Chapter 64: Rona Arrives

Rona arrived at Sphinx a week later. From Dressrosa, she had hurried as fast as she could. Thinking about how Elephant-yama had sent her to hunt down some ordinary great pirate instead of letting her come after Magnus, she was fuming — clearly, sending her after Magnus would have been the optimal choice. If Magnus now possessed admiral-level strength, at least two admirals would be required to take him down. Fine — count Kong as one, and Seibas at best a half. But even though she wanted to complain, faced with the corpse of Seibas and the clearly unwell Kong, his face pale and ringed with dark circles, Rona could only vent her anger elsewhere. "Damn it, what Giant Shark Pirates? Might as well rename them the Mudfish Pirates — a bunch of worthless trash, two months of my life wasted!" Across the water, Rona locked eyes with Magnus, sensing a presence no weaker — perhaps even stronger — than a few months ago. She couldn't help but grit her teeth. 'Did this old man take some miracle drug? In just a few months, he's even stronger than before!' At their level, improving further was incredibly difficult. Rona herself had stepped into the admiral tier five years ago, yet still hovered at that threshold. Magnus, three months ago, had only just reached admiral level. Yet now, his strength had clearly surged again. One-on-one, she might no longer be his match. The marine fleet lined up in a row while the pirates gathered behind Magnus, densely packed along the shore. Though Magnus had no intention of truly leading these pirates, when they learned another admiral had arrived, all the pirates instinctively stood behind him. A swarm of pirates facing down marine warships, without the slightest hint of fear. "What's there to be afraid of? Just an admiral!" "We've got White Wolf Magnus!" "That's right — that so-called Jōma admiral came in all high and mighty before, and ended up a dead horse! What a joke!" A gang of pirates stood behind Magnus, emboldened by his presence. Indeed, with over ten thousand pirates arrayed behind him, the marines on the warships felt their breath catch. That was momentum. But Rona would never stand by and watch a bunch of pirates insult her fellow marines. "Hmph!" With a cold snort, her Haoshoku Haki (Conqueror's Haki) erupted. Though not quite at the very pinnacle, it was more than enough to suppress ordinary pirates. In an instant, a suffocating pressure fell. Stronger pirates felt their limbs go numb and broke out in cold sweat, while the weaker ones seemed like ducks with their necks wrung, barely able to breathe. It was only then that Magnus's Haki appeared, colliding with Rona's. Vmmmm— An invisible shockwave rose between the warships and the shore as Magnus and Rona's gazes clashed, a tension building as though they could strike at any moment. "Haha! Rona, you want to go another round with me?" Magnus grinned arrogantly, laughing loud. "Bring Kong too — just you alone, I'm afraid you won't cut it!" A week had been enough for Magnus to recover from his injuries. Against two admirals he'd surely lose. But now? Did Kong even still have the strength of an admiral? A man adrift, fragile. He didn't even know what he truly wanted. In his current state, Kong was worse than Seibas had been. Magnus didn't believe Rona hadn't noticed. So he didn't think she was here to fight. The marines had already missed their best chance to capture him. On this sea, trying to catch an admiral-level pirate who wanted to flee was practically impossible. "Magnus. Let's talk." Even Rona had to admit now — Magnus had become a force to be reckoned with. Once, he was just a cunning pirate. Whenever an admiral showed up, all his schemes fell apart. But now. Magnus was someone who could say "no" to them. Seeing her back down, Magnus's expression shifted. "Then let's talk about compensation." "Compensation?" "That's right. Everyone knows Sphinx is a nation. Your marines entered its waters without royal permission, bombarded its port town, and caused massive casualties." Magnus looked her straight in the eye, deadly serious. "So, I demand that the World Government and the marines compensate the royal family and the people of Sphinx for their losses in this war." At those words, Rona's expression became... complicated. Magnus was still a pirate. Headquarters expected him to try extorting them, but they were told to grit their teeth and not give him much. After all, their public narrative was that the marines had invaded Sphinx to protect its people and improve law and order. Even though the mission failed, the PR department had prepared their spin. They would paint Magnus as a despicable pirate who took hostages to threaten an admiral. And their admiral, who died protecting the hostages, would be a martyr. A glorious sacrifice. But everyone conveniently ignored one thing. That the royal family and nobles of Sphinx still held formal ownership of the island. And with Magnus's strength? Whatever he told the royals and nobles to say, they would say. Was the marines' version true? Or was the testimony of Sphinx's own people more real? "...Find somewhere more private." Glancing at the pirates on the shore, Rona knew things had grown delicate — she couldn't negotiate compensation in front of them. "Haha. Come with me then." Magnus took the lead, and Rona followed. Kong tried to follow too, but Rona stopped him. "Kong. One failure isn't the end. Seibas once said that if he ever retired, you were the best candidate to succeed him." "Don't forget what your seigi (justice) is." My justice? Kong stood still in silence. After all this time reflecting, and after Elephant-yama spoke with him as well, he'd thought about a lot. Fighting pirates, protecting civilians. Why weren't the marines justice? The rules of the World Government were order. Because people followed order, most of the world stayed stable. As for the Tenryūbito and non-member nations? Elephant-yama explained: no set of rules was perfect. Order would always have flaws. The role of the marines was to maintain order and fill those gaps. Kong's gaze grew sharper. That's right. No rule is perfect. His seigi was to preserve order. And to fill in the gaps. He would protect those who needed him — whether they were citizens of a member state or not. He would propose abolishing slavery. That inhumane practice had no place in order and should be discarded. For that, he needed strength. He needed status. Only with enough strength and status would his voice reach the top. Once he achieved that— Next time. He would use his fists to show Magnus what his seigi truly meant! (End of Chapter) [Check Out My P@treon For +20 Extra Chapters On All My Fanfics!!][[email protected]/euridome] [Thank You For Your Support!]