One Piece: Surrounded at Marineford? Just kidding!

Chapter 240: Aokiji's Choice

"Oh……"

A short, soft laugh, devoid of joy, only the bitter taste of old ice cracking open.

"Yes, Chenye."

"Our teacher... has always been the best fighter in the Navy. His physical skills, Haki, and that indomitable spirit—in any generation, very few could suppress him."

"But he's also...the most stubborn one."

The last few words were spoken very softly, a sigh.

Chen Ye sat down on the golden recliner next to him, the playful expression on his face disappearing. He turned his head, his all-seeing eyes calmly watching Aokiji.

"So," Chen Ye spoke, his direct tone breaking the silence between them, "you came to this godforsaken place, hiding in this corner, just to watch him take his final moments?"

That's a very sharp statement.

Asking that question to someone else would be considered a provocation.

But when Chen Ye said it, all that remained was the coldness of stating a fact.

Aokiji did not answer.

The air was deathly still for a few seconds.

He reached out and grabbed the half-finished sherry beside his leg.

grunt.

He tilted his head back and gulped down a large mouthful; the pungent liquor burned into his stomach, igniting a fire in the icy snow. He drank too quickly.

He doesn't care.

"call……"

Aokiji exhaled a puff of white mist tinged with the smell of alcohol, his eyes becoming hazy, as if he were lost in a distant yet vivid memory.

"Do you know that, Chenye?"

His voice lowered, taking on a storytelling tone, yet it was heavier than any story.

"Back then, the Marine Headquarters was a gathering place for monsters. Vice Admiral Garp chased Roger all over the world, and Admiral Sengoku was in charge of the central command. But for us green recruits, the one who truly guided us like a tree was Teacher Zephyr."

"That gloomy guy Sakazuki, that clueless bum Borsalino, and me, this lazybones who only knows how to sleep... The three of us, who couldn't stand each other, ended up becoming the three admirals of the headquarters, all because of that man."

A nostalgic smile curved Aokiji's lips, and a glimmer of light shone in his eyes.

"Back then, he didn't have a prosthetic arm or any of his ailments. His fists were hard, his swearing was nasty, and he treated people like dirt during training. But no matter how much trouble we caused outside, or how badly we were beaten on the training field, whenever we turned around, he was always there."

"He taught us Haki, he taught us physical skills, and more importantly... he tried to teach us what the Navy's justice is."

At this point, Qingling paused, the light in her eyes dimming, revealing a sense of helplessness.

"Back then, his nickname was 'The Unkillable.' No matter how vicious the pirates were, he never killed them. He firmly believed that as long as criminals were brought to Impel Down and punished by law, the sea would eventually become a better place. It was a kind of... pure, dazzling, but also fragile idealism."

Chen Ye listened quietly without interrupting.

He knew that Aokiji needed an outlet.

"But this world has never been kind to idealists."

"Which year..." Aokiji's voice began to tremble. As a user of the Ice-Ice Fruit, he felt a chill run down his spine. "Pirates stormed the training ship. That was the last elite class our teacher taught, his proudest group of students."

"Everyone is dead except for Ian and Binz."

"In that battle, the teacher lost an arm and his last hope."

Chen Ye looked down at the old man wielding the massive mechanical arm, seemingly driven mad. The once spirited head instructor now resembled a wounded lone wolf, howling in despair.

"But that's not the most fatal blow." Aokiji's hand tightened around the bottle, his knuckles turning white. The glass bottle made a crisp sound as cracks spread. "The most fatal blow came from the World Government, to which he had dedicated his life."

Aokiji suddenly turned his head and stared intently at Chenye, his eyes red-rimmed, churning with long-suppressed anger and sorrow.

"The murderer who cut off his arm and killed all his students... that pirate, actually got recruited by the World Government."

"For the so-called balance of power at sea! To keep the Four Emperors in check!"

"The government actually invited that butcher to become one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea! They've made him a guest of honor! A legitimate plunderer!"

Can you imagine it?

Aokiji's voice rose, filled with a tearing pain.

"When the teacher heard the news, the expression on his face... I'll never forget it. It was the sound of faith collapsing. At that moment, Admiral Zeff died. The only survivor was Z, the vengeful demon who tried to wipe everything out using the most extreme methods."

