NCCnovel Chapter 248 The Past: Zephyr's Regret and Realization!
Chapter 248 The Past: Zephyr's Regret and Realization!
Chapter 248 The Past: Zephyr's Regret and Realization!
"Then everything is fine."
Zephyr calmly picked up his glass, lightly clinked glasses with Garp, and then drank it down heartily.
"Anyway, the World Government has more money than it can spend, so let Borsalino do whatever he wants."
"But Garp, why are you telling me all this?"
'
'
After a few breaths of silence, Garp had lost count of how many times he had sighed that night.
"The Warring States period has changed."
"Fleet Admiral Kong intends to make him the next Fleet Admiral, although in private Sengoku is still the same old Sengoku."
"But I can sense that Sengoku can no longer freely exercise justice; he has an extra mask on his face, Zephyr."
"The reason I didn't want to become a general was because I didn't want to be bound by rules, but I never imagined that after a lifetime of wisdom, I would be outmaneuvered by that little bastard Bazeir in middle age!"
"You remember that the Rumble-Rumble Fruit I ate was found by Bazel, right?"
Zefa nodded in agreement.
Garp slammed his glass on the table, rolled up his sleeves, and laughed, "I thought he was just rewarding me because I'm a key member of the Navy and because of my kindness in raising me, making me the Navy's trump card!"
"I never expected that kid would be attracted to my attitude of not taking the Celestial Dragons seriously!"
"That kid probably intends to use me as his trump card against the World Government! The lightning I control is the lightning that will shatter the old world."
"I only recently came to this realization myself, but don't tell anyone else about it."
Karp leaned over, took the flask, and refilled his and Zephyr's glasses.
Zephyr was dumbfounded; he couldn't understand how Garp's thought process was working—
How did the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, which was originally a powerful fruit, suddenly become a weapon to destroy the World Government?
"But Garp, didn't he say it was to prevent the Roger Pirates from becoming the Pirate King and thus ushering in that... what's called the Pirate Era?"
"Excuses! Everything is just an excuse!!"
Karp shook his slightly dizzy head, slapped the table, and wore a confident smile.
"He knew that if he hadn't said that, I definitely wouldn't have eaten that Devil Fruit!"
"When he says 'at all costs,' he's not referring to the cost of stopping Roger, but rather the cost of destroying the World Government!"
"—Garp, you're drunk."
"I'm not drunk!"
Faced with Zephyr's obstruction, Garp straightened his back, his eyes gleaming with an unprecedented "true wisdom".
"He knows that Dragon attacked a Celestial Dragon during the God Valley Incident!"
"He also knows that I never value the lives of Celestial Dragons; Bazel knows everything about us!"
"When I obtained the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, that kid's scheme fell into my lap!"
"Zeff!!"
"That kid's sense of justice is 'heroic justice,' but what is a hero?"
"They are the kind of people who will save the world even if they have to bear all the infamy!"
"That kid, he's aiming to become the Pirate King!"
The glass slipped from his hand with a thud, spilling wine all over himself. Zephyr stared at Garp in disbelief.
"You're drunk, Garp!"
"Don't talk nonsense. Bazel is also a brat I watched grow up. I know him—"
The conversation ended abruptly there.
Zefa suddenly remembered a question that Bazel had asked him when they were taking a bath together as children.
Hey, Uncle Zephyr, why can't the Navy freely exercise its justice?
If I ever become the Grand Admiral of the Navy, I will ensure that the Navy can freely exercise true justice!
Seeing Zephyr suddenly fall silent, Garp knew that the other must have remembered something.
He continued, "My guess isn't without reason. Have you thought about it, Zephyr?"
Interrupted from his recollection, Zephyr's expression grew increasingly complicated.
"Drag left the Navy and established a force that openly opposes the World Government."
"Bazaar becomes an undercover agent, leading the Beasts Pirates to uncover the secrets of history."
"Borsalino stayed in the Navy, using his position to get close to Vegapunk, and secretly used the power of Bazel and Dragon to strengthen himself and cleanse the internal corruption."
"Once their three-way power structure takes shape in the future—"
Garp leaned forward slightly, striking a highly aggressive pose.
"The strongest navy, the strongest pirates, and the strongest anti-world government armed organization!!"
