The entire fleet instantly descended into chaos. On the deck, the Marines, handpicked by Zephyr himself to join this Marine assault force, were now in utter panic. The discipline and order ingrained into their bones through brutal training were completely forgotten. All because of the pitch-black fierce tiger silently flapping its wings in the sky.
"Roa! It's the Calamity Roa!"
"Level One alert! Prepare for battle!"
The soldiers yelled in alarm. If it were just ordinary pirates, they would naturally be fearless, but this was Roa! The monster who, just two days ago, had almost completely annihilated the fleet led by Fleet Admiral Sengoku!
However, an officer raised a question, "How is this possible! How could this guy know where we are?" After the tragedy with Fleet Admiral Sengoku, they had deliberately concealed their movements! This was precisely to prevent Roa from finding them and repeating the previous tragedy. How did their whereabouts get leaked?
Disregarding his subordinates' objections, Roa, who had come alone after all, looked down at the fleet below, a surge of emotion in his heart.
I knew you guys were going to link up with Sengoku.
I really am a genius, aren't I?
He knew that with Zephyr's hatred for him, there was no way he would just stop. He would naturally think of finding Sengoku and then coming after him again.
"Roa!"
Accompanied by an angry roar, the deck of a large ship below directly shattered, and a black silhouette abruptly shot towards Roa in the sky.
"Oh! So you're here? Then let's find somewhere else to have a good chat." Roa flapped his wings and rapidly ascended, showing no intention of fighting.
"Don't run!"
Rage completely filled Zephyr's heart; without any hesitation, he used Geppo (Moonwalk) to pursue.
As he flew upwards, Roa looked down. Indeed, such intense rage is an emotion no normal person could produce. Hatred and killing intent completely consumed Zephyr's heart. One could say these two emotions had become the fundamental driving force for all his actions. It was hard to imagine that such a powerful individual, a man who once bore the title of Marine Admiral, would actually be affected by his own ability.
However, interestingly, the current Zephyr was faster and stronger than when they fought over a year ago! Could it be that his twisted will actually made him rediscover his former fighting spirit? If so, Zephyr should thank me.
"Zephyr-sensei! Wait for me!" Another figure also shot up from the deck. Sakazuki's legs below him transformed into small volcanoes, spewing magma, propelling him rapidly upwards.
"A stray dog shouldn't get in the way." The horn-like patterns on Roa's forehead spread.
The magma on Sakazuki's body immediately exploded, as if the volcano within him had erupted, directly turning his entire body into magma. A Logia-type user, inherently a natural disaster, had no presence whatsoever before Roa.
"What?!" His body was out of control!
Amidst his cry of alarm, he plummeted helplessly into the sea.
"Colonel Sakazuki!!"
In the sky, Roa looked down, estimating the height was sufficient, and stopped ascending.
It was at that moment a pitch-black right leg, trailing a brilliant blue trajectory, instantly tore through the air and swept across. "Rankyaku: Danku!"
"Ohoho." Roa immediately lowered his body, effortlessly evading Zephyr's attack. After all, how could mere Geppo compare to the aerial agility of someone who could genuinely fly?
Moreover.
Whoosh!
The airflow instantly became turbulent. Even for someone as proficient in the Rokushiki (Six Powers) as Zephyr, his speed abruptly dropped.
"Rankyaku: Rekku!" Unable to get close to Roa, Zephyr immediately kicked repeatedly, and huge vacuum waves slashed towards Roa. Unfortunately, these vacuum waves did not come close to Roa, but instead crashed against massive wind blades that condensed out of thin air.
"Don't make useless efforts," Roa said faintly, "With you, how could you possibly kill me?" Just a light, ethereal sentence, yet it seemed to transport Zephyr back to that nightmare-like moment over a year ago.
"Die!!"
As he stomped the air, Haki surged from his feet, using such a lavish method to forcefully increase his movement speed. Zephyr roared, pouncing towards Roa again.
But.
Whirlwinds suddenly wrapped around Roa's wings. With just a gentle flap, his body, like an arrow released from a bow, instantly widened the distance from Zephyr again.
"I said I just wanted to talk to you. If you keep clinging on, I'm going to deal with the fleet below." Roa chuckled, "Zephyr, you don't want to see anything happen to your subordinates, do you?"
"Rankyaku!!"
Zephyr's only response was a massive vacuum wave.
"Hahahaha!" Roa suddenly burst into maniacal laughter, casually flapping his wings to avoid Zephyr's attack. He held his stomach, laughing so hard in the sky he could barely stand upright. "So, right now, killing me is more important to you than protecting your subordinates and students, isn't it?"
Zephyr remained silent, only continuing his relentless pursuit.
Excellent! This is excellent. Not in vain did I come here!
"How pathetic. Even at all costs, you won't get another chance to defeat me." Roa said with great emotion, "You know what I did, don't you? The Government won't allow the Marines to easily lay their claws on me anymore."
Zephyr's body instantly stiffened. The reason he needed to quickly rendezvous with Sengoku before taking action against this guy was because he knew that once Roa successfully returned to the New World, trying to move against him would become incredibly difficult. Zephyr understood the Marines and the World Government too well; they wouldn't dare take the risk.
