"Vice Admiral! They're charging in!" a Marine reported.
Rosinante fumbled his pistol out, hands shaking badly.
Rain also "nervously" tightened his grip on his sword. He was ready for a boarding battle, already calculating how much power to use to make it look convincing while still "accidentally" killing a few extra pirates.
But Sakazuki never intended to give them the chance to board.
He simply watched the oncoming pirate ship with an icy gaze. It had already begun firing, though the cannonballs were laughably off target.
When the distance between the two ships was still close to a thousand meters, Sakazuki raised his magma-covered right arm.
The moment he did, Rain's Observation Haki sensed a terrifying, world-melting heat condensing around that fist.
At the exact same time, his Haki pierced through the pirate ship—he clearly "saw" deep into the hold. It wasn't just the presence of dozens of pirates down there.
There were also several extremely weak life signatures—civilians who'd clearly been tortured and barely hanging on.
A silent alarm screamed in Rain's mind.
He snapped his head toward Sakazuki.
He was certain—someone this strong couldn't possibly have missed that.
Yet Sakazuki's expression didn't shift in the slightest.
Damn, he's going to steal my kills.
That thought flashed through Rain's mind—only to be instantly crushed by a much colder one: He's going to take the civilians with them…!
A moment later, a massive magma fist exploded forward trailing smoke and fire, ripping through the sky faster than any cannon shot.
Before Rosinante could even process what was happening, the magma fist smashed into the center of the pirate ship.
There was no huge, cinematic explosion.
Just a single, drawn-out hiss—
Shhh—!!!!!!
The wooden hull, along with the dozens of arrogant pirates onboard, melted and ignited in an instant like plastic trash tossed into a blast furnace.
Their screams barely even had time to form.
Within seconds, all that was left on the surface was violently boiling seawater and a few charred, still-burning chunks of wreckage bobbing on the waves.
Total annihilation.
The deck fell utterly silent.
Clank.
Rosinante's pistol slipped from his fingers and hit the planks. His face went white as chalk as he stared at the roiling sea. His stomach lurched, and he lurched to the rail and began heaving.
His entire body was trembling. Only one thought remained in his mind:
This… this isn't justice… this is slaughter…
Behind him, Rain was frozen too.
He didn't vomit, but his body shook slightly, and his face had "gone pale."
Rosinante was sick with disgust and fear.
Rain's shaking, though, came from pure, icy anger. His fists clenched so hard his nails nearly pierced his palms.
This bastard… wiped out the pirates and the innocent captives in the same breath?!
He never thought of himself as some saint. For the sake of Sin Points, he could butcher pirates without a shred of mercy.
But those civilians dragged onto the ship—victims… to give them the same fate?
This is your "Absolute Justice"…?
Sakazuki slowly turned around, magma still hissing on his arm.
He saw Rosinante bent over the rail, retching miserably. In his predatory eyes flashed unhidden disgust.
Then his gaze shifted to the other recruit.
Rain was "shaking" slightly too, his face a bit pale—Sakazuki assumed he was frightened as well. But the fact that he hadn't thrown up earned him the barest sliver of approval.
He spoke.
"There is no place for mercy or hesitation toward evil."
"Your internship has only just begun. Over the next three months, I'll teach you what justice truly is."
With that, Sakazuki stopped paying them any attention. Cigar in his mouth, he turned and walked back into the cabin.
He didn't even bother ordering anyone to recover the wreckage. Under his Magma Fruit, there would be nothing worth salvaging.
Only once Sakazuki's figure had completely disappeared did Rosinante slowly push himself away from the railing. He collapsed onto the deck and sat there, gasping, his face white as paper.
Rain remained where he was.
His clenched fists slowly relaxed, and he drew in a deep breath of sulphur-tainted air.
…
That night, in the shared cabin Rain and Rosinante used.
The mood was suffocating.
Rosinante hadn't eaten all day. He just sat on his bunk in a daze, silent.
Rain sat calmly at the small table, slowly polishing his sword—another habit he'd picked up from Gion, one that kept his mind perfectly clear.
"Rain…"
At last, Rosinante spoke in a hoarse voice.
Rain's hand stilled.
"Don't you… don't you think that was too much?" Rosinante's head snapped up, eyes bloodshot. His voice shook with confusion and anger.
"He didn't even… didn't even try to board them… didn't even try to arrest them…" he growled. "He just… burned them. All of them. All at once!"
"How is that any different from a pirate?!"
Rain set his sword and cloth down.
He turned and looked at Rosinante's near-broken expression.
"There's a difference," he said quietly.
"Pirates kill for their own greed. Vice Admiral Sakazuki kills for the 'justice' he believes in."
"That still doesn't—" Rosinante started, upset.
"Rosinante," Rain cut in, "you feel sick, you think it's wrong… because you're too weak."
Rosinante froze. "…What?"
"Why can Sakazuki do that?" Rain's tone was cold as iron. "Because he has power."
"He has the power to decide everything. We are just two interns. We don't even have the right to throw up in front of him."
The brutal reality in those words stunned Rosinante into silence.
Rain stood and walked over, looking down at him from above.
"If you don't want that to happen… if you want to use your kind of gentle justice to save people, then you have to get stronger."
"Stronger than him. So strong that your voice is loud enough that he can't ignore it."
Rosinante stared up at Rain. There was no visible emotion in Rain's dark eyes, but they seemed to see straight through everything.
"Get… stronger…" Rosinante whispered. His trembling hand slowly curled into a fist, as if he'd finally found a direction.
"I understand…" he lowered his head. "Rain, thank you."
Rain patted his shoulder and said nothing more.
He didn't tell Rosinante that there had been innocent civilians on that ship.
Rosinante was already shaken just by the pirates' deaths. If he learned that the captives had been burned alive along with them, Rain had no doubt the big golden retriever would pull a gun and charge straight into Sakazuki's cabin—which would be true suicide.
Some truths, the weak have no right to know.
~~~
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