Sailing: I was falsely accused of watching Nami bathe, but I'm blind.

He actually...slowly...bent his noble knees!

then……

Facing the former King of Dressrosa, Riku, who had just emerged from a ten-year nightmare, his face still streaked with tears and filled with confusion! And... the tens of thousands of Dressrosa citizens in the square, who had endured endless suffering!

He bowed his head deeply...the head that symbolized the highest authority in the navy!

I prostrate myself in repentance! I kneel down and beg for forgiveness!

"I'm so... so sorry!!!"

Fujitora's voice, filled with guilt and self-reproach, yet also carrying an unwavering and unquestionable resolve, was clearly transmitted to every corner of the world through the video Den Den Mushi!

"Because the Kingdom of Dressrosa, one of the member states of the World Government, was actually... ravaged to this extent by a mere Shichibukai! If it weren't for the valiant fight of Straw Hat Luffy and his allies, this tragedy would probably have continued... or even been completely covered up!"

"The root of all this lies in the wrong decision our World Government made back then—acknowledging and condoning the existence of the Seven Warlords of the Sea! It lies in our Navy... failing to detect and stop this evil in time! Failing to fulfill our duty to protect the people of our member states!"

"Hereby, I, Fujitora Issho, on behalf of the Navy (though I have no right to represent them), extend my sincerest apologies to His Majesty King Riku and to all the suffering citizens of Dressrosa!!!"

"I... and all the naval officers and soldiers behind me! We hereby... apologize!!!"

After saying that, he actually... ordered the thousands of equally shocked and bewildered naval soldiers behind him... to kneel down before King Riku and the people of Dressrosa!

This...this...this!!!

Kai, hidden in the distance, saw (perceived) everything clearly! His heart... was filled with an unprecedented, immense, almost overwhelming... shock and... incomprehensible emotion!!!

Fujitora-senpai... what... what is he doing?!

He actually... in front of the whole world! Led his navy! To kneel down and apologize to the king and people of a country?!

He actually...blamed everything on the World Government's Seven Warlords system?! Blamed it on the Navy's negligence?!

This...this isn't just a slap in the face to the World Government and the Navy! This is practically...self-destruction!!!

Given Fleet Admiral Akainu's personality and the Five Elders' style, they absolutely could not tolerate such... blatant challenge to government authority and damage to the Navy's reputation!!! Fujitora-senpai's actions... are tantamount to cutting himself off from the Navy! Cutting himself off from the position of Admiral that he worked so hard to obtain, a position that allowed him to drive reforms from within!!!

Kai simply couldn't understand it! He couldn't comprehend Fujitora-senpai's...almost "foolish" behavior, sacrificing everything for so-called "righteousness" and "apology"!!!

Could this be... the "path" that the senior was talking about...?

A way of "benevolence"... that is completely opposite to Kai's own cold and pragmatic "order"... full of idealistic brilliance, but also... full of self-destructive tendencies?!

Kai felt that his worldview seemed to have been...once again...severely...shocked and...overturned by this teacher he once admired so much.

He didn't know how to evaluate Fujitora's behavior.

Should we admire his courage and sense of responsibility? Or... despise his "stupidity" and "irresponsibility"?

All he knew was that Fujitora-senpai's astonishing move would inevitably unleash a massive, far more profound, and far-reaching wave across the world than Doflamingo's downfall itself!

And the already visible rift between himself and Fujitora-senpai seemed to have become even deeper and more difficult to mend because of this kneeling.

They...in the end...went in completely different directions.

Fujitora's shocking act of kneeling down to apologize was like a nuclear bomb thrown into a calm lake. It not only caused a huge uproar around the world, but also tore a huge hole in Kai's heart, which had long been wrapped in cold reality!

He couldn't understand! He absolutely couldn't understand!!!

Teacher… no, Admiral Fujitora! What on earth is he doing?!

