The middle section of New World.
"Flame Commandment!"
boom!!
A large figure shot through the flames, grabbed Ace by the collar, and pushed him to the ground.
"Is that all you got? Newcomer!?"
"But... damn... this guy!!"
The crew members of the Spade Pirates were all shocked. Captain Ace, a Logia user, was defeated so easily!?
"The New World is very dangerous. If you're at this level... you'd better go back to Paradise."
A crew member who had been hanging out in the New World for a long time looked at Tom and seemed to remember something, his voice slightly distorted.
"That guy... I remember!! He is 'Boatman Tom' under 'Rairyu'! Legend has it that he can defeat 'Knight of the Sea Jinbei'!"
Tom sat down with his legs crossed, took a gourd from his waist, took a sip himself, and threw the gourd to Ace.
"Ask them to step back, I have something to tell you."
Ace raised his head in confusion. This man... didn't seem to have much ill will towards him.
Is he an old friend of the old man?
After nodding to the crew members, they retreated.
"Tell me, what's the matter?"
Tom stared at Ace, smiling briefly, but then shook his head, "You look nothing like him."
Ace's pupils shrank: "He is..."
"Your father, Roger."
Seeing Ace's horrified look, Tom grinned: "Don't panic, I'm not here to arrest you."
Tom let out a long sigh: "I once built the Oro Jackson for your father, but I was convicted and sentenced to death for it. I was later saved by a certain man."
"'Rairyu' Dylan?"
"Yes, speaking of which, he is also from East Blue, and he seems to have known about your existence for a long time but hasn't done anything to you. It can be seen that he doesn't have much malice towards you. But Ace..."
Tom looked serious and said very seriously: "East Blue is weak enough. There are Vice Admiral Garp and Roger's crew in the park to take care of you secretly, but from here on..."
Tom raised his hand and pointed at the sea behind him: "There will be a complete lawless zone. Remember, don't reveal your identity!"
Tom patted him on the shoulder: "Dylan told me that in this sea, for now, power is the only thing. I hope you remember it too!"
"Besides..."
Tom stood up and walked towards the sea.
"Ace, next time we meet... we will be enemies."
······
"His combat skills are barely up to par, but... he relies too much on his fruit abilities."
Tom was a little confused. Although Ace's physical skills were not systematic, he could see that he had good combat experience. Why would he abandon Haki and physical skills and rely so much on his Devil Fruit?
As strong as Dylan is, the fruit is only a small part of his strength.
Dylan often told them: "Haki is the foundation of all strength and the standard that determines the upper limit."
Dylan shook his head and did not answer Tom's doubts.
Ace's fate was already sealed, and even Garp was powerless to reverse it.
Perhaps it was because Ace showed his determination to become a pirate when he was very young that Garp did not personally teach him and Luffy.
"Now that you've met him and given him advice, let's put an end to your past with Roger, Tom."
Tom nodded: "That's right. I told him the same thing when I left."
"I'll go back to the headquarters. Those guys won't be able to stay idle. I'll leave G5 to you."
Dylan stood up. He had only returned to the headquarters a handful of times in the past two days. Now that Ace appeared, the headquarters should have responded.
"Leave it to me, the loud one. As for Shiryu and Bell-mère, let them fight to their heart's content."
······
Marineford.
Living room.
"Ah, it's rare for you to come back once. Speaking of which, aren't you a Rumble-Rumble Fruit user? It's easy to go from G5 to the headquarters, right?"
"Do you think everyone is as idle as you? Bastard Kuzan, G5 is the New World branch."
Despite Dylan's teasing, except for the Vice Admirals, Akainu and Sengoku still looked serious.
Sengoku frowned: "Dylan, I heard that your 'Boatman Tom' went to contact that newcomer. He..."
Dylan took out his cigarette lighter and glanced at Garp, who was sitting outside eating a donut.
"Don't you already know this kind of thing? Right? Mr. Garp?"
Vice Admiral Tsuru raised her head and looked at Dylan mysteriously: "You have known about it for a long time, right? Dylan, you have known about it since you were in East Blue?"
Phew~~
Dylan puffed out smoke and said helplessly: "Yes, yes, I already knew it, so what?"
Dylan spread his hands.
"Should I just kill him? You guys think too highly of me. Let's not even talk about whether I can kill him in East Blue, which seems calm but is actually full of undercurrents. If I really kill him... ····"
Dylan turned towards where Garp was sitting and raised his chin: "If old man Garp wants to beat me to death, which one of you will help?"
