DreamersGN Chapter 140: The Lost Aokiji, A Brand New Ticket!
Chapter 140: The Lost Aokiji, A Brand New Ticket!
Watching Akainu's departing figure, Garp, standing on the distant iceberg, saw this scene, and his mountain-like body swayed violently.
The light in his eyes dimmed completely.
One won, but acted more like a mad dog.
One loses, and loses everything.
Is this the justice he wants?
The wrinkles on the old man's face were so deep they could trap a mosquito.
He didn't go.
He was too ashamed to go over there.
He took one last look at the kneeling figure, then turned around.
The coat printed with the word "Justice" fluttered in the wind.
That figure from behind exuded an indescribable sense of age and loneliness.
The world quieted down.
All that remained was the howling of the wind and snow.
Punk Hazard.
The future of a great general is buried here.
It also buried a hero's belief.
Kuzan lies in the center of this graveyard.
He looked down at his burned left leg, a forced, unsightly smile etched on his face.
He had managed to freeze the cut with his own cold air, stopping the bleeding.
He lost.
They gambled everything, and then lost everything.
Faith, dignity, future... everything, along with this severed leg, was burned to ashes by Sakazuki's lava.
His face was filled with endless loneliness and self-mockery.
Really...
It's kind of funny.
His body temperature was lost along with his blood, and his body was colder than any block of ice he could make.
If this continues, I'll die.
Dying here would be a kind of liberation.
Just then.
A shadow fell.
There was no warning whatsoever.
The shadow fell, blocking out the only sliver of light in the sky.
Kuzan strained to look up.
A face so calm it bordered on indifference.
A pair of golden eyes.
Time-Space Emperor, Chen Ye.
Kuzan's unfocused gaze tightened instantly, a flash of surprise crossing his eyes, which then turned into an even deeper bitterness.
Yes.
This man can single-handedly defeat even the Four Emperors alliance.
What's so strange about him being here?
"Ah la la la la la"
Kuzan forced out a dry laugh, like a broken bellows.
"Even you... are you here to laugh at me, Time-Space Emperor?"
His voice had lost the majesty of a naval admiral, replaced only by the numbness of having lost everything.
Chen Ye shook his head.
He didn't act superior like Sakazuki, nor did he stay far away like Garp.
He did something that Kuzan never expected.
He squatted down.
He squatted down in front of Kuzan, looking at this kneeling loser at eye level.
There was no mockery, no pity, and not even any extraneous emotions.
"How does it feel to lose to a madman?"
Kuzan's pupils suddenly contracted.
"For a corrupt position, for a 'justice' that has already betrayed you, you risk your life and your beliefs..."
Chen Ye's voice was soft, yet each word seemed to pierce his chest, poking at his heart riddled with holes.
Is it worth it?
does it worth?
Those two words struck his soul with a thunderous roar.
His final pretense, that hard shell built from failures and numbness, shattered.
yes...
does it worth?
The flames of Ohara soared into the sky.
Saul's final roar.
The struggle of freezing Nico Robin with his own hands.
The inner turmoil during the Marineford War.
And then there's Sakazuki's face, the face that seems to believe he'd sacrifice everything for "complete justice."
His insistence on "justice with warmth" is a joke in the face of this cold war machine.
What he lost was never just a duel.
He lost to a more resolute "evil".
Kuzan fell silent, closed his eyes, and pressed his chapped lips into a line of despair.
Chenye's magma is hotter than Sakazuki's.
"I lost."
After a long while, he finally managed to squeeze out those three words through gritted teeth.
"Say what you want."
He gave up thinking and resistance, adopting a submissive attitude.
Kill him, or humiliate him, it doesn't matter.
There was nothing in this world worth his lingering for.
The expected attacks or taunts did not come.
A hand was stretched out in front of him.
He was holding something in his hand.
It's neither a weapon nor medicine.
It was a small piece of paper, carrying a hint of human presence.
A piece of paper for life.
"Don't get me wrong, this isn't an order."
Chen Ye's voice possessed a strange magic, deep and steady, like a pebble thrown into Kuzan's lifeless heart.
"This is a boat ticket."