Did he not realize that by kneeling, he was not only losing his personal dignity and future, but also the prestige and face of the entire navy and the world government in the eyes of the world?!

Doesn't he realize that by placing all the blame on the Shichibukai system and the Navy's negligence, he is essentially openly challenging the World Government's decisions and denying the "absolute justice" that the Navy has always touted?!

Did he not realize the terrifying wrath of Fleet Admiral Akainu that his near-suicidal act would provoke, and the devastating consequences it would bring upon him?!

Anger! Disappointment! Confusion! Even... a sense of betrayal (not referring to personal feelings, but to the betrayal of the shared ideal of maintaining "order")! A complex mix of emotions overwhelmed Kai like a raging tsunami!

He could no longer remain a detached observer!

He immediately set off and arrived at the plaza area where Fujitora was located as quickly as possible (the chaos in the plaza had subsided somewhat, but the atmosphere was still extremely oppressive and eerie).

He walked past the still shocked and bewildered naval soldiers, and the Dressrosa citizens who looked at Fujitora with complicated expressions, and went straight to... the one who was still kneeling, as if trying to merge himself with this land... in front of Admiral Fujitora!

"Admiral Fujitora!!!" Kai's voice, for the first time before Fujitora, carried an uncontrollable, icy accusation! Even... a slight tremor, unnoticed by himself! "Do...do you know what you just...did?!"

Upon hearing Kai's voice, Fujitora slowly... raised his head.

His unseen eyes were "looking" in Kai's direction, his face expressionless, only showing a kind of... unwavering as a rock, and an unfathomable calm as deep as an abyss.

“I know.”

Fujitora's voice was unusually calm, so calm that it sent a chill down Kai's spine. "I am doing... what I believe must be done."

"

"Something that must be done?!" Kai's voice rose several octaves, filled with disbelief and anger. "To lead the Navy to kneel and apologize in front of the whole world?! To place all the blame on the Navy and the World Government?! Is this what you call 'must'?! Where does this leave the Navy's prestige?! Where does it leave the World Government's dignity?! You are shaking the entire world order!!!"

“Order?” Fujitora’s lips curled into a smile that was filled with both pity and irony. “Admiral Shizuka, is the ‘order’ you speak of built upon lies, sin, and the forgotten suffering of countless people? Is it the kind of order that can tolerate villains like Doflamingo, who, under the banner of the ‘Seven Warlords of the Sea,’ manipulate a nation and turn millions of its citizens into toys and slaves?”

“If this is the kind of 'order'…” Fujitora’s voice became resolute, filled with unwavering determination! “Then! This old man… would rather shatter it with his own hands!!!”

"Break?!" Kai could hardly believe his ears! A Marine Admiral was actually talking about breaking the order represented by the World Government?! "Are you insane?! What will happen after breaking it?! Greater chaos! A more lawless era of pirates! The deaths of even more innocent people! Is this... the 'benevolence' you expect to see?!"

Chapter 124 Garp! Your son is a revolutionary! Your grandson is a pirate! You're a traitor!

"Chaos is sometimes...the growing pains of new life."

Fujitora slowly stood up, his tall figure casting a long shadow in the afterglow of the setting sun (if there is a sunset after the birdcage disappears). It was a tragic and resolute image of "Though there be thousands of people, I will go."

"If these festering sores hidden beneath the cloak of 'order' are not thoroughly exposed, if the whole world is not allowed to see the bloody truth brought about by the Shichibukai system, then... this tragedy will never end! It will only be repeated again and again after Dressrosa, in the next country, and the next country after that!"

"My kneeling might damage the Navy's prestige, might ruin my reputation, or even... cost me my life!" Fujitora's tone was unusually calm, as if he were recounting someone else's story. "But! If this kneeling can awaken the conscience of the world! If it can push for the abolition of that corrupt system! If it can... prevent tragedies like Dressrosa in the future! Then... I believe it's worth it!"

