A dazzling yellow flash condensed at the entrance of the hall.
Borsalino stood with his hands in his pockets, looking at the mangled flesh all over the floor, his eyes widening slightly behind his sunglasses.
"How scary. Is this Tatsuki's way of rescuing? It's truly nightmare-inducing."
Immediately following that, a wave of scorching air swept in.
Hellhound!
Sakazuki rushed in, his body wreathed in billowing smoke and magma, his face full of rage.
He had originally prepared to come in and start a massacre, but he froze when he stepped into a puddle of blood.
It's over?
What's with all these severed limbs and broken bodies?
"Sakazuki, you're late." Tatsuki even had the mood to tidy up his slightly messy hair.
"You bastard!"
Sakazuki looked at the hostages who were driven insane by fear and roared, "With such brutal methods, where is the dignity of justice?"
"Dignity?"
The smile on Tatsuki's face vanished instantly.
Geppo!
Tatsuki didn't answer. Instead, his figure flashed and he instantly appeared mid-air.
Galdo was about to take advantage of the argument to launch himself away and escape, but he found to his horror that a large hand like an iron pincer had already firmly gripped his face.
"Want to run? Have you asked the civilians you murdered?" Tatsuki's voice was bone-chillingly cold.
"Stop! Zephyr-sensei's orders were to take him alive! Lock him in Impel Down!" Sakazuki roared from below.
"For trash like this, death is the greatest mercy and the only redemption." Tatsuki's eyes were indifferent.
Pressing Galdo's head and utilizing the acceleration of gravity, he plummeted like a meteorite and smashed violently into the ground.
"Go down... and repent!"
BOOM!!!
A loud explosion shook the entire Auction House.
A large pit ten meters in diameter cracked open on the ground.
Galdo's head was like a crushed tomato. Red liquid mixed with fragments of internal organs splattered across Sakazuki's pant leg.
The scene was deathly silent.
Even the crying hostages were so scared they shut their mouths, fearing that if their breathing was too loud, it would attract the attention of that "God of Death."
"You disobeyed military orders."
Sakazuki pointed at the corpse at the bottom of the pit, his finger trembling slightly, but the fire of anger in his eyes was gradually fading, replaced by an unprecedented confusion and shock.
"I did indeed disobey military orders."
Tatsuki slowly walked out from the bottom of the pit. He was covered in blood, his back to the sun, shadows cloaking his face, revealing only a pair of terrifyingly bright eyes.
He walked step by step to Sakazuki, ignoring the magma rolling off him, and looked directly into the eyes of this future Fleet Admiral.
"But I eliminated evil."
"Sakazuki, you are too naive. So-called mercy only makes pirates think we are weak. And this is exactly the root of their recklessness."
Tatsuki reached out a blood-stained hand and gently patted Sakazuki's stiff shoulder.
"As long as we compromise once, more pirates will follow suit. As long as one pirate leaves alive, more civilians will suffer."
"What we need to do is not be some moral role models."
Tatsuki leaned close to Sakazuki's ear and whispered softly, "What we need to do is use the most absolute and brutal methods to strike terror into their hearts. Kill them until they don't even dare to have the thought of 'becoming a pirate'."
"Even if we bear infamy, even if our hands are stained with blood, as long as we can completely uproot evil, it is worth it."
"This is the resolve a Marine should carry."
"This is the true..."
"Absolute Justice."
Rumble!
It was as if a bolt of lightning flashed through Sakazuki's mind.
At this moment, time seemed to stand still.
Sakazuki's pupils contracted violently. He looked at the blood-covered man before him, at those "unwavering" eyes, and felt his blood boiling throughout his body.
Absolute... Justice!
No compromise, no room left! Uproot evil entirely!
This... isn't this the path he had been searching for but could never clearly describe?
His gaze toward Tatsuki shifted from initial anger and confusion to deep recognition, and even... a hint of fanatical admiration.
"I have learned much."
Sakazuki took a deep breath and pulled down the brim of his cap, his voice low but incredibly firm. "Regarding the report for disobeying military orders, I will help you write an explanation of 'accidental death'."
[Ding! Through extreme actions, successfully ignited Sakazuki's concept of "absolute justice"!]
[Determined as: A major ideological induction affecting the course of the world line!]
[Subversion level off the charts! Violation Points +8000!]
Hearing this huge sum of points arrive, Tatsuki almost couldn't maintain his serious expression and laugh out loud.
Fantastic.
Not only did he get ten thousand points, but he also successfully fooled the future Fleet Admiral.
This is truly addictive!
"Don't mention it, we're all doing this for justice."
Tatsuki patted Sakazuki's shoulder, putting on a tragic "if I don't enter hell, who will" expression.
Then, he turned around and looked at Borsalino, who had been watching the show at the door.
"Borsalino, I'll leave the rest of the work to you."
"Also, remember to ask the Auction House owner for an appearance fee, fifty-fifty split."
Borsalino: "..."
Sakazuki watched Tatsuki's departing back, his fists clenched, the magma in his eyes seeming to burn.
"Absolute justice..." He murmured to himself, looking at the pirates' corpses on the ground, his gaze becoming incredibly firm.
"Next time, I will do it even more thoroughly than you."