Upon seeing the chaos, Kaito Sakamoto chose to ignore the others. Just then, Dadan and the others caught up with him, fortunate that they weren't even a moment later, or they would have found themselves within the blast radius.
"Kaito!" Dadan shouted, but Kaito remained silent, his mind racing with memories of the events unfolding.
Finally, he made a decision. "Dadan."
"You need to go to the bay and rescue Luffy and Ace!"
"And what about you?" Dadan asked, concern etched on her face.
"I'll be fine. I'm going to save Sabo!"
"Go! The fire is spreading!"
After urging her, Kaito rushed toward the town gate, the back entrance of the Goa Kingdom, which could only be accessed through the rubbish mountain. He figured the gate would likely be closed by now.
Kaito wasn't worried; his destination wasn't the town itself, but rather to find Sabo and... Luffy's father, Dragon!
.....
At the town gate, the King's guards were still feigning concern, advising the townsfolk to keep their distance while they extinguished the flames. But the fire was of their own making, and they had no intention of putting it out until the last scrap of garbage was incinerated.
Strangely enough, the residents of the garbage mountain were aware that if the gate opened, they could escape. Yet they also knew that the nobles would never allow them inside the town.
"Let it burn! Let it burn!"
"By completing this task, our years-long wish will be fulfilled! The kingdom will grant us noble status! Hahaha!"
As he approached the gate, Blue Sauce began to daydream about his future as a noble.
But what awaited him was a tightly shut gate with no visible cracks!
"What the hell!"
"What's going on? Open the gate!"
"Didn't we agree that once we completed this task, we'd be granted noble status?"
"You bastards! Are you playing us?!!!"
Blue Sauce realized too late. Behind the closed gate, the King's guards were indifferent to his pleas.
At that moment, he understood he had been deceived by the King from the start; he had been lured in with promises of nobility only to be burned alive along with the others. The King would remain blameless, using the fire to cover up his tracks while the guards played their part in the charade to enhance their own reputation. It was a complete victory for them.
.....
Kaito reached the vicinity of the town gate, but the Blue Sauce Pirates had already vanished.
With the heat and the raging fire around him, Kaito felt as if he was nearly cooked alive.
Before he could begin his search, Dragon suddenly appeared behind him like a specter.
"Kid..."
But just as Dragon spoke, Sabo was thrown over the wall.
"Sabo!"
Kaito rushed over immediately.
Dragon was faster, dashing forward to catch Sabo mid-air.
He gently set Sabo down, but Sabo's legs gave way beneath him. It wasn't fear but sheer despair and nausea.
Kaito quickly supported him.
"Sabo!"
"Kaito..."
"Uncle..."
"Huff... the ones responsible for this fire are the nobles and the royal family. Huff... it's true!!"
Sabo gripped Kaito's hand tighter, his voice filled with urgency.
"This city is more nauseating than the garbage mountain... it's reeking with the stench of decaying human hearts!"
"Here... I have no freedom at all..."
Looking up at Kaito, Sabo's face was stained with tears, yet twisted in a fierce grimace.
"I feel ashamed of being a noble!!!"
The last words seemed to drain every ounce of strength from him, echoing through the inferno.
Dragon's expression turned to one of shock. Has this world and this kingdom rotted to the point where a child would speak such words?
Bending down, Dragon looked at this child, who seemed wiser than many adults in the world.
"I understand... I was born in this country too..."
"But I still don't have the ability to change this world..."
"You will!" Kaito interjected suddenly, his tone resolute.
Both Dragon and Sabo turned to him in surprise.
"Sabo, if you hate being a noble, then destroy it yourself!"
"Blow away that disgusting smell."
"Follow this uncle! He has the power you want to learn about navigation. With him, you'll learn better. If you want to see the world, following him will reveal its true face!"
"The Goa Kingdom is like a microcosm of this world!"
"If we don't change anything, this world will eventually be completely engulfed by this foul stench!"
"Someone has to stand up! No matter how vast this world is, a single spark can ignite a prairie fire! One day, we will burn away all the tumors of this world! Just like the Goa Kingdom is burning the garbage mountain today!"
"They can burn it! So can we!!!"
Once again, Dragon was taken aback, and even the tattoos on his face, which seemed to have been stamped by Garp's slippers, twitched involuntarily.
He never expected this boy would share such thoughts, thoughts akin to his own!
To burn away the tumors of this world and reform it.
"A single spark can ignite a prairie fire…"
"Kid, who are you?!"
Kaito, feeling feverish and lightheaded, managed to force a smile.
"My name is Kaito."
"Just an unusually mature boy who thinks too much."
"I stand on the shoulders of giants, so I can see a little further."
"Standing on the shoulders of giants..."
Another famous phrase, Dragon felt he might lose his mind. Could this really just be a boy?
Kaito affirmed he was indeed a boy, merely 18 years old in his previous life, but the phrases were borrowed, his wisdom simply illuminated by others.