Several hours passed before the surviving officers could spare time for a private conversation.
G-9's first rescue vessels reached Hells Island shortly after sunset and took responsibility for the freed townspeople, the captured pirates, and the remains of Z-1.
The dead Marines were placed beneath covered rows on the least damaged deck, while the injured were divided between the arriving medical ship and the Polar Tang's infirmary.
Zephyr insisted on helping with the transfer despite his restored body.
Law objected on the grounds that physical recovery did not make him the commander of the submarine, but Zephyr ignored him with the ease of a man who had spent decades teaching stubborn young Marines.
By the time the harbor finally quieted, Zaraki had retreated to an unused compartment near the stern.
The system interface appeared before him as soon as the door closed.
**[Current system points: 11,680.]**
Beneath the balance, the limited-time item continued to glow.
**[System-Exclusive Premium Blind Box]**
**[Price: 10,000 points.]**
The countdown still showed more than twenty-one hours. Zaraki could have waited, searched the shop for something safer, or saved the points for Advanced Armament Haki and Conqueror's Coating.
Both abilities remained locked behind prices far above his current balance, but ten thousand points would still have brought him closer.
The previous blind box had given him Future Sight.
That single ability had already saved him against Kaido, Mihawk, Dorry, Brogy, and Weevil.
Rare items from the system were unpredictable, but they were not necessarily foolish purchases when the reward could change the way he fought.
Nozarashi's voice drifted through the quiet room.
'You are staring at it as though staring will make the price smaller.'
'It might.'
'It will not.'
'You sound very certain for someone who wanted me to cut the system.'
'Cutting it would still be faster.'
Zaraki grinned and selected the item.
"Buy it."
**[Command received.]**
**[10,000 system points deducted.]**
**[Current system points: 1,680.]**
The loss hurt more than he expected.
Eleven thousand points had looked comfortable for the brief time he possessed them; one purchase had reduced the balance to something far less impressive.
The discomfort vanished when a chest formed from fragments of pale light inside his mental space.
**[Exchange completed.]**
**[Opening System-Exclusive Premium Blind Box.]**
The lid opened.
Golden light flooded the interface.
**[Special ability obtained: Eight Gates.]**
Zaraki's grin faded into surprise.
The name was unfamiliar to this world but not to him.
It belonged to a discipline from another story entirely, a forbidden method of opening the body's internal limiters one after another and forcing physical power far beyond what the muscles, bones, and organs were normally allowed to produce.
A torrent of knowledge entered his mind.
The Gate of Opening.
The Gate of Healing.
The Gate of Life.
The Gate of Pain, Limit, View, Wonder, and finally Death.
The information included the location and purpose of each gate, the conditioning required before attempting to open one, the methods used to trigger them, and the damage caused when power exceeded what the body could endure.
A second system notice appeared before his excitement could outrun the warning.
**[Knowledge transfer completed.]**
**[The host has received the principles, training methods, and activation requirements of the Eight Gates.]**
**[Knowledge does not grant immediate mastery.]**
**[Attempting to open a gate beyond the body's current adaptation may result in torn muscles, organ failure, permanent disability, or death.]**
**[The Eighth Gate—the Gate of Death—produces an extreme temporary increase in physical power by consuming the user's life. Survival after full activation is not expected.]**
Zaraki leaned back against the wall.
"That last one ruins the fun."
'Only if you die before the other person.'
'That's usually what dying means.'
Nozarashi did not answer, apparently unconvinced.
Zaraki closed his eyes and examined the knowledge more carefully.
The technique did not create strength from nowhere. It removed restrictions the body used to protect itself, allowing muscles and circulation to operate at increasingly destructive levels.
A weak body would tear itself apart quickly.
A powerful body could endure more, but even an exceptional physique required specific conditioning before the higher gates became usable.
His own body had been strengthened by the completed template and years of increasingly violent combat. That gave him an advantage, not immunity.
Opening the first gate without preparation might be possible.
Trying the sixth or seventh simply because he understood the theory would be idiotic, even by his standards.
The Eighth Gate was worse. It might produce enough power to threaten opponents who currently stood beyond him, but a technique that guaranteed death could only be considered when every other path had failed.
Zaraki wanted dangerous fights. He had no interest in dying before he could find the next one.
His thoughts turned briefly toward Dorry and Brogy.
The giants possessed enormous bodies, powerful hearts, and far greater blood volume than humans.
They might eventually prove suited to the technique, but their anatomy, circulation, and response to the gates remained unknown.
Teaching them something he had not tested on himself would be an excellent way to destroy two useful candidates before they ever reached Headquarters.
The same applied to Marines.
Vice Admirals, Rokushiki masters, and veteran fighters might benefit from the principles, but the ability had come through a private system no one else knew existed, and spreading it recklessly would alter the balance of the sea in ways even Zaraki could not predict.
For now, it belonged to him.
He would train the lower gates, learn how they interacted with Haki and the power feeding Nozarashi, and decide everything else afterward.
A knock sounded at the door.
"Zaraki," Law called from the corridor. "Zephyr is ready, and he has been glaring at Buckin's papers for long enough that I would prefer someone else share the experience."
Zaraki dismissed the interface.
When he opened the door, Law's gaze immediately settled on him.
"You look pleased."
"I found something interesting."
Law waited.
Zaraki walked past him.
"That is all you're getting."
"I assumed as much."
They entered the Polar Tang's small wardroom, where Zephyr sat at the central table with Ain on one side and several sealed documents spread before him.
His restored right hand rested beside the papers, still drawing occasional glances from Ain despite everything else demanding her attention.
Binz remained in the infirmary under observation.
Bepo stood near the door with a tray of food and drinks, having decided that a secret discussion was less likely to become violent if everyone had something to eat.
Law took the chair opposite Zephyr.
"I should warn you that anything discussed aboard my submarine remains my business as well."
Ain frowned.
"This concerns a World Government investigation."
"It also concerns a man who nearly sank my ship, wounded my crew, and may have been produced through illegal medical experimentation. You may dislike my flag, but I am still the most qualified doctor in the room."
Zephyr looked toward Zaraki.
"He always like this?"
"Usually worse."
Law's eyes narrowed.
Bepo quietly placed the drinks on the table before the argument could begin.
Zephyr opened the first recovered file.
"I started looking into Weevil years ago, after the attack on my students. At the time, there was almost nothing to find. No birthplace, no childhood records, no crew history before Buckin appeared with him, and no reliable witness who remembered him as anything but a fully grown man."
Ain looked down at the papers.
"And the investigation was closed."
"Buried," Zephyr corrected. "There is a difference. Every time I found someone connected to the earliest reports, the trail moved toward old research networks the Government did not want examined. I never had enough proof to force the issue."
He tapped the faded symbol printed in one corner of Buckin's medical ledger.
"Until now."
Law leaned closer.
The mark was old and partially scraped away, but the letters remained recognizable.
MADS.