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"Hiring pirate scum to be soldiers, huh? But a pirate is still a pirate—putting on a Marine uniform doesn't change that."
Sakazuki's words made Ivans and the others' expressions darken. "Picking trash from a garbage heap—you've perfected the art,"
Sakazuki continued, turning his head to look at the man before him.
"I heard that, back in the day, you were just a piece of garbage picked up by Vice Admiral Garp, Arashi."
Arashi remained silent, his calm gaze fixed on Sakazuki.
Behind him, grains of sand began to float around Crocodile, rapidly gathering and forming the shape of a blade pointed directly at Sakazuki.
"The Marines' sense of justice has been completely forgotten by scum like you within the organization!" Crocodile growled.
"Scum should be eradicated! You can't wash away sin by changing your skin!"
As Sakazuki's voice rang out, half of his body suddenly turned red, with magma churning within him.
Arashi's gaze remained cold, focused on the man before him.
Crocodile, however, suddenly shuddered. The sand around him wavered as images rapidly flashed through his mind.
The memories were overwhelming this time, nearly causing his mind to shut down. Eventually, one image froze, causing his pupils to contract.
On a silent street, countless civilians knelt, and he was among them.
Not far away, a man with a bubble on his head—the unmistakable mark of a Celestial Dragon—was slowly walking by.
Directly across from him was a narrow alley, and at some point, a figure dressed in a Marine uniform appeared in the shadows, casually tossing a small pebble in the air.
As the Celestial Dragon reached the figure, time seemed to freeze. Blood suddenly spurted out, splattering onto Crocodile's shoulder.
When he looked again, the stone-throwing figure had disappeared, leaving behind only a headless, bloody corpse—the body of the Celestial Dragon.
Later, about three thousand meters behind him, Crocodile found a blood-stained pebble.
He also burned into his memory the image of that Marine who had thrown the stone.
The vision vanished, and Crocodile stared at the figure in front of him, whose back was turned.
His body began to tremble slightly, the shock evident in his eyes. "He…he's the Marine from back then?!"
Fragmented memories of that scene from two years ago quickly flooded back to him.
The realization left Crocodile shaken, astonished, and filled with disbelief, overwhelming emotions that were plainly visible on his face.
The Marine who had tossed the stone and the Arashi standing before him now merged into one.
Crocodile could never have imagined that his superior officer had such a past.
The temperature suddenly spiked, and Sakazuki's face was now a mask of murderous intent.
Since beginning his duties, he had never shown mercy to pirates. In his eyes, even if pirates became a Marine, they were still just pirates.
The rapidly increasing heat made everyone present uneasy. Sakazuki was like a volcano on the verge of erupting at this moment.
"If you want to stop me, then try!" Sakazuki's cold words cut through the tension, a slight sneer on his lips. "If you think you can!"
Sakazuki knew Marine Headquarters' decision to select three Devil Fruits.
The man before him had been given the first choice but had declined, which allowed the three fruits to fall into the hands of him, Kuzan and Borsalino.
Two years had passed, and he and the others had made significant progress in developing their Devil Fruit abilities, becoming much stronger.
He assumed that Arashi, despite spending two years at the Marine Academy, had yet to make progress.
In the next instant, Sakazuki moved. Boiling magma erupted from him like a volcanic explosion, taking the shape of a ferocious molten hound in the blink of an eye.
At that moment, a sudden, overwhelming surge of Conqueror's Haki burst forth, sweeping across the area.
Sakazuki's body trembled, and on the Marine battleship behind him, all but two Marines collapsed, losing consciousness instantly.
"Do you think I'm still the same as before?" Sakazuki sneered. "Arashi, you're too naive! You're the only one who's stayed stagnant out of the four of us!"
His arm, now blazing with even hotter magma, swung forward.
"You're the naive one!" Arashi responded coldly. He clenched his right fist, Haki swirling around it, and threw a punch of his own.
"Bang!" A dull collision rang out, but Sakazuki's magma-infused strike halted in its tracks, unable to advance further.
"Armament Haki?!" Sakazuki's pupils contracted in shock.
He stared at Arashi, stunned to realize that his opponent had already mastered Armament Haki.
A gust of wind whipped past him the next instant, and Arashi's figure vanished.
"Behind me!!" Sakazuki quickly turned around, but at that moment, a large hand reached out with lightning speed, like a steel vice, and clamped around his throat.
Instantly, Sakazuki's body went limp, and the power of his Devil Fruit faded rapidly.
"Don't overestimate yourself, Sakazuki!" Arashi said, lifting him, his tone calm yet laced with authority.
"And don't forget who you were when I knocked you out with just a hint of my Haki."
Sakazuki, now entirely powerless, quickly noticed the black gloves on Arashi's hands.
"Damn it! Sea-Stone!" His anger and frustration boiled within him.
Not only did Arashi have Armament Haki, but he also wore Sea-Stone gloves, which neutralized Devil Fruit abilities—Arashi had clearly been prepared for this.
"Hand over the mission items," Arashi ordered, holding Sakazuki up as he looked at the two remaining Marines standing nearby.
"Y-Yes, Rear Admiral Arashi!" they responded quickly, glancing at the fallen Sakazuki before rushing to comply.
They dared not interfere in the conflict between their superiors.
Moments later, they returned, carrying a locked wooden box, which Ivans stepped forward to receive.
"The mission item handover is complete," Arashi stated. "Goodbye, Sakazuki."
He released Sakazuki, who fell to the ground, gasping for air. "You should be grateful that we're still comrades,"
Arashi said coldly as Sakazuki struggled to regain his composure.
All Sakazuki could see was Arashi's back, and the Marine ship was already turning away.
"Damn it!" Sakazuki muttered through gritted teeth, his fists slowly clenching in frustration.
He had thought he'd surpassed Arashi, but he was clearly still behind. "Next time… Next time, I will be stronger! Arashi!!" he swore internally.
Meanwhile, Arashi took the wooden box from Ivans, his thoughts drifting.
He wasn't particularly concerned about his conflict with Sakazuki; his curiosity was piqued more by the box's contents.
What could be inside that was important enough for Marine Headquarters to make such a fuss and insist that he deliver it?
After all, though his rank was still that of a rear admiral, his strength far exceeded that of the younger "Three Monsters" in the eyes of the higher-ups.
As he pondered, Arashi noticed something else. He turned to look at Crocodile, who had acted strangely since the confrontation.
"Little Sand," Arashi called, "Did you remember something?"
The crocodile's body stiffened before he slowly raised his head. "Two years ago, at the Sabaody Archipelago… Was that person… you?"
The sudden question caught Arashi off guard, his pupils contracting sharply.
The atmosphere on the ship suddenly felt frozen, and Rosinante and the others standing nearby could sense the tension in the air.
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