Back on the Gale, Kuina and Nojiko had already returned to the ship. The moment they sensed Leno step in, they knew their battle was over—for now.
At some point the sky had been swallowed by dense, roiling clouds. The black mass churned like a vortex, lightning flickering in its depths as a heavy pressure rolled across the sea.
"What is this? I've never seen weather like this! What on earth…?" Nami's voice trembled between doubt and shock.
Robin stared up into the ink-dark heavens, thoughtful. "Could it be Leno?"
"It's him." x2
Kuina and Nojiko answered in unison.
Chopper opened his mouth to ask when a thunderous roar tore out of the clouds.
"Roooar!"
Majestic and solemn, the bellow shook heaven and sea alike. Eardrums rang; Chopper fell on his rump, eyes wide with primal fear—the kind that rose from the soul.
"Ararara … a tremendous fellow has arrived," Aokiji said, gaze tightening on the sky.
The clouds heaved. Lightning raked. A colossal, purple-scaled claw pushed through the ceiling of storm.
"It's the idiot Leno!" Nami whooped, hopping with excitement the instant she recognized that claw.
Chopper, Carmen, and Robin had never seen Leno in beast form. One look at that titanic violet talon and their bodies shook, instinct screaming to flee—yet the pressure pinning them made even twitching feel extravagant.
Before awe or terror could settle, a second claw broke through the cloudbank. Between them thrust a massive, savage dragon's head. Twin golden eyes locked on Aokiji below.
Suddenly, the dragon head opened its maw, and a concentrated light of energy gathered within. In an instant,
"Dragon's Breath!"
A searing pillar of fire blasted down at Aokiji. The tiny figure before it vanished in a sea of flame.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The fire column instantly pierced the ice surface. The shockwave lifted massive, towering waves, mixed with shattered ice, surging in all directions, followed by a deafening explosion that resonated across the sea.
The Gale was swept away by the resulting tsunami of broken ice, its hull swaying precariously in the surging waves.
Everyone grabbed whatever they could to anchor themselves. Robin bloomed a web of arms into a great net to steady the group; Nami, Chopper, and Carmen screamed with streaming tears.
"Leno, you big Fool! Look what you've done!"
"Waaah! We're gonna die! I can't swim!"
"Dr. Kureha, save me! I'm gonna diiiie—!"
The three shrieked so hard it felt like their features flew off their faces to scream on their own.
None of them noticed when the ship steadied—and then began to rise.
High above, a flicker of guilt crossed those golden dragon eyes. Got a little carried away. He'd corrected in time; ship and crewmates were safe.
"Stupid Leno, you're dead! I swear I'll make you pay for this!" Nami shook a fist at the dragon looming overhead.
"Captain, next time something like this happens, please make sure to take care of us first," Carmen panted from where she'd collapsed, face pale with aftershock.
Chopper lay flat on the deck, too spent to speak.
Robin and the others were composed, if somewhat white-faced. That last wave had rattled them, too.
Once Leno confirmed the ship was fine, his Observation Haki swept the shattered sea. On a drifting slab of ice, Aokiji's body re-formed.
The Admiral was a mess—half-kneeling, clothes in rags, hair scorched, both arms welted with burns. He lifted his head, eyes fastening on the violet dragon coiled in midair, golden holy fire wreathed around its form.
"Marine Admiral? Is that all?"
Aokiji pushed to his feet and wiped the blood at his lip. As he rose, the rampaging sea stilled and glazed under a flood of cold, the freeze racing outward once more.
"Adventurer Leno," he called, "why meddle in Nico Robin's affairs? With your power, you could roam free with your crew, adventuring as you please. Why take on more trouble?"
Leno dropped from the sky and touched down opposite him, assuming a five-meter-tall draconic human form.
"My heart tells me saving Robin—and taking her aboard—is the right thing to do."
"Even if that means attacking World Government personnel and becoming a wanted man?"
"That's right." Leno nodded without flinching. With how the World Government behaved, he'd be crossing them sooner or later. Sooner was fine. He'd long made peace with it.
Aokiji stared silently at Leno, seemingly confirming his resolve or perhaps his motive. 'Could he also intend to use Nico Robin's ability to read Poneglyphs to achieve his own ambitions?'
"I saved Robin because of who she is," Leno said, catching the drift, "not because of what she can do—or what anyone else wants. My goal has never changed since the start: to sail and to adventure."
Given Robin's history, Aokiji's suspicion wasn't baseless. For years, most who approached her saw only a tool for their secret ends.
"But you, Admiral… it's been what—over a decade since Ohara?" Leno's gaze steadied. "Have you still not decided what your 'justice' really is?"
At the name, Aokiji's eyes chilled. His jaw tightened.
"What do you mean? What exactly do you know?"
"The passionate 'Burning Justice' you upheld after the O'Hara Incident has become this pathetic 'Lazy Justice' of today?" Leno continued, ignoring the tightly clenched fists and grim expression of Aokiji.
"To be honest, I don't think much of you. When the justice you claim clashes with the Government's way of doing things, what do you do?"
"Option one: choose the Justice you adhere to—and since you can't change things now, work hard to climb to the highest position. If you still can't change it, then use your Justice to smash this whole system. At worst, you'll just die trying."
"Option two: choose to abandon your personal Justice entirely, become a complete tool of the World Government, and fulfill your duties as a Marine. That way, perhaps you could still save many suffering civilians."
"But you? You chose neither, opting for indecision. And you didn't even commit fully to indecision—you altered your Justice and secretly did things that violated World Government rules."
"You can't even be indecisive properly; you bring trouble upon yourself and call it 'confusion'?" Leno looked at Aokiji with a hint of contempt.
"You can't even 'slack off' properly! And you call that 'confusion'?" Leno sneered. "Face it—you're a coward. Too afraid to confront the World Government head-on, yet desperate enough to tweak your 'justice' just to ease your guilty conscience."
"Boom!"
The ice beneath Aokiji's feet shattered, and he instantly appeared before Leno, unleashing a punch. (T/N: Yup! Truth sometimes hurts more than "Fist of Love")
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