"You're overthinking things."
The Shadow Clone's voice interrupted Borsalino's thoughts.
"For all you know, the one who assigned you this mission to identify the escaped slaves might have been me."
Borsalino's half-closed eyes immediately widened. But a moment later, he shook his head.
"The Human-Human Fruit, Model: Buddha, has been a confirmed ability for decades. And you aren't affected by Seastone at all."
The Shadow Clone seemed amused. He deliberately glanced at Borsalino before saying,
"That's right, for decades. Now that there's finally hope, wouldn't this be the perfect time to turn the Marines into a Navy worthy of its name?"
At that moment, Rowan's real body appeared, bringing along a grumbling Vegapunk.
"What's so important about meeting that guy? The energy barrier activation project is at a critical stage. Couldn't he have waited another two days?"
Walking beside him, Rowan could only smile apologetically. Then he shot his Shadow Clone a glare before dismissing it.
His Shadow Clones were becoming more and more mischievous. They had been like this when talking to Tashigi. The same with Hancock.
Always saying deliberately ambiguous things to young women. And now it had started teasing Borsalino too. Just thinking about it gave Rowan a headache.
The moment Borsalino saw Vegapunk, he immediately pointed at his head.
"Why is your head smaller?"
Vegapunk rubbed the top of his head.
"I accumulated too much knowledge. So I built a cloud storage system and cut off part of my brain. But the processor is still a little too slow."
Then he looked directly at Borsalino, completely straightforward.
"What do you want? I'm busy. You think everyone spends their days drinking coffee and reading newspapers like you?"
"If you have questions, ask them quickly. I need to get back as soon as possible."
Borsalino sighed helplessly.
"Sentomaru has been looking for you for years. Before I left, he even asked me to gather information about you."
"Sentomaru."
At the mention of the name, Vegapunk's expression softened.
"Tell him I'm safe. And that he should simply do what he believes is right. That child is your disciple."
"As for his talent, if he's dragged into the storm that's about to engulf this world, he'll die."
Borsalino thought quietly for a while, then nodded. The boy who called him Old Man had originally been entrusted to him by Vegapunk. Neither his talent nor the strength of his convictions was enough to survive the coming upheaval.
"Is that all? If we're finished, Mr. Rowan, please take me back."
Rowan quickly grabbed him.
"Wait, wait! Not yet."
As he spoke, he leaned close and whispered,
"Didn't you say the energy barrier works best with lasers? Now that your research on Lineage Factors has made progress, isn't there already a ready-made subject standing right here?"
"?!"
Vegapunk suddenly slapped his own forehead. Instantly, he was no longer in any hurry to leave. Instead, he turned toward Borsalino, his eyes practically glowing.
"Well, we're old friends after all. It's been years since we've met. We really should catch up."
"As for Sentomaru, forget him for now. An old friend needs your help. Ask me anything you want."
"You just need to give me one tube of blood. No, that's not enough. Two tubes."
As he spoke, Vegapunk grabbed Borsalino's arm.
"No, let's make it ten. You're one of the Navy's Admiral candidates. You're busy."
"That way I won't have to keep bothering you for more samples later. Sounds reasonable, doesn't it?"
Seeing Vegapunk staring at him with shining eyes, Borsalino suddenly felt a little frightened. He tugged at his arm. Although he wasn't using any real strength, he discovered that the old man had an astonishingly firm grip.
Should I just turn into light? He glanced at the cloaked Rowan standing nearby, watching intently. In the end, he decided it was wiser to behave himself.
One finger at a time, he pried Vegapunk's hand loose from his arm.
"I do have many questions for you. And I can give you some blood, but there has to be limits."
Vegapunk considered it for a moment, then nodded. Turning toward Rowan, he said,
"Mr. Rowan, could you make a trip back to the laboratory? Ask them to bring me three No. 1 collection tubes."
Before long, three enormous test tubes were brought over. Rather than test tubes, they looked more like gigantic measuring cylinders.
The moment Borsalino saw them, the upper half of his body immediately transformed into light.
He was fully prepared to run. If they drew that much blood, even with mastery over Life Return, he'd probably die.
In the end, after Borsalino firmly refused to cooperate, the giant containers were replaced with ordinary large-sized test tubes. Only then did Borsalino finally ask the question that truly concerned him.
"How strong is the energy barrier's defensive capability?"
Vegapunk looked at him.
"I know what you're really asking. With our current progress, it still isn't enough to block that kind of attack."
Borsalino's gaze immediately dimmed. But then Vegapunk continued,
"However, if we first complete the unlimited energy source, then combine it with Ohara's knowledge and the technological samples left behind by the Ancient Kingdom, then resisting that weapon becomes entirely possible."
