Chapter 107: Sabaody Archipelago: Battle with Akainu, Part 8
"But weren't there ten warships? Four plus five only makes nine."
"One of the warships stayed behind to rescue marines from a sunken vessel. There was an older Vice Admiral aboard… My instincts told me he's extremely dangerous, so I didn't engage that ship."
"Understood."
'Probably only Vice Admiral Garp would dare disobey direct orders from above…'
…
Aboard the Fearless Eternity, Da Vinci used the computer to open the vertical missile launch silos on the right.
With practiced speed, he entered the target coordinates, then solemnly pressed the missile launch button.
"Commencing countdown to launch: ten…"
Two missile tips slowly emerged from the launch ports.
"Two, one—ignition!"
Flames burst from their tail sections, producing thick smoke and a loud roar. The missiles, one behind the other, streaked across the sky with white trails, their sonic booms echoing as they passed the five Navy warships and headed toward the Sabaody Archipelago at Mach 15.
"Hmm? What's that?" Marines aboard the warships looked up curiously at the swiftly passing objects. The missiles were loud—impossible to ignore.
"Stop staring! Prepare for battle! We'll be seeing the Sabaody Archipelago any moment now!" Onigumo had noticed the smoke trails as well, and correctly guessed the missiles had been launched from the enemy ship. Unfortunately, his flying slash attacks couldn't reach that high, nor strike something moving so fast.
He was already frustrated from the sea battle earlier. Normally, the Navy's sturdy warships and superior firepower crushed pirate ships. But now they faced the Fearless Eternity—faster, with ten times their attack range. He finally understood how the pirates he'd chased before must have felt.
Completely one-sided, no way to retaliate—utterly infuriating.
Still, his strategy had worked. He had convinced the other three Vice Admirals to head straight for the Sabaody Archipelago instead of chasing after the battleship. Their mission was to wipe the archipelago off the map.
The two missiles quickly reached the airspace above Tree 27—and exploded simultaneously.
"BOOM—"
The blast dispersed the missile payloads in all directions.
The contents of the missiles were thunderclouds. Following Eric 's instructions, Da Vinci had created high-voltage storm clouds, compressed them, and loaded them into missiles made with insulated inner shells.
The compressed thunderclouds rapidly expanded upon release, merging together into a massive spherical al storm cloud over 300 meters in diameter.
…
The scattered magma fragments began to move and coalesce, bubbling and rising upward as they gradually reformed into Akainu.
But the reformed Admiral now looked far less composed. His once-sharp military presence was gone—replaced with a disheveled, battered appearance.
Blood ran from his forehead. Two large circular wounds marred his body. The blood clung to his crimson suit, making it appear even redder.
His uniform was scorched in several places, his body bearing clear signs of electrical burns.
Akainu had lost his composure. His face twisted into an expression of pure rage.
A pirate crew less than a year out to sea had forced him into such a humiliating state. For someone draped in the mantle of Navy justice, it was an unforgivable irony.
"You brats… don't underestimate this world's justice…" Akainu growled.
"I've never underestimated this world's justice!" Eric cut him off. "But who decided your Navy's justice represents the world's justice?"
"A petty thief like you dares criticize Navy justice?!"
"You're the one who brought up 'world justice,' not me," Eric shot back. "Maybe try some self-awareness? The whole world saw it—want to borrow a recording and rewatch it? Already senile, gramps? Memory fading?"
"You—!" Akainu was enraged, magma gushing from his arms as the ground beneath them began to boil.
"Navy is justice? Pirates are evil? That kind of thinking's been rewritten countless times. Those who've never known peace and those who've never known war have vastly different values. Only those at the top can define good and evil!"
"This place is neutral. Will justice prevail? Of course it will—because the victor becomes justice!"
In front of the global broadcast, Eric delivered a thought-provoking line. Inside, he chuckled: 'Thanks for the quote, Doflamingo.'
"Most of the Navy may be good people—but to maintain the World Government's dominance, you've committed countless atrocities!"
"Thirteen years ago, when Gol D. Roger was executed, the Navy hunted his pregnant wife in the South Blue, executing countless innocent women! And I didn't see the World Government or the Navy reporting that in their newspapers!"
"Eleven years ago, Oharan scholars were researching the Poneglyphs, and because the World Government didn't want the truth of the Void Century revealed, they launched a Buster Call on Ohara in the year 1500 of the Sea Circle Calendar—erasing the land of archaeology and wiping out its scholars!"
"And you, Sakazuki, participated in that inhuman purge as a Vice Admiral! Under the excuse of possibly harboring archaeologists, you ordered your men to fire on a refugee ship full of innocent civilians!"
"And today, the government launches another Buster Call on the Sabaody Archipelago. If every time some trivial excuse is used to destroy entire islands—what happens when the Buster Call falls on your own homes next time?!"
That last line, spoken into the camera, was directed at the global audience. If people always remain apathetic toward the suffering of others, then when disaster comes for them, no one will be there to help.
"W-wait!" Morgans, watching the broadcast, panicked. Why was Eric suddenly exposing the Navy's atrocities?!
He had been thrilled by the intense battle with Akainu and the Admiral's injuries—perfect headlines. But now Eric was publicly listing the Navy's darkest secrets—including Gol D. Roger and the truth of Ohara.
"Cut the global feed immediately! We can't let this go on!" Morgans ordered frantically. But Eric had already said everything he needed to. Cutting the signal now was far too late.
…
Across the world, people who had been watching the broadcast exploded into discussion.
"Could what he said be true…?"
"The Navy destroys islands and slaughters civilians at will… That's how Ohara was destroyed ten years ago? They said it was a disease…"
"Executing innocent pregnant women… that's monstrous!"
People still vaguely remembered the name Ohara. But in another decade, it might have faded entirely—known only to its sole survivor and those who had participated in the Buster Call.
Of course, not all voices were the same.
"What are you talking about? Of course I trust the Navy!"
"Pirates are the worst! They kill, steal, and rape—how can you believe a word they say?!"
There were both public defenders trying to whitewash and agents stoking the flames.
But the sudden blackout of the broadcast felt like direct censorship by the World Government—making Eric 's words seem even more credible.
…
In the West Blue, a tan-skinned woman wearing a hood peeked out from a narrow alley, her face hidden, watching the live broadcast on a public TV. When she heard the truth about Ohara, her blue eyes welled up with indescribable emotion.
…
Somewhere on the Grand Line, a man in a deep green coat with a red sandal-print tattoo on his left cheek was watching the battle.
Beside him sat a giant-faced man with a massive deep purple afro—Emporio Ivankov.
"Hmm? I think I saw that boy back at Koshiro's dojo."
"Oh? You saw him in Shimotsuki Village?"
"He looked at me like he'd figured out who I was, but I didn't press him. We left that night. Never thought he'd go to sea, become a pirate, and kill a Celestial Dragon on a global broadcast. What a bold boy~"
"Looks like he's disillusioned with the current World Government—and he's rescued a lot of slaves too. We should gather intel on him. He might be someone we could recruit. Though I don't approve of his cruel punishment of the Celestial Dragon."
"Heh, probably suffered at their hands himself. Not everyone has your level of tolerance, Dragon."
(END CHAPTER)
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