Chapter 24: What Does Your Justice Look Like?
The moment Garon set foot on Marineford, Garp was the first to break the silence.
He strode forward, his boisterous laughter echoing across the entire port. "Hahaha! Brat, nice work! You're the first rookie to ever make that bastard Whitebeard use his Conqueror's Haki Infusion!"
Garon froze for a second. He only recognized the burly, slightly younger-looking man as Garp when he saw the scar by his eye.
After recognizing Garp, Garon instinctively glanced at Zephyr, who stood behind him. The latter's expression was as stern as ever, impossible to read.
"You praise me too much, Vice Admiral Garp." Garon bowed his head slightly, his voice calm. "I only did what I had to do."
"Hahaha! Too modest!" Garp slapped Garon on the shoulder with enough force to make the injured man stumble. "Come on, come on! First, let's get you to the infirmary for a proper check-up, and then we can talk all about that fight!"
Just then, Zephyr finally spoke. "Garp, stop fooling around."
"Zephyr~"
"He needs to report to me first." His gaze shifted to Garon, his voice deep and powerful. "Warrant Officer Garon. One hour. My office. I will be waiting for you there."
Garon straightened his back and snapped a perfect salute. "Yes, Vice Admiral Zephyr."
Garp pouted. "Hey, hey, Zephyr, don't be so stiff. The kid just got out of a hell of a fight..."
"And that is precisely why discipline is needed," Zephyr cut Garp off. He nodded to Garon. "Go. Don't be late."
Watching Garon's retreating back as he was escorted by medics, Garp shook his head. "You're always so strict."
Zephyr rubbed his brow. "Garp, you know what his Logia-type Sky-Tremor Fruit means."
Garp's expression turned uncharacteristically serious for a moment. "It's just a Logia..."
"That's what makes it terrifying!"
The two were silent for a moment. The sea breeze caught Zephyr's cape, making it snap.
"So?" Garp suddenly returned to his carefree self, bumping Zephyr's shoulder aggressively. "You gonna let me have him?"
"Don't even think about it. Go look after your own son." Zephyr snorted and turned to walk toward the HQ building. "Besides, I heard you just took in that Kuzan fellow. Looks like you're already preparing to train him."
Garp watched Zephyr's back and burst out laughing. "Hahaha! I knew it! You really like that kid, don't you?"
Zephyr didn't look back, just waved a hand. "See you in the Fleet Admiral's office, Garp."
"Yeah, yeah, I know!" Garp put his hands behind his head and ambled after him. "But before that, I gotta go 'borrow' something from Sengoku's office! That guy is definitely hiding the good snacks!"
The Marines at the port watched the two Vice Admirals leave, then looked in the direction Garon had disappeared. The whispering started again.
"Hey, did you see that? Vice Admiral Zephyr personally came to greet the rookie..."
"I heard he went one-on-one with Whitebeard and lived!"
"Things are about to get interesting at HQ..."
...
The automatic doors of the Marine HQ infirmary closed behind him.
Garon stood in the hallway, instinctively touching his chest where three ribs should have been broken.
"It's... unbelievable..."
Whitebeard's final Haki-infused attack, even though he'd held back, had still shattered several of his ribs. With the medical care available at the West Blue branch, an injury like that would have meant at least four months in bed.
And now, the skin under the bandages was already healed, leaving only a few faint pink scars to remember the harrowing clash.
"Is the medical team at HQ using magic or something? No wonder it felt like Marines rarely died when I watched the anime..."
Garon muttered to himself, pressing his abdomen. No pain, just the slight itch of new flesh knitting together.
He thought back to his days as a recruit in West Blue... the crude field hospitals, the pained moans of the wounded, and the medical supplies that were never enough.
But here, a grievous injury seemed to be just a temporary inconvenience.
Outside the hallway window, the shouts of new recruits drilling echoed from the Marineford plaza. Uniform, and full of energy.
Garon paused, watching the uniformly-dressed Marines below through the glass. The sun shone on their young faces, and every one of them wore a determined expression.
"Even their new recruits are the elite." Garon retracted his gaze and continued toward the HQ building.
Zephyr had given him an hour, but he decided to arrive early. At Marine HQ, punctuality was the most basic form of discipline.
After passing through three standard security checkpoints, Garon arrived at the Vice Admirals' office wing.
The hallway was quiet enough to hear his own footsteps. The doors on
either side all bore the names of HQ Vice Admirals.
He stopped in front of a black door at the far end.
The nameplate read simply: Zephyr - Marine HQ Vice Admiral.
Garon raised his hand to knock, but found the door was ajar. Through the crack, he could see the room was empty. Zephyr clearly wasn't back yet.
"Reporting, Warrant Officer Garon, here to report."
After announcing himself softly, Garon pushed the door open and entered.
The office was simple to the point of being austere: one solid wood desk, two visitor chairs, and a file cabinet overflowing with documents. There were no decorations, save for a framed photo on the desk of Zephyr and his yet-to-be-married wife, and a single piece of calligraphy hanging on the wall.
[Non-killing Justice]
The four characters were powerful, the ink looking as if it had almost bored through the paper.
"'Non-killing'..." Garon stood in front of the calligraphy, staring at it for a long time.
During his recruit days in West Blue, "non-killing" was seen as a sign of weakness. Pirates only submitted to greater violence. Mercy often invited even greater disaster. He had seen too many Marines die because they were soft-hearted.
"But this... this is 'Black Arm' Zephyr's justice."
He muttered to himself, his fingers unconsciously stroking the hilt of his blade.
This past year in West Blue, his reputation had been built on a foundation of corpses. Every pirate he'd struck down was a warning to the next.
And now, these four words felt like a complete repudiation of everything he had done...
"That is my justice."
A deep voice suddenly came from behind him.
Garon spun around to see Zephyr standing in the doorway, his expression flat and unreadable.
"Vice Admiral Zephyr!" Garon immediately snapped to attention and saluted.
Zephyr strode into the office, his cape swaying behind him.
"Garon. You said, 'Belated justice is no justice at all.'"
Zephyr walked to his desk but didn't sit. He stared directly into Garon's eyes. "So then, for you, who could say such a thing..."
"What does your justice look like?"