Lancelot's blunt assessment resonated in the tense air.
"Doesn't he fear shattering military morale?" he asked, genuinely perplexed by Akainu's brutal logic.
"If it were me, to hell with it. I'd turn around and join a Pirate Crew or the Revolutionary Army."
He voiced his confusion, sharing his own pragmatic, albeit cynical, thoughts.
Any Marine, whether officer or common soldier, hearing about this—an Admiral sacrificing the family of a frontline comrade—would feel chilled to the bone.
After all, they were the ones fighting life-and-death battles against pirates.
As an Admiral, not only did you fail to protect their families, but you actually attacked and eliminated their families along with the pirates?
Then what the hell were they even fighting for?
Just as Gak had raged, if the very justice you firmly believed in couldn't even protect your own wife and daughter, then what use was such justice?
Smoker fell completely silent, the smoke curling around him like a shroud.
As a member of the moderate faction within the Marines, he deeply disliked Akainu's methods, viewing them as dangerously extreme and counterproductive.
But what could he do? Akainu was a high-ranking Admiral, one of the three pillars of the Navy's power.
He himself was just a lowly Captain, stuck in the weakest sea.
Their strength, their influence... they were worlds apart.
But he couldn't help clenching his fists, a silent oath forming in his heart.
One day, he swore, he would rise higher.
He would change the Marines and prevent such senseless tragedies from ever happening again.
"You..." Gak looked up at Lancelot, his muddy features unreadable, his feelings suddenly complicated.
Since the incident, since the deaths of his wife and daughter, he had been met with a wall of silence and deflection.
From the Fleet Admiral down to ordinary Marines, everyone had either pretended not to know the full story or advised him to just "let it go."
Although he knew many of them meant well, trapped by the same rigid hierarchy that had condemned his family.
After all, Akainu was a Marine Admiral.
What could anyone do?
But he never expected... never... that the person who could completely understand his perspective, who could articulate his own deepest, most treasonous thoughts, would be the very man he was supposed to kill today.
Burns's son.
A product of the very system he now despised.
Life, he thought bitterly, is truly like a terrible play.
He even felt a certain, strange, mutual understanding with this towering young Captain.
Because Lancelot had voiced the most genuine thought in his heart.
When the incident first happened, when he had desperately tried to seek justice for his wife and daughter, he had encountered obstacles everywhere.
In his despair, he had indeed harbored such thoughts—thoughts of desertion, piracy, revolution.
"Hah..." Gak took a deep, shuddering breath, trying to calm the storm within him.
He looked at Lancelot with complex, warring emotions and said.
"If I had met you earlier, Captain... perhaps we could have become good friends."
"But..."
At this point, his tone shifted abruptly.
The brief flicker of connection vanished, replaced by a cold, hard resolution.
Killing intent flashed in his eyes.
Before he could even finish speaking, he had already moved.
In a flash of displaced mud, he charged directly in front of Lancelot and threw a powerful, Logia-enhanced punch straight at his face.
Lancelot neither retreated nor dodged.
He met the attack head-on with a punch of his own, simultaneously wrapping his fist in a layer of shimmering, black Armament Haki.
BOOM!
Their fists collided with violent, concussive force.
The immense power clashed between them, raw Logia energy against refined Haki.
Wave after wave of powerful shockwaves swept out in all directions, rattling windows and kicking up dust.
The clothes and capes of all three men—Lancelot, Gak, and Smoker—flapped and rustled sharply from the impact.
Immediately after, both Lancelot and Gak were forced back several steps, the ground cracking beneath their feet.
"Armament Haki?" Gak stared intently at Lancelot's fist, which was still faintly shimmering with black energy.
His muddy eyes were filled with profound shock
. After a moment of stunned silence, his expression turned to disbelief.
Just how old is this kid? he thought frantically.
The intel had said he was skilled in swordsmanship.
That he'd mastered Rokushiki.
That he'd awakened Observation Haki.
And now Armament Haki too?! Is this guy a monster? Even the three Admirals—did they possess this level of strength at his age?
"Gulp..."
Beside them, Smoker couldn't help but swallow hard, staring at Lancelot in utter astonishment.
He hadn't even awakened Armament Haki himself yet!
He had only awakened Observation Haki four years ago, and he was already 34—meaning he hadn't awakened it until he was 30.
The thought was a significant blow to his pride.
What struck him even harder was the cold, dawning realization that if he were to fight Lancelot now... he might no longer be a match for him.
Gak gave Lancelot one last deep, meaningful look.
"You've hidden your abilities well, Captain Lancelot," he said, his voice flat. "It seems the people behind me... probably can't compete with your old man Burns anymore."
He then glanced briefly at Smoker before his entire body dissolved, transforming into a mass of thick, flowing mud.
He sank rapidly into the ground and vanished from sight, leaving no trace behind.
It had to be said, this guy was extremely decisive.
After confirming that Lancelot had awakened Armament Haki and gauging his strength from their brief exchange, he understood that capturing or killing Lancelot today was no longer possible.
