Sizzle—
The air was filled with the sharp smell of ozone.
Silence returned to the warehouse. The buzzing of electricity gradually faded. Only a few surviving lightbulbs still flickered weakly under the unstable voltage.
Ginny lay motionless on the cold concrete floor.
Thin wisps of smoke still rose from her body. The tips of her hair were curled. Her eyes, usually so full of energy, were tightly shut, and she did not move at all. In the flickering light, her face looked pale and lifeless, as if all the warmth had already left her.
"Gin... Ginny..."
Kuma fell to his knees. His knees slammed hard against the gravel, but he did not seem to feel it.
From a short distance away, he slowly reached out his large hands, the ones that were usually so steady and strong, toward Ginny.
At that moment, everything around him seemed to fade away. Sound grew distant. All he could hear was the heavy pounding of his own heart.
"Why... why did this happen?"
A choked sob escaped Kuma's throat, like the cry of a wounded beast. Large, hot tears hit the dusty ground and scattered into muddy droplets.
Countless images flashed through his mind.
That was God Valley, a place that felt like hell. Two wounded children hid in a dark corner, sharing a piece of moldy bread.
Ginny's face was covered in black ash, but she still laughed happily. She grabbed his oversized hands and pressed them against her face. In a young but firm voice, she said, "Kuma, your hands are so warm. They must be hands blessed by God. As long as I hold these hands, I'm not afraid of anything."
That was the abandoned church in the Sorbet Kingdom. Ginny stood in the yard, swinging an axe taller than herself to chop wood. He sat by the window, reading that salvaged BIBLE. Sunlight fell across her sweaty, smiling face. It was the warmest memory in Kuma's heart.
That was the year they turned eighteen, at a bonfire party. Ginny had drunk a little fruit wine. Her cheeks were flushed red. For the first time, she boldly wrapped her arms around his neck and looked at him with bright eyes, as if he were her whole world. "Hey, Kuma, let's get married!"
And how had he answered her back then?
He had avoided those burning eyes as if they would burn him. He had hidden his hands behind his back and whispered, "I can't, Ginny. Being with me will only bring unhappiness. I am a person cursed by the world. Sinful blood flows through me."
At age twenty-two, right after a battle where they had barely escaped with their lives, Ginny lay covered in bandages. Leaning against his shoulder and looking at the stars, she asked him again, "Kuma, if we survive this time, let's get married, okay? I don't want to wait anymore."
He had stayed silent for a long time. In the end, he hardened his heart and shook his head. "You should find a normal person and live a stable life. You shouldn't follow me."
He had always believed that pushing her away was the best way to protect her.
He thought that as long as he never held onto her, misfortune would not reach her. He thought that by pushing her far away and forcing her into a so-called normal life, she could stay safe and peaceful, far from the World Government's pursuit and the tragic fate of the Buccaneer race.
But now?
Kuma looked at Ginny lying lifeless in front of him. His avoidance had not protected her at all. Instead, it had led to her dying in this cold warehouse in a foreign land.
That so-called protection was a joke in front of absolute power. He was the one who had pushed her toward death with his own hands.
"No... it's not over... I won't accept this!"
Kuma suddenly raised his head. Those eyes that were usually gentle and restrained were now bloodshot. Confusion and weakness were replaced by a desperate obsession.
Ignoring everything else, he rushed toward Ginny like a madman. He tore off his other glove, revealing the paw pad on his palm.
"Push it out... push the damage out... just push death out..."
He muttered incoherently, trying to use the power of the Paw-Paw Fruit to force a miracle into existence, even if it cost him his own life.
However, before he could reach her...
Bang!
A foot wrapped in electricity slammed into his chest.
Kuma's massive body flew backward again and crashed heavily into the pile of rubble on the floor.
"I told you, it's over."
Aiden appeared. He stood coldly between Kuma and Ginny.
"Get out of the way!!"
Kuma moved like a beast that felt no pain. He scrambled back up at once and charged again. He wanted to get past Aiden and reach the figure lying on the ground.
Boom!
Aiden did not even look at him. He threw a backhand punch and sent Kuma flying again.
"Too weak."
Kuma got up again, charged again, and was knocked back again.
Once, twice, three times...
Until his face was covered in blood and he could barely stand, he still tried to crawl toward Ginny.