The living room fell silent for a moment, not even Akainu spoke.
"So you don't have to look at me like this. Tom and Roger had a relationship. I asked him to visit the son of an old friend and cut off the entanglement between him and Roger."
When he mentioned "son of an old friend," Garp chewed donuts slower.
"Moreover..."
Dylan raised his head: "People cannot choose their origin, nor should they be punished because of their origin. I don't agree with this."
After exhaling a puff of smoke, Dylan continued: "The descendants of Marines may not necessarily be good people. For example, old man Garp, isn't his son the leader of the Revolutionary Army? The descendants of the Pirate King may not necessarily be evil people. Although Ace is still on the road to becoming a pirate...
But..."
"In my 'justice,' I treat everyone equally before they commit evil!"
After hearing Dylan's words, everyone's eyes gathered on him.
Vice Admiral Tsuru held her chin with both hands and looked at Dylan: "Speaking of which, you are now a Vice Admiral, and a 'Special Vice Admiral' designated by Mariejois. You are qualified to erect a plaque. What kind of 'justice' are you going to show, Dylan?"
Although it was an unconventional meeting, those currently gathered here could be said to be the absolute main force of the Marine currently in service.
Even the injured Zephyr looked at Dylan thoughtfully.
In the first few years, he did not approve of Dylan's style because he felt that being too bloodthirsty was not the temperament a soldier should have. But after his recruit internship ship was attacked four years ago, his heart became even more violent than Dylan's.
The tragic deaths of his students, wife, and children made Zephyr angry and crazed. But for now, it's just against pirates.
After the "espionage attack," Zephyr's attitude towards Dylan and even his behavior towards Akainu changed drastically.
"Pirates deserve to die!"
Dylan couldn't help but feel curious as he looked at the expressions of the Fleet Admiral, Admiral, Chief Instructor, and Chief Staff Officer around him.
"Why are you so serious? It's just a plaque, what does it mean?"
"This is not just a plaque. It will be a way for you to show your attitude as a 'Marine Vice Admiral' to other Marines and the world."
"Hey, isn't that right?"
Dylan pointed at Aokiji: "What about this guy Kuzan? When he was young, he was all about 'hot-blooded justice.' What has he become now?"
"Of course there will be confusion on the way to pursuing 'justice.' We have all experienced this, so we can understand it." Vice Admiral Tsuru glanced at a circle of "young people" present.
"It's like taking an oath, it's really..."
Dylan turned his head and looked around at the crowd, putting away his playful expression: "Then, gentlemen, my justice is - 'Peaceful Justice'!"
"Pfft! Pfft hahaha!!" The first one to laugh was Garp.
"You're a notoriously cruel guy in the Marines."
Others also laughed. Indeed, as Garp said, Dylan and his G5 are more terrifying to pirates than Marineford in some aspects.
After all, Marineford will not go out at will, but it is different in G5. Everyone in the entire Grand Line knows that the leader there, "Rairyu" Dylan, is a powerful Marine who can take on the "Red Hair Pirates" by himself.
And aside from the "Rairyu," the other officers are also ridiculously powerful monsters.
"Shiryu of the Rain", "Moon Slayer" Ain, Tom "The Boatman", Bell-mère.
According to rumors, there is a great guy inside G5. Even those lawless "rogue Marines" talk about that guy with horror on their faces.
Within G5, Shiryu, Bell-mère, and Ain like to hunt everywhere.
"Boatman" Tom rarely leaves the G5 branch.
So even if Dylan is often absent, no one dares to take advantage of G5. What's more, the G5 people later revealed that there is a guy in the base who is even more "scary" than Tom.
Thinking of this, the surrounding pirates sailed away without looking back.
"To stop fighting with force, in this chaotic era, only by using strength to eliminate evil can we have a chance to usher in peace."
After saying this, Dylan stared at Garp, and their eyes met in the air.
Although they are known as the "two generations of patron saints of East Blue," Dylan believes that he and Garp still have fatal differences.
Garp still has a strong sense of compassion and restraint.
Garp, who is powerful enough to suppress Roger, can only silently fight Mariejois by showing off and not being promoted.
And I... before the storm of history strikes, I will definitely be able to accumulate enough strength to break the "balance" and solve it all at once from "sky" to "sea."
Dylan believes that Garp also knows some secret about "history" and "tinde," otherwise he would not be committed to balancing the power between the pirates and the World Government.
But this kind of thing...
The old man and the young man looked at each other silently. For some reason, Dylan saw some helplessness in Garp's eyes.
There was also some relief.
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