Chapter 172: Battle
Justice and evil were opposites, but they were also tangled together.
The World Government had hidden the truth about Amber Lead and allowed Flevance to continue mining it. When the disease finally broke out, they concealed their guilt by telling other nations that Flevance was suffering from an incurable contagious plague, then enforced a blockade.
To the people of other countries, that decision must have looked reasonable.
A deadly, incurable disease had appeared. What else could be done except contain it and minimize the damage?
From that angle, the World Government had acted to preserve lives. That was justice.
At least, that was how they would write it.
It was the same with the study of history. In order to protect the justice of the present, the World Government monitored scholars who pursued the truth and banned the study of Poneglyphs. When Ohara, the sacred land of archaeology, touched what should not be touched, a Buster Call descended upon it.
That was why Axel said what he said.
Tom, standing nearby, silently nodded.
He understood.
Gol D. Roger, the man branded evil by the World Government, had been nothing more than a free-spirited man who loved his crew and lived according to his own will. A little reckless, a little wild, but not the monster the world had been taught to fear.
By comparison, the Government's actions were far uglier. Framing him. Dragging him to Enies Lobby. Putting him through a one-sided trial and calling it justice.
But to Rob Lucci, who had been shaped by the Government's creed since childhood, those words were heresy.
His brow tightened. His expression darkened, and the veins at his temples stood out faintly.
He could not tolerate anyone linking his justice with evil.
"You're wrong," Lucci said. His voice was low and hard. "Justice is justice. It is pure."
"Is it?" Axel asked, a trace of mockery in his eyes. "Then why don't you ask yourself?"
It sounded like a question, but it was closer to an accusation.
Lucci had likely seen more than enough over the years. He had carried out orders that contradicted any normal idea of justice. He had killed for it, covered for it, and enforced it. He simply refused to admit it.
"I told you," Lucci said. "Evil has no path forward in this world. Your excuses are meaningless. The World Government's justice is the correct justice. Victory will always stand on the side of justice."
Axel chuckled.
A certain line from the future surfaced in his mind, and it fit this moment far too well.
"Justice will prevail? Of course it will." His smile thinned. "Because whoever wins becomes justice."
Good and evil were defined by the victor.
History was written by the side left standing. The dead had no voice, and the defeated had no right to explain themselves.
Lucci's gaze turned colder.
"It seems there's nothing left to discuss. I'll personally escort you to the stage of justice."
"The stage of justice?"
"Enies Lobby."
Axel clicked his tongue.
Enies Lobby. The island where criminals were judged. The so-called court of the World Government.
A stage for criminals, then.
To condemn him for a few words alone?
"That really is justice," Axel said.
Lucci no longer bothered to answer.
He shifted into a combat stance.
Axel drew his wooden sword and focused. Lucci was no ordinary opponent. Even if this was not yet the Lucci of the future, he was still one of the most dangerous combatants in this sea.
The air in the room tightened.
Tom also lowered his stance, ready to move at any moment.
Then Jabra arrived.
He burst through the doorway in his Wolf form and lunged straight at Axel, shattering the stalemate in an instant.
His hands had become sharp claws. They tore through the air with a shrill whistle, aiming viciously for Axel's face.
Axel lifted his wooden blade to block.
Even though it was only a wooden sword, Jabra did not let down his guard. A wolf went all out no matter the prey. Give the enemy a gap, and the enemy would bite back.
Still, his face deliberately showed a flash of delight, as if he had seen through Axel's defense.
Axel gave him no reaction.
His body had already chosen the most efficient response.
The wooden blade met Jabra's claws with a sharp crack.
Jabra felt a heavy force slam into him. His attack stopped dead. Pain shot through his palm, and for an instant, he could not understand how such a small body could hide that much strength.
Before that thought could settle, the force changed.
Axel's previous momentum had not even faded before a new wave of power surged through the wooden blade. There was no obvious swing, no large movement, but the pressure transmitted through the weapon grew heavier.
Jabra tried to brace himself.
He failed.
Bang!
The wooden sword broke through his guard and smashed into him. Jabra flew backward like a ball struck by a bat.
The force was so abrupt that he could not twist his body in midair to recover. He could only bend himself slightly, adjusting the angle of impact as best he could.
Fortunately, his luck was not terrible.
He crashed into a sofa first, then slammed into the wall together with it. The sofa absorbed much of the impact, sparing him from serious injury.
Jabra shook his head and pushed himself up.
Then his gaze caught Blueno lying nearby, restrained, with one leg twisted at a grotesque angle.
Jabra's expression shifted.
He looked at that injury and shouted, "Careful, Lucci! This brat's not easy!"
"I know," Lucci replied.
His body began to change.
Muscles expanded beneath his skin. His clothes tore apart. Leopard spots spread across his body, and his face sharpened into something bestial. Claws grew from his hands, and his presence became heavier, more violent.
The Cat-Cat Fruit, Model: Leopard.
After seeing Jabra sent flying in his Wolf form, Lucci no longer underestimated Axel in the slightest. He entered his Zoan form immediately, raising his strength to its peak.
"Mr. Tom," Axel said without looking away from Lucci, "I'll leave that puppy to you."
"Who're you calling a puppy, brat?!"
"Got it," Tom said.
He stepped forward, taking Jabra as his opponent and leaving the center of the room to Axel and Lucci.
Shave!
Lucci vanished.
His speed surpassed what ordinary eyes could follow. He was far faster than the other members of CP9, perhaps twice as fast. Even Axel could not rely on sight alone. He had to read Lucci's movement through calculation and Observation Haki.
His own body answered with Shave.
He did not retreat.
He charged forward.
The room was too cramped for an exchange between two high-speed fighters. Dodging would only hand the initiative to Lucci. Better to meet him head-on.
In the next instant, both of them disappeared from where they stood and collided at the center of the room.
Lucci blocked Axel's wooden blade with his arm.
Axel immediately used the contact to shift the defensive force, converting it little by little into an offensive push, just as he had done against Jabra. If Lucci failed to respond, the strength he used to defend would eventually turn against him.
But Lucci's control over his own body was exceptional.
He sensed the change almost at once.
His foot stomped hard against the floor, cracking it, and he used the rebound to pull back and rise into the air.
"Finger Pistol: Bachi!"
Compressed air bullets shot from Lucci's fingernails, tearing toward Axel's previous position.
But Axel had already moved.
The air bullets drilled into the floor, leaving behind a rapid string of sharp tapping sounds.
.....
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