"With these three forces combined, how much room do you think the World Government and the Five Elders have to resist?!"
Zefa suddenly felt a dryness in his throat, and drinking several glasses of wine did not relieve the discomfort.
"—These are all your guesses, Garp."
"Even if you find evidence, you should talk to the Marshal or Sengoku; at least they can take precautions against the future."
"I'm just a corpse waiting for death to come, Garp."
"There's no point in you telling me this. At most, I can only guarantee that I can keep my mouth shut."
"Didn't you want to end the era of pirates?" Garp retorted.
"Then pull yourself together, you bastard!!"
He threw a punch across the table, and Zefa fell backward, his left cheek swelling at a visible speed.
"You keep saying you're dead in the past, but you're a man, Zephyr!!"
Garp straddled the table, climbed onto Zeff, and grabbed him by the collar, yelling, "If you're going to die, just die already! Don't dawdle here!!"
"If you acknowledge that you're alive, then do what you believe is right!"
Zephyr didn't dare look Garp in the eye.
"Bazaar is a kid we both watched grow up, we know him! We believe in him!"
"Zeffa!"
"Do what you believe is right!!"
Zephyr pushed Kap aside, grabbed the flask, and drank it down in one gulp.
Glug~ Glug~ Glug~~
The spilled wine slid down his lips and onto his clothes.
"So, what about you, Garp? What are you planning to do?"
"Having seen through Bazel's intentions, which side do you intend to stand on? The World Government? Headquarters? Or neutrality?"
Karp walked back to his seat and sat down, head bowed.
"I came to you precisely because I was unable to make a decision."
"Zefa, I have already entered the chessboard. I hope you, who are still outside the chessboard, can give me some advice."
"Outside the chessboard?" Zeff chuckled wryly. "Why do you think I'm outside the chessboard, Garp?"
"Given how cunning that brat Bazel is, do you really think he didn't anticipate this day?"
Suddenly, Zefa sat up and stared blankly at the tatami mat, his voice a little hoarse.
"When he was a child, he told me that justice that doesn't kill is the most foolish justice, and that my family would definitely suffer because of me."
"He repeatedly urged me to bring my family to headquarters, giving many reasons."
"Lonely, isolated, longing for someone to be with me—"
"But at the time I was only focused on carrying out my duties as a general, and I was just going through the motions with that brat every time, until that day came—"
""
The remaining sake in the flask was poured into Zefu's stomach.
Zefa raised his left hand to cover his eyes, his voice choked with emotion.
"They're dead, Garp."
"I still remember the look in Bazel's eyes after that funeral."
"I remember him knocking me down, questioning why I didn't listen to him, questioning why I acted like a chauvinist at that moment—"
5
'
Watching the liquid, whether sake or something else, drip onto the wooden table, Garp reopened a bottle of sake and silently filled two large bowls.
"After they died, I always considered Bazel as the only family member I had left, and I tried to mend the rift between us."
"but----"
With a heavy sigh, Zefa picked up his wine bowl and drank deeply.
"Garp, was I really wrong?"
Karp didn't answer, but silently poured himself a drink and then downed it.
Repeatedly.
He knew Zephyr didn't need an answer, and he couldn't give one either.
It was precisely because of the conflict between his duties and his family that he was here.
Zefa considers Bazel family, and so does he.
The reason he confided in Zephyr instead of Sengoku was because Zephyr's feelings for Bazel were just as pure as his own.
But by now, Garp already knows the answer.
Not only the answers I was looking for, but also Zefa's answers.
"Garp, I believe in him."
Zefa suddenly raised his head, his swollen eyes filled with regret and pain.
At that moment, he suddenly hated his former self, but it was too late.
He could not bring his dead family members back to life; they paid the ultimate price for their naiveté.
Zefa knew this well.
But he still had his last family member, the little kid who used to bathe with him and talk about mammoths when he was a child.
"Bazaar is my last remaining family member."
"I will be the first to object to anyone who dares to touch Bazel, not even the Marshal or Sengoku!"
"Anyone who dares to harm my last remaining family member, I will kill him."
Zefa slowly exhaled, as if he had made some kind of decision.
Even the Celestial Dragons—
His eyes inexplicably took on a hint of madness.
"That won't work either!"
—The End of Memories—
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