With the overwhelming impact of that absolute power, Rain stood at the bow, letting the sea wind tug at his clothes as an uncontrollable thought rose up.
Why do I still need to go back?
I have the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, Transcendent Observation, Peak Armament…
Why return to that rotten Marine Headquarters—just to be a dog for those bloated Celestial Dragons?
He could live as "Clark," free and unbound, judging the injustice and evil he saw.
Images surfaced in his mind: the civilian refugee ship Sakazuki had sunk at Ohara, Spandine's ugly face.
But… where would he go?
Become a pirate? Fight Kaido and Big Mom for the One Piece?
Rain shook his head. That wasn't his ambition.
If he had the chance, he'd rather change this decayed world with his own hands.
He remembered that afternoon in Loguetown—why he hadn't executed Roger immediately, why he had even wanted Roger to ignite the Great Pirate Era. Yes, Sin Points were part of it—but more than that, Roger had tried to slam his death into the world and change it.
Until Rain found a better way, he didn't know how to make this world better either.
This goddamn world, Rain's eyes went cold. It's rotten—not only because of pirates, but because of the Celestial Dragons sitting above everything in Mary Geoise.
Breaking it from the outside was too hard.
But what about from the inside?
Rain's thinking opened up all at once.
He was an orphan raised by the Marines—about as "legitimate" as it got. He grew up in Loguetown, then was favored by Vice Admiral Tsuru and entered the elite training camp. His record was cleaner than clean.
Now, by a twist of fate, he'd eaten the Rumble-Rumble Fruit—giving him a "perfect" explanation for his terrifying strength.
So he had to go back.
He needed a legal identity—an open platform to accumulate power.
Whether he became an officer hunting pirates across the world, or was posted to some base in the New World, his growth would be far faster than living as a wanted man with no territory.
I'll use the Marine identity to legally and efficiently hunt the world's evil… until the day I can judge the Celestial Dragons and the Five Elders without restraint.
Rain's face returned to calm, but the ambition took root deep inside him.
…
At dawn, the first sunlight spilled across the sea.
Smoker yawned his way onto the deck and saw Rain standing at the bow, facing the sunrise.
"Morning," Smoker said, lighting a cigar. He asked around it, voice muffled. "Where are we now? How do we contact HQ?"
Rain didn't turn around. He simply felt the wind.
"Not yet." Rain spoke with quiet confidence. "Turn the helm thirty degrees southeast. If we sail a bit more, we should run into a Marine warship."
"Huh?" Smoker blinked. "How do you know? You—"
Rain obviously wasn't going to tell him that while Smoker slept, Rain's [Transcendent] Observation and the Rumble-Rumble Fruit's electromagnetic sensing had fused into an invisible radar net spanning hundreds of nautical miles.
Smoker stared at Rain's "everything's under control" expression. He had a stomach full of questions—but knew he wouldn't get answers.
"Damn… always so secretive…"
He grumbled, but his body still moved honestly toward the helm.
He turned the wheel with practiced hands, and the small sailboat cut through the waves, charging full speed toward the course Rain indicated.
…
Grand Line, first half.
A Marine Headquarters rear admiral—Gion's flagship—was cruising along its patrol route.
In her cabin, Gion rested her chin on one hand. Her eyes weren't focused on the paperwork in front of her at all; they were unfocused on the sea chart pinned to the wall.
Her finger tapped the desk unconsciously, then stopped on Ohara in the West Blue.
It had been almost three months.
Since the Buster Call ended, the names "Rain" and "Smoker" had vanished from the active roster—classified as missing in action.
And Gion's mood had been restless for three months straight.
She couldn't understand why she cared so much about a trainee.
Yes, the boy named Rain had a face so handsome even she had to admit it, and his cooking was flawless—but how many talented young men had she seen?
What she couldn't shake was that night—under alcohol—when a depth far beyond his age flashed through his eyes, along with traces of an old, heavy past.
"…He was only a trainee," she murmured, trying to convince herself.
But her actions were honest.
Last week, she submitted her third reassignment request to Vice Admiral Tsuru, hoping to join the newly formed "Devil Clark Special Investigation Unit"—or at least be posted near the West Blue, to patrol the routes where Clark had last appeared.
Tsuru's reply was as cold and incisive as always:
"Gion, your judgment is being affected by unnecessary emotion."
