The smoke of the Blood Axe Pirates seemed to dissipate quickly aboard the iron-blooded warship.
Like a stone tossed into a lake, it had stirred a brief ripple—but soon, the surface returned to dead stillness.
In the following days, the warship continued along its planned route, patrolling the first half of the Grand Line.
In the infirmary—
Rain's arm was still wrapped in fresh bandages as he lounged against the bed, idly flipping through a basic internal Marine navigation chart.
He wasn't injured at all; the blood had been his own handiwork. The bandages were purely for show.
Rosinante sat nearby in a chair, hands wrapped around a cup of hot cocoa. His eyes kept drifting toward Rain, his face shadowed with tangled thoughts.
The bloody scene in that alley, and Rain's godlike slaughter, had hit him hard.
But he didn't distance himself.
First, Rain was the only person aboard this cold ship he could talk to. Second, whatever Rain was hiding, he had still shoved Rosinante out of harm's way and faced those monsters alone.
For someone as inherently kind as Rosinante, that was enough to trust and protect him.
Still, watching that unnaturally calm profile, the fog in Rosinante's mind refused to clear.
Cloth rustled at the door.
Both of them looked up to see Vice Admiral Sakazuki standing at the entrance to the infirmary. He didn't step in—just swept his cold eyes across the room, his gaze lingering half a second longer on the bandaged arm.
Rosinante nearly spilled his cocoa, scrambling to his feet to salute.
Rain set the chart aside and pretended to struggle upright.
"No need," Sakazuki said, voice cold. "Rest."
Then he turned and walked away, as if he'd only happened to pass by.
He didn't believe a word of the "infighting" story. The report was full of holes, but he didn't care. The result mattered: the Blood Axe Pirates were dead. That was enough.
As for the recruit named Rain…
Whether it was dumb luck or hidden strength, Sakazuki had no interest. As long as his justice was carried out, the methods didn't concern him.
Rain watched his back disappear down the corridor, eyes still and unreadable.
Then he lowered his head again and went back to studying his sea chart—playing his role as the "lucky" injured recruit.
…
This "calm" continued for a while.
The warship plowed on through the treacherous waters of the Grand Line like a tireless steel beast.
They docked for resupply a few times along the way. Whenever they did, the crew got a half-day of shore leave to loosen their nerves.
Rain and Rosinante went ashore together a few times.
Rosinante was endlessly fascinated by little port town novelties, and inevitably his clumsiness got them into small, ridiculous situations. Most of the time Rain quietly bailed him out.
Rain himself didn't care much for portside sightseeing.
He was more concerned with when they'd next run into pirates.
After devouring the "nutrients" from two SR-ranks, Blood Axe Barton and Grom, his [Physique Tier] was a hair's breadth from [Top-Tier]. He needed one more heavy "XP bundle."
Rosinante seemed to be adjusting, too. He was still clumsy—still tripping, still knocking things over—but thanks to Rain's blunt pep talks and silent rescue work, he'd picked up at least a little of the toughness a Marine should have. The initial panic was mostly gone.
During breaks, he would habitually drift over, offering Rain a bottle of water.
"Rain, when do you think this internship'll be over?" he muttered, wiping sweat from his forehead. "It's always training, patrol, training, patrol… it's so boring."
Rain mostly just listened, sometimes answering with a quiet "mm." He knew Rosinante wasn't looking for solutions, just a listener—especially on a ship where even the air felt rusted.
"…Seriously, Rain, you didn't see it," Rosinante said, dropping his voice, still shaken. "Yesterday when I delivered some files to the Vice Admiral, I dropped them on the floor by accident. The way he looked at me… I swear it felt like he was burning a hole straight through my skull! Terrifying!"
Rain listened absently, eyes drifting out toward the horizon.
Wonder when I'll finally get "business"…
As if on cue—
A communications officer rushed past them, heading straight for the bridge, clearly carrying urgent intel.
Rain and Rosinante exchanged a look. Both saw the same heaviness in the other's eyes.
"Something happened," Rosinante said, clenching his fists.
Rain's eyes flickered. Finally.
…
Inside the bridge—
A comms soldier, drenched in sweat, stood stiffly before Sakazuki, reporting at full volume.
"Reporting, Vice Admiral! We just received a very weak distress signal! Source confirmed from the direction of the 'Fog Archipelago'!"
Sakazuki and Commander Dal immediately turned to the chart, eyes fixing on a hazard-marked zone with a skull symbol.
The comms officer went on. "The signal was intermittent, and the interference from that region is extremely strong. We could barely make out the words 'ghost ship'… 'attack'… and 'spider'… The signal fully cut off a few minutes ago!"
"The Fog Archipelago…" Dal frowned, expression serious. "It's from the 'Seagull-3' gunboat of the Third Patrol Fleet. They entered that region yesterday on a routine patrol."
The Fog Archipelago was a special stretch of sea in the first half of the Grand Line. It was permanently shrouded in dense fog that never dispersed; the magnetic field was so chaotic that Log Poses didn't work at all. Hidden reefs littered the seabed. On the charts, it was clearly labeled an extreme danger zone.
Because it was such a nightmare to navigate, it had become the perfect hideout for pirates and other criminals.
"Ghost ship… spider…" Sakazuki muttered, cigar in his teeth as he stared down at the cluster of islands on the map, a flash of anger in his eyes.
Dal stepped forward. "Vice Admiral, the only one active in that region with enough power to ambush a Marine gunboat… has to be him—'Maelstrom Spider' Squard. Current bounty: 120 million Berries. He specializes in using fog and whirlpools to ambush passing ships, and he's particularly ruthless toward us Marines."
"Hmph. Squard, huh?" Sakazuki's fist slammed down on the map with a heavy thud. The rage in his voice was almost tangible. "That crawling little insect dares to cause trouble in my patrol sector?"
He was livid at the thought of anyone ambushing Marine forces.
"Pass the order! Adjust course! All ahead full! Destination: Fog Archipelago!"
He turned to Dal. "I want to see for myself whether that spider really has three heads and six arms."
"Yes, Vice Admiral!"
The ship's massive hull began to swing around. The engines roared as they headed full-speed into the unknown fog.
Given the size of the main warship and the complexity of that sea, Sakazuki quickly made another decision.
He turned to Dal again. "Dal. Take a recon cutter with ten handpicked elites—including the two recruits—and head in ahead of us. Find out why the signal cut off and locate Seagull-3 if possible."
He specifically named Rain and Rosinante.