Aiden looked down at him coldly.
"This is the end for the weak. Your God can't save her, and your tears can't save her either."
"GET OUT OF THE WAY!!!!!"
This was perhaps the angriest roar Bartholomew Kuma had ever let out in his life.
At that moment, all reason and kindness were thrown away. The BIBLE he had always cherished like a treasure slipped from his hand and fell to the ground. He stepped on it as he ran, leaving a black footprint behind.
Only one thought remained in his mind. Even if he had to go to hell, he would take her back.
BOOM!!!
A terrifying surge of Haki erupted from Kuma's body. It was rage born from love, a will that pushed past his physical limits. The surrounding air seemed to grow thick and heavy in an instant.
There were no fancy moves, only a simple straight punch.
But that punch carried all his life, all his regret, and all his love. It was a blow filled with everything he had.
"GET... OUT OF MY WAY!!!"
The force of the punch tore through the air with a sharp explosion. Even the space around his fist seemed to ripple.
"Oh?"
A flicker of surprise finally passed through Aiden's calm eyes. He could feel the resolve in that punch.
He quickly raised both arms and crossed them in front of his chest. Jet-black Armament Haki instantly covered his whole body.
Rumble—!!!!
The moment the fist struck his arms, everything froze for an instant.
Then a huge shockwave exploded outward. The already unstable roof of the warehouse was blown away at once, and the remaining wooden crates nearby were shattered into dust.
The enormous impact ran through Aiden's arms, through his body, and down into the ground.
Screeeech—
Aiden's feet dug hard into the floor, but even so, that brute force still pushed him backward, carving two deep furrows into the concrete.
"Huff... huff..."
Kuma remained in his punching stance. His muscles trembled violently, and his skin had turned bright red from the extreme blood flow. His bloodshot eyes stayed locked on Aiden, as if he would leap forward and bite him with his teeth if Aiden moved again.
"Heh..."
Aiden lowered his arms and shook his numb wrists. Looking at the man who had completely lost control, a smile of appreciation appeared on his face.
"So you do have some strength after all."
Aiden straightened up. The coldness in his eyes was gone, replaced by a mocking tone, like a teacher scolding a student who had taken too long to understand something. "If you had shown this much determination from the start, the determination to hold onto happiness even if it cost you your life, then who on this sea could have taken her from you?"
Aiden raised his hand toward Ginny and lightly snapped his fingers.
Snap.
With that small sound, a tiny blue spark jumped off Ginny and disappeared into the air. The electric restraint suppressing her nervous system vanished instantly.
The next second—
"Cough, cough... ow, ow, ow..."
A violent cough suddenly broke the tense silence.
Ginny, who had been lying there like a corpse, suddenly twitched as if she had come back to life. She curled up in pain, clutching her neck, her voice rough. "Cough... I'm dying, I'm dying... it felt like an elephant stepped on me... my neck is going to break..."
Kuma: ∑(°A°||)
The rage that had been about to explode froze on Kuma's face.
He stayed in that fierce punching pose, red steam still rising from his body, but he looked as if someone had pressed pause on him. He stared blankly at the messy but clearly living Ginny.
His brain stopped working.
All the anger, despair, and killing intent jammed together at once.
"Gin... Ginny?"
"Ow... Kuma? Why are you crying?"
Ginny groggily opened her eyes. Even though her vision was still blurry, she immediately recognized the familiar giant in front of her.
He was crying uncontrollably, with tears and snot all over his face. It looked ridiculous and heartbreaking at the same time.
"Alive... you're alive?"
Kuma carefully reached out his large hand, as if he were touching something that might break, and poked Ginny's cheek.
It was warm and soft.
The next second.
This huge man, who had nearly sent Aiden flying just a moment ago, seemed to lose all strength at once. He dropped straight to the floor, covered his face, and burst into loud sobs.
"Waaaaah... thank goodness... thank goodness..."
The overwhelming joy of getting her back made him forget all about dignity. He cried like a child.
"I just used a weak current to block her nerve signals for a moment and create a fake death state. It was probably no different from taking a nap."
Aiden walked to the side and sat down as he spoke casually. "I'm a righteous Marine. Why would I kill people for no reason?"
Ginny had finally fully caught up.