"I simply don't want a criminal like that to roam free!"
"You know very well," Tsuru's voice allowed no argument, "with strength enough to defeat Kuzan head-on, if you truly encountered Clark, your only outcome would be defeat. Don't go die for nothing. Stay in your assigned sector."
Click.
The Den Den Mushi call ended.
Gion knew Tsuru was right—but she still couldn't let go. That helplessness pushed her to train harder than ever these last three months.
Knock knock knock!
Urgent pounding at the door snapped her out of it.
"Enter."
Her aide burst in, panicked, forgetting even to salute, holding up the freshly delivered World Economic News Paper.
"R-Rear Admiral! Today's paper… something big happened!!"
"Calm down," Gion said, taking it and casually scanning the front page.
In the next second, her foxlike eyes—usually lazy and alluring—snapped wide open.
[Divine Judgment Descends?! Mock Town Erased Overnight!]
Subheadline: "Thunder God" Appears? Over 500 Pirates Wiped Out Instantly!
Gion's breath caught.
She read every line carefully. There was no photo of the perpetrator—only images of the huge crater at Mock Town's edge, charred human-shaped ash, and survivors' terrified "divine punishment" testimony.
"Thunder God…" Gion murmured, fingers tightening on the paper.
Her first thought was obvious: some extremely powerful Logia.
Instantly killing over five hundred pirates—this kind of world-ending power was something she'd only seen in a handful of Marine "monsters."
Ohara's "Devil," Mock Town's "Thunder God"…
What was happening to the world? Monsters popping up one after another.
Gion felt a wave of helplessness. Either threat was beyond what she could handle.
Just as she was thinking, an alarm blared from the lookout!
"WOO—WOO—!!!"
"Rear Admiral! A small pirate ship spotted dead ahead!!"
Gion snapped back to reality, her gaze sharpening into a Marine officer's cold edge. She rushed onto the deck and raised her telescope.
On the horizon, a small single-mast sailboat approached, its sail tattered and ragged, cutting through waves.
"Rear Admiral!" the lookout sounded confused. "They're… coming straight at us!"
"What?"
Gion lowered the telescope, eyes turning icy with a flicker of doubt.
"A ship that small dares ram a Headquarters warship?"
But professional instinct overrode everything.
"Doesn't matter who they are," she snorted. "If they're pirates, they're enemies!"
She drew Konpira, pointing the blade forward as she issued the cold order:
"Gunners to positions. Cannons ready. The moment they enter range, fire—sink it."
"Yes!"
The crew moved fast. Gunports creaked open along the broadside, black cannon mouths aimed at the approaching sailboat.
"Report! Target in range!"
"Fire!!"
Boom boom boom!
Broadside cannons roared. Several shells streaked with flame, ripping the air toward the doomed ship—
But just before impact, something changed.
"ZZZRRRRT—!!!!!"
A blinding blue bolt shot out from the tiny ship. Like a whip of lightning, it struck the incoming shells in midair with perfect precision.
Boom boom boom!
The shells detonated one after another, throwing off violent shockwaves.
"What?!" Gion froze.
Before she could connect this to the newspaper's "Thunder God," a ball of white smoke wrapped in lightning tore away from the sailboat at impossible speed, arcing across hundreds of meters—
Thud!
Two figures slammed onto Gion's main deck.
"Don't move!"
"Enemy attack!!"
The Marines instantly surrounded them, muzzles and blades pointed in.
Smoke and lightning faded.
Rain stood with hands in his pockets, smiling faintly. Smoker stood beside him, two cigars in his mouth, wearing that cocky, unbothered expression.
Gion stood at the front.
Her grip on Konpira was trembling.
She stared at that familiar figure… then at the lingering blue arcs on his body…
Her breathing went completely out of rhythm.
Plop.
The newspaper she hadn't yet put down slipped from her rigid fingers.
It drifted to the deck and flipped open to the front page by chance.
The horrifying headline lay right at her feet:
["Thunder God" Appears? Over 500 Pirates Wiped Out Instantly…]
The deck fell into dead silence.
Rain ignored every weapon aimed at him. He simply looked up into Gion's shocked, complicated eyes and gave her a familiar smile.
"Rear Admiral Gion."
He deliberately drew out the words.
"Long time no see… Is this really how you greet your beloved student…?"
~~~
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