Especially not with Smoker, another powerful Logia user, standing right there.
He cut his losses and retreated.
"Phew..."
Watching their opponent retreat, Smoker finally allowed himself to take a deep breath, calming his racing heart.
He then turned to Lancelot, studying the young man for a long moment.
His gaze fell to Lancelot's waist, where two new swords now rested alongside his familiar twin blades.
Sandai Kitetsu and Yubashiri.
They immediately caught his eye.
He raised an eyebrow, his previous concern replaced by renewed irritation.
"So this is why you insisted on going into Loguetown?"
If he didn't now suspect that Lancelot's strength might even surpass his own, he would have been sorely tempted to give him a good smack right then and there.
To think he'd risked chaos and endangered Loguetown just for two swords!
Lancelot waved a hand dismissively.
"Relax, Captain! Nothing happened. Just three agents from Baroque Works, a Grand Line organization, showed up. I drove them off easily."
He conveniently omitted the detail about their escape.
"No innocent people were harmed—just some minor property damage. But I'll compensate for it. When we get back to the ship, I'll need you to take the 40 million Berries for the swords, along with the compensation money, to the weapon shop owner."
"Baroque Works?" Smoker asked, puzzled.
He had heard whispers of the name, but knew little about the organization.
Lancelot explained briefly, "Two Paramecia types and one Zoan. Their strength was average, about on par with an ordinary Headquarters Lieutenant Commander."
"Two Paramecia and one Zoan? Three Devil Fruit Ability Users, working together, here in the East Blue?" Smoker was greatly shocked.
"It seems this Baroque Works is no ordinary organization! I'll need to report this to Headquarters immediately."
Finally, his gaze fell once again on Lancelot, his expression stern.
"And you, kid, get out of Loguetown. Now. If you stay any longer, who knows what other trouble might arise. Even that guy Gak has shown up!"
But after speaking, he immediately added, his tone softening slightly into a gruff warning.
"Be careful, kid. That Gak... he's a persistent man. He only left so easily because I was still here. And this guy won't give up. If he couldn't get you in Loguetown, he'll try elsewhere. So you'd better watch your back during the rest of your journey."
Lancelot nodded. "Thanks for the warning, Captain."
The two then immediately headed toward the port, leaving the cleanup of the minor battle to the local garrison.
...
Meanwhile, in a dark, hidden corner of Loguetown, Miss Merry Christmas looked down at the severely injured, unconscious forms of Mr. 5 and Ms. Valentine, her expression extremely grim.
Their mission had been a catastrophic failure.
She took out a Den Den Mushi and made a call.
...
At the same time, in a secret underground base beneath Rainbase, in the Kingdom of Alabasta.
A beautiful woman with long black hair, wearing a white cowboy hat, a white fur coat, and a purple short skirt, listened to the report coming through the receiver.
She currently wore a look of mild surprise.
"Miss Merry Christmas," she said, her voice smooth and calm, "are you saying that Mr. 5 and Ms. Valentine teamed up... but were completely crushed by a single Marine Captain?"
Miss Merry Christmas nodded on the other end, though Robin couldn't see her.
"Mr. 5 and Ms. Valentine didn't even have a chance to fight back against that Lancelot. They were utterly overpowered. And... he seemed very relaxed, clearly not even using his full strength. Miss All Sunday... did we get the intel wrong? Is he really just from the East Blue?"
Miss All Sunday, also known secretly as Nico Robin, let a faint, enigmatic smile touch her lips at this.
She didn't answer directly.
"Just return for now, Miss Merry Christmas."
After speaking, she comforted them, "Don't worry. Since it was clearly an intelligence issue, although this mission wasn't successful, it wasn't a complete failure either. There won't be any punishment."
"Phew..." Miss Merry Christmas couldn't help but sigh in relief upon hearing this.
After hanging up, Robin tapped her long fingers thoughtfully on the cool stone table.
This mission had originally been just a probe, ordered by the Boss himself, to test the waters around this mysterious Captain Lancelot and his supposed three billion Berries.
The results were... unexpected.
She then turned to look at the figure sitting nearby, hidden in shadow, only the glowing tip of his cigar visible.
"You heard everything just now, didn't you? This Lancelot... is considerably stronger than reported. Who should we send next?"
The person beside her blew out a slow, deliberate smoke ring, a slight, cruel smile playing on his lips, visible even in the dim light.
"Three billion Berries... tsk tsk! And power to match... I originally thought someone was trying to set me up, using Burns's boy as bait."
He chuckled darkly.
"After all, how could trash from the Holy Land suddenly become a genius powerhouse? It seems I was overthinking things. The boy the is real deal."
After saying this, he fell silent for a moment, considering.
Then he gave his order. "Send Mr. 1 and Miss Doublefinger. And... send Mr. 2 along as well. Let's see how this boy fares against them."
The speaker, naturally, was the boss of Baroque Works, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, Sir Crocodile.