NOVEL WEB Chapter 315: Chapter 315
Translator: PapaSmurf0700
How do you shatter a man's soul? How do you tear down an institution built over a century?
Bai Ye, a man forged in the crucible of 21st-century information warfare, knew the answer all too well. It doesn't take an army. It doesn't take a cataclysm. All it takes is a single, perfectly placed seed of doubt. A single black spot on a pure white canvas, so small yet so potent it draws every eye and poisons every thought.
Are the Marines the embodiment of Justice?
They are righteous when they stand against the savagery of pirates, yes. But they are instruments of oppression when they escort the World Nobles, protecting the Celestial Gold plundered from suffering kingdoms and guarding the slavers' ships. An "objective" evaluation would label them a product of their time: a military force that enacted a limited, compromised version of justice.
So, to praise them, one need only magnify their war against piracy while systematically erasing their role as the enforcers for the world's corrupt masters. And if you cannot erase it, you reframe it. You attach noble-sounding labels: "Sacrificing the few for the good of the many." "Prioritizing external threats." "It's the pirates' fault." You weigh their sins against the sins of pirates, and as long as theirs seem lesser, their "Justice" can be celebrated.
Bai Ye's plan was simply to reverse the formula.
He listened to Fleet Admiral Sengoku's speech about the "sins of the bloodline," and felt nothing but disdain. In Bai Ye's former world, bloodlines were for breeding dogs, not for judging men. He had no intention of denying the crimes of pirates like Ace or Luffy. Why would he? The truth was a far more powerful weapon.
All he had to do was turn Sengoku's own logic against him.
Bai Ye's voice cut through the tension of the plaza, clear and sharp.
"So, Fleet Admiral," he began, his tone dripping with mock curiosity. "Because the Celestial Dragons are the descendants of the Creators, they have the divine right to plunder the world's wealth? To enslave anyone they please and brand them with the hoof of a beast?"
His voice rose, echoing across Marineford and through every Den Den Mushi broadcasting the event.
"SO! Because of their bloodline, the World Nobles are above all morality? Above all consequence?! Is that your argument, Fleet Admiral Sengoku? If you believe so strongly in the weight of ancestry, then you must agree: those two thousand slaves we freed should be returned at once to their 'noble' masters!"
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In the offices of the World Economic Journal, "Big News" Morgans was in a state of pure ecstasy.
"Hahahaha! Get that on the front page! Every word! Distribute it across the entire globe, free of charge!" he bellowed, flapping his great wings. "I want every man, woman, and child to hear this! What news could possibly be bigger than publicly challenging the divine right of the Celestial Dragons?!"
Aboard the Thousand Sunny, the Straw Hats watched the broadcast, stunned.
"That guy… Bai Ye is getting scarier every day," Nami muttered, gripping her Clima-Tact.
"You're telling me," Usopp added, his voice trembling. "He's standing in the middle of the world's strongest military force, and he's the one who looks like he's already won!"
"He dragged the World Government and the Celestial Dragons onto the battlefield with him," Robin observed, a thoughtful smile playing on her lips. "By doing so, he stripped the Marines of their claim to absolute justice. This time, the World Nobles' corruption has become a cage for their own guard dogs."
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In the hallowed halls of Mary Geoise, the Five Elders watched the broadcast with cold fury.
"What in the world is that fool Sengoku doing?" the blond-haired Elder seethed. "His orders were to annihilate them with overwhelming force, not engage in a debate!"
The bearded Elder stared at Sengoku's image, his expression turning to ice. "The man is a romantic. He still believes he can preserve the idea of Marine justice. The idiot." He scoffed. "Justice is a simple matter. As long as you kill everyone who dares resist, you are, by definition, just."
The bald, sword-wielding Elder slowly wiped his pristine blade. "Sengoku must step down after this. He is not like Kong. He cannot be allowed to remain within the World Government. He's trying to separate the Navy from us."
They all saw it. The old soldier was making a desperate play to give the Navy its own soul. To them, it was nothing more than a dog thinking it could choose its own master. The Navy was created by the World Government, funded by them, empowered by them. Without their leash, it was nothing.
"Agreed," the heavyset Elder nodded. "Promote Akainu to Fleet Admiral. He will be a loyal dog, at least until the pirate scourge is wiped from the seas."
The swordsman spoke a single, chilling word of agreement. "Done."
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"Sengoku..." Vice-Admiral Tsuru watched her old friend, seeing his entire body tremble not with fear, but with the agony of a lifetime's work turning to ash. She knew his gamble. He had defied the Five Elders, put his own career on the line, all for the dream of a Navy that people could believe in again.
And now, Bai Ye's words had turned that dream into a global joke. Before a single cannon had been fired, the pirates had already crippled the Navy's spirit.
"LOOK AT THE FILTH BEFORE YOU!"
A roar of pure rage erupted from below the execution platform. Admiral Akainu rose to his feet, his voice a volcano of hatred that washed over the 100,000 demoralized soldiers.
"They are the cancer of this world! The ultimate sin upon these seas! It is the sacred duty of the Navy to excise this cancer and preserve order! The justice of the Navy is absolute and cannot be questioned by criminals!"
A ferocious, tangible fighting spirit erupted from him, a pillar of heat and conviction that reignited the wavering wills of the soldiers. His arms began to bubble and glow, transforming into churning, molten rock. The Marines, who had begun to doubt their cause, felt his fire infect them, and they raised their heads once more, their resolve hardening.
Akainu's final words were a creed of absolute destruction.
"WHEREVER THE BLADE OF THE NAVY POINTS, THERE IS JUSTICE!"
"METEOR VOLCANO!!!"
With a deafening roar, he unleashed his power. His fists became colossal masses of magma, launching high into the sky, blotting out the sun. For a moment, they hung there, a constellation of doom. Then, they fell. A rain of apocalyptic fire aimed directly at the Moby Dick and the Sunshine Merry.
On the live feed, billions watched in horror. Timid souls closed their eyes, unable to witness the obliteration.
But then—
A nova of brilliant blue flame and a blinding flash of golden light exploded into being, meeting the magma fists head-on.
BOOM! BOOM!
Two thunderous impacts shook the very foundations of the island. The world-ending attack shattered, the magma fists disintegrating into a hail of burning stone that hissed into the sea, punching holes through the ice.
The world—soldiers and civilians alike—stared in utter disbelief.
"Admiral Akainu's attack... it was stopped!"
Two figures now hovered in the air. One, wreathed in azure fire, had taken the form of a majestic phoenix above Whitebeard.
"The First Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates... 'Phoenix' Marco!"
The other, a being of pure golden light, stood like a defiant star in front of Luffy and his crew.
"The Vice-Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates... 'The Priest' Bai Ye!"
They both turned their gaze to the furious Admiral below, their voices ringing out in perfect, defiant unison.
"You will not lay a hand on our captains."