novelraw Chapter 110: Expel them all without leaving a single one alive!
Chapter 110: Expel them all without leaving a single one alive!
Chapter 111, Section 110: Expel them all without leaving a single one alive!
In the late autumn of 1492 in the Ocean Calendar, a slight sea breeze swept across the edge of the doldrums, stirring up dust on a deserted island.
This was originally one of a dozen covert outposts used by the Navy to monitor directional movements in calm conditions, but it was eliminated in a budget cut six years ago.
The island has only a low, gray-white concrete building, a reinforced observation tower, and a simple dock for small ships.
Most of the windows were shattered, and the plaster had peeled off, exposing the rusty steel bars inside.
On the relatively flat open space directly in front of the main building, a makeshift platform was built using wooden planks and old crates salvaged from the warehouse. It was about 1.5 meters high and wide enough for four or five people to stand on.
The podium was undecorated, and the wooden surface still showed signs of wear and nail heads.
The square was full of people.
Approximately two thousand soldiers were arranged in a relatively neat square formation.
Their uniforms were not uniform, but they all had a blue cloth strap tied around their arms.
The soldiers stood very straight, and most of them were young.
On the right side of the soldiers' formation, near the dock, stood a small group of people.
There were about thirty people, most of whom were carrying notebooks and sketchbooks, and a few others had set up an imaging instrument improved by the Gaya Academy of Sciences.
They were a group of reporters from the Gaya Daily who had rushed over overnight, led by a middle-aged man in his forties.
Mostin stood next to the group of reporters, his gaze sweeping across the entire outpost, and he curled his lip in disapproval.
After this experience, he understood that this so-called new navy was definitely related to the Kingdom of Jaya.
Would the Golden Emperor, with his wealth, use such a dilapidated place as his base?
It's just a show.
Mostin had neither a notebook nor a Den Den Mushi in his hand. With his hands in his coat pockets, he looked around idly.
On the eastern horizon, the sun had fully risen, its golden rays bathing the square and dispelling the last vestiges of night.
The rusty iron gate of the main building was pushed open, and Zefa was the first to walk out.
He was wearing a simple dark gray casual outfit today, which fit him fairly well and had no decorations.
The only thing that stood out was the dark blue cloth strip on his left arm, identical to that of the other soldiers.
After a serious-looking Zephyr walked onto the podium, a second person emerged from the iron gate: Garp.
Garp was still wearing his Navy vice admiral uniform today, but he wasn't wearing his Justice Coat, and his epaulets had been removed.
He also had a dark blue bandage wrapped around his left arm, which looked a little tight on his muscular arm.
His face was expressionless; he simply walked up to the podium and stood behind Zefa.
Zefa took two steps forward and walked to the very front of the stage. His voice, transmitted clearly through the makeshift megaphone Den Den Mushi temporarily set up on the stage, resounded throughout the entire square.
"Gentlemen! May I ask why we have gathered here today?"
His self-illuminating light slowly swept across the soldiers' formation: "Perhaps it's because you saw things you shouldn't have seen, or perhaps it's because you heard truths you shouldn't have heard."
"Perhaps because you were forced to do things against your conscience."
In the soldiers' formation, some clenched their fists, some bit their lips, and some lowered their heads.
"Seven days ago, on that island 500 nautical miles east of Judiciary Island."
Zephyr continued, speaking as calmly as if he were delivering a routine mission report: "The World Government, under the guise of the Ten-Day Trial, has established a temporary control zone designated S-01."
"They captured tens of thousands of people from various islands in the first half of the Grand Line."
"Commoners, merchants, nobles, shipwrights, doctors, teachers—anyone suspected of having potential grievances against the World Government will be taken away."
"They were locked in long, gray buildings, crammed behind barbed wire, and numbered and categorized like livestock."
"Then they were taken into the interrogation room, and if their answers did not satisfy the interrogator, or if the interrogator considered them worthless, then..."
Zefa pulled a stack of photos out of his pocket.
The photo is black and white, clearly developed quickly using a video Den Den Mushi (video phone), so the image quality isn't very clear, but it's still recognizable.
He held up the first photograph, which showed a stark white room with dozens of people lying on the floor, their bodies contorted and curled up in grotesque positions.
"This is a gas chamber used by the World Government to mass kill ordinary people. It can kill 60 people at a time in less than two minutes."
Zefa displayed the bloody photos one by one, without roaring or shouting, but simply stating the facts.
After showing the last image, he looked back at the square: "This is what the Navy has been doing over the past ten days."
"There was no eradication of pirates, no upholding of justice, no protection of civilians; there was only systematic slaughter."
Zephyr's voice finally wavered here, not with anger, but with deep disappointment: "The Navy should be a shield to protect the order of the sea and innocent civilians."
"But when did this shield become a knife in a slaughterhouse?"
"Since when has the word 'justice' become a fig leaf to cover up crimes?"
He paused for a moment, as if waiting for a reply.
The sea breeze blew, stirring up a thin layer of sand and dust that swept across the ground beneath the soldiers' feet.
"The decline of the Navy! That's why we're standing here today!"
Zephyr raised his left hand, pointing to the blue cloth strip on his arm, his voice growing louder: "Today! We will establish a new navy!"
"This is reconstruction! This is pulling the word 'Navy' out of the mud and giving it back its rightful meaning!"
"We no longer serve the world government! We will no longer heed any twisted justice!"
"We will protect good people! Protect people who yearn for peace! Regardless of their race! Regardless of their identity! Regardless of which island they come from!"
Zefa held those horrific photos high: "Our enemy is clear! It's the scum who created this hell!"
"It's those in power and their lackeys who treat human lives as mere numbers and fear as a tool for control!"
Zephyr's voice softened: "Our road will be difficult. We will lack supplies, ships, and rear support."
"We will be wanted, besieged, and slandered."
"We will bleed, we will sacrifice."
"But one—"
Zephyr's voice suddenly rose again, amplified by the Den Den Mushi, echoing across the square: "But if we don't stand up, this tragedy will happen again!"
"It happens again and again in different places, under different names!"
"If we don't stand up, the word 'Navy' will be forever nailed to the pillar of historical shame!"
"If we don't stand up, no one else on this vast ocean will be able to protect ordinary people!"
"No one will protect our loved ones and friends anymore!"
He took a breath, his voice even more resolute: "We must not only stand up! We must also uphold justice!"
"Carry it on your shoulders! Remember it in your heart! Don't treat it as just an ornament!"
"We will uphold justice! With unwavering faith, we will punish those who commit injustice!"
Zefa's eyes widened in anger: "6"
"Expel them all without leaving a single one!"