At the bow, with that overwhelming sense of power still lingering in him, Aiden let the sea breeze tug at his clothes as a thought rose in his mind.
"Why should I still go back?"
"I now have the [Rumble-Rumble Fruit], [??? Observation Haki], and [SSS-Rank Armament Haki]."
Why should he go back to that rotten Marine Headquarters? Why go back just to serve those pampered Celestial Dragons?
He could easily keep living under the identity of "Arise." He could stay free and pass judgment on the injustice and evil he found.
Images flashed through his mind. The civilian rescue ship at Ohara being sunk by Akainu. Spandine's ugly face.
But where would he actually go?
"Become a pirate? Fight Kaido and Big Mom over the ONE PIECE?"
Aiden shook his head. That was never what he wanted.
If he ever truly got the chance, what he wanted was to change this rotten world with his own hands.
His thoughts drifted back to that afternoon in Loguetown. The reason he had not rushed to execute Gold Roger, and had even looked forward to the start of the Great Pirate Era, was not just because of Sin Points. Roger had chosen to use his own death to shake the world and force change.
And until Aiden found a better way himself, he did not know how to change this world either.
"This damn world." Aiden's eyes turned cold. "It isn't just pirates that make this world rotten. It's those high-and-mighty Celestial Dragons in Mary Geoise too."
Breaking it from the outside would be too difficult. But what if he did it from the inside?
Aiden's thoughts suddenly became clear.
He was an orphan raised by the Marines since childhood. His background was spotless. He had grown up in Loguetown, later caught Vice Admiral Tsuru's eye, and entered the Elite Training Camp. His record was as clean as it could be.
Now, by sheer luck, he had eaten the Rumble-Rumble Fruit. That gave him the perfect explanation for his terrifying strength. Which meant he had to go back.
He needed a legal identity, and he needed a position from which he could gather power openly.
Whether it was becoming an officer, sailing on a warship to hunt pirates across the world, or being assigned to a base in the New World, his growth would be far more efficient than living as a wanted criminal with nowhere to stand.
"I'll use my position as a Marine to hunt down the evil in this world, legally and efficiently... until the day comes when I can judge those high-and-mighty Celestial Dragons and the Five Elders without having to worry about the consequences."
Aiden's eyes grew calm again, but that ambition had already taken root deep inside him.
In the early morning, the first rays of sunlight fell across the sea.
Smoker came out onto the deck, yawning, and saw Aiden standing calmly at the bow, facing the sunrise.
"Morning." Smoker lit his cigars and asked around them, "Where are we now? And how are we supposed to contact Headquarters?"
Aiden did not look back. He simply stood there, feeling the sea breeze.
"Don't worry," Aiden said with complete confidence. "Turn the rudder thirty degrees to the southeast. If we keep sailing a little longer, we should run into a Marine warship."
"Huh?" Smoker froze. "How do you know? You..."
Of course, Aiden was not about to explain. While Smoker had been sleeping, his Observation Haki had combined with the electromagnetic sensing of the [Rumble-Rumble Fruit], turning into an invisible radar that covered hundreds of nautical miles around them.
Smoker looked at Aiden's expression, the kind that said he already had everything under control. Even though he had a head full of questions, he knew he would not get any answers.
"Damn it, always acting so mysterious..."
Even as Smoker grumbled, he honestly made his way over to the rudder.
He skillfully turned the wheel, and the small sailboat cut through the waves at full speed in the direction Aiden had pointed out.
The Grand Line, First Half.
Marine Commodore Gion's flagship was currently sailing along its assigned patrol route.
Inside the cabin, Gion rested her chin on one hand. Her attention was not on the official documents in front of her, but on the sea chart hanging on the wall.
Her finger tapped lightly against the table, then slowly came to a stop over Ohara in the West Blue.
It had already been almost three months.
Ever since the Buster Call at Ohara ended, the names Aiden and Smoker had vanished from the active Marine roster. They had been classified as missing in action.
And Gion had been frustrated for those same three months.
She could not understand why she cared this much about a trainee.
Yes, that boy named Aiden had a face handsome enough that even she had to admit it, and his cooking was impossible to fault... but how many talented young men had she seen in her life?
What she truly could not put aside was that night. Under the influence of alcohol, she had seen something in his eyes, a depth and a sense of experience that had no business being there at his age.
"He's just a trainee." She muttered to herself, trying to convince herself.
But her actions had been more honest than her words.
Last week, she had sent Vice Admiral Tsuru her third application for reassignment. She wanted to join the newly formed Demon Arise Special Investigation Team, or at the very least... be transferred to the West Blue to patrol the route where Arise had last been seen.
Tsuru's reply had been as calm and merciless as ever: "Gion, your judgment is being clouded by unnecessary emotions."
"I just don't want a villain like that walking around free!"
