Sage looked down at Zephyr standing below, observing the Haki on his prosthetic and left fist, his lips curling slightly as he said:
"So your will has recovered a bit. You're really quite changeable, aren't you?"
He sneered, "Ah, I forgot. You've suffered failure and couldn't uphold your beliefs and will, so you're confused. But I'm different from you; I never thought of changing my will..."
He paused, his voice becoming firm, "I am incredibly confident that throughout my future life, I will adhere to my beliefs to the very end!"
Failure is something everyone has experienced.
Sage fell so hard he almost had nothing to eat, nearly becoming a wild man gnawing on bark in the mountains. Despite his skills at the time, settling down quietly would have allowed him to survive.
But he refused to abandon his obsession with entrepreneurship and his path to becoming a landlord.
He firmly believed that no matter how many failures came his way, he would definitely achieve his dream!
Only by becoming a landlord ruling everything could his damned, deep, and utterly unfillable desire be released, even for a moment of satisfaction.
"This old man won't be lectured by a kid, shut up, Sage!"
Zephyr at this moment was entirely different from just now.
The Haki on his fists felt like last year's sensation, perhaps even stronger.
"I just don't understand, what exactly do you want to do?"
Zephyr looked up, the sunglasses on his eyes were gone, replaced by a sharp gaze.
In response, Sage just flashed a sinister smile and thrust his hand dramatically towards the sky.
BOOM!
A thunderbolt storm, driven by fierce wind, raced towards Zephyr and the surviving Neo Navy soldiers behind him.
"It's coming again!"
"No, please!"
"Run quickly!"
As humans, the majority are afraid of death, and only those few have the qualifications to become strong.
But it was clear, this group lacked such qualifications, so they were scared and ran.
In front of the descending massive thunderstorm, the relatively small figures charged into the sky, with prosthetics and fists brushing with Haki flowing like the wind, crashing forward fiercely.
CRACK!
The air froze like glass, shattering upon impact, taking the storm and thunder with it into shreds.
"Retreat!"
Zephyr's feet hit the ground, he moved sharply to the side, appearing in front of Ain, and another punch fragmented a lightning strike.
"Ain, lead the people to retreat!"
"Teacher Zephyr!"
Ain exclaimed with surprise, "You, you... I won't leave, I want to fight alongside you!"
"That's an order! Are you going to disobey your teacher?"
Zephyr's fists flowed with energy, striking again at the oncoming storm and thunder, shouting, "I will protect you all until you retreat safely!"
The fierce wind, the furious thunder, were all shattered at this moment.
But at this moment, Zephyr's arms clearly sustained bloody cuts and scorched marks from the thunder.
The natural forces aren't so easily dealt with.
Blood trickled from the corner of Zephyr's mouth, yet his grin widened, "This old man is a hero of justice!"
"Teacher Zephyr!"
Ain bit her lip, holding back tears, looking at Zephyr who stood like an iron wall in front of them, turned and ran.
The storm halted.
The dark clouds scattered.
Sage descended slowly to the ground, also wearing a sinister grin.
Stronger than before, his Haki was stronger than when encountered in Logue Town last year.
Zephyr slowly closed his eyes, taking a deep breath.
He wasn't wrong.
It's unrelated to faith or justice; it's simply about his own inadequacy.
His changed philosophy of wanting to use 'the endpoint' to destroy New World Pirates had vanished the moment he saw Sage; it was just anger keeping him going.
Because whether the New World can be destroyed or not, he didn't know, but he knew Sage came from the East Sea.
New World didn't make him; people like Sage made the Grand Line.
Without the New World, there would still be pirates.
And acknowledging he wasn't Sage's match, he indeed lost his will and developed a reluctance to resist further.
But it was like he was forcing himself to make a determination...
He didn't want to witness large-scale slaughter, and he had to admit Sage's words awakened him.
He was indeed not suited for slaughter; no matter how hard he tried to admit it, he was more suitable for 'not killing.'
Zephyr had always been a gentle person.
Being a hero of justice without killing had been his belief since childhood!
Since he couldn't fulfill his current goal...
CLANG!
His closed eyes reopened, Zephyr's pupils flickered with the red light of Observation, staring directly at Sage, saying:
"Sage brat, is this what you want to do? Make me regain confidence, what exactly do you want?"
"Just to kill you."
Sage laughed, "But I really have no interest in weaklings, they're not worth my attention. For you, I believed you shouldn't be a weakling."
"Oh? You think this old man can defeat you?" Zephyr chuckled.
"Hehe, the difference between strong and weak isn't just about power."
Sage spread one hand, "Beyond power, will, courage, status, influence, wealth, all those who vastly exceed ordinary people are not weaklings."
He looked towards Zephyr, saying in a deep voice, "Your current will is worthy of my killing intent!"
"Seems I have to thank you..."
Zephyr shook his head, closely observing Sage, sighed, "Garp was right, a guy like you would make a good Navy if you joined."