Little Kai was completely speechless.

He said he looked at (perceived) the person in front of him... the teacher he once admired so much, who now seemed like... an incurable idealistic martyr! He couldn't understand it at all! Nor could he agree with it at all!

In his view, Fujitora's actions were no longer "benevolent"! Rather... utterly "foolish"! It was an extremely irresponsible act that disregarded the interests of the entire Navy and the stability of the world!

"Your 'benevolence'... has turned into 'foolishness'!!!" Kai finally... for the first time, openly, clearly, and mercilessly... uttered these words! He spoke in an almost icy tone, filled with disappointment and a sense of rupture, "By doing this, you have not only ruined yourself, but also placed the entire Navy in an extremely passive and dangerous situation! You... are simply not worthy... of being a Navy Admiral!"

These words, like the sharpest knife, pierced the already fragile relationship between the two!

Fujitora's body trembled slightly upon hearing these words.

His lips, which always held a gentle smile, seemed... to stiffen for a moment.

He remained silent for a long time before slowly speaking in a tone filled with weariness and deep disappointment:

"...Perhaps."

"

"Perhaps, in the eyes of you... people who believe in power and order, I am indeed... very foolish."

"

“But… Kai…” he said one last time, with a tone of expectation (perhaps his last expectation?), “Don’t… let the darkness completely devour your ‘mind’s eye’.”

Go and see more of the lives struggling at the bottom of society.

Perhaps one day... you will understand... the choice I made today.

"

After saying that, Fujitora stopped looking at Kai, leaned on his cane sword, slowly turned around, and walked towards the naval soldiers who were still in shock and confusion.

His back was still upright, but... it was filled with an unprecedented... loneliness and... heaviness.

Kai stood there, watching (sensing) Fujitora's receding figure, his heart filled with... an indescribable coldness and... a complete sense of rupture.

He knew that from this moment on, the deep, mentor-student-friend relationship he once shared with Fujitora-senpai had been completely severed.

In the end, they... went down completely opposite paths, paths from which there was no turning back.

The clash of ideas ultimately turned into an irreparable rift.

Although Kai could not agree with Fujitora's almost self-destructive act of "righteousness," as a vice admiral, he still had to... fulfill his duties in the current chaotic situation.

Soon, orders from Marine Headquarters (or rather, from the enraged Fleet Admiral Akainu) were relayed through emergency communication channels:

"Immediately! At all costs! Arrest Straw Hat Luffy, Trafalgar Law, and all their associates! They must not leave Dressrosa alive!!!"

This order was expected.

The face of the World Government and the Navy cannot be trampled on so easily! Fujitora's act of "apology" only strengthened Akainu's determination to completely eliminate these "culprits" (in his view)!

When General Fujitora received this order, he remained silent for a long time.

In the end, he still... in his capacity as a naval admiral, issued the arrest order.

Kai could clearly sense the complex emotions in his senior's heart when he gave the order, a mixture of helplessness and... a deeper calculation.

Thus began a massive manhunt that, while seemingly grand in scale, was actually executed with a bizarre and deliberately weak approach, on the ruins of Dressrosa.

Kai, as a vice admiral, was naturally drawn into this manhunt.

He led his task force, along with other naval units, to begin "searching" for the Straw Hat Pirates and Law's whereabouts.

However, Kai soon discovered that... the chase was simply... a farce!

Although Admiral Fujitora had issued an arrest warrant in name, his actual command and actions revealed... obvious "letting things slide"!

He would "inadvertently" transfer the main force of the navy to areas where the Straw Hat crew would never appear for "intensive searches"!

He will "just happen" to activate his gravity ability at the critical moment when the Straw Hat crew is about to be surrounded by the Navy, causing a minor "accident" (such as controlling a large number of rocks to fall from the sky, or causing the ground to suddenly collapse), thereby... hindering the Navy's pursuit and creating time and opportunity for the Straw Hat crew to escape!