Clearly, if only this guy could be taken down, even some sacrifices would be completely worth it!
No! How can it end here! Absolutely not! Only Roa, absolutely cannot be spared!
Roa's lips almost curled so far up they twisted his entire face. This hatred, this killing intent, heh, undoubtedly, Zephyr would bring immense chaos to the Marines!
But it wasn't enough.
"I heard what you've been doing lately, Zephyr," Roa continued his verbal assault. "Taking this fleet around to hunt down pirates. Very much in the Marine style, just doing useless work."
"Scum! Don't try to waver my resolve! All pirates deserve to die!" Zephyr immediately sent another series of massive vacuum waves. However, as he said, his resolve was as hard as iron, and his killing intent towards pirates was no less than his hatred for Roa.
This is excellent!
"If you want to eliminate all pirates, you should naturally start from the root, shouldn't you?" Roa said seriously, "Do pirates want to be pirates from birth?"
"What is the root cause that drives countless people to flock to the seas and become pirates, Zephyr? That's the question you should be pondering."
"Pirates are born evil like you! All of them deserve to die!" Zephyr completely ignored what Roa was saying. Rage and killing intent made him almost lose his sanity.
Wow, so much prejudice against me, huh? Does he know how much psychological trauma such an evaluation can leave on a young boy's development?
"Your understanding matches your suffering, Zephyr," Roa's demeanor and tone remained incredibly leisurely. "Born evil? There are only naturally born strong, not naturally born evil."
"The environment, it is the environment that shapes us!" He said with great emotion, "If I hadn't been born on Hachinosu (Beehive Island), but Marineford, maybe I'd be close to becoming a Marine Admiral by now."
Captain Rocks, how many promising young people did you lead astray!
Zephyr bit his teeth tightly. He didn't want to listen to Roa's nonsense, but he couldn't touch this slippery brat, who was like a loach. In his impotent rage, he had no choice but to listen to Roa's words. Hearing them, despite his deep prejudice against Roa, it didn't seem entirely unreasonable. How could a newborn infant be categorized by good or evil?
"For the countless ordinary pirates on the sea, is life at sea truly beautiful?" Roa said leisurely, "Not necessarily. The Marines hunt them down, fellow pirates kill each other. Those with slightly weaker strength probably can't survive on this sea for long."
"But why do countless people continue to venture out to sea?"
Even in his furious state, Zephyr paused slightly. Yes, why? Why have there been so many pirates since ancient times? Is it simply because of a slogan yearning for freedom? But he himself had captured so many pirates; how many were truly for freedom?
"Could it be because many pirates had a very difficult life before going to sea?" This was a matter of course. Pirates driven by dreams were ultimately a minority; the vast majority of pirates went to sea to get rich. And those who genuinely lived well, who among them would choose such a precarious life? Even top-tier pirates like Whitebeard, Kaido, and Big Mom didn't become pirates out of their own free will.
Therefore.
"It's not the pirates who are wrong, but this world!" Roa said with great emotion, "We are all victims of this cruel world! Zephyr, we are on the same side."
"I'm listening to your nonsense!" Zephyr, who had been deep in thought, instantly flew into a rage again upon hearing Roa's words, charging at Roa recklessly. Of course, he still couldn't touch a single hair on Roa.
Roa continued his verbal assault, "Even in the World Government's affiliated countries, because of the Heavenly Tribute each year, there are definitely not a few people living in hardship among the populace. Aren't they the reserve force for pirates?"
"Not to mention non-affiliated countries. How many non-affiliated countries can be called prosperous and strong? Every child born in those countries could potentially contribute to the strength of pirate forces in the future."
Zephyr abruptly froze. This was a question he had never considered before. But with just a little thought, he knew that while Roa was the world's most despicable scum, what he said made a lot of sense.
"Who made this world so distorted?" Roa said with interest, "Is it those great pirates entrenched in the New World? Is it those corrupt and greedy nobles who hold positions without doing their duty?"
"Or is it the World Government, which has ruled this world for eight hundred years, but only cares about collecting enormous Heavenly Tribute each year to fatten up those pig-like Celestial Dragons, turning a blind eye to all countries that cannot pay the tribute, even refusing to treat them as humans, and conducting massacres every three years?"
Zephyr's pupils abruptly contracted. Is it the World Government? As a man who once held the high position of Admiral, Zephyr naturally knew more about the inner workings of the World Government than many others. The Heavenly Tribute was a heavy burden for all affiliated countries, and this enormous wealth each year, just as Roa said, was solely for the pleasure of the Celestial Dragons.
As for non-affiliated countries, it wasn't that they were unwilling to join the World Government; in fact, most of the world's non-affiliated countries desperately wanted to join the World Government. But if they couldn't pay the Heavenly Tribute, they wouldn't gain the government's recognition, and they wouldn't receive Marine protection.
He had never felt anything wrong with this in the past. Because justice has its stance; the Marines naturally only protected affiliated countries. But now, Zephyr suddenly realized with a shock. The World Government's structure truly seemed to be continuously breeding more pirates!
