"Release Vasco Shot."
The moment that voice rang out, the entire battlefield fell silent.
Rosen, Catarina Devon, Borsalino, Shiryu—and even the prisoners locked away in different cells—turned their eyes toward a single figure.
Zephyr.
"...Are you sure?"
Shiryu looked surprised, caught off guard by the sudden command.
For the past ten days, he had accompanied Rosen and the others into Infinite Hell every day, and Zephyr had been consistent—one prisoner released per day, no exceptions.
But now—
Not only had Catarina Devon been released ahead of schedule...
Before Rosen had even finished that battle...
Zephyr was calling for another prisoner to be unchained.
Vasco Shot.
"Zephyr-sensei..."
Borsalino furrowed his brows slightly, trying to speak—
But Zephyr cut him off coldly.
"You're in charge of keeping order and responding to emergencies."
"I am Rosen's teacher."
"Got it, Borsalino?"
He stared at him down, unwavering.
Borsalino sighed.
"...Alright then, Zephyr-sensei."
He spread his hands as if to say, have it your way.
"Rosen."
"The content of your internship remains the same. You'll still fight through Infinite Hell alone..."
"But from now on, the conditions have changed."
"You'll face two prisoners at a time."
"Any objections?"
Rosen, hearing this, simply nodded.
"No problem."
Truth be told—he was starting to get bored of 1v1 anyway.
Pirates wouldn't line up to duel him one at a time. They'd come in packs. They'd swarm him.
This was just practice.
Shiryu said nothing more. He walked off to the sixth cell in silence, the sound of his boots echoing through the stone corridor as he went to carry out Zephyr's order.
After all, the student wasn't his.
He was just here for the show—and this was the best show on earth.
And in his heart... he was curious.
This man, Rosen.
If he went all out... What heights could he reach?
Shichibukai?
Vice Admiral?
Admiral Candidate?
"Borusalino..."
Zephyr turned back toward the golden Admiral.
"After graduation, this won't be a controlled training course at the Naval Academy anymore."
"I can dictate the rules here."
"But once we go to war—against pirates... against the Four Yonkos..."
"You think I'll be able to tell them to take turns fighting Rosen one by one?"
Zephyr's tone wasn't mocking.
It was reality.
If it had been before arriving at Impel Down, with the rocky history between him and Borsalino, he would've never bothered to explain himself.
But over the past days, with Rosen as a bridge, that hostility had dulled.
They weren't friends.
But they weren't enemies anymore either.
"Once we leave this place..."
"Rosen will face the most dangerous, most ruthless sea in the world."
"The Seven Shichibukai."
"The Dark Yonko."
"The Four Yonkos."
"Each one commanding tens of thousands of pirates under their banners."
"What Rosen must learn to overcome is not just the enemy standing in front of him..."
"But the onslaught of entire pirate armies."
"The ambushes."
"The betrayal."
"The unknown."
Zephyr's voice grew sharper:
"Take you for example, Borsalino. From graduation to general candidacy... how many of your missions were settled by 1v1?"
Borsalino's expression twitched.
He didn't answer.
But Zephyr pressed on.
"Rosen must not only have the power to stand at the peak..."
"But also the capability to face every kind of combat."
"To face any number of enemies, at any moment."
"No matter who the opponent is—how many they are—how bad the situation is..."
"He must always be able to stand alone against a thousand."
Zephyr's voice suddenly swelled, thick with fervor:
"From the moment I saw Rosen's potential, I stopped seeing him as a student."
"Becoming an Admiral like you, Borsalino?"
"That's just his first step."
"Becoming a leader like Sengoku?"
"That's just his warm-up."
"This man—this blade—will become the greatest force the Navy has ever produced!"
"He will cut down this chaotic age of pirates and end the Great Pirate Era itself!"
Zephyr spoke each word with the weight of a blade striking stone.
Of course...
There was another reason he hadn't mentioned.
Rosen's growth was simply too fast.
Thirteen days.
From the start of school to now—thirteen days total.
From a recruit who didn't even know what Haki was...
To a swordsman who crushed the monsters of Infinite Hell.
Even adjusting the plan overnight—advancing fourteen names, skipping stages, releasing Catarina Devon...
He still couldn't keep up.
Unless he released Douglas Bullet now, there was no opponent left to match Rosen's pace.
And so—
For the second time in a single day—
Zephyr raised the difficulty again.
1v1 became 1v2.
Borsalino stood silently, his eyes unreadable.
The end of the Great Pirate Era?
What man hadn't dreamed of that, when first putting on the Navy uniform?
Sengoku.
Garp.
Zephyr himself.
Even he—Borsalino—once had that fire.
But the higher he climbed, the more he understood.
This era, born from Roger's final words, was no longer in anyone's control.
Even with the three Admiral Candidates...
Even with the Shichibukai System...
Even with Garp and Sengoku themselves...
All they could do was maintain the balance.
To cut down this era?
That was a dream more distant than becoming Pirate King itself.
"Junior..."
"This is the weight of the Great Pirate Era."
"Are you ready to shoulder it?"
He looked at Rosen.
The blade in his hand.
The calm in his eyes.
The edge in his spirit.
He knew Zephyr hadn't only been speaking to him.
He had been speaking to Rosen as well.
"Cut down the Pirate Era?"
"You're as intense as ever, Zephyr-sensei."
Rosen let out a breath.
His gaze dropped to the blackened blade of Engetsu, still humming in his hand.
Could he cut it down?
Could he end the age?
That wasn't the question.
The question was—
Did he have the courage to raise the sword against it?
Snap.
The sound of boots echoed in the distance.
Vasco Shot stepped out of the cell Shiryu had opened.
He made his way toward Catarina Devon, shoulders hunched, breath heavy, like a beast smelling blood for the first time in years.
The two sixth-floor monsters now stood before him.
Rosen's grip tightened.
"Cutting down the Pirate Era?"
"I'll start... with these two."
"That's quite a speech you gave, Zephyr..."
"Are you sure your student can handle this?"
Vasco Shot looked first at Rosen.
Then at Zephyr.
Zephyr crossed his arms.
"I have never doubted my students."
"...Heh."
Vasco Shot grinned.
His tongue slipped out, red and wet and unnatural.
"Hey, kid."
"Rosen, right?"
"If you give me a bottle of wine right now..."
"...maybe I won't rip your head off."
The voice was hoarse. Unstable.
Like a drunk ghost crawling out of the bottle.
Vasco Shot had been locked away too long.
His thirst—wasn't for blood.
It was for liquor.
And Rosen was the closest thing to a cork.
...
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