She touched her neck, where there was still a slight tingling sensation. Then she looked at Kuma, who was crying like a mess, and then at Aiden, who looked completely relaxed.
With the sharp instincts of an intelligence specialist, she connected everything almost immediately.
This man... had done it on purpose.
He had deliberately played the villain and faked her death just to force out the power buried in Kuma's heart. He had forced him to face his feelings and break out of that shell of self-loathing.
She did not know why this famous Marine Rear Admiral, the "Silver Dragon," had gone through so much trouble to help them, especially when this was their first meeting and they stood on opposite sides.
But her instincts told her that Aiden had no real malice toward them. On the contrary, behind these cruel methods, there seemed to be some strange kindness.
"You..." Ginny looked at Aiden with a complicated expression, lingering fear mixed with gratitude. "You really have a rotten personality, Rear Admiral."
"Thanks for the compliment."
Aiden shrugged and did not deny it. Looking at Kuma, whose face was covered in tears and snot, he found the sight a little funny. He really had not expected a mountain-sized man to cry like this.
Then he looked at the still-sobbing Kuma, and his tone grew more serious.
"Do you remember it? That feeling of watching the person you love die while you could do nothing."
Kuma slowly raised his head. His eyes were red and swollen, but his gaze had never been clearer. The gloom that had shadowed his eyes for years seemed to have disappeared with those tears.
"I remember," he answered honestly, his voice still trembling.
Aiden pointed at the dusty BIBLE on the ground.
"Your God didn't save her. In that moment, the thing that saved her was your fist, the fist that wanted to kill. Because you showed me a strength I found satisfying, the strength to protect what matters to you, I decided to stop."
"Did you think that as long as you never touched happiness, disaster would never find her? Did you think pushing her away and trading her safety for loneliness was noble?"
Aiden bent slightly and stared straight into Kuma's eyes as he continued his merciless criticism.
"Stop being so self-centered. You weren't protecting her. You were just afraid. Because of your parents' deaths, you treated happiness like something that would only bring disaster. You thought that if you never held onto anything, then you would never lose anything."
"But what was the result? Did avoiding her save her? On this cruel sea, only the strength in your own hands can protect the people you want to protect. Pushing her away will only let her die somewhere you can't even see. And when that happens, your regret will be even worse."
Kuma lowered his head and gritted his teeth. Those words were harsh, but they had cut straight into the deepest part of his fear. They had only just met, so why did this Marine Rear Admiral understand him so well?
Ginny said nothing. She simply reached out, ignored the dust on his hand, and tightly clasped Kuma's huge palm. Their fingers locked together as if she were trying to pass her warmth into him.
Feeling the warmth of her hand, Kuma finally stopped trembling. He squeezed her hand back. This time, he did not let go.
"I understand."
Kuma took a deep breath. The confusion in his eyes was gone, replaced by a firm resolve, as if he had been reborn.
"Thank you for the lesson. I understand."
"You're thanking me too early."
Aiden's tone changed at once. The serious mood disappeared immediately, replaced by the face of a shameless negotiator.
"Alright, lesson's over. Now let's talk about how to deal with this mess."
He pointed at the ruined warehouse and the roof that had already been blown away, with debris still falling from above.
"Look at this. After making a mess this big, it's going to be very difficult for me, the Marine Rear Admiral in charge of security, to explain it."
"Difficult?!"
Ginny's eyes widened, and inside her head she screamed, Wasn't this all your doing?! You're the one who blew the roof away with that punch! You're the one who smashed Kuma through the walls! You're the one wrecking everything, you bastard!
But before she could finish complaining even in her own head, Aiden's dark eyes drifted over with a faint smile, as if he had heard every word.
"Eek!"
Ginny jumped in fright. She quickly covered her mouth, swallowed her complaints, and shook her head wildly to show she had not been thinking anything.
"Since the destruction is this serious..."
Aiden looked back at Kuma and spoke slowly.
"Not only did I fail to capture you, but I spared your lives and now I have to clean up after you... shouldn't you pay some kind of price to calm me down?"
At that point, Kuma felt nothing but awe and gratitude toward Aiden. Unlike Ginny, he had no complicated thoughts about it. Hearing this, he immediately straightened his back and said in a deep voice, "As long as I can do it, I will do anything. I would even give you my life."
