The natural system started off strong, but the navy finally reached its peak!

Taking advantage of David's death, these pirates frantically expanded their power, burning, killing, and looting, as if they wanted to turn the entire New World upside down.

"No wonder the World Government and the Navy didn't easily start wars with the Four Emperors later on," Gern thought to himself.

"If war would cause such or even greater losses, it would indeed be better to let the pirates fight amongst themselves."

“Then why don’t we just go to war with Shiki?” Ribo suddenly asked, her pink eyes reflecting the photos of pirates massacring civilians attached to the documents on the table.

This was the first time she had ever seen the "pirates" that Zephyr and Gern had mentioned!

This isn't the adventurer Pedro used to talk about when he was hanging out with Nekomamushi and Inuarashi!

And it was cruel, inhumane, and utterly desolate...

“Isn’t he the biggest culprit? Aren’t we partners in justice?” Ribo stared at Sakazuki with a slight tremor in her pupils, her expression serious.

"Why should justice listen to others? Shouldn't justice come from the heart? These guys deserve to die!!"

Upon hearing Lipo's question, Sakazuki merely glanced at her coldly, while inwardly shocked, completely negating his initial assessment of Lipo as "naive."

“Justice…” Sakazuki was about to explain when Gern answered for him.

“Because the cost is too high.” Gern pointed to the document. “Golden Lion is not just one person, but the entire Flying Pirates and countless forces that depend on him.”

If the navy directly attacks him...

“The new world will descend into utter chaos,” Sakazuki replied, his tone chilling.

"At this point, the other pirates will seize the opportunity to launch a fierce counterattack, and the World Government's member states will suffer even more intense retaliation."

Even the navy's strongholds in the New World will be defeated one by one.

Gern nodded: "Therefore, world governments often prefer to be patient rather than easily start a full-scale war."

Upon hearing this, Sakazuki slammed his fist on the table with a dull thud.

"Patience? Ha." A flash of violence appeared in his eyes.

"Pirates are pirates; letting them run rampant will only make things worse!"

He turned his gaze to Lipo, as if to formally answer her question.

"Seventeen warships were attacked, six islands were massacred, and more than three thousand civilians went missing or died (and were taken to be sold into slavery)."

Sakazuki's knuckles were clenched so tightly they turned white, and the heat of the lava emanated from his body, making even the air feel scorching.

"I care about justice more than you do!!"

Gern did not refute, but simply looked at Sakazuki quietly.

He knew that Sakazuki's anger was not without reason.

Allowing pirates to run rampant will only cause more innocent people to suffer.

However, starting a war directly would cause the situation to spiral out of control completely.

This is a dilemma.

So let's fan the flames! Let the volcano erupt! Let's make one more person take responsibility!

Finally, Gern spoke, his tone calm: "So, what is your plan?"

"The order has been given." Looking at Gern, Sakazuki replied in a low voice, as if squeezing it out from between his teeth.

"The higher-ups have instructed... to handle this discreetly and avoid escalating the situation."

Gern leaned back on the sofa, crossed his legs, and fiddled with a coin in his hand, the silver light swirling between his fingers.

"Oh?" He raised his eyelids slightly. "So, we're not going to do anything?"

Sakazuki slammed his fist on the table, instantly melting a charred fist mark into the wooden desk.

"Those idiots!" he growled. "Letting the pirates run rampant will only embolden them!"

Gern didn't reply, but simply flicked the coin lightly and caught it steadily.

"This is a port that pirates attacked yesterday." Gern pointed to the latest intelligence report on the document with his index finger.

"It is said that they hung the villagers' heads on the mast and displayed them in a row like wind chimes as trophies to show off."

Sakazuki's pupils suddenly contracted, and lava-like patterns spread across his arm.

He couldn't possibly be unaware of Gern's thoughts, so he deliberately said in a cold voice, "Gern, are you testing my limits?"

"What was the bottom line that those villagers, whose bellies were ripped open, saw before they died?"

“Lieutenant General Sakazuki…” Gern grinned, but his eyes were as cold as ice.

“They died in the safest place, where there is the most absolute justice. Do you think they were expecting justice before they died?”

"Gern, the order is..."

"Fuck the orders!!"

"I don't want to say it a second time, I just believe that justice delayed is justice denied!"

Sakazuki! "Justice" has come too late; are we not even allowed a chance to make amends now?

“Or perhaps…” Gern suddenly stood up, walked to the window, and pulled back the curtains.

The blinding sunlight instantly flooded the room, illuminating the four large characters "Absolute Justice" hanging on the office wall.

"Can't your version of justice be considered justice at all?!"

Sakazuki couldn't refute Gern's words, because it was his territory, and the civilians he was sheltering had been killed.

His absolute justice, Sakazuki, was indeed, as Gern said, too late!

“Sakazuki, do you know what the most ironic thing is?” Gern said, his back to him, but his words were like knives.

"When weak soldiers and civilians are slaughtered by powerful pirates..."

"When the iron fist of justice falters, the wise Buddha remains silent in the face of bureaucracy."

He slowly turned around and looked directly into Sakazuki's eyes, which were burning with rage.

"At this point, only, or rather, only the absolutely scorching magma will step forward."

The air froze for a moment.

Sakassky's breathing became heavy, and lava dripped from between his fingers, scorching the floor with acrid blue smoke.

