"Damn it! This is such a serious topic, why does he have to act so nonchalant about it?" Dragon muttered as he pushed himself up from the ground, glaring at Darren's back.
Up ahead, Darren strolled toward Queen with his usual lazy swagger, cigar hanging from his lips, both hands shoved deep into his pockets as if they had all the time in the world.
Dragon had never known what to do with that infuriatingly carefree attitude.
In his eyes, that bastard clearly carried a heart that burned for justice—yet insisted on living like a scoundrel.
Greedy, people said?
But when Dragon had thrown himself into building the Freedom Fighters, it was Darren who opened the vaults. The staggering costs of forming an elite army from nothing would have broken almost anyone else. No matter how shamelessly Dragon begged for money, Darren had never once hesitated.
And for all his supposed greed and indulgence, Dragon had never seen Darren living in luxury.
No custom designer suits—just the same Marine-style coat he always wore. He wasn't picky with food or drink either; as long as it filled his stomach, he didn't complain.
You might call him power-hungry…
Yet for a fleeting moment of defiance, he had willingly thrown away the foundation he'd fought for in the Marines. He could have become an Admiral with unrivaled authority—but instead chose to become a globally wanted "criminal," hunted across the world.
Even with the strongest fleet on the seas at his command, he'd stepped into the shadows, handing most of the North Blue Fleet's daily operations to his deputy.
You might call him a womanizer…
Dragon didn't know what sort of mess Darren might have left behind in the North Blue. But from what he'd seen, Toki was the only woman Darren had ever publicly acknowledged. And Gion… the only one whose relationship with him seemed quietly complicated.
You might mock him for smoking and drinking…
But that hardly counted as a vice. A Marine who didn't touch tobacco or liquor was hardly a proper Marine at all.
Putting all of that aside—
Darren possessed nearly every quality a great Marine—or rather, a great revolutionary—should have.
Calm in strategy, decisive in battle, terrifying in strength.
Gentle to his subordinates, respectful to his comrades.
Merciless to his enemies, unwaveringly loyal to those at his side.
Dragon watched Darren's retreating back for a long moment before letting out a quiet sigh.
"On second thought, it makes sense," he murmured. "It's a lot easier to be a scoundrel than a hero."
Faced with the World Government's monstrous weight, scoundrels and heroes made different choices—and walked into completely different futures.
The hero's path was noble, yes—but also crushingly lonely and steeped in peril.
"So, Zephyr-sensei," Dragon whispered under his breath, "was it his courage you saw… the courage you didn't have back then?"
He gave his head a sharp shake.
"Wait for me!" he shouted, hurrying after Darren.
---
Outside the temporary laboratory, a vast training ground stretched into the distance.
Stone targets and thick walls loomed around them, their pitted surfaces still bearing dark, dried bloodstains—the most direct proof of how often Queen used this place for combat drills and live testing of his "subjects."
"So this little thing can monitor changes in the magnetic field inside my body?"
Darren asked, cigar stuck in the corner of his mouth as he turned the miniature device over in his hand, studying it with open curiosity.
Overalls Fatso, goggles gleaming, nodded excitedly, cheeks flushing with enthusiasm.
"Exactly! It's not one hundred percent precise, but the accuracy is more than good enough."
"I designed it specifically for your freakish body. The real-time fluctuations of your biomagnetic field will be displayed here and recorded."
He pointed toward a nearby console. The screen cast a faint glow, its surface scrolling with a constantly shifting line.
"What's this data?" Darren asked, tipping his chin toward the display.
Queen launched into an explanation without hesitation.
"Each sea region has its own unique magnetic signature. Most islands have relatively stable magnetic fields. Once a Log Pose is calibrated to an island's field, it will naturally point the way to the next island along the route."
"The same principle can be used to store an island's field and make an Eternal Pose."
"For meteorologists and geographers, an island's magnetic field is like its fingerprint—its unique identity."
"Of course, in the New World, a lot of magnetic fields are completely chaotic. And wherever the islands' fields are wild, the environment is always extreme—violent storms, radiation, scorching heat, bitter cold…"
"Even now, researchers still don't know whether chaotic magnetic fields create extreme climates, or the other way around."
"Anyway, I'm going off on a tangent. You probably wouldn't get it even if I kept going. What? You're wondering how I know all this when I'm not a meteorologist or geographer? You idiot—this great lord is the greatest scientist on the entire sea!"
Queen puffed his chest out, hands on his hips, grinning like a peacock in a lab coat.
Dragon: "..."
Darren: "..."
Annoying as he was, neither could deny it: when it came to science, the fat bastard really did know his stuff.
"So the magnetic field strength data showing on the instruments right now…" Darren shook his head slightly and pressed on.
"That's because the device isn't implanted in your body yet," Queen replied smugly. "Right now, it's picking up the ambient field of where we are."
"Onigashima itself isn't a naturally formed island," he went on, puffing up again. "Boss Kaido ripped it out of the mainland bedrock with his Devil Fruit, then dragged it over Wano atop his flame clouds."
"Once it broke away from the sea—its original 'carrier'—Onigashima's magnetic field changed dramatically."
"Now that it's floating in the sky, its field keeps shifting. Altitude, temperature, air currents—everything affects it."
"That's why the field strength isn't a neat, steady straight line but a fluctuating curve."
Darren nodded slowly, pieces falling into place. After a moment's thought, he asked:
"So you're saying… if an island separates from the sea, its magnetic field will start changing in unpredictable ways?"
Queen nodded, then hesitated and shook his head.
"Probably," he admitted at last. "That's just my rough inference based on what we've seen with Onigashima. There's still not enough data to confirm anything."
"No, what I mean is…" Darren said, narrowing his eyes, "an island's magnetic field has to be closely tied to its original sea region and currents, doesn't it?"
Queen went quiet.
He mulled the question over seriously for a few seconds before answering slowly, "That's… likely true. But why are you so hung up on this?"
Darren suddenly smiled.
"Just curious," he replied lightly. "Let's start the test. Time's short."
With that, he raised a hand and dragged a fingernail across his chest.
A sharp line of blood opened in his skin, scarlet welling up and spilling down—but Darren's expression didn't even flicker as he pressed the electronic device into the fresh wound.
Less than five seconds later, the bleeding slowed and stopped.
Darren closed his eyes.
Queen shuffled back a few steps and held his breath, his round face tight with anticipation as he stared at Darren, eyes blazing with intensity.
Dragon's expression was far more complicated.
He had seen Darren's "madness" with his own eyes before.
He knew exactly how terrifying it could be.
To be continued...