"Silence! As a Marine of justice, how could I ever believe the words of pirates like you?!"
Crocodile spoke through gritted teeth, her voice growing increasingly shrill.
If nothing else, after reverting to a woman, her voice was much clearer than the deep, smoky tone of her male form.
Though it was uncertain how long it would last, given her constant cigar habit.
Cough, cough, cough.
"Crocodile, you're overacting a bit" Michael's voice suddenly whispered in her ear.
Instinctively turning her head, she saw a pair of holy, enormous white wings flapping as Michael appeared beside her.
"You finally finished?"
"Mhm, all done." Michael effortlessly held a massive glass jar nearly as tall as a person.
"Now, it's time for the real show."
Without further talking with Crocodile, Michael instead raised his voice mid-air and declared.
"Vinsmoke Judge, as a Marine, I hereby arrest you on charges of crimes against humanity!"
Michael's voice reverberated across the deck of the Saint Germain, deafeningly loud—yet no one responded.
Not even Vinsmoke Judge himself, who was utterly stunned.
Crimes against humanity?
What kind of charge was that?
Did such a law even exist under the World Government's legal code?
As Michael's proclamation rang out, the gates of the Germa Palace swung open and another cat-driven carriage emerged.
At the reins was the queen's maid, Ebony, while behind her sat Vinsmoke Sora upon the throne, flanked by the two little ones—Reiju and Sanji.
The children each held one of Sora's hands, as if lending their mother strength.
"S-Sora?!" Vinsmoke Judge's brow furrowed instantly. "What are you doing?! Your body shouldn't allow you to leave at all! Return to your room at once!"
"I know my own body better than you do." Sora scoffed coldly at Judge before lifting her head with a smile.
"Go back to my room and wait to die? So I can watch you turn my children into war machines for your ambitions?"
"They are my children! The prince and princess of Germa 66! Becoming the ultimate weapons of war is the destiny of the Germa royal family!"
Judge's fury surged abruptly, as if long suppressed—whether due to his wife's sudden, inexplicable recovery or her repeated defiance of his will.
First, she took potent medicine to disrupt Sanji Lineage Factor modification.
Now, she openly appeared, defying his authority!
But then, Michael's voice drifted softly into Judge's ear once more.
"If you believe that modifying the Lineage Factor and eliminating emotions can make you stronger... then why don't you eliminate your own emotions?" Michael's voice carried a tone of feigned confusion, but it was laced with far more mockery.
"Is it because you can't? Or because you're unwilling? After all, without emotions, you'd probably never again feel the thrill of domination and conquest."
Michael's question struck Vinsmoke Judge like a sharp arrow piercing straight through his heart.
"Eliminating emotions to make someone stronger is nothing but a lie."
"If it were truly as perfect as you imagine, why not use it on yourself?" Michael sneered. "Tsk, tsk. The truth is, deep down, you don't want to lose your emotions either. You know that without them, you'd just be a tool."
With those words, Michael tore away the facade Vinsmoke Judge had built around himself.
A mad scientist? A seeker of strength?
Just convenient excuses to make his rule easier.
How dull.
Michael shook his head, then tossed the container filled with an unknown pale green liquid into the air.
The vial shattered.
In an instant, a surge of Holy Light enveloped the liquid, suspending it midair.
"I know you can't accept this truth."
"But unfortunately, humans must live in reality."
"Next, I will shatter your shortsighted delusions and make the Germa Kingdom a nation truly composed of 'people.'"
As he spoke, Michael extended his hand and the Holy Light merged seamlessly with the liquid.
"Holy Light · Rain of Serenity."
The Holy Light and pale green liquid transformed into a silent, life-giving rain that spread across the entire Saint Germain.
At first, all the clone soldiers instinctively prepared to defend themselves as the Rain of Serenity fell—but soon, they realized...
It was just an oddly gentle rain.
Harmless.
Even healing and repairing their bodies.
And as the pale green droplets touched their skin, seeping into their limbs and veins...
Their emotionless, hardened eyes wavered for the first time, revealing something that should never have been there—
Doubt.
Where did they come from? Where would they go?
Why had they endlessly sacrificed everything—even their lives—for Vinsmoke Judge's one-sided demands?
Why did they all look so alike?
Why had they, under Vinsmoke Judge's orders, stood before him like human shields?
Why? Why? Why?
Watching the changes in the clone soldiers, Michael couldn't help but smile.
In Vinsmoke Judge's laboratory, he had originally planned—with Sora's help—to reverse-engineer a way to undo the emotional suppression.
But things hadn't gone as planned.
Though Vinsmoke Judge was a fool, his research on the Lineage Factor was undeniably advanced.
However, in the lab, they had found something even more suitable—
The potent drug Sora had once taken to counteract the Lineage Factor modifications.
Diluted and spread across the Saint Germain through the Rain of Serenity.
After all, they only needed to restore emotions to the clone soldiers and remove the "absolute obedience to the Vinsmoke Family" command embedded in their Lineage Factor.
Not to erase all the modifications made to the Lineage Factor.
The diluted high-potency drug was naturally the same liquid Michael had been holding earlier.
As the Rain of Serenity ended, the clone soldiers standing in place no longer moved with mechanical precision like a robots.
Instead, they began exchanging glances, staring at each other with confusion in their eyes.
Within each other's gazes, they saw something they had never witnessed before, something they had never understood...
Emotion
"Dammit! Clone Army, obey my orders!"
The moment Vinsmoke Judge's voice rang out again, all the clone soldiers turned their heads towards him in unison.
They didn't know what this burning emotion coursing through their hearts was.
But Michael knew.
"This... is anger."
"The anger of the enslaved, awakened at last."
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