“Gern,” Sakazuki smiled, “are you encouraging me to disobey orders?”

Gern shrugged, his smile innocent: "I just feel that some things... can be done without orders."

Sakazuki stared intently at him, as if trying to see into his very soul.

Gern didn't back down at all, even leaning forward slightly and lowering his voice.

"Or is it that... Lieutenant General Sakazuki's sense of justice is actually just about following orders?"

If that's the case, where does absolute truth come from?! Where does justice come from?!

Exciting general method.

But it is extremely effective.

Sakazuki's lava erupted suddenly, and the temperature in the entire office soared instantly.

“Gern.” He spoke each word slowly and deliberately, his voice like steel forged in a hellish furnace.

"You're such a jerk that I can't bring myself to hate you."

Gern's smile widened: "Thank you for the compliment."

Sakazuki grabbed the documents from the table and instantly incinerated them into ashes by the lava.

"Pass on the order!" he roared, startling the messenger outside the door.

"G-3 Fleet, Level 1 Combat Readiness!"

Sakazuki abruptly ripped off the justice cloak draped over the back of the chair; the snow-white fabric fluttered in the air, landing heavily on his broad shoulders like a battle flag.

“Since the World Government wants to keep a low profile…” Sakazuki’s lips curled into a ferocious grin, lava seeping from between his fingers.

It coalesced into scalding, dark red bubbles, dripping onto the floor with a hissing, corrosive sound.

Gern's smile was equally dangerous. He slowly rose to face Sakazuki, his body already half-transformed into high-frequency vibrating particles.

"Then let's send them to hell in the quietest way possible!"

Chapter 93 Healing Carrot

New World, G-3 Base Area, Dako Island.

The Blood Axe Pirates were laughing and joking as they loaded their looted treasure onto the ship; the deck was piled high with blood-stained Berries and jewels.

Several pirates even kicked the dying villager at their feet, mocking, "Hey, shout louder! If you can still shout, we can take you as a slave and sell you for a good price."

A young pirate wiped the blood from his axe and looked uneasily at the distant sea.

"Captain, this is G-3's jurisdiction. Aren't we being too arrogant...?"

"Fool!" Captain Bloodaxe—"Bloodaxe" Redek, with a bounty of 530 million Berries—grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth.

"Right now, those Marines in G-3 are busy dealing with the flying pirate crew. How could they have time to care about 'small fry' like us?"

He patted the gunwale and grinned maliciously, "Besides, no matter how ruthless that Sakazuki is, can he be in two places at once?"

"Hahaha..." Before the laughter subsided, a strange red light suddenly appeared on the distant shoreline.

"What, what is that?!" A pirate pointed in terror at the horizon.

A massive, crimson wave of lava surged from the sea, like a roaring beast, hurtling straight toward the pirate ship!

"The Hound of the Underworld." The deep, cold voice seemed to come from hell.

"BOOM!!!" The giant lava hand slammed into the pirate ship, and the wooden hull was instantly vaporized by the high temperature. The pirates on the deck didn't even have time to scream before they turned into charred wreckage.

Blood Axe Redek barely managed to cover his entire body with Armament Haki, but was directly thrown away by the impact of the lava and crashed heavily onto the beach.

“Cough… Sakazuki?!” He struggled to lift his head, his pupils shrinking sharply.

The lava flowed like a living thing, and Sakazuki walked step by step through the scorching magma, his cloak of justice billowing in the heat, his eyes as cold as ice.

"No... wait! We're just..."

"Boom!!!" The lava engulfed Redek's screams. His body twisted and carbonized in the high temperature, eventually turning into a charred skeleton.

Sakazuki withdrew his hand, coldly scanned the area, and only after confirming that there were no survivors did he turn and walk towards the shore.

On the distant sea, Gern stood at the bow of the ship, one hand in his pocket, the other tossing an apple to him. Seeing Sakazuki return, he grinned: "Solved?"

“Just some small fry.” Sakazuki leaped onto the deck, his expression seemingly saying…

[What's stuck to my fist?] [I thought it was some high-ranking pirate!]

[Go tell my ghost dog!] [We are all living our duties dutifully!]

“That’s the seventeenth.” Gern took a bite of his apple and ruffled Libo’s hair beside him.

"At this rate, we can clean up the garbage in the nearby waters within three days."

“Not enough!” Sakazuki scoffed. “Far from enough.”

Having said that, he gazed at the distant horizon, his eyes burning with suppressed anger.

"These scum dare to act recklessly in G-3's territory simply because they think we will be bound by 'orders'."

"So?" Gern raised an eyebrow.

"So, all pirates should know..." Sakazuki clenched his fist tightly, lava dripping down.

"The moment they dare to set foot in the waters under the jurisdiction of G-3, their lives begin their countdown!"

Sakazuki had barely finished his harsh words and hadn't even regained his footing when a white figure rushed in front of him with a "whoosh".

"Uncle Sakazuki!" Lippo stood with her hands on her hips, glaring at him angrily. "You didn't leave any survivors?!"

Sakazuki paused for a second, then silently looked away: "I forgot."

"Forgot again?!" Libo stomped her foot, her drooping ears twitching with the movement.

"Do you know how useful the blood of those pirates is?!"

Especially those with high bounties, the 'healing carrots' made from their blood are incredibly effective!