On a Marine warship preparing to set sail.
"…"
Aramaki lay lazily on a deck chair, bare-chested, an unlit cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth.
Sunlight spilled across his chest, illuminating the bold tattoo etched into his skin: "Die by the River, Die with Resolve." The characters stood out starkly beneath the glare.
"Ahhh…!"
He let out a deeply satisfied sigh.
"I'm finally about to see Brother Sakazuki."
Just then, a sound rang out.
"Buru buru… buru buru…"
The Den Den Mushi on the small table beside him began to ring.
Aramaki reached out and picked up the receiver.
"Moshi moshi?"
On the other end came Sakazuki's low, gravelly voice.
"Aramaki…"
The moment he heard it, Aramaki jolted upright, the laziness on his face vanishing in an instant.
"Brother Sakazuki?!"
"There's an urgent mission," Sakazuki said coldly. "Proceed to Marine Base G-5."
"Reinforce Hawk."
"…"
"Yes, Brother Sakazuki!"
Aramaki sprang to his feet, his boots slamming heavily against the deck with a dull thud.
In that instant, his expression shifted from languid ease to near-maniacal fervor.
Reinforce Hawk!
He had only just joined the ranks of justice, and already a mission serious enough to require his personal deployment?
And it was issued directly by his idol, Sakazuki himself.
"Hawk…"
Aramaki's eyes burned with excitement.
The monster who, at the Summit War, had erased the Yonko Red-Hair with his own hands.
The man Sakazuki himself had called the future of the Marines.
Now, he was in danger.
And Aramaki would descend as the unexpected spearhead.
"Hawk, I'm coming!"
He stomped down hard.
The entire warship lurched violently.
Before the stunned gazes of the surrounding Marines, the hardened steel deck cracked apart inch by inch.
Countless thick, dark-green vines burst forth from the裂缝, like awakened serpents, surging upward in a frenzy.
Barbed and vicious, they writhed, twisted, and intertwined in the air.
At last, they formed a massive, tightly sealed green flower bud behind him.
Aramaki leapt up and landed squarely inside it as the petals snapped shut around him.
From within the bud came his feverish shout, muffled yet resolute.
"Justice unto death!"
Boom!
The enormous bud contracted violently, then exploded outward with a deafening roar.
Aramaki shot skyward like a green meteor, propelled by terrifying force.
He tore through the clouds, leaving a long emerald trail across the blue sky as he rocketed toward the New World.
…
"…"
"Well then, Mr. Issho."
Kuzan leaned casually against the railing of the pier. The sea breeze brushed through his slightly wavy black hair, bringing with it a hint of refreshing coolness.
"I won't be joining you in the New World this time."
The military power the Marines had already mobilized there was enough to crush any remnants of the old era.
This war had no suspense from the very beginning.
Now, what the Marines needed was a stage for the newly joined warriors of justice to prove themselves.
For example…
The man standing before him now.
From discussing the meaning of justice, to the structure of the world, and then to the safety of ordinary civilians.
Kuzan had discovered that although this man was blind, his heart saw more clearly than anyone else's.
He loathed evil, and even more so those in power who spoke of "balance" and "stability" while treating countless lives as disposable pieces on a board.
He wanted to abolish the Warlord system.
He wanted the World Government to answer to the people.
Now, the Marines had done it for him.
More thoroughly. More decisively.
So Kuzan had agreed without hesitation.
Agreed to join this reborn Marine force, one that had cast off all shackles and existed solely to uphold its own justice.
"Aokiji, you flatter me," Issho replied gently, his closed eyes turning precisely toward Kuzan.
"I am merely going to offer what little strength I have, and perhaps to see for myself…"
"…what kind of presence the young man you call the 'future of the Marines' truly has."
"Go," Kuzan said softly.
"Carry your justice through to the end."
"Well said."
Issho nodded slightly and tapped his cane sword lightly against the ground.
He felt fortunate to have joined the Marines in this era.
An era where they no longer compromised with evil or bowed to brute authority.
An era where the safety of the people truly came first.
This was the justice he had sought his entire life, a justice worthy of his full devotion and protection.
"Then I shall take my leave."
An invisible force field spread outward from Issho.
The ground beneath his feet, along with countless stones and grains of sand, defied gravity and began to rise.
His body lifted into the air as well.
His purple robe fluttered violently in the wind as he shot upward like a violet meteor.
Straight toward the New World.
…
The Holy Land, Mary Geoise.
At the harbor, a fleet stood silently at anchor.
At its head was a colossal warship, pure white from bow to stern, its prow carved with the supreme emblem of the World Government.
The small fleet was disguised as CP0, appearing as though it were headed to the New World to carry out a classified mission.
"…"
The Commander-in-Chief of the God's Knights, Figarland Garling, stood expressionless beside the gangway.
Behind him, rows of God's Knights stood in solemn silence, their faces hidden beneath hooded shadows.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Five sets of footsteps approached.
The Five Elders emerged onto the pier.
They exchanged glances, each face tightly coiled with suppressed fury and grim resolve.
Without a word, they nodded slightly and boarded the white warship one by one.
"…"
The fleet slowly departed the harbor.
No horns. No farewells.
Like ghosts, they vanished into the vast sea.
Their destination was singular.
The New World. Marine Base G-5.
The future of the Marines.
The "Blood Eagle" Admiral.
Renn Hawk.