"From now on, I will no longer be Marine Monkey D. Dragon."
Dragon took one last deep look at Tatsuki, a gaze filled with gratitude, respect, and a firm "I understand you".
"Teacher, please take care. The internal corruption of the Marines, I leave it to you to dismantle from within. Your safety is vital to the future of the revolution, please protect yourself."
"I, Monkey D. Dragon, hereby swear. I will overthrow the corrupt rule of the Celestial Dragons and create a new world where everyone is equal. When we meet again in the years to come, it will surely be the time of the world's transformation."
Tatsuki's lips twitched frantically. This address of "Teacher" made his scalp tingle, as if he could already see the Gorosei chasing him across the world with a wanted poster.
I didn't even teach you anything. I just recited two paragraphs from the introduction of a politics textbook from my past life.
A thousand words finally turned into a single sigh from Tatsuki's lips. "Take care."
Dragon nodded heavily, saying nothing more.
At that moment, a strange gust of wind suddenly swirled up from the sea. Dragon's figure blurred, and he leaped onto the gunwale like a ghost, jumping off without any hesitation.
Splash.
The splash was small and vanished in an instant.
That figure quickly merged into the dark sea, using the wind and currents to speed away toward the unknown distance, like a true dragon finally breaking free from the shallows and swimming toward his own vast world.
Tatsuki leaned on the railing, looking in the direction where Dragon had disappeared, holding a cigarette butt that had long since gone cold, standing bewildered in the wind.
He just... left?
The next second, the system interface in Tatsuki's mind, which had been silent, suddenly erupted with a blinding light.
[Ding! Detected that the host has completed an Epic-level World-line Change event!]
[Judgment: Through deep ideological enlightenment, the host successfully incited the defection of Monkey D. Dragon, the son of Marine Hero Garp and an outstanding officer of Marineford, causing him to abandon the Marine camp and embark on a path of total opposition to the World Government!]
[This action caused Dragon to leave the Marine ranks ahead of schedule and established a specific revolutionary manifesto, causing the birth of the "Revolutionary Army" to be moved forward and its threat level to rise exponentially!]
[Nature: Extremely malicious! Highly subversive! Fundamentally changed the world structure!]
[Violation Points +50,000!]
[Violation Points: 95,200]
[Obtained special title: Revolutionary Godfather]
[Effect: When negotiating with anti-government forces, affinity +200%, opponent's IQ -10%]
"Holy crap..."
Tatsuki looked at the numbers that had suddenly skyrocketed on the panel, his breath hitching for a beat.
Fifty thousand points!
He had worked himself to death in the Elite Camp, beating up classmates and extorting Germa, only to scrape together a few tens of thousands of points.
As it turned out, in just one night, with a few bottles of wine and a few pieces of correct nonsense, he earned fifty thousand?
"Is this the value of playing politics?" Tatsuki muttered to himself, feeling that the 300,000 Berries he had just won had instantly lost their charm.
But he quickly calmed down.
Wait.
It feels good, sure.
But Dragon ran away.
Who's going to clean up this mess?
If Garp wakes up tomorrow morning and finds his son gone, and then a quick investigation reveals that Dragon was last seen chatting with him...
"Hiss..."
Tatsuki sucked in a breath of cold air and looked down at his small frame.
Although the Storm-Storm Fruit was strong, in front of Garp, he would probably just be a sandbag.
'No, I have to destroy the evidence and keep myself clean.'
Tatsuki's eyes sharpened as he looked left and right, there was no one around.
He quickly picked up the coat of justice Dragon had thrown on the ground, took out a pen he carried with him, and scribbled a few lines on a conspicuous spot on the lining of the coat.
Then, he kicked the coat into the arms of the Boatswain in the corner, who was sleeping like a dead pig.
Immediately after, he quickly cleaned up the empty wine bottles on the ground and even blew the bit of cigarette ash on the railing into the sea.
After doing all this, it was as if nothing had ever happened on this deck.
Tatsuki stretched nonchalantly, yawning with a lazy look as if he had just gotten up in the night to pee, and wobbled toward the cabin.
'The moonlight is so nice tonight, perfect for sleeping. As for where Dragon went? How should I know? I'm just a new guy who just got on the ship.'
Tatsuki returned to his hammock and forced himself to close his eyes, falling into a light sleep accompanied by the thunderous snoring of the surrounding Marines.
...
The next morning, at dawn.
Sunlight spilled across the shimmering sea. A few News Coos landed on the mast, tilting their heads to look down at the dog head warship below.
"Ugh... my head hurts."
"Drank too much last night. That kid can really hold his liquor."
A group of Marines clutched their heads as they crawled up from the deck, stumbling around as groans rose from all sides.
Bang!
The thick oak door of the cabin suddenly let out a screech as the entire door panel flew outward, smashing into the opposite railing in a flurry of wood chips.
Garp, wearing his dog head hat, walked out full of energy, holding a new bag of senbei in his hand.
"Kyahahaha! Brats! The sun is burning your asses! Everyone get up and train!"
The powerful roar instantly dispelled the Marines' sleepiness. Everyone sprang to their feet by reflex and quickly fell into formation.
Garp strode to the center of the deck, his gaze habitually searching the front of the crowd. Usually, at this time, his stoic son should have been standing there organizing the ranks.
But today, that spot was empty.
Garp's chewing paused slightly, and his eyebrow twitched.
"Bogard!"
"Here, Vice Admiral."
The adjutant Bogard appeared behind Garp. He adjusted the brim of his hat, his expression uncharacteristically solemn, having clearly searched beforehand.
"I've searched all the cabins. There's no sign of Commodore Dragon."
"Huh?"
Garp stopped chewing, and the mirth in his usually smiling eyes gradually faded.
"Where could that brat have gone? Is he hiding and sulking just because I snatched his meat yesterday?"
Garp picked his nose. Though his tone was still joking, the veterans around him could already feel a suffocating low-pressure atmosphere.
(End of Chapter)
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