Looking at Dragon's fanatical expression of "profound enlightenment, undeterred even by millions," Kane opened his mouth, but his throat felt blocked, unable to utter a single word.
What kind of thought process is this?
He had practically written "cowardly, just wanting to coast through life" all over his face, so how did Dragon automatically translate it into "far-sighted, deep undercover in enemy territory"?
"Dragon, listen to me, you've really misunderstood. I was just drunk and misspoke…" Kane made a final attempt to salvage the situation, his outstretched hand frozen mid-air.
"Drunken words?"
Dragon shook his head, a vivid smile appearing on his sharply defined face for the first time.
"In this world of drunken dreams and reckless living, only the most sober dare to claim their words are drunken ramblings."
"Kane, there's no need to test my resolve any further."
The sea wind howled, tousling his jet-black hair, yet it couldn't shake his will, now as firm as stone.
Under Kane's horrified gaze, Dragon took a deep breath and then saluted him with a crisp, powerful military gesture.
"Comrade Kane!"
Dragon's voice was low, slightly hoarse from the sea wind, yet each word rang out clear and resolute, like a vow:
"Just as you taught: a single spark can start a prairie fire. Rather than pruning dead leaves from a rotting tree, it's better to sow new seeds. I've decided—I'm leaving now."
"N-now?" Kane nearly dropped the cigarette in his hand.
Brother, are you serious?
Sure, I wanted you to stir things up and rack up some subversion points, but isn't this efficiency a bit too high? Your dad is sleeping in the cabin right behind us! Are you trying to give Garp a stroke?
"Time waits for no one."
Dragon turned to gaze at the pitch-black night over the vast sea, his eyes seeming to pierce through the darkness to glimpse an unknown dawn.
"Every moment of hesitation is a blasphemy against Justice. This uniform…"
He reached for the Justice Coat on his shoulders, a symbol of honor for a Marine officer.
"Rip—!"
The pristine white coat was torn off fiercely and tossed onto the deck, as if discarding a heavy shackle or making a clean break with his past self.
"From this day forward, I will no longer be Marine Monkey D. Dragon."
Dragon took one last deep look at Kane, his eyes filled with gratitude, reverence, and a firm "I understand you":
"Teacher, please take care! The rot within the Marines—I leave it to you to dismantle from within! Your safety is tied to the future of the revolution, so please protect yourself at all costs!"
"I, Monkey D. Dragon, hereby swear! I will overthrow the corrupt rule of the Celestial Dragons and create a New World of equality for all! Years may pass, but when we meet again, it will be the dawn of a transformed world!"
Kane's lips twitched uncontrollably. That single word—"teacher"—sent shivers down his spine, as if he could already see the Five Elders hunting him down with a bounty poster.
"I didn't even teach you anything! Just recited two paragraphs from my previous life's political textbook introduction!"
Thousands of words ultimately condensed into a sigh at Kane's lips, "Take care..."
Damn, now I'm in deep trouble and can't clear my name even if I jumped into the Yellow River.
Dragon nodded heavily, offering no additional words.
At that moment, an eerie gust of wind suddenly swept across the sea surface. Dragon's figure flickered, leaping onto the ship's railing like a ghost before diving without hesitation.
Splash.
The water ripples were minimal, vanishing instantly.
The figure quickly merged into the dark sea, riding the wind and currents as it sped toward an unknown distance, like a true dragon finally breaking free from shallow waters, swimming toward the vast world that belonged to it.
Kane leaned against the railing, watching the direction where Dragon had disappeared, clutching a long-cold cigarette butt between his fingers, feeling disheveled in the wind.
He's... just gone?
The next second, the previously dormant system interface in Kane's mind suddenly erupted with blinding light.
[Ding! Host has completed an Epic-level Worldline Alteration Event!]
[Violation Assessment: Through profound ideological enlightenment, host successfully turned Monkey D. Dragon - son of Marine Hero Garp and outstanding Marine Headquarters officer - away from the Marine faction, setting him firmly on the path against the World Government!]
[This action caused Dragon to leave the Marine ranks prematurely and establish concrete revolutionary principles, accelerating the birth of the "Revolutionary Army" and exponentially increasing its threat level!]
[Nature Assessment: Extremely severe! Highly subversive! Fundamentally altered the world's power structure!]
[Violation Value +50,000 points!]
[Current Violation Value Balance: 95,200 points!]
[Acquired Special Title: [Godfather of Revolution] (Equip effect: +200% affinity when negotiating with anti-government forces, -10% target intelligence)]
"Holy... shit..."
Kane stared at the suddenly skyrocketing numbers on the panel, his breath catching for half a beat.
Fifty thousand points!
All his desperate efforts in the Elite Camp - beating up classmates and extorting Germa - had only scraped together a few thousand points.
Yet tonight, with just a few bottles of alcohol and some politically correct nonsense, he'd earned fifty thousand outright?!
"Is this the value of playing politics?" Kane muttered to himself, feeling the 300,000 Berries he'd just won suddenly lose their appeal.
But he quickly regained his composure.
Wait.
As satisfying as this is.
Dragon's gone.
Who's going to clean up this mess?
If Garp wakes up tomorrow morning and finds his son missing, then investigates and discovers Dragon's last conversation was with me...
"Hiss—"
Kane sucked in a cold breath, glancing down at his own slender frame.
Though the Storm Fruit was powerful, against Iron Fist Garp he'd probably just be a punching bag.
"No, I need to destroy evidence and clear my name!"
Kane's eyes sharpened as he looked around - no one in sight.
He quickly picked up the Justice Coat Dragon had discarded on the deck, pulled out a pen from his pocket, and scrawled a few lines on the inner lining's conspicuous area.
Then, he kicked the coat into the arms of the boatswain sleeping like a dead pig in the corner.
Immediately after, he swiftly cleaned up the empty alcohol bottles on the deck, even blowing the scattered cigarette ash on the railing into the sea.
After completing all this, the deck appeared as if nothing had ever happened.
Kane stretched lazily as if nothing had happened, yawning with the drowsy demeanor of someone who had just gotten up to relieve themselves in the middle of the night. He then shuffled his way back toward the ship's cabin.
"The moonlight is lovely tonight—perfect for sleeping. As for where Dragon went? How should I know? I'm just a fresh recruit who just boarded the ship."
Kane returned to his hammock, forced his eyes shut, and drifted into a light sleep, accompanied by the thunderous snoring of the surrounding Marines.