A glint flashed across Borsalino's sunglasses. So this was hope. Hope unlike anything that had appeared over the past eight hundred years, the greatest advantage of this era.
"But what do you mean by Ancient Kingdom samples?"
Rowan answered,
"That's where I need your help. The giant mechanical soldier that attacked Mary Geoise two hundred years ago was a creation of the Ancient Kingdom from eight hundred years ago."
"It lay dormant for six centuries, yet its energy core still recovered enough power to climb all the way to Mary Geoise and launch an attack. That's something the World Government wants, and it's something we want as well."
"Right now, Vinsmoke Judge is acting as Dr. Vegapunk's replacement. So sooner or later, they're bound to transport that machine to Punk Hazard."
Borsalino looked at Rowan.
"So you want me to notify you the moment it arrives? But the laboratory has an extremely high security level. From what I've seen, many areas are monitored by Surveillance Den Den Mushi."
Rowan smiled.
"So you've decided to bet everything?"
That question alone already revealed Borsalino's position to a certain extent.
Once he had accepted that position, his instinctive way of thinking had already begun shifting. He was now considering matters from the Revolutionary Army's perspective.
Borsalino adjusted his sunglasses.
"As you said, if we never try, then we'll never know whether success is possible. And compared with any point in the past eight hundred years, aren't we closer to success than anyone?"
"After all, five Celestial Dragons are already dead."
The deaths of the Celestial Dragons were the first crack that began to pry open this world's unshakable order.
They proved one undeniable truth: even "gods" would die when killed. And if they could be killed, then resistance had a chance of succeeding.
Before they parted, Rowan handed Borsalino a thick book. Its cover was bright red. He also left behind an anti-eavesdropping Den Den Mushi on Foolshout Island, something he had conveniently brought from the Revolutionary Army's research facility.
Meanwhile, Vegapunk happily fulfilled his wish. He drew three large test tubes of Borsalino's blood, then, overjoyed with his new research material, asked Rowan to take him back immediately.
Before leaving, Rowan looked at Borsalino and said,
"Read that book carefully. It contains the Revolutionary Army's core philosophy. It also explains the limits we place upon ourselves and our vision for the world's future order."
"Power can endlessly satisfy human desire. And once desire corrupts those who wield it, those who slay dragons may one day become dragons themselves."
"One day, if the Revolutionary Army succeeds, declares itself divine, moves into Mary Geoise, changes its title, and becomes a new generation of Celestial Dragons, that wouldn't be impossible."
"But if the ideals of revolution, the spirit of resisting oppression, and the principles that constantly remind us to examine ourselves continue to exist, then such a future can at least be restrained."
"And even if a new dragon is eventually born, there will always be someone willing to raise a sword and slay it. The future I dream of is written in that book."
Borsalino lowered his gaze to the thick volume with its crimson cover. His expression became unusually serious.
"I'll read it carefully. If I stake my life on this, and in the end nothing truly changes, if the Revolutionary Army simply becomes another dragon."
"Then wouldn't my life, and the lives of everyone who sacrificed themselves for these ideals, have been nothing more than a cruel joke?"
Rowan reached out and placed a hand on Borsalino's shoulder. This time, Borsalino didn't turn into light to avoid the contact.
But Rowan likewise didn't take the opportunity to leave a Flying Thunder God marker on him.
Just like Dragon and the others, other than Ginny, Rowan had never placed a marker on any of his companions. He only left them at fixed locations whenever necessary.
Likewise, Rowan handed Borsalino a Flying Thunder God kunai.
"If you're ever in danger, as long as you can contact me, I can arrive instantly."
"Of course, Mary Geoise is an exception. They possess either equipment or abilities capable of interfering with spatial transportation."
Borsalino accepted the kunai. After putting it away, he looked up at the sky.
Perhaps it was only his imagination, but he felt that the Haki his former teacher Zephyr had always criticized him for neglecting had loosened ever so slightly.
Sure enough, an unwavering will was both the beginning of Haki and the limit of its potential. It wasn't that he had been unwilling to train his Haki under his philosophy of Unclear Justice.
Rather, the more he understood this world, and the more compromises he had been forced to make, the lower the ceiling of his Haki had become.
When he looked back again, the Revolutionary Army's masked leader had already disappeared.
"What a convenient ability."
Borsalino muttered to himself. Then his body dissolved into light and streaked toward the harbor.
Ten thousand meters beneath the Red Line, above Fish-Man Island, inside Ryugu Palace, only three people sat in the enormous audience chamber. King Neptune. Queen Otohime. And Fisher Tiger.