"A ticket... that can allow you to achieve 'true justice'."
Boat tickets?
True justice?
Kuzan suddenly opened his eyes, and for the first time, his dim eyes showed intense emotion.
He stared intently at Chen Ye, trying to discern some conspiracy from his calm face.
"My justice?"
He laughed self-deprecatingly, his voice hoarse.
"My justice... has been utterly destroyed, leaving not even ashes."
"No."
Chen Ye's lips curled upwards, his smile carrying an air of detached composure.
"You simply lost to a more resolute form of 'evil'."
"Your sense of justice is not wrong."
"The mistake was that you chose the wrong side and served the wrong people."
boom!
These words exploded in his mind!
He froze, staring intently at Chen Ye, forgetting the pain, the loss, and even where he was.
Your sense of justice is not wrong.
The mistake was that you chose the wrong side.
For the first time in decades, he had heard someone describe his “lazy justice” in this way.
It's not weakness, not compromise, not being an outsider...
Or is it that there is no mistake?
The belief that he had buried deep in his heart, a belief that even he himself had begun to doubt, was now being dug out of the ruins by a hand, and the dust was brushed off.
Seeing the shock in Kuzan's eyes, Chen Ye knew the time had come.
He stood up, resuming his downward-looking posture, but his tone was more solemn than ever before.
"The World Government is rotten to the core. Its so-called justice is nothing more than a tool used by the Celestial Dragons to control the world. Sakazuki's 'complete justice' is the sharpest blade in this tool, indiscriminately killing without regard for right or wrong."
"And your justice, Kuzan, is the justice of 'humanity.' That's why you suffer, why you are confused, and why you lose."
Chen Ye's voice wasn't loud, but it carried far across this desolate ice and fire island.
"I will overthrow the Celestial Dragons and build a truly free and equal world!"
"There, the navy will no longer be the lackeys of the world's nobles, but will truly serve the people and exist to protect the weak!"
Kuzan's heart began to pound uncontrollably.
Overthrow the Celestial Dragons?
To build a new world?
What an insane declaration!
But the person who uttered these words was none other than Chen Ye! The man who trampled two sea emperors underfoot!
His words carry weight!
"I need your power, Kuzan."
Chen Ye's golden eyes locked onto Kuzan, his gaze filled with admiration and expectation.
"Not as a subordinate, but as one of the founders of a new order."
One of the founders!
These five words shattered the last wall of ice in Kuzan's heart!
He wasn't recruiting a defeated lackey; he was inviting an equal partner!
In his eyes, this meant that his power and "justice" were recognized!
"In my position, you can continue with your 'lazy justice,' protect those you want to protect, and eliminate the 'evil' you deem 'evil,' and nobody will care. You just need to... point your sword at the real enemy."
Chen Ye's words unfolded a grand picture.
A world without Celestial Dragons.
A world where the navy serves only the people.
A world... where he could pursue his beliefs without any reservations.
Isn't that the utopia he dreamed of but thought was impossible?
Kuzan's breathing became disordered.
He looked at Chen Ye, the man defined by the World Government as the most heinous criminal, who at this moment shone brighter than any "justice".
Chen Ye didn't press him any further.
He gently placed the life certificate next to Kuzan's only intact hand.
"If you've thought it through, come find me."
After saying that, he turned around, and his figure faded in the air, turning into golden specks of light that scattered with the wind.
He left behind only one sentence and a lost hero.
The world fell silent once more.
Only in the distance could one hear the white-bearded man's hearty laughter and the sound of drinking.
Kuzan lowered his head, staring intently at the small piece of paper bearing his life.
The paper is very light.
At this moment, it feels heavier than a mountain.
That was a completely new path.
A completely new option.
A single... unique ticket to the "just" world of his dreams.
His hands began to tremble.
yes...
The Navy's justice is dead.
But his sense of justice is not dead.
He used all his strength to extend his hand, which was covered in blood and frost.
My fingertips, trembling violently, finally touched that warm piece of paper bearing my life.
In the depths of his eyes, which had been filled with despair and pain for too long, a glimmer of light shone again.
very weak.
But it was incredibly hot.
It was a mixture of struggle, pain, and...
hope.