Rorka understood that he might have seen Admiral Sakazuki…
But what he didn’t know was that Sakazuki had just casually declared the annihilation of a country in front of Robin.
Then, recalling how easily Ohara was destroyed, he understood why Robin was so terrified… to so casually decide the fate of a kingdom.
Robin recovered some of her strength after a moment, released Rorka’s arm, and stood up.
Seeing Robin forcing herself to stand, Rorka said,
“Let’s take today off.”
“Your condition is…”
Robin quickly shook her head,
“No!”
“Let’s go now!”
“I’m fine!”
Saying this, she walked somewhat stiffly towards the port.
Rorka shook his head. Honestly… he was so old, why would he scare a child!
----
North Blue, on a merchant ship that had already set sail.
Robin stood by the railing, looking at the azure sea, her mood much relieved. They had escaped…
Rorka walked over and smiled,
“Feeling better?”
Robin nodded,
“Yes!”
“Much better.”
Rorka chuckled,
“Good. Enjoy the scenery of the North Blue.”
He stretched lazily,
“Ah~”
“Comfortable.”
Robin also stretched like Rorka, finally relaxing completely.
Admiring the sea view,
“So many ships.”
“Compared to the West Blue, we see ships everywhere here.”
A captain with a full beard walked over from behind,
“Of course!”
“After all, it’s been thoroughly cleared.”
“Everyone can travel with peace of mind, there are hardly any pirates.”
“We have Admiral Navy to thank for that.”
Robin was taken aback,
“Navy…”
Rorka smiled at the bearded captain,
“Captain uncle, tell us about the changes in the North Blue recently.”
The bearded captain said proudly,
“You’ve come to the right person!”
“When the Navy set out to clear out pirates…”
“I was the first to seize the opportunity and follow their warships.”
“Transporting a large amount of goods.”
“That one trip alone was enough to pay for my son’s new house.”
“Capitalizing on that momentum, I haven’t rested in half a year.”
“I’m just trying to save some money, opportunities like this are rare.”
“Before, only ships from large corporations had armed escorts, now even small boats can sail the seas without fear.”
“We have that Admiral Navy to thank for all of this.”
Rorka asked curiously,
“Oh?”
“But I heard that Admiral Navy…”
“Doesn’t have a very good reputation?”
“They say he’s bloodthirsty and a ruthless killer. His picture was in the papers every day recently.”
“All bloody heads.”
The bearded captain seemed indignant,
“That’s all nonsense.”
“Where else can you find such a good Navy officer?”
“Those heads belonged to deserving pirates, I only wish he’d killed more.”
“Seeing how you speak, you must have some power, right?”
“You don’t know how we commoners used to live, that’s why you think differently.”
“We just want a stable life.”
“Who dared to sail these seas before?”
“Were they tired of living?”
“If you met pirates, at best you’d lose all your cargo, at worst, your body wouldn’t be whole.”
“A pirate’s knife would stab you, and then they’d burn the body, leaving nothing to find.”
“I…”
Suddenly, his voice trembled with emotion, and tears began to flow uncontrollably.
This seemingly robust pillar of the family was so fragile at this moment, covering his face with one hand to hide his breakdown.
His trembling body finally stopped after a long while, and he regained his composure.
With red-rimmed eyes, he said,
“Forgive me, you saw me make a fool of myself.”
Rorka shook his head and offered a tissue,
“It’s alright, you don’t need to apologize.”
“Did you remember something sad?”
The bearded captain took the tissue and wiped his eyes,
“Thank you.”
“As I was talking, I suddenly remembered my father and my older brother.”
“I haven’t thought of them in so long, I almost forgot what they looked like.”
“When I suddenly remembered, I couldn’t control myself.”
Rorka nodded,
“Because of pirates…”
The bearded captain still choked back tears as he said,
“Yes.”
“That year, I was only seven. My father, my two older brothers, and I were going on a ship to visit relatives.”
“In the middle of the night, we encountered pirates.”
“My father stuffed me into a wooden barrel and threw me into the sea, that’s how I narrowly escaped.”
“But he and my two older brothers didn’t make it.”
“Everyone on the ship was killed by the pirates. After they finished looting, they set the ship on fire.”
“I hid in that small wooden barrel and watched the fire from a distance.”
“Everything was turned to ash, nothing was left.”
“Only the pirates’ arrogant laughter echoed across the sea.”
“I drifted at sea for two days before being picked up by a kind merchant ship.”
“Not long after returning home, my mother also passed away from grief.”
“Later, I finally grew up, got married, and saved some money. I wanted to repay the kind captain who saved me back then.”
“But I only found a dilapidated small town.”
“That kind captain had lost his life years ago due to a pirate massacre of the town.”
“And the town was abandoned.”
“Tell me.”
“How can I not hate them?”
“I wish I could kill all the pirates in the world, and I hate myself for being incapable, without talent, unable to even get revenge.”
“If only my father and brothers could have seen those newspapers…”
“To let them see the fate of pirates.”
“I hope that before I die, I can see that Admiral Navy wipe out all the pirates in the world.”
“Then I will go down and tell them the good news.”
“They would surely be happy too.”
Rorka said with a smile of certainty,
“That day will surely come.”
“I want to see that day too.”
The bearded uncle also said with certainty,
“It will.”
“I believe in them.”
Rorka gave a soft "mm" sound,
“I believe so too.”
He rested his elbow on the railing, his chin in his palm, gazing at the sea, lost in thought.
After a long while…
Rorka, who had snapped back to reality, looked around. The bearded captain was gone, and Robin was still staring blankly at the sea beside him.
Rorka said softly,
“Robin.”
Robin, still looking at the sea, said somewhat confusedly,
“Is the Navy good?”
But… the innocent scholars and residents of Ohara… were all killed by that…
Rorka thought for a moment and said,
“Well…”
“In this world, there is no absolute good or bad, only different standpoints.”
“Good and bad are merely byproducts of one’s position.”
Robin nodded thoughtfully, then suddenly heard Rorka say sinisterly,
“Perhaps, from a certain perspective, I am also a bad person…”
“Hee hee hee hee hee~”
Robin rolled her eyes. So childish!
----
North Blue, Germa Kingdom.
Inside a massive castle laboratory.
Like a production line, one by one, cultivation tanks filled with green nutrient solution were operating. Inside were clones replicated and modified through bloodline factors.
On the large screen equipment in the deepest part of the lab, Enel was copying data to redundant machines.
Beside him, Judge’s bones were once again broken and twisted… As for why…
He never expected that that lightning brat would know about science and research… I *****!
As Enel copied data, he flipped through the experimental logs and suddenly exclaimed in surprise,
“Hey, hey, hey, you guy.”
“You’re too insane.”
“Using your pregnant wife for experiments.”
“The data alone fills over seventy pages.”
“Brother Barrett.”
“Let’s beat him to death!!!”