy. Molten lava dripped from between his fingers, sizzling against the floor.
"Gern," Sakazuki said at last, a thin smile creeping across his face."Are you inciting me to disobey orders?"
Gern spread his hands, smiling innocently."I just think… some things don't need orders."
Sakazuki stared at him, as if trying to see straight through his soul.
Gern didn't retreat. He leaned forward slightly, lowering his voice.
"Or is Vice Admiral Sakazuki's justice only capable of following commands?If that's the case—where does 'absolute' come from? Where's the justice in that?"
A provocation.
And an extraordinarily effective one.
Sakazuki's magma erupted, the temperature of the entire office skyrocketing in an instant.
"Gern," he said slowly, each word like steel hammered in hellfire,"you're a bastard I just can't bring myself to hate."
Gern's grin widened. "I'll take that as praise."
Sakazuki snatched up the files from the desk, magma instantly incinerating them to ash.
"Relay the order!" he bellowed.
The messenger outside jolted in terror.
"G-3 Fleet—Level One battle readiness!"
Sakazuki ripped the justice coat from the back of his chair. The snow-white fabric snapped in the air like a war banner before settling heavily across his broad shoulders.
"If the World Government wants this handled 'quietly'…"A savage curve pulled at his lips as molten bubbles gathered between his fingers, dripping to the floor with a vicious hiss.
Gern's smile mirrored his—dangerous, razor-sharp—as he rose to face Sakazuki. His body had already begun dissolving into high-frequency vibrating particles.
"Then we'll use the quietest method possible…"
"…to send them straight to hell."