"That incident completely shattered the sense of justice that the teacher had upheld throughout his life."

After saying that, he seemed to have exhausted all his strength.

"A very tragic story."

Chen Ye spoke calmly, his voice cutting through the wind and reaching Aokiji's ears clearly, "A hero grows old, his faith crumbles, and he is betrayed by what he once protected. That is indeed a reason enough to drive someone mad."

Aokiji gave a bitter laugh and closed his eyes.

"However," Chen Ye's tone shifted, becoming cold and sharp, "his plight deserves sympathy, but how is the path he's chosen any different from Akainu's?"

Aokiji suddenly opened his eyes.

"For his absolute justice, Akainu could bombard the refugee ship of Ohara and sacrifice countless civilians. But now, Zeff..."

Chen Ye extended a finger and pointed at the figure below who had gone mad.

"In order to eliminate pirates and cleanse the sea, he did not hesitate to detonate End Point, sink countless islands in the New World, and kill tens of thousands of unrelated ordinary people."

"Kuzan, is this what you wanted to see?"

Chen Ye turned his head, his gaze sharp as a knife.

"They all use their own biased sense of justice to crush countless innocent people. No matter how tragic the packaging, such behavior is essentially an act of violence."

Aokiji opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a single word.

Because what Chenye said was true.

The battle below changed dramatically the moment the two began to talk!

Boom!

With a loud bang, the entire solitary peak shook violently.

Chenye and Aokiji both looked down at the same time.

In the center of the battlefield, Zephyr seemed to have exhausted his last bit of patience and his last bit of attachment to this world.

"Get out of my way, you brats!"

Zephyr roared like a wounded beast. His massive mechanical arm, the Crusher, slammed into the ground, unleashing a terrifying shockwave from its Seastone core.

This is not only a release of power, but also an indiscriminate bombardment mixed with the energy of explosive rock.

"Whoa!"

"What is this old man trying to do!"

Luffy and Ace were sent flying through the dust and crashed heavily into a distant rock wall, sending rubble tumbling down. They were unable to get up for a moment.

Having driven back the two troublesome brats, Zephyr did not pursue them.

He stood on the edge of the huge crater created by the explosion.

Then Zephyr raised the heavy mechanical arm high.

"it's over……"

Zephyr's voice pierced through the clamor, carrying a serene relief: "The filthy pirates, the hypocritical government, and this hopeless world... let them all be purified by this fire!"

"End Point...Activate!"

Zefa is preparing to take everyone down with him.

The oppressive feeling was so intense that even Aokiji, several kilometers away, felt a pang of fear. He knew that once the explosive rock detonated the ley lines, the chain reaction would be irreversible.

"Teacher... are you serious...?"

Aokiji clenched his fists, his nails digging deep into his palms. He hesitated for a moment as he tried to get up, his body leaning slightly forward, the struggle in his eyes almost overflowing.

That was his teacher.

He was the person he once respected the most.

To take action? Or to watch?

Such hesitation would be fatal for a top-tier expert, but at this moment, it felt so real.

Just then, a figure blocked his view of what was below.

Chen Ye stood up.

His languid air was instantly shattered.

All that remained was an aura of majesty that was impossible to look directly at.

Chen Ye did not turn around, but a pure, gentle, yet unparalleled golden light began to emanate from his body.

His eyes became incredibly sharp.

"It seems we'll have to wait a little longer to catch up."

Chen Ye said it casually.

you……

Aokiji's pupils constricted sharply. He sensed an unprecedentedly powerful force gathering within Chen Ye's body.

Chen Ye stopped at the very edge of the cliff, with a bottomless abyss and a boiling inferno below.

He turned his head slightly, his golden eyes reflecting Aokiji's struggling face.

"It's time to make a move, Kuzan."

"Are you planning to stay here, clutching that broken bottle, a pathetic bystander, watching your most beloved teacher carry out this foolish suicide attack, dragging half the world down with him?"

Chen Ye turned around and looked directly at the former naval admiral.

He stretched out a hand.

"Or... even just once, even if it goes against his will..."

"Do something to defend what he taught you, the one that hasn't been twisted by hatred—"

"True justice?"