Marineford Underground Detention Center.
This detention center, located at Marineford, is typically used for temporarily holding criminals who are being transferred through headquarters to Enies Lobby or Impel Down.
Or for detaining Marines who have committed errors.
Compared to Impel Down, the cells here are not as dark and gloomy.
The corridors are lit not by oil lamps, but by more advanced Gas Lamps.
At this moment.
In an isolated cell deep within the detention center.
Dragon sat silently on the cold floor like a hard, unyielding rock, leaning against the rough, hard wall, staring blankly at the dark ceiling.
Although several days had passed since that nightmarish experience.
The events that transpired on that small island in the West Blue, which had completely vanished and whose very existence had been erased.
Still replayed in his mind, like images on a video den den mushi, over and over again.
As if it were yesterday.
The events he experienced in that short period of less than a day had completely overturned his understanding of this world over the past seventeen years.
Dragon suddenly realized that the evil of human nature could be so atrocious.
What made him even more bewildered, distressed, and even pained was that the justice he had always upheld had begun to waver.
No... perhaps it could no longer be called a simple 'wavering'.
His justice had been 'destroyed'!
Dragon's lips curved downwards, and a sudden surge of grievance rose in his chest.
He felt betrayed.
Betrayed by his comrades.
Betrayed by his superiors.
Betrayed by the Marine.
Betrayed by the uniform he wore.
Betrayed by... "Thud, thud, thud..."
Heavy footsteps suddenly echoed in the corridor outside the cell, approaching this way.
Dragon was indifferent to it.
Until a tall figure appeared outside his cell.
Dragon knew who it was without turning his head.
But he still didn't turn around.
Seeing him like this, Garp, who had walked to the cell, sighed and slowly squatted down, holding his knees.
Through the gaps in the cell bars, he looked at his son inside the cell, who had lost his former passion and vitality.
Garp sighed again.
He suddenly felt that he seemed, indeed, to be getting old.
Remembering Carlo calling him 'Old Man Garp,' a bitter smile involuntarily appeared on his face.
"Dragon, I know it's hard for you to accept what happened in God Valley right now."
"I, your father... don't know how to comfort you, or how to explain these things to you."
"I can only tell you... two things."
"One is that when an organization reaches a certain scale, it inevitably develops both bright and dark sides."
"Even the Marine, whose ideal is to maintain world peace and stability, protect innocent civilians, and uphold justice, is the same."
"Our scale is too large; the total number of Marines worldwide is nearly a million. There will be all kinds of Marines, and not everyone will necessarily meet your standards of justice."
Garp looked at Dragon, who was still sitting like a statue, and simply sat down on the corridor floor, not caring that it was dirty.
He continued, "The second point is that while we are indeed the Marine upholding justice, in essence, we are a military organization under the World Government."
"All of our larger operations must be authorized by the World Government before they can be carried out."
"And on the other hand, the World Government has the unconditional power to mobilize all Marines."
"Although I don't want to admit this, it is the truth."
"Our decisions and actions are not determined by our own will."
At this point, Garp's eyes were somewhat complex.
His voice was heavy, as if these words had been weighing on his heart for a long time.
This was the first time he had ever uttered them to anyone.
Indeed, it was true.
He rarely spoke these heartfelt words even to his best brother, Sengoku.
As he spoke, Dragon, who had remained silent, suddenly turned his head sharply, like an angry young lion, staring directly at his father, whom he had always admired and respected, and a hoarse voice squeezed out from his throat.
"I don't care about any of that! I just want to know, did you know in advance about what happened there?!"
"No, I only learned about the situation when I got there, Dragon. I'm also very angry, but anger can't solve problems..."
Looked at by his son's questioning gaze, Garp actually flinched a little.
Dragon gritted his teeth, "Can't solve problems... So you'll just continue to go along with it? Won't you do something... won't you change all of this?! Dad! You're a Marine Vice Admiral! How can you bear to watch people wearing this pure white uniform act against their conscience and do such outrageous things that anger both heaven and man?!"
His emotions were somewhat agitated.
His eyes were slightly red.
Garp opened his mouth, then sighed again, hesitating to speak.
"Even if I am a Marine Vice Admiral, some things cannot be changed. Not to mention a Marine Vice Admiral, even an Admiral or Fleet Admiral cannot change that fundamental fact. But I promise you, I will do my best to change the Marine..."
Dragon's lips were tightly pressed, and he said word by word, "So it's not changing right now? Even though you know it's wrong..."
Through the gaps in the bars, he saw his father slowly shake his head.
"This kind of thing, even I can only subtly guide. It definitely cannot be completely changed in a short time. This might require the persistence of several generations of Marines..."
"But you weren't like this before!"
Dragon's voice suddenly became intense and impassioned.
With red eyes, he looked at Garp.
"The old you were so hateful of evil! Even if they were comrades, once you knew they were corrupt and brought shame to the Marine, you would punish them immediately! Even if they were high-ranking Marine officers, you treated them all equally!"
"Even if Vice Admiral Sengoku made a mistake, even if Fleet Admiral Kong said something wrong, you would point it out without hesitation!"
"It was because of you that I respected you! That I admired you!"
"I know... you must be very ashamed of being hailed as a Marine Hero because of the God Valley incident, right?"
"But do you know?"
"The old you, in my heart, was always that hero! That one and only hero!!"
"It was because of you that I wanted to be a righteous Marine! I even wanted to surpass you and become an Admiral or even the Fleet Admiral!"
Dragon looked up, his shoulders trembling slightly.
"But now..."
"Dad! I despise you!"
"I'm not going to be a Marine anymore!"
Outside the cell, Garp, sitting on the ground, was silent for a long time, then nodded, took a key from his pocket, and gently placed it on the floor inside the cell.
Dragon unhesitatingly picked up the key, unlocked his handcuffs and the cell door, and without another glance at Garp, strode away.
Silence fell in the detention center.
Garp slowly turned around, leaned his broad back against the cold wall, looked in the direction where Dragon had disappeared, his lips moved, and he said in a voice only he could hear:
"I'm sorry, Dragon, Dad disappointed you..."