Night had already swallowed Cocoyasi's horizon by the time Jin returned from the village. The sound of waves filled the air like steady breathing. Behind him, the orange groves glowed faintly under the moonlight, their scent carried by the wind.
The villagers were asleep—most of them, anyway. Only the cicadas and the whisper of tide kept him company as he walked through the shallows, boots sinking into wet sand. His reflection shimmered beneath the starlight: calm on the surface, storm beneath.
He stopped where the land had been carved open by his thunder ordeal. What was once a mountain was now a scar—a deep crater swallowing the moonlight whole.
Jin's gaze lingered on the water slowly filling the pit from below, trickling up from cracks that reached all the way to the sea. The air was still thick with ozone, the faint scent of charred rock and metal.
He knelt down, running his palm along a fragment of stone blackened by lightning.
"Even now…" he murmured. "It still bites."
When he pushed a thread of inner force into the rock, his arm jolted as though stabbed by a thousand needles. The shard snapped, scattering into dust.
Jin exhaled through his teeth. "Tch. The residue still carries that edge."
He stared at the fractured rock in his palm. His inner force—something he'd honed for decades before ever stepping foot into this world—had been pierced. Not crushed, not shattered. Cut.
That wasn't simple lightning.
"It's not just electricity," he said quietly, almost to himself. "It's metal essence… Gold Qi."
He remembered his master's old lectures—the five primal energies of the world: Wood for growth, Fire for vitality, Earth for stability, Water for flow, and Gold for destruction. Among them, Gold was the sharpest, the most violent. It could sever all other elements if wielded purely.
And the thunder that struck him that day hadn't just carried destruction—it had carried judgment.
"The will of the world," he muttered, fingers brushing the black dragon hilt of his blade. "A test… meant to destroy what shouldn't exist."
The sword at his side vibrated faintly, responding to his thoughts.
He chuckled. "You felt it too, huh? Don't get cocky. That lightning nearly broke you apart."
The weapon pulsed again—like a low growl.
"Fine," Jin said, standing. "We'll call it even."
He turned toward the sea. The crater was already half-flooded, seawater seeping in through underground veins. If left alone, the pressure would burst upward eventually—enough to flood part of the coastline.
He couldn't leave it like that.
Jin drew his sword, the motion slow, deliberate. The moon's reflection rippled along the blade's edge.
"Let's fix this before I go."
He adjusted his footing, exhaled once, then swung.
A whisper of steel.
The air itself split.
A line of pure, condensed killing intent—blade qi—ripped forward from his sword, carving through the ground like a lightning bolt. The earth opened with a deafening roar as the energy carved a trench hundreds of meters long, connecting the crater directly to the open sea.
A surge of seawater rushed in, equalizing the pressure.
When it was done, the ground trembled once, then settled. The sea sighed, calm again.
Jin sheathed his sword. "That's better."
By the time he returned to the Eternal, dawn had begun to paint the horizon pale gold. The deck was quiet, except for the faint creak of ropes and the whisper of sails catching the morning wind.
Makino stood by the railing, a shawl wrapped around her shoulders, eyes half-lidded with sleep.
"You're up early," she said softly when she saw him.
"Didn't sleep."
"Still worrying about the crater?"
"It's fixed." He smiled faintly. "Now it's just a pond that leads to the sea. No risk left for the village."
"That's good." She leaned beside him on the railing. "You've already done more for Cocoyasi than anyone else ever has."
He didn't answer, just stared out toward the open water. After a moment, she spoke again.
"You're leaving at sunrise, aren't you?"
"Yeah."
Makino smiled sadly. "You could stay longer, you know. No one here would stop you."
Jin turned his head slightly, watching her. "And you'd be okay with that?"
She hesitated, then laughed quietly. "I'd pretend to be."
There was something unguarded about her expression—warm and fragile, like the first light of dawn. He'd seen her take care of Nami, smile for the villagers, cook for his crew, never once asking for anything in return.
And yet, beneath that strength, there was always loneliness.
Jin reached out, brushing a strand of hair from her face.
"You've done enough pretending," he said softly.
Makino's breath caught. "You shouldn't say things like that before you leave."
"Then I'll say them now," he murmured. "Before I can't."
The wind carried the smell of salt and oranges. For a moment, the world felt still. Then she stepped closer, resting a hand on his chest, her voice trembling with quiet defiance.
"You're impossible, you know that?"
He smiled faintly. "So I've been told."
Her lips met his—slow, uncertain at first, then deepening with the weight of all the words they hadn't spoken. When they finally broke apart, she leaned into his chest, listening to the slow rhythm of his heartbeat.
"You'll get yourself killed someday," she whispered.
"Probably," he said with a wry grin. "But not today."
By midmorning, the village gathered quietly at the edge of the coast. There were no cheers, no ceremony—just a handful of people standing beneath the wind, watching the black-sailed ship ready itself for departure.
Belle-Mère stood beside Nami and Nojiko, arms crossed, cigarette dangling from her lips.
"You sure about this?" she asked Jin.
"Sure enough," he said. "I've got a few things to take care of before the next storm hits this sea."
Nami clutched the small Den Den Mushi to her chest. "You'll really call?"
He smiled. "I'm counting on you to answer."
Belle-Mère flicked ash into the sand. "Take care of yourself out there. And don't bring any more trouble to my island, you hear me?"
"No promises," he said with a grin.
She snorted, shaking her head. "Figures."
As he turned to board, Nami's small voice called out again. "You'll come back, right?"
He looked over his shoulder. "Always."
The gangplank was drawn up. The sails caught wind. The Eternal began to move.
Makino, Kuina, Hina, and Kuma stood along the deck. Each of them watched in silence as the shore drifted away—Belle-Mère waving lazily, Nami jumping up and down, shouting his name until the voices were swallowed by the wind.
Only when the coastline shrank to a faint line on the horizon did Jin turn away.
"Set course," he said quietly.
"For where, Captain?" Kuma asked.
"West," Jin replied, his gaze distant. "To the first island of the Grand Line."
Far away, under the calm blue of the Marine headquarters, Fleet Admiral Sengoku stood at his office window, arms crossed.
"So, he's finally left Cocoyasi," he murmured.
Below him, reports were stacked high on his desk—pages filled with incomplete reconnaissance, missing agents, unconfirmed sightings.
"Every file ends the same way," he said darkly. "Disappeared without trace."
Beside him, a Den Den Mushi clicked to life.
A lazy, familiar voice drifted through the receiver. "Yo~ Sengoku. About that favor you mentioned…"
Sengoku frowned. "Kuzan."
"Yeah, that's me," the Admiral of Ice replied. "I'm heading east for a patrol. If that 'test' you mentioned still stands, I'll keep an eye on your mystery man."
Sengoku's brow furrowed. "You're sure?"
"Not like I've got anything better to do," Kuzan said with a yawn. "Besides… the world's changing. If this guy's really what you think he is, it's better I see him with my own eyes."
The line clicked dead.
Sengoku stared out at the sea once more. "Then may the gods have mercy on you both."
On the Eternal, wind filled the sails, and the ocean stretched endlessly ahead. Jin stood at the bow, his black coat whipping in the wind, eyes narrowed against the glare.
Somewhere beyond that horizon, new enemies were waiting. Maybe even a certain admiral.
He smiled faintly.
"Come on then," he murmured. "Let's see who breaks first."
The sea roared in answer.
And just like that, the calm before the storm was over.
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T/N :
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