As the former leader of Fish-Man District, Fisher Tiger had long been someone the royal family kept an eye on.
After spending several years traveling the surface world, it was only natural that he would be summoned after returning to Fish-Man Island.
Because Rowan had said he would arrive in a few days, Tiger deliberately postponed this audience until more than a week later.
He had hoped to spend those days showing his benefactor around Fish-Man Island.
That way, the Revolutionary Army would gain a basic understanding of what the island truly desired. Most importantly, deep down, Tiger had hoped the Revolutionary Army's mysterious leader would come to sympathize with the plight of Fish-Man Island.
However, day after day passed. Until finally, the day of his scheduled meeting with the King and Queen arrived. Yet that mysterious gentleman never appeared.
Having no other choice, Tiger came to Ryugu Palace alone.
"Fisher Tiger."
Neptune looked at Tiger, who was kneeling on one knee before him.
"Didn't you say that a human would be accompanying you today? In order to meet this human guest, the Queen has spent a long time preparing the questions she wished to ask."
Tiger replied helplessly,
"That gentleman originally said he would arrive at Fish-Man Island several days ago. But it seems something must have delayed him."
"Even so, the experiences I had on the surface are things I must report to both Your Majesty and Her Majesty."
Queen Otohime looked genuinely interested.
"Your journey across the surface? The endless sky, the warm sunlight, and the boundless sea. Those must have been wonderful experiences."
As her voice faded, both Neptune and Otohime quickly noticed something. Tiger's expression wasn't one of happiness. Instead, pain and lingering relief surfaced across his face as the memories returned.
At that moment, Otohime's natural Observation Haki came into play.
"So you experienced something truly terrible?"
With his head lowered, tears dripped onto the floor.
"In fact, just over a week ago, I was on top of the Red Line, in Mary Geoise."
"There, I became a slave of the Celestial Dragons."
"A slave."
Neptune, who had been reclining upon his throne, immediately sat upright. Tears shimmered in Queen Otohime's eyes. She could feel Tiger's heart.
Her innate gift of empathy allowed her to experience, even if only faintly, the agony he had endured in Mary Geoise.
Ever since returning to Fish-Man Island, Tiger and the two fellow fish-men who had escaped with him had never spoken a single word about what had happened there. But now, as he finally gave voice to those memories, he broke down completely.
Sobs overwhelmed him. A large part of it was because Otohime's empathy resonated with his emotions.
"It was painful, wasn't it? To go through something like that."
Her own eyes red with tears, Queen Otohime walked over to Tiger. She gently reached out and wiped away the tears on his face.
"You're home now."
Tiger, still kneeling on one knee, buried his face in his arm. The emotions that had been stirred by just a few simple words finally burst free.
After a long while, Neptune spoke from his throne.
"No one has ever escaped from Mary Geoise, Tiger."
"Was it the human you wanted to introduce today who saved you?"
Tiger had gradually regained his composure.
"Yes. And that's exactly why I wanted to bring that gentleman here, to meet both of you."
Neptune nodded.
"If he rescued you from Mary Geoise, and perhaps the two fish-men from Fish-Man District who returned with you as well, then that human is undoubtedly a benefactor of Fish-Man Island."
Tiger slowly shook his head.
"He's more than just our benefactor, Your Majesty. My experiences on the surface allowed me to see many things I had never imagined."
"And what that gentleman said, I believe concerns the future of Fish-Man Island itself."
"The future?"
Neptune was taken aback. Beside him, Queen Otohime turned her attention toward Tiger. Tiger continued,
"There is no hierarchy among lives. Every intelligent being is equal."
Otohime's eyes shimmered.
"A gentleman capable of saying those words is someone I truly wish to meet."
Neptune's expression grew serious.
Compared with Queen Otohime, who tended to view the world through compassion, Neptune, having once sailed with Roger in his younger days, was far more pragmatic.
"Tiger, do you understand what it would take to uphold words like those? If they're nothing more than that gentleman's personal ideals, then they mean very little."
Tiger replied,
"The power that gentleman represents may very well be the power capable of changing this world."
"He is the Revolutionary Army's Cloaked Man, the only person in this world who has ever taken the life of a Celestial Dragon."
"What?!"
Neptune instantly shot to his feet. His massive fish tail lashed behind him.
Ten thousand meters beneath the sea, News Coo could not deliver newspapers to Fish-Man Island.
But as king, Neptune naturally paid close attention to events on the surface. Every day's newspaper was specially retrieved for Ryugu Palace.
However, although the Revolutionary Army's Cloaked Man had an enormous bounty, the charges listed only accused him of attempting to destroy the world.
There had been no mention whatsoever of killing Celestial Dragons.
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