Chapter 56 – Words That Never Cease
Time passed quickly.
Within the next week, Bullet finally succeeded in killing the Sea King that had killed him twice before.
Through the savage battles, both his combat instincts and physical endurance soared dramatically.
In the days that followed, aside from the nightly physical conditioning that had become routine, Ross began capturing progressively stronger Sea Kings for Bullet to train against.
Ross had already noticed something unusual about the boy.
For example, the awakening of his Demon Aura.
After each battle, it wouldn't take long before Bullet's entire presence changed—his fighting power surging explosively.
But the price was steep.
His still-developing body could never sustain that state for long,
and every time he came out of it, he suffered a period of psychological symptoms.
Ross made a point to observe him secretly each day.
He knew exactly what this was.
In the original story, Bullet, driven by utter disillusionment with the idea of "companions,"
eventually discarded all his remaining emotions,
living on through sheer willpower and his obsession with strength.
He slowly surrendered to the transformation wrought by the Demon Aura—
becoming a slave to power itself.
But this Bullet hadn't abandoned his feelings.
On the contrary, with each passing day, they were only growing stronger.
Naturally, the innate Demon Aura inside him clashed fiercely with those emotions.
At this point, Bullet was like someone suffering from dissociative identity disorder.
In the end, only he himself could choose which will would fully claim his body.
When that day came, Ross's purpose would finally be fulfilled.
For now, there was no urgent danger.
As Bullet's emotions grew,
the aftermath of his Demon state—its backlash—was lasting longer, while the transformation itself was becoming shorter.
It was only a matter of time before he rejected the awakened Demon Aura's control altogether.
When he was older, Ross planned to teach him how to master that power.
After all, to put it plainly, the Demon Aura was just a unique extension of Haki,
much like someone born able to "hear the voice of all things," a rare form of Observation Haki.
The only difference was that the Demon Aura also touched a bit on Armament and Conqueror's Haki.
These days continued uneventfully, all the way into June of Sea Circle Calendar Year 1485.
Today was special—
Sakazuki and the others, who had been in the military nearly two years now, were returning together!
It was one of the liveliest days the Nasdaq family had seen all year.
As a medium-sized warship approached the shore, the docks were packed—
crowds of spectators and families gathering to welcome the returning soldiers.
As the head of the household, Ross naturally came in person.
It was the perfect opportunity to make an impression.
Although even if he hadn't come, it wouldn't have mattered much—
the children would have simply assumed he was busy and couldn't spare the time.
Second son Alisan stood on his right, while Bullet was on his left.
His expression was impassive,
but inside, he watched the people disembarking from the two warships with a quiet, burning envy.
They were strong—
every single one of them radiated strength!
In Bullet's instincts, among the thirty-seven people stepping off the ships wearing the Marines' Justice coats, at least half could probably defeat him.
Especially that man in the red uniform, cigar clenched between his teeth—Bullet didn't doubt for a moment that he could crush him effortlessly.
That was the intuition that only a monster possessed.
Though their ages differed greatly, out here on the sea, no one would spare your life out of pity. As a former child soldier, Bullet understood this better than most.
On the other side, some of the accompanying marines dispersed to stand guard, while others simply drifted away. The naval officers of the Nasdaq family followed silently behind Sakazuki.
Two years had changed them all. They had grown stronger, more mature.
But the sorrow and pain had never left them.
During their patrols, they had seen over and over the indifference of allied nations. Orphans roamed everywhere. Broken families were commonplace.
Slave traders, pirates, gangsters—no matter where they went, these predators were always there, gnawing away at this beautiful sea.
Once, they'd only thought of Ross as a great man, a hero full of kindness.
It wasn't until now that they truly realized just how fortunate they'd been to be rescued by him back then.
At the front of the group, Sakazuki puffed on his cigar, his demeanor already showing hints of the hard, cold determination he'd one day be known for.
He held a small box in both hands as he quietly approached Ross.
"Where's that kid Ator? Didn't he come back with you?"
Ross gently patted Sakazuki's shoulder, intentionally avoiding the topic that would have made everyone's hearts ache.
Sakazuki removed the cigar, turned his head to exhale the smoke, then replied:
"After we returned Roel back home, he went off wandering with old Garp, who happened to be on leave. The old man's trying to scam more weapons out of Ator, same as Sengoku did. I'd guess the two of them are getting along pretty well."
Sakazuki actually cracked a rare smile as he joked.
He followed Ross's lead, carefully smoothing over what Ator had really said, softening it for everyone's sake.
"That little bastard—if he didn't want to come back, he could've just said so outright. Going through all that roundabout nonsense…" Ross sighed, then added with a faint smile, "Alright. Just don't forget to come celebrate Mona's birthday tonight. She's been missing you."
He bluntly exposed Sakazuki's attempt to gloss things over, then offered a few comforting words before turning to leave.
This time, Mona hadn't come to the welcome ceremony. It was her birthday, and she'd wanted Sakazuki and the others to surprise her later.
Ross left the rest of the space to them.
Sometimes, having an adult around only made it harder for people to let their feelings out.
The ones who remained had all grown up together.
Soon, Ross heard laughter and cheerful voices behind him. He shook his head slightly.
"…Did I forget something? Oh—Bullet! Ah, well—he was going to meet them sooner or later. Might as well let them figure it out on their own."
On the other side, Bullet, never good with words, simply stood there in place.
Just like that, Ross had left him behind.
He stared at the crowd gathered ahead, momentarily at a complete loss for what to do.
After a while, the laughter of reunion quieted, giving way to an inevitable grief.
The crowd slowly shifted, forming a loose circle. Bullet blended into it, watching as the girl he'd seen crying in the garden yesterday stepped silently forward.
Her face was streaked with tears as she reached out with trembling hands to accept the delicate box from Sakazuki—along with all that remained of Gragor's belongings, and a bundle of carefully sorted letters.
From the murmured conversations around him, Bullet learned her name:
Hina.
A lovely name.
She and Gragor had spent over a decade together—
companions since the days they were orphaned, looking after each other as they grew.
They should have been celebrating their wedding under everyone's blessings.
Instead, a rare accident had separated them forever.
Bullet couldn't really grasp how deep a bond built over so many years must have been.
He only knew that the girl who had cursed "that bastard" through her tears last night was now forcing a smile in front of the man she loved.
She kept speaking to that beautiful little box, over and over, telling it how much she missed him, recalling all the memories they'd shared as children.
It was as if the entire scene had gone quiet, leaving only her voice growing fainter and fainter—
her throat catching with sobs—
while gentle weeping echoed here and there among the crowd.
Any reproach felt like a breeze, ready to scatter at any moment.
But the longing before him was like the rising sun—eternal, and warm.
---
[Do you hope?]
"…Mm."
[Do you fantasize?]
"…Mm."
[Face reality! Strength is everything!]
"…..."
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