Whether it was non-affiliated countries or affiliated countries, there would always be people who couldn't survive and would flee to the sea to make a living. A large portion of them became pirates. And rampant pirates would then cause destruction to many countries, making those countries even poorer. Thus, breeding even more pirates! This was an intractable vicious cycle!
No wonder, no wonder for eight hundred years countless Marine predecessors had shed their blood, yet the problem of pirates had not been alleviated at all! In fact, in recent times, the power of pirates had continuously expanded, even giving rise to monstrous pirate crews like the Rocks Pirates, so powerful they almost transcended the Marines!
Roa said meaningfully, "Wanting to eliminate all pirates is very simple. Just make all countries prosperous and strong, wouldn't that be enough? If they had good lives, how many people would choose to venture out to sea?"
Chaos arises from the lack of order. For the vast majority of pirates, looting and killing were merely means of survival. While it was incorrect to say so, many pirates were indeed victims of this distorted world.
Zephyr's expression flickered uncertainly.
"Hmm, you fully understand now, Zephyr," Roa nodded with satisfaction. "So, from now on, let's work together to overthrow the World Government!"
His response was a massive Rankyaku.
"Hey, hey, hey, how ungrateful!" Roa chuckled strangely, instantly flapping his wings to further increase the distance, heading away without looking back. "Well, farewell, Zephyr. Afterwards, you'll have to work hard."
His objective was perfectly achieved. A large portion of Zephyr's anger had already begun to shift.
"Damn scum!" Zephyr's veins throbbed on his forehead. He finally understood; that bastard Roa had specifically come over to say these things to him, intending to sow discord! Yet, paradoxically, he genuinely felt that Roa was right.
According to the current operating logic of the world, pirates were inexhaustible. Even if he used End Point to blow up the entire New World, it wouldn't be enough. There would always be a continuous stream of pirates. To completely eliminate pirates, one could only, as Roa said, completely eliminate the root of the tragedy and change the world's operating logic!
But how was that to be done? A look of bewilderment appeared on Zephyr's face. To change the World Government?
Amidst his confusion, Zephyr slowly descended onto the battleship's deck. Sakazuki, who had just been pulled from the sea, quickly came up to him. "Zephyr-sensei, what happened?"
Zephyr shook his head. "That bastard is as slippery as a loach. He got away."
Sakazuki gritted his teeth. "Damn it!" Half his anger was directed at Roa, the other half at his own weakness. In front of Roa, he couldn't even stand steady, let alone fight back.
Just then, a signaler staggered onto the deck. "Lord Zephyr! Urgent telegram from Headquarters!"
Zephyr grabbed the Den Den Mushi, reluctantly saying, "No major losses, but that kid still got away."
"That's not important anymore! Zephyr! Return to the New World immediately!" The cold, unyielding voice of the Fleet Admiral came from the other end of the phone. "Something big has happened!"
"What?"
"What?"
Having just returned to the Snail Fleet, Roa hadn't even had time to sit down when he received a call from Morgans. "Big news? How big?"
"Earth-shattering, Boss!" Morgans' voice was trembling. "A Celestial Dragon... has been killed!"
"Oh?" Roa's eyes lit up, showing some interest. "How many? One hundred or two hundred? More than I killed back then?"
"Uh—" Morgans on the other end of the line instantly fumbled for words, his voice becoming a stutter. "N-not that many, actually." He quickly added, "But this time it's different from your incident. A Celestial Dragon inspecting a certain country was killed in plain sight, and there were even media outlets livestreaming it. The news can't be kept secret; it will soon spread across the world!"
"Oh?" Roa raised an eyebrow. "Now that's interesting."
There shouldn't be anyone in the world who had killed more Celestial Dragons than him, but the damned World Government had suppressed his achievements. He felt like he'd been played by capital. This time, however, was different. If the news of a Celestial Dragon's death truly spread worldwide, it would be a huge blow to the World Government's prestige. After all, in the World Government's consistent propaganda, Celestial Dragons were descendants of the creators, gods.
"So, who is it?"
"The World Destroyer, Byrnndi World!"
"Byrnndi World?"
Roa raised an eyebrow. He was certainly no stranger to that name. His own strength wasn't much, but the Moa Moa no Mi was indeed powerful.
"Go check it out," Roa said casually. "His ability is quite interesting."
"Yes, sir!"
Then, it was time to go to Fish-Man Island. Time for underwater logistics!
Wait. Roa suddenly realized something. He created so many department heads to reduce his own workload, so why was he, as the boss, always on the front lines of operations now? Was this reasonable?
But Fish-Man Island was fine; he'd just consider it a trip.
Meanwhile, Marijoa, Pangaea Castle.
"We must eliminate that bastard Byrnndi World immediately! Every day we delay is a huge blow to the Government's prestige!"
"Agreed. Forget about Roa. Have the Marines deploy all available forces and fully search for Byrnndi World's whereabouts!"
"And CP. Activate all intelligence systems! This old man wants that bastard Byrnndi World to die a very ugly death!"
The rulers of the world, for the first time in a long while, began to operate at full capacity.