"Oh? You said that yourself."
Aiden raised an eyebrow, clearly as if he had been waiting for that answer.
"But I don't want your life. It's not worth much anyway."
Aiden waved his hand dismissively, but a playful smile appeared on his lips.
"I do have one condition, though."
"Please say it," Kuma replied seriously, ready to go through fire and water.
Aiden looked at the two of them. His eyes lingered for a moment on their joined hands. Then he smiled strangely and raised one finger.
"In the future, when you have a daughter, her name must be Bonney."
"Huh?"
Kuma froze.
His brain, which had always been slow in these matters, could not process the request right away.
A daughter? Bonney? What kind of condition even was that? The jump from life-and-death tension to this was too much.
Ginny was stunned at first too.
She blinked several times, trying to process the meaning of those words.
Having a daughter...
To have a child, they first had to...
A few seconds later, as if her mind had finally caught up, Ginny's face turned bright red like a ripe apple. Even the tips of her ears were burning.
Then she jumped straight up and pointed at Aiden as she shouted, "Hey! You liar! How is that one condition? That's obviously three conditions!!"
"Three?" Kuma scratched his head, confused. "Isn't it just picking a name?"
"Are you an idiot?!"
Ginny started counting on her fingers for him, her voice trembling with excitement she could not hide, mixed with joy.
"To have a daughter named Bonney, first, we have to get married! That's the first condition!"
"Second, we have to have a child! That's the second condition!"
"And finally, the name!"
At that point, Ginny seemed to think of something else. The blush spread all the way down her neck, but her eyes shone with excitement and mischief as she boldly said it right in front of Aiden.
"And... what if the first one is a boy? What if the second one is a boy too? If we really want to meet this Rear Admiral's condition, wouldn't we have to keep having children until a girl is finally born?!"
"Pffft—!!!"
Kuma finally understood.
He turned red from head to toe. He stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to do with his hands, and for a long time he could not say a single word.
"Mar... mar... married... child... children..."
Aiden looked at the two of them and felt even better.
He really thought he had done a very good deed.
"What? You promised so easily just now, even saying you'd give your life. And now that all you have to do is get married and have a child, you want to back out?"
"Or are you the type of man who breaks his word?"
After saying that, Aiden ignored the two people who were now too stunned to react. His figure disappeared smoothly into the night.
Only Kuma and Ginny remained, and the mood between them became a little strange.
Ginny leaned closer and poked the bright red Kuma. With a wicked grin, she said, "Hey, that was an order from a Marine Rear Admiral. If we don't follow it, that monster might chase us to the ends of the earth. You don't want to drag me into that, do you?"
Kuma looked at the smiling Ginny before him, the girl he had loved for years but never dared to reach for.
This time, he did not avoid her. He did not repeat any of those gloomy, self-pitying words.
He gripped Ginny's hand tightly, their fingers locking together, and nodded awkwardly but with absolute sincerity.
"Even if it costs me my life, I will never let go again."
Outside the warehouse—
"Huff... huff... if you hadn't come out soon, I really would have dropped dead from exhaustion..."
Rosinante sat slumped against the corner of a wall, his tongue hanging out and his face pale. Coordinating with Aiden and keeping such a large Silence field active had nearly killed him.
"Good job."
Aiden smiled and walked over, pulling him to his feet. He looked like he was in an unbelievably good mood.
"Come on. I'll buy you a drink."
Rosinante brushed the dust from his clothes, glanced back at the quiet warehouse, and asked curiously, "Is everything handled? Did you use that amazing packing trick again and take all the weapons in the warehouse?"
"No way. Why would I want that junk? It would only take up space."
Aiden slung an arm around Rosinante's shoulder as they walked toward the distant lights. A playful smile appeared on his lips.
"I gave them all away. Think of it as... a wedding gift for a couple."
"A couple? A wedding gift?" Rosinante looked completely confused. "Who? Do I know them?"
"That's not important."
Aiden laughed out loud and gave no explanation. He only tightened his arm around Rosinante's shoulder and dragged him forward.
"Let's go! Drinks! We're not going home until we're drunk tonight!"
"Hey! Slow down! My legs are still shaking! And you're paying!"
To Be Continued
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