Not far from Kuzan, Vice-Admiral Raleigh's expression on his own command ship was equally grim.
Due to his almost non-existent communication with Kuzan, Raleigh's relationship with the ice-user was quite distant.
But no commanding officer could tolerate witnessing such a scene
To attempt to eliminate so many Navy soldiers in one go was simply too audacious, even for a defector.
Raleigh gritted his teeth and spat out a few words.
"Damn D's."
On the ship, Enel's face was also dangerously dark.
Due to his rapid improvement in strength and his reformed, disciplined personality under Raleigh's strict guidance, he had become quite popular within the Navy ranks.
On the warship that had just been attacked by Saul, Enel knew several Marine soldiers personally.
"What does this giant bastard take the lives of Marine soldiers for?!" Enel growled, sparks flying from his shoulders.
"Even the most brutal pirates in Paradise wouldn't go this far—how dare he!"
"Not considering the consequences at all, just shouting about upholding his own personal justice... what a complete idiot! Raleigh-sama, I cannot hold back anymore! I'm going to execute him!"
Raleigh nodded with a darkened expression and instructed Enel. "This guy... must not die easily."
"I want you to capture him alive. I will make sure the world knows that betraying the Navy doesn't grant you the mercy of a quick death in battle."
After receiving Raleigh's approval, Enel's figure swiftly shot up into the sky in a flash of lightning, boarding the hovering Ark Maxim as he charged toward Saul's position on the beach.
A massive crack of thunder exploded in the air, making everyone's hair stand on end.
"Everyone, take the lifeboats. There are still many fallen soldiers in the water who need rescue," Raleigh ordered his men, staring expressionlessly at the turbulent sea.
He didn't bother with intricate, manipulative schemes now—all he wanted was for Saul to suffer a miserable end for attacking the uniform.
The D Clan.
Originally, Raleigh held no particular prejudice against the D Clan, they were just anime protagonists to him.
But now, living in this world, he understood exactly why the World Government despised them so much.
Because they acted without ever caring about the collateral consequences.
As long as they unilaterally believed something aligned with their inner romantic convictions, they would do it without hesitation, regardless of who got hurt.
To this day, Raleigh had yet to meet a single D he didn't despise.
The only partial exception was Monkey D. Dragon, the leader of the Revolutionary Army who actually guided the people with a plan.
The remaining D's included Gol D. Roger, Monkey D. Garp, Portgas D. Rouge, and now this Jaguar D. Saul before his eyes.
Fortunately, Garp was the only D among the Navy's top brass—otherwise, Raleigh would truly worry that his long-term plans might be triggered prematurely due to his own allies' foolishness.
Raleigh recalled the memory of Garp's carefree, grinning face, and it made him feel an overwhelming disgust toward the entire bloodline.
BOOM!
A thunderclap, entirely different from the sound of cannon fire, suddenly pierced through the chaotic battle.
A thick bolt of lightning struck Saul squarely in the back, forcing the giant to stumble half a step forward with a groan.
The smell of charred flesh rose from his scorched back.
"Enel?" Kuzan turned his gaze toward the sky.
Enel was now fully enveloped in crackling lightning, his eyes coldly fixed on Saul below.
Saul glanced back at the rock where Robin was hiding, signaling with his eyes for her to run to the evacuation ship.
With Enel's arrival, Saul knew in his heart that the Navy's most brilliant ruthless genius—Christian Raleigh—must be monitoring this exact battlefield.
He recalled the rumors within the Navy: if anyone was most likely to be promoted to Admiral next, it was undoubtedly the Pirate Butcher.
Surviving against him was impossible, Saul knew, let alone with Enel and Kuzan already present.
"Ice Block: Twin Spears!" Kuzan's voice suddenly rang out behind him.
Two massive, freezing spears pierced directly through Saul's shoulders, pinning his arms.
Gritting through the agony, Saul reached back and snapped the ice spears embedded in his body, blood and frost mixing on his coat.
"Run, Robin!"
Robin heard his desperate cry.
After one last, reluctant look at Saul's face, she turned and fled into the distance toward the civilian harbor, weeping.
Boom!
"Thunderclap!"
Seeing Saul momentarily immobilized by the ice, Enel decisively unleashed his attack.
A massive lightning bolt descended from the heavens, striking Saul's body directly.
"AAAAAH!"
A scream of pure torment erupted from the giant, yet Saul continued pushing forward, enduring Enel's assault.
He would use his last moments of life to draw their fire and help Robin escape this doomed island.
