Aiden helped Commander Dal and the two other unconscious soldiers onto the life-raft.
"Aiden, what do we do now?" Rosinante asked nervously.
"We go back."
Aiden's reply was short and direct. Not long after, in the early morning as the thick fog began to thin, a battered life-raft drifted out of the mist like a ghost. It entered the sight of Sakazuki's flagship, which looked like a massive steel beast.
On the deck of the warship:
Sakazuki stood at the bow, expressionless as he watched the survivors being carried aboard one by one on stretchers. When he saw that the two recruits were actually still alive, a faint, almost unnoticeable trace of surprise flashed through his dark, cold eyes.
The medical officer was about to carry Commander Dal away, but Dal raised a hand to stop him.
"Vice Admiral!" Commander Dal lay on the stretcher, his face pale, yet he still insisted on delivering his report in a loud voice. "After entering the Foggy Islands, we were ambushed by the Great Whirlpool Spider Pirates. The speedboat was destroyed. Out of the entire team... only five survived."
"The crew of Seagull No. 3... all died in the line of duty!"
A dead silence instantly fell over the deck. Only the sound of the wind remained.
"However!" Dal's voice suddenly rose. "Great Whirlpool Spider Squard has been killed!"
The harsh expression on Sakazuki's face finally shifted slightly. His sharp eyes swept over the five survivors. "Who did it?"
Commander Dal's gaze moved past Sakazuki. He looked at Aiden, who was standing at the back of the group like someone completely unimportant.
Then Dal turned his head and pointed at Rosinante on the other side.
"It was Rosinante!"
Commander Dal continued in a hoarse voice, "Rosinante found a Devil Fruit on the island, the Calm-Calm Fruit! When Squard was hunting us down, he used his Devil Fruit power to launch a surprise attack. He... successfully assassinated Squard from behind!"
The moment those words were spoken, every Navy sailor on the deck gasped in shock.
Everyone's eyes turned to the "big blonde" who was usually so clumsy.
The crew: ∑(O_O;)
The atmosphere on the deck became incredibly strange in an instant.
Sakazuki said nothing.
His cold gaze rested on Rosinante for a moment, then moved to the wounds on Commander Dal's body. Finally, his eyes landed on Aiden, who stood at the back of the line with a calm expression. He stared at him for a full five seconds.
He clearly didn't believe a word of it.
But in the end, he only let out a cold snort.
"Results are everything." Sakazuki turned around, his cloak snapping loudly in the sea breeze. "The pirates have been wiped out. Dal, you did well."
"Mission complete. Return to base!"
Aiden leaned against the railing at the stern of the ship, the sea breeze stirring his hair. He watched as Rosinante was surrounded by the sailors on board. Because Rosinante still couldn't control his silence ability properly, he kept opening his mouth without making a sound. He was so anxious that he was sweating.
Aiden's goal had been achieved. Commander Dal was a smart man who understood how to cooperate.
Inside the medical room of Sakazuki's warship, the atmosphere was a little strange.
Rosinante sat on a hospital bed, frantically dealing with the military doctors who wanted to examine him.
"I... I'm fine."
Because he was nervous and still hadn't fully mastered his ability, his voice kept cutting in and out.
Aiden sat nearby, calmly drinking the hot cocoa a doctor had given him. From the side, he watched Rosinante's "silent movie" performance.
"Everyone out."
At that moment, Commander Dal walked in on a crutch. He dismissed all the doctors.
Only Aiden, Rosinante, and the witness, Dal, remained in the medical room.
"Commander Dal!" Seeing him, Rosinante quickly tried to get up from the bed to salute.
"Stay down. You haven't fully recovered yet," Commander Dal said, raising a hand to stop him. "Vice Admiral Sakazuki has already signed the battle report. Your credit for killing Squard has been confirmed."
After saying that, Commander Dal looked at Aiden. "Corporal Aiden, I also reported your contribution 'honestly.' The Vice Admiral has approved a reward for you as well."
Before Aiden could reply, Dal simply reached out and patted him on the shoulder.
"Recover well."
A few days later, in the warship's mess hall:
Rosinante, who had finally been discharged from the medical room, walked in. Instantly, every eye in the mess hall locked onto him.
Aiden was sitting in a corner, silently eating his meal. He watched as Rosinante became flustered under the storm of staring eyes.
"Yo, isn't this our hero?"
A few veterans who had just gotten their food smiled and sat down across from Rosinante. They looked like people visiting a zoo to see something new. Curiosity was written all over their faces.
The lead veteran had only one eye. He grinned, showing his yellow teeth. "We were on the ship and didn't see the fight ourselves. We heard... you took down Squard in a single second?"
"No... it wasn't... I didn't..." Rosinante waved his hands nervously.
"Don't be modest, it's all in the report." Another veteran leaned in curiously. "We just want to see it. That Calm-Calm Fruit of yours... what kind of power is it? How did it let you catch a monster like Squard off guard?"
"I... I..." Rosinante was sweating under the pressure of the crowd. He looked toward Aiden in the distance as if asking for help.
Aiden picked up his soup bowl, took a sip, and gave him a look that clearly said, "You're on your own."
"I... I'll try..." With no other choice, Rosinante could only brace himself and cautiously activate his power.
An invisible silent space spread out from him, covering the entire table.
The noise in the rest of the mess hall continued as usual. But at this table, everything turned into a silent movie.
"So? Did you use the power?" the one-eyed veteran asked. But the moment he opened his mouth, he realized his voice... was gone.
He opened his mouth wide in terror, but no sound came out.
"Hey, there really is no sound!" His companion across from him didn't understand what was happening and tried to shout. He then realized that he had also become "mute."
Now the curiosity of these veterans was completely ignited.
"Try this!" the one-eyed veteran said excitedly. He picked up his metal spoon and slammed it against his tray as hard as he could.
A strange scene appeared.
Aiden stopped eating and quietly watched that table.
The spoon struck the tray hard, making it vibrate violently. The soup in the tray even splashed out. But not a single sound could be heard.
Seeing that they had seen enough, Rosinante deactivated the ability.
The noise of the mess hall rushed back in an instant, making the earlier silence feel even more intense.
After seeing the power, the excitement on the veterans' faces was mixed with a little fear.
"That power of yours... it's creepy as hell," the one-eyed veteran said, patting Rosinante on the shoulder.