CHAPTER 116: THE SLAYING ORDER
For twenty days, Satoru stayed on the mountain with the Dadan family, filling his days with training sessions and his nights with stories under the stars. It was a slice of normalcy he hadn't known he needed—a chance to just be, without the weight of command, without the pressure of being the youngest Admiral in history.
The bandits never quite got used to having a Marine Admiral in their midst. They'd stiffen whenever he walked past, speak in hushed tones when he was nearby, and generally treat him like a bomb that might go off at any moment. Satoru found it amusing more than anything.
But the training was serious.
Every morning, before the sun fully rose, he had Ace and Luffy running drills. Basic conditioning at first—push-ups, sit-ups, sprints through the forest. Then more advanced exercises: balance training on narrow logs, reflex drills with thrown objects, and endless, endless practice of the fundamentals.
"You two have potential," Satoru told them one afternoon, watching them spar (if you could call it that—Luffy's style was already devolving into "hit things until they stop moving"). "But potential means nothing without work. The strongest person in the world is just a person who never stopped training."
Ace, nursing a bruise from where Luffy had accidentally (probably) clocked him, looked up. "How strong can we get? In a month, I mean."
Satoru shook his head. "A month isn't enough for real growth. But I'm giving you the methods. The exercises. The principles. What you do with them after I leave—that's up to you."
He handed them each a worn notebook—his own training regimens, adapted from what Zephyr had taught him, simplified for their level. "Follow this. Every day. Even when you don't want to. Especially when you don't want to."
Luffy flipped through his notebook, then looked up with a grin. "I can't read most of these words!"
Satoru stared at him. "You... you can't read?"
"I never learned!"
Ace snickered. "I can read them. Maybe I'll just tell you the wrong exercises."
"ACE!"
Their bickering filled the clearing with warmth.
Brrrring. Brrrring.
The sound cut through the morning air like a knife. Satoru's expression shifted instantly—from relaxed to alert—as he pulled out a small Den Den Mushi from his coat. Not the regular one. The emergency line.
Only two people had this number: Fleet Admiral Sengoku, and Claire at G-8.
"Hello, Satoru here." His voice was calm, but his eyes behind the blindfold had sharpened.
"Sengoku." The Fleet Admiral's voice came through, heavy with something Satoru couldn't immediately identify.
Satoru's shoulders relaxed slightly—not G-8, then. But only slightly. An emergency call from Sengoku was still an emergency. "My vacation isn't over yet, Marshal."
"I know. But this can't wait. You're still in Windmill Village?"
"Yes."
"Good. A warship is being dispatched to pick you up. There's a mission that requires your specific abilities. Akainu and Kizaru are otherwise occupied, and Aokiji is too far away. You're the only option."
Satoru's expression grew serious. "What mission?"
A pause. Then two words that made his blood run cold.
"Buster Call."
The world seemed to freeze around him. Ace and Luffy, sensing the sudden change in atmosphere, went still. Even the birds in the nearby trees fell silent.
Satoru's voice, when he spoke, was carefully controlled. "Target?"
"Attia Island. In the North Sea. The inhabitants possess knowledge they should not have. They must be eliminated."
Knowledge they should not have. The phrase echoed in Satoru's mind, bringing with it images he had only read about in classified files. Ohara. The Tree of Knowledge. Thousands of innocent people, erased from existence because they knew too much.
"I refuse."
The words came out before he could stop them. And with them came something else—a pressure, invisible but immense, radiating from his body. The air grew heavy. Ace and Luffy suddenly found it difficult to breathe, their faces paling.
Around them, the forest erupted in chaos. Birds took flight in panicked clouds. Animals of all sizes fled in every direction, stampeding away from the source of that terrible presence.
"Satoru." Sengoku's voice hardened. "Are you disobeying a direct order?"
Satoru forced himself to take a breath. Forced the pressure to recede, just slightly. Ace and Luffy gasped as the weight lifted.
"Marshal Sengoku." Satoru's voice was tight. "What crime have these people committed? What makes them deserve extermination?"
"They know things they shouldn't."
"That's it? That's your answer? Like Ohara?"
A long pause. When Sengoku spoke again, his voice carried something that might have been shame, or might have been exhaustion. "Yes. Like Ohara. They have violated the taboos of the World Government. Even if we could tolerate it, the Government cannot. This order comes from above the Marines, Satoru. We are merely the instruments."
Another pause, heavier than the first.
"And if you refuse, someone else will carry it out. Someone who won't ask questions. Someone who won't hesitate. By accepting this mission, you can at least ensure it's done... cleanly."
Satoru's jaw clenched so hard his teeth ached. The Six Eyes behind his blindfold saw everything—the hope in Luffy's confused expression, the concern in Ace's wary gaze, the distant shapes of animals still fleeing, the phone bug's patient waiting.
"I'll do it," he said finally.
Relief, faint but perceptible, colored Sengoku's voice. "Good. The warship will arrive shortly. And Satoru..."
"Yes?"
"Don't do anything foolish."
The line went dead.
For a long moment, Satoru stood motionless. Then, without a word, he pulled out another Den Den Mushi—a different one, one that even Sengoku didn't know about—and dialed.
It rang. And rang. And rang.
Finally, a voice. Low, cautious, familiar.
"What is it?"
"Dragon." Satoru's voice was flat, urgent. "I need you to evacuate an island. Attia, in the North Sea. All inhabitants. As fast as possible."
Silence on the other end. Then: "What's happening?"
"Buster Call. The World Government is launching a Buster Call against them. They know something they shouldn't—same situation as Ohara." Satoru's voice cracked, just slightly. "I'm the one leading it, Dragon. I can't—I won't—let them die by my hand."
Another pause. Longer this time. When Dragon spoke, there was something in his voice that Satoru had never heard before. Approval? Respect?
"I'll handle it. We'll have them out before the fleet arrives."
"Good. I'll delay as long as I can."
The call ended.
Satoru turned to find Ace and Luffy staring at him with wide eyes. Ace's expression was complicated—fear, confusion, and something else. Luffy just looked lost.
"Satoru..." Luffy started.
"I have to go." Satoru's voice softened. He crossed to them in two steps and pulled them both into a rough hug. "Mission. Important. I'm sorry I couldn't stay longer."
Luffy hugged back instinctively, not understanding but feeling the weight of the moment. Ace stood rigid for a second, then slowly, hesitantly, returned the embrace.
"Be careful," Ace muttered.
Satoru pulled back, and for just a moment, his mask slipped. They saw it—the exhaustion, the anger, the sorrow of a twelve-year-old carrying the weight of an Admiral's duties.
Then it was gone, replaced by that familiar grin.
"Hey. I'm the strongest, remember? Nothing's going to happen to me."
He turned and ran, not looking back. Behind him, Ace and Luffy watched until his white coat vanished into the trees.
The village passed in a blur. A quick word to Makino, a nod to the village chief, and then Satoru was at the docks, where a Marine warship waited.
"Admiral White Dragon!" The Vice Admiral in charge snapped to attention. "We're ready to sail at your command."
Satoru boarded without a word, his expression unreadable.
"Set course for the North Sea," he ordered. "Attia Island."
The ship pulled away from the dock, from Windmill Village, from the only home he had ever known. Satoru stood at the bow, watching the familiar coastline shrink into the distance.
Dragon, he thought. Don't let me down.
Behind him, the sun was rising over the East Blue.
Ahead, darkness waited.
(End of Chapter)
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