"Ice Age."
The frigid air from Kuzan's hands slammed into Saul's legs, instantly freezing them solid to the ground. Saul lost his balance and crashed face-first into the dirt.
Kuzan stood over Saul, watching his former comrade still trying to crawl forward with his arms.
"Stop!" Kuzan yelled. "I said stop!"
Kuzan kicked Saul hard in the abdomen.
The violent pain contorted Saul's massive body.
"Bastard, what do you take the Navy for?!" Kuzan demanded, his voice breaking slightly. "What do you take me for? What do you take Navy soldiers for? How could you betray years of fighting side-by-side, sharing life and death, for a woman you just met days ago? What is wrong with your head?!"
Saul endured the pain, using his arms to push himself upright until he lay facing upward, looking at his friend.
"Kuzan... do you truly believe the Navy represents justice here?" Saul asked, coughing blood. "They were just a group of unarmed scholars. The World Government treats everyone in the world like slaves—and we are just the overseers managing them."
"All they wanted was to study the Void Century, yet they are seen as challenging the World Government's absolute authority. So they sent a Buster Call to indiscriminately slaughter everyone." Saul gestured weakly to the burning town behind them.
"Did you know? This island didn't just have young scholars. There were newborn babies... elderly people who'd never left Ohara in their lives—all wiped out without distinction because of this order."
"Do you really believe this is right, Kuzan?"
Kuzan's eyes were hidden behind his dark sunglasses. No one could tell what he was thinking.
"The Navy serves under the World Government, so following their orders is legally correct," Kuzan replied stiffly. "Moreover, the Five Elders did give the scholars a chance. All they had to do was hand over the scholars researching the Void Century, burn all materials related to it, and swear never to study the Void Century again."
"They were the ones who refused. Why blame the Navy for not upholding justice when they chose suicide?"
Suddenly, distant explosions and a towering pillar of flames caught Kuzan, Enel, and Saul's attention.
They stared dumbfounded at the blazing fireball on the distant sea.
If memory served them right, that ship should have been the official civilian evacuation vessel!
But... why had it become a burning fireball?
Who had launched the attack?
The men looked toward the warship anchored nearest the evacuation vessel.
"Wh-why?!" Saul stammered, horror washing over him. "Who gave the order to fire on the evacuation ship?!"
"It's... it's Vice-Admiral Sakazuki's warship!"
Kuzan, Enel, and Saul on the ground were all shocked by this scene.
Even the fleeing Robin stood frozen in place on the cliffside—this fiery moment would become her lifelong nightmare.
On his own ship, Raleigh's lips twitched slightly.
He truly hadn't expected the timeline to possess such strong self-correcting functionality. Saul had ultimately ended up on Kuzan's side of the island, and Sakazuki had indeed given the ruthless order to bombard the evacuation ship to ensure no scholars escaped.
Watching the evacuation ship engulfed in raging flames, a glint flashed in Sengoku's eyes from his flagship.
He had considered that Sakazuki might shell the evacuation ship, as the man was an extremist, but he hadn't expected Sakazuki to not hesitate in the slightest.
Originally, Sengoku thought he'd need to subtly issue the dark command to Sakazuki to see this happen.
On Sengoku's warship, a Commodore-ranked officer stared blankly at the burning civilian ship and couldn't help muttering.
"Isn't... isn't this going too far? They were civilians."
He was answered by Sengoku's merciless, heavy slap.
Slap!
The Commodore's face flushed red as he covered his cheek, not daring to speak another word.
Sengoku slowly explained, his voice cold and devoid of his usual warmth.
"A Buster Call means the complete eradication of all people and objects in areas threatening the Government's rule."
Sengoku sighed and continued, looking at the fire. "Everyone on Ohara Island was already dead from the moment the golden Den Den Mushi was pressed. The evacuation ship provided by the Government was merely for political appearances—they didn't want to bear the historical blame for a total massacre."
"So, the moral dilemma passed to the Navy. The evacuation ship absolutely had to be dealt with to ensure no scholars smuggled themselves aboard. But whoever gave the order to attack it would carry that stain for life. Using one man's stain to dilute the World Government's stain of massacring Ohara—that is why the politicians arranged for the evacuation ship in the first place."
Sengoku closed his eyes, regaining the serene composure of the Great General "Buddha."
Starting tomorrow, Sakazuki would be condemned by the entire world as a butcher, but none of the soldiers and officers carrying out missions at sea today had any right to condemn him.
He bore the darkness so they didn't have to.
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