One Piece : From Slave to Fleet Admiral

The new house provided by Marine Headquarters was well-equipped, with complete kitchen facilities, including modern appliances.

In the bright room, Jake was slicing a pale golden pepper from Gourmet Town called "Golden Flame"—a special ingredient that blended spiciness, sweetness and sourness.

However, the pepper was tough to cut, its surface hard as stone, requiring considerable strength to slice through.

Kizaru who somehow wear an orange-yellow apron, stood beside Jake, dicing carrots and cucumbers.

"You seem to have something else on your mind, Jake. Are you thinking about something? Care to share? Though I'm not particularly good at comforting people, I might be able to offer some small help, given how much older I am than you~"

After a brief moment of thought, Jake decided to share his concerns with Kizaru.

In the time since his arrival, aside from T-Bone, he had spent the most time with Kizaru and his thoughts weren't anything outrageous—just ordinary worries.

So, Jake explained everything he had been thinking about earlier.

Hearing Jake's concerns, a faint smile appeared on Kizaru's usually creepy face.

His hands moved swiftly, but his speech remained leisurely.

"Oh~ So that's the issue~ I thought you didn't want to come here because the house was too ugly. That would've been troublesome, since there aren't many alternatives in Marineford~"

Jake chuckled in response.

"The house is beautiful and the facilities are excellent. How could I possibly dislike it? I just feel my contributions don't merit such a nice place."

Kizaru's smile gradually faded and his tone became slightly more formal, though not stern.

"Jake, do you know how I got my house?"

Jake shook his head.

He had no way of knowing such personal details.

Kizaru's voice carried a hint of nostalgia as he slowly began.

"My house was bought when I was a lieutenant commander by borrowing money from Marine Headquarters. Although HQ did assign me a residence, I didn't really like it—it was too close to Sakazuki. That guy starts training before dawn every day. It's hot in summer, hot in winter too. By the time I wake up, the sweat pouring off me has practically soaked through the blankets."

Hearing this, Jake couldn't help but chuckle.

Kizaru smiled at his reaction and continued.

"After all, Sakazuki and I were classmates in the same training batch and our promotion rates were similar, so naturally our assigned quarters were close. Watching Sakazuki train so diligently every day actually made me both annoyed and somewhat ashamed. Partly because that guy made the surrounding temperature unbearably hot and partly because of my own self-criticism."

"Sakazuki only rests for about three hours daily, usually from midnight to 3 AM. Then he trains for two hours until 5 AM before going on missions. Even without assignments, he voluntarily hunts pirates. But honestly, his brand of justice is too extreme—I can't fully comprehend it myself."

At this point, Kizaru paused his knife work, transferring the sliced carrots and cucumbers to a plate before taking out a tender cut of fish belly to prepare methodically.

"Still, regarding these matters, I hope you'll keep them confidential, Jake~"

Looking at Kizaru's smiling face, Jake nodded vigorously and promised.

"Don't worry, Borsalino-sensei! I won't let anyone know except Monet!"

Kizaru gave a resigned chuckle at this and flicked some water from his hands onto Jake's head.

"Monet's right behind us washing vegetables—how could she not hear it? Right, Monet-chan~"

Hearing Borsalino's words, Monet scratched her head sheepishly with an embarrassed smile.

Unbothered, Kizaru continued.

"Regarding the justice Sakazuki upholds, I'm hardly in a position to criticize him. But there was one incident that left a deep impression on me—back when we were both captains on a mission together. After eliminating most pirates on that ship, our objective was essentially complete."

"The pirate captain, first mate and combat crew were all dead, leaving only some elderly, weak, or injured pirates who had surrendered. Normally we'd take such prisoners for trial, but Sakazuki burned them all alive. He said their surrender couldn't erase their sins."

Here Kizaru paused, looking directly at Jake before suddenly asking.

"You actually agree with that perspective, don't you?"

Caught off guard by the question, Jake hesitated before answering.

"I wouldn't say I fully agree. If judicial fairness can be ensured, I personally prefer sentencing standards based on the law. Things like vigilante justice, if not properly controlled, can become the hallmark of dictators. For enemies who have clearly lost their will to resist, outright execution without proper interrogation seems far too extreme."

"Oh~ Jake, your thoughts are surprisingly similar to mine. At first, I thought your sense of justice aligned more with Sakazuki's~ Now I can continue without much psychological burden."

Kizaru listened to Jake's response and continued with a slightly surprised smile.

"Actually, if it were just that, I wouldn't have many thoughts. After all, even though they were surrendering pirates, their crimes were evident—killing them wouldn't be a big deal. But when we searched the ship's lower decks, we found many captives taken by those pirates. Some of them had chosen to brand themselves with the pirate crew's mark to survive. And Sakazuki's approach to handling those captives was... to kill them all."

"Even when other captives pleaded and explained on their behalf, even when it was clear those captives were just civilians, Sakazuki still executed them all under the reasoning that 'these people might become criminals.' The way the magma swallowed those people, and the looks in the eyes of those around us—I still can't forget it."

"Those weren't the eyes of people looking at the Marine's. They were filled with fear, hatred, hostility, and confusion..."

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