Marine Headquarters.
Inside an office with a nameplate reading "Admiral Aokiji."
Rayne Hawke sat opposite Aokiji.
The air in the office carried a lazy, chilled vibe.
"Admiral Aokiji…"
Hawke was the first to speak.
"You wanted to see me?"
Aokiji leaned back lazily on the sofa, hands pillowed behind his head, and spoke slowly.
"Maah… Hawke-kun."
"Sakazuki's report mentioned your form of justice."
"'Justice through slaughter.'"
"But as far as I know…"
"In the East Blue, you spent a lot of time and effort…"
"Returning the confiscated Belly and treasures back to the villagers."
"So, when Smoker took his team to patrol your waters…"
"He got surrounded by angry villagers who mistook him for a bad guy."
"Fuhahaha—"
Aokiji chuckled softly at the thought of Smoker being flustered.
"Man, that's hilarious."
"But, Hawke…"
"To me, that doesn't sound like pure slaughter."
"Admiral Aokiji, 'justice through slaughter'…"
Hawke smiled faintly, his expression calm.
"Actually, they're two separate words."
"'Slaughter.' And 'Justice.'"
"Slaughter is aimed at evil."
"For those pirates who burn, kill, plunder, and treat lives like weeds — there's no mercy, no hesitation. They're wiped out completely."
"Justice is for the people."
"For the innocent who suffer under oppression and abuse — we listen, we protect, we uphold their rights."
"Combined together, that's my justice."
"'Justice through slaughter.'"
"…"
Aokiji looked at Hawke in silence.
So that's how it is…
He thought of Sakazuki — the man was like a raging inferno, burning away everything in his path.
Anything Sakazuki deemed as an "evil seed" would be eradicated without hesitation.
Then he thought of himself, and how, after the Ohara Incident, his burning heart had been frozen solid.
Since then, he'd embraced laziness, letting life drift by.
But the young man before him — Rayne Hawke — seemed to have found another path.
His justice carried the heat of fire, scorching evil into ashes, showing no mercy.
And yet, it also held the calm and order of ice, rebuilding what was destroyed, planting seeds of hope in its wake.
Could it be… this was the correct answer?
A kind of justice neither blindly extreme nor detached and passive?
Aokiji's thoughts wandered far before he slowly sat upright, the laziness on his face vanishing entirely.
He asked a question that had haunted him for years — a nightmare born from the Ohara Incident.
"Commodore Hawke, imagine there's a ship… carrying innocent civilians."
"But among them, there may be someone who threatens world justice."
"What would you do?"
Hawke… what would you do?
Would you be like Sakazuki, sinking the entire ship just to eliminate even the slightest risk, even if it meant killing thousands of innocents?
Or would you act like him, choosing to let the ship go and gambling on that 'possibility' never happening?
"…"
Hawke smiled faintly.
"What would I do, huh?"
Of course, he knew where Aokiji's question came from.
The Ohara Incident!
During the Buster Call that annihilated the island, the two current Marine Admirals — "Akainu" and "Aokiji" — had both been core participants.
Back then, Vice Admiral Sakazuki ordered the destruction of the evacuation ship to ensure no archaeologists escaped.
And Vice Admiral Kuzan — now Admiral Aokiji — personally froze his own friend, the giant Vice Admiral Saul.
But… influenced by Saul's will, Kuzan let the only surviving child escape — the "Devil's Child," Nico Robin.
When Kuzan freed Robin…
Was Admiral Akainu wrong?
From a soldier's standpoint, following orders is a duty.
From his view of justice — eliminating all possible "evil" — he wasn't wrong.
Was Admiral Aokiji wrong?
Questioning the orders' morality, preserving the last embers of humanity amid rigid rules — he wasn't wrong either.
Hawke knew very well — the real culprits were the World Government and the Five Elders who issued the Buster Call.
But directly debating the World Government's morality with an Admiral was… premature.
Still, he could guide Aokiji subtly.
With that in mind, Hawke spoke.
"Admiral Aokiji, before I answer, I'd like to ask you something as well."
"Oh?"
"Two islands break out in a plague at the same time."
"One island has five million people. The other, one million."
"But there's only one rescue ship. Only one batch of medicine."
"You can't save both."
"No matter what you choose, people will die."
"Admiral, do you save the larger group… or the smaller?"
"…"
Aokiji's breath caught.
The question was like two cold blades pressed against his heart.
There was no perfect solution.
Whatever choice he made meant total destruction for the other side.
It meant… he would be personally abandoning millions to their deaths.
"…"
After a long silence, Aokiji finally spoke, his voice hoarse.
"I…"
He couldn't answer.
There was no answer.
Or rather, to him, any answer felt wrong.
"Commodore Hawke."
Aokiji raised his head, staring straight into Hawke's eyes.
"And you? What would you choose?"
"My choice isn't what matters."
Hawke shook his head. "What matters is why such a choice exists in the first place."
"Just like with the evacuation ship — whether you sink it or let it go, both choices carry their own mistakes."
"Following orders — that's justice as a soldier."
"Preserving humanity — that's justice as a person."
"When these two forms of justice clash violently, and either choice feels wrong…"
Hawke leaned forward slightly, lowering his voice.
"Admiral Aokiji…!"
"Have you ever considered…"
"That maybe the real problem lies with the one who gave you this choice?"
"!!!"
The words exploded like thunder in Aokiji's mind.
Right…
Why had he been trapped in this dilemma all these years?
Why had he been haunted by the nightmare of Ohara for so long?
He had spent decades agonizing over whether "sinking" or "letting go" was the right choice.
But he had never once considered…
That maybe… the question itself was wrong!
"…"
Hawke glanced at the sky outside the window, then slowly rose to his feet.
He knew his words had struck deep. Saying any more would ruin the effect.
"Admiral Aokiji, it's getting late. I should head back."
"I've got to report to the logistics division first thing tomorrow morning."
"Mm…"
Aokiji looked up blankly, still lost in the overwhelming impact of Hawke's words, and nodded unconsciously.
Hawke turned, walking out of the office.
Leaving Aokiji alone, sitting motionless on the sofa, replaying that one sentence again and again in his mind.
"Maybe the real problem lies with the one who gave the order…?"
His thoughts drifted uncontrollably back to that island twenty years ago — burning beneath the inferno.
If the question itself was wrong…
Then during the Ohara Incident, the real mistake…
"Was it the order itself?"
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