"You know perfectly well," Tsuru had said in a tone that allowed no argument, "that with Arise's strength, enough to face Kuzan and come out on top, if you really crossed paths with him, the only outcome would be your defeat. Do not throw your life away. Remain on standby in your assigned defense zone."
Click.
The Transponder Snail was hung up.
Gion knew Tsuru was only stating the facts, but she still could not make herself let it go. That feeling of helplessness had driven her to train harder than ever over the past three months.
Knock, knock, knock!
Urgent knocking interrupted her thoughts.
"Come in."
The adjutant rushed in looking flustered. He had even forgotten to salute. In his hand was a copy of the World Economic Journal that had just arrived.
"Re... Commodore! Today's paper... something big happened!!"
"What are you panicking for?" Gion took the newspaper. Her eyes casually swept over the front page.
In the next instant, her eyes widened.
[Has judgment fallen? A city vanishes overnight!]
[Subtitle: Has the 'God of Thunder' appeared? Over five hundred pirates vanish in an instant!]
Gion's breathing caught.
She read every single word carefully. There was no photo of the killer in the article, only a terrifying crater dozens of meters wide at the edge of Mock Town, the charred remains scattered across the ground, and the frightened accounts of surviving civilians who spoke of "Divine Punishment."
"Thunder God..." Gion muttered. Her fingers tightened around the paper without her noticing.
Her first thought was that this had to be the work of an extremely powerful Logia-type Devil Fruit.
Wiping out more than five hundred pirates in an instant, Gion had only ever seen that kind of overwhelming power in the Marine Headquarters powerhouses among the Vice Admirals.
The "Demon" of Ohara, the "Thunder God" of Mock Town... what in the world was going on? One terrifying figure after another kept appearing.
Gion felt a wave of helplessness. No matter which one it was, both were clearly far beyond what she could handle right now.
Just as Gion was lost in thought, the alarm from the lookout tower suddenly rang out!
Wail, wail!
"Commodore!! A small pirate ship has been spotted directly ahead!!"
Gion snapped back to attention at once. Her eyes regained the sharpness of a Marine Commodore as she rushed onto the deck and raised her binoculars.
On the horizon, a small single-masted sailboat with a ragged sail was cutting straight through the waves toward them.
"Commodore!" The lookout sounded confused. "They seem to be heading straight for us!"
"What?"
Gion lowered her binoculars. Her eyes turned cold at once, though a trace of doubt flashed through them. "A tiny pirate ship like that actually dares to charge straight at a Headquarters warship?"
But her instincts as a Marine Commodore overruled everything else.
"I don't care who it is," she said with a cold snort. "If it's a pirate, it's an enemy!"
She drew Konpira from her waist, pointed the blade forward, and gave the order in a cold voice: "Gunners, to your positions! Aim the cannons! The moment they enter range, fire and sink them!!"
"Yes!!"
The Marines moved quickly. The gun ports along the side of the ship opened with a creak, and the black cannon muzzles were aimed at the small sailboat drawing closer and closer.
"Report! They're in range!"
"Fire!!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The cannons along the warship's side fired together. Several cannonballs trailing flames tore through the air toward the reckless little ship!
Just as the cannonballs were about to hit, everything changed!
Sizzle!!
A blinding blue bolt of lightning shot violently from the ship! Like a long whip, it struck every incoming cannonball in midair with perfect accuracy!
Boom! Boom! Boom! The cannonballs exploded one after another in the air, creating massive shockwaves!
"What?!" Gion was completely stunned.
Before she could even connect it to the "Thunder God" from the newspaper, a cloud of white smoke mixed with lightning had already shot off from the sailboat at unbelievable speed. It traced a strange arc through the sky, crossed hundreds of meters...
Thud!
Two figures landed heavily in the middle of Gion's main deck.
"Don't move!!"
"Enemy attack!!"
The Marines across the entire ship instantly surrounded the two intruders. Black gun barrels and gleaming blades were pointed straight at them.
As the smoke and lightning faded, Aiden stood there with his hands in his pockets, wearing a faint smile. Smoker stood beside him with two cigars in his mouth, looking smug.
Gion stood at the very front. The hand gripping Konpira trembled slightly.
She stared at that familiar figure... then at the blue arcs of electricity that still had not fully faded from his body...
Her breathing was completely thrown off.
Thwack.
The newspaper she had not had time to put away slipped from her stiff fingers.
It fluttered down onto the deck and landed open to the front page.
That shocking headline ended up right at Gion's feet:
["Thunder God" Appears? More Than Five Hundred Pirates Erased Instantly...]
A silence fell across the deck.
Aiden ignored all the weapons pointed at him. He simply lifted his head and met Gion's shocked, complicated gaze. Then he gave her a familiar smile.
"Commodore Gion."
He deliberately dragged out the words. "Long time no see. Is this really how you greet your favorite student?"