Outside the auction house, the smoke of chaos had not yet dissipated.
Tatsuki was squatting on the ground, holding a piece of high-grade silk, slowly wiping a smear of blood off his leather shoes.
Beside him, Borsalino was holding a small notebook, conducting a friendly post-war liquidation with the auction house owner, who was pale with fright.
"Borsalino, did you include my clothes? This is my first uniform, and I've worn it for so long that I've grown attached to it. Now that it's stained with blood, it won't wash clean, so this bill needs to be counted as mental distress compensation."
Tatsuki spoke without looking up, his tone matter-of-fact.
"Yeah, It's already been added, Tatsuki."
Borsalino pushed up his sunglasses and pursed his lips, looking at the numbers on his calculator.
"Adding in warship wear and tear, ammunition consumption, and the appearance fees for several of our Marineford elites... the boss says he's willing to sponsor Marineford with thirty million Berries."
"Thirty million?"
Tatsuki stopped wiping his shoes and slowly stood up, casually tossing the blood-stained silk onto the trembling owner's face.
He flashed a brilliant smile. "Boss, I saw several fish that slipped through the net running toward your underground vault just now. For the sake of your property's safety, I think it's necessary for me to conduct a carpet search in the vault."
The owner's legs went weak, and he almost knelt. "No... No need. Fif... fifty million! I'll go get the cash right now. Please don't go in to search."
"Oh, that's so embarrassing, making us look like bandits." Tatsuki patted the owner's shoulder with satisfaction.
"Hurry up, I'm in a rush."
Just then—
BOOM!
A terrifying aura, like an erupting volcano, instantly enveloped the entire street.
Heavy footsteps rang out, each one sounding like it was stepping on everyone's heartbeats.
Thump... Thump...
Zephyr wore his coat of justice, and his resolute face was now filled with thunderous rage.
He strode forward, and the Marine soldiers behind him were all incredibly quiet, not even daring to lift their heads.
Zephyr walked to the edge of the ten-meter-wide crater, glanced at the pile of flesh at the bottom that no longer looked like Galdo, then looked at the severed limbs scattered on the ground, and finally locked his gaze onto Tatsuki.
In that instant, Tatsuki felt like he was being stared down by an ancient tyrannosaurus.
"Tatsuki!!!"
A roar erupted, sound waves rolling, causing even the masts of the warships anchored in the harbor to tremble.
"Is this the justice I taught you?!"
Zephyr pointed at the bottom of the pit, his finger nearly poking Tatsuki's nose, veins bulging on his forehead.
"A Devil Fruit user! If sent to Impel Down, it would be permanent imprisonment! Now that he's killed, that devil fruit will be reborn elsewhere after a while and eaten by a new villain to cause chaos! I have taught this countless times in class!"
Facing this overwhelming pressure, Tatsuki appeared exceptionally calm. He straightened his slightly crooked tie, stood at attention, and gave a standard military salute.
"Sensei, let me explain."
Tatsuki sighed and pointed at the bottom of the pit. "This really was an accident. The situation was extremely critical at the time, and this guy threatened to break the support pillars and take everyone down with him. To protect the hostages, I was in a hurry, and the force of my strike was just a tiny bit too much."
"A tiny bit?"
Zephyr laughed from pure anger, pointing at the torn corpses around them. "Then what about these people? Was that a slip of the hand too?"
"They were resisting arrest."
Without changing his expression, Tatsuki spoke nonsense with a straight face, "And the floor of this auction house was so slippery that they couldn't stand steady and insisted on throwing their necks against my Shigan. I'm quite helpless about it too."
"You bastard! Do you take me for a three-year-old child?!"
Zephyr finally reached the end of his patience.
BOOM!
His right arm was instantly covered in pitch-black Armament Haki as he smashed it down toward Tatsuki's head.
This time, Zephyr was truly enraged. If he didn't give this brat a profound lesson, he would fall into darkness sooner or later.
The strong wind hit his face, making Tatsuki's cheeks sting.
But he didn't dodge.
Just as Zephyr's fist was ten centimeters from the tip of Tatsuki's nose, a fist of rolling magma thrust in, forcefully blocking Zephyr's path.
BANG!
Air currents surged, and the surrounding glass windows shattered instantly.
Zephyr's pupils shrank. Looking at the person blocking him, a look of bewilderment appeared on his face for the first time.
"Sakazuki? You're going to stop me?"
Normally, Sakazuki would be the first person to stand up and criticize Tatsuki for violating discipline.
But now, he was actually standing in the way?
Sakazuki maintained his blocking posture, his cap pulled low, hiding his expression, but the heat radiating from him was more intense than ever before.
"Zephyr-sensei."
Sakazuki slowly raised his head. His eyes no longer held their usual irritability. Instead, they were filled with a chilling calm and fanaticism.
"Tatsuki's methods may be radical but he is not wrong. That pirate had countless lives on his hands. If he's allowed to go to prison alive, what about the civilians who died? Where is the deterrent power of justice?"
Zephyr was stunned.
He looked at his prized student as if he were seeing him for the first time.
"Do you know what you're saying, Sakazuki?! We are upholding justice, not acting as bloodthirsty executioners!"
"The evil that justice cannot handle, we will handle." Sakazuki's voice was low, each word hitting Zephyr's heart.
"Rather than letting evil linger on in Impel Down, it's better to let them be annihilated right here."
"This is... Absolute Justice."
Zephyr opened his mouth, looking at that resolute face, momentarily speechless.
"Ara ara... I also think the scene is a bit unsightly." A lazy voice sounded.
Kuzan scratched his curly hair and walked over slowly, standing to Tatsuki's left.
He looked at Zephyr and shrugged, "But the result is zero hostage casualties. Sensei, the process may be crude, but the efficiency is indeed very high."
"Yeah. Such scary killing intent, sensei."
Golden light condensed.
Borsalino appeared to Tatsuki's right with his hands in his pockets, his mouth twisted as he spoke, "If we hadn't acted, those explosives would have gone off. Tatsuki was thinking of the big picture."