After this, Dragon and Finn no longer discussed the topic of justice or injustice.
They just drank and chatted as usual, laughing from time to time, appearing very happy.
When the sun was about to set, Finn and Dragon left the tavern together and went their separate ways.
As a Rear Admiral of Marine Headquarters and already having a formal organization, Finn finally escaped the dilemma of bouncing between the Officer Training Camp dormitory and the medical facility. He'd been allocated a courtyard as his own residence.
The courtyard wasn't large. Two rooms and a lawn, just ordinary.
This was the standard configuration for a Rear Admiral. He'd been to the residences of Admiral Sengoku and Zephyr. Those were truly high-end, atmospheric, and classy.
They could almost be considered garden-style mansions.
It had to be said, the Marines were quite generous in providing welfare to senior officers.
No charge for food and drink, free medical care if injured, one month of paid vacation annually. The salary level was also quite high.
As a Rear Admiral, Finn received a basic salary of two million berries per month.
As long as one worked hard and achieved some results, a Rear Admiral could earn at least five million berries monthly.
What was even more enviable: as long as you lived in Marineford or areas ruled by the Marines, there was almost no place to spend money.
Like just now, drinking something required some expense.
The Marines provided everything else.
Forcing you to save money!
After returning to his residence, Finn washed and tidied himself, then lay down on the bed and recalled what had just happened.
He always felt Dragon had wanted to say something to him but ultimately hadn't.
After some speculation, Finn felt there were only two possibilities. First, this guy was still in a period of confusion, so he wanted to talk to his friend Finn to comfort himself.
The second situation: he'd made up his mind to cause trouble, so before leaving the Marines, he might want to tentatively look for like-minded partners.
"Maybe this guy will really come invite me before he leaves?" Finn muttered.
From an external perspective, Finn hadn't been at Marine Headquarters long. Though his future seemed bright, could he be as powerful as Dragon?
Additionally, Finn always said he hadn't found the justice in his heart yet, so he should be considered the type easier to convince.
So... it wasn't impossible that Dragon would really come invite him to join before leaving.
However, Finn smiled and shook his head. "What a pity! I won't go with you, Dragon."
Just kidding. He was doing well in the Marines and had worked hard to reach Rear Admiral. Though he was very anxious because of that bastard Garp, Finn still felt he could be saved.
Didn't he see how friendly the Chief of Staff was to him today? This at least showed the Marine leadership didn't care that he'd beaten up the Fleet Admiral.
He guessed the Fleet Admiral himself didn't care.
If he continued developing well in the Marines, he might become an Admiral or Fleet Admiral in the future.
Enter the upper echelons, hold all the forces in the world in your hands, with more than a million soldiers under your command. With one order, thousands of heads would fall.
Had he eaten too much? Drunk too much? Was he going to start a revolution with Dragon?
Though he also felt there were many things about the World Government he disliked, some of which he hated, as long as they didn't provoke Finn, he could still accept everything.
He was an egoist and didn't have that much compassion.
As for the future, that was a matter for the future. Thinking about it now was just unnecessary worry.
Only when you were strong enough, had higher status and more authority, could you change more things, right?
He couldn't do anything now and couldn't change anything.
Finn was tipsy and fell asleep soon after thinking about these things.
While he slept, he didn't know that Dragon stood at Marineford's harbor, looking back at the tall and majestic Fortress of Justice.
"The Marines' justice is too limited. This isn't true justice at all. The ruling class that doesn't cherish the people, treats them like livestock, is too corrupt and unworthy of being high and mighty... Since no one is going to change it, let me do it. If reform will eventually lead to bloodshed, let me, Dragon, be the first to lose my head!" Dragon took a last look at the fortress with the word Justice written on it and murmured softly.
There was nostalgia and reluctance in his eyes, but ultimately, it transformed into determination and resolve. His figure gradually became ethereal, like a gentle night breeze, dissipating into the air.
Son of a Marine hero.
That night, Vice Admiral Monkey D. Dragon, commander of Marineford Headquarters, quietly left.
From this moment forward, the world had gained one of its most dangerous criminals: the leader of the Revolutionary Army!
Bulu bulu bulu...
While sleeping, Finn's Den Den Mushi began chirping.
Waking with a start, Finn picked up the Den Den Mushi, looked at it, and answered with some surprise. "Kuzan, what's wrong?"
"Something big has happened. Come to the Fleet Admiral's office quickly!" Kuzan whispered urgently.
Finn got up and washed quickly, without even time to eat. He grabbed his Justice Coat from the hanger and draped it over his shoulders, picked up his sword from the rack and secured it at his waist, then rushed to the Fortress of Justice.
The Fleet Admiral's office was on the top floor of the Fortress of Justice. When Finn arrived, he saw Borsalino walking in. Finn followed him. "Vice Admiral Borsalino, long time no see."
Borsalino looked back and smiled. "Finn, congratulations."
"Thank you," Finn replied, then whispered, "What's happening?"
"I don't know either. I was sleeping at home when I was suddenly called by Den Den Mushi from Admiral Sengoku..." Borsalino said with some confusion.
Finn nodded and didn't ask more questions. When they entered, he found all the Marine leadership present, even Garp and Zephyr.
Everyone had calm expressions and serious faces, except for Garp, who looked extremely unhappy.
Seeing this, Finn no longer provoked that troublemaker.
He was also surprised. What had happened?
Could it be that Roger found Raftel and became the Pirate King?
If you calculated the time, it should happen this year, maybe even right now?
Thinking these messy thoughts, he didn't say anything and sat down next to Kuzan.
"What happened? Did Roger become the Pirate King?" Finn asked in a low voice.
"What nonsense are you talking about? Vice Admiral Dragon has defected!" Kuzan glanced at Garp and whispered.
Now Finn was dumbfounded!
A few hours ago, he'd been drinking with Dragon, and now he was being told Dragon defected?
Damn it, Dragon, couldn't you behave yourself?
Now he was the last person to contact him, making him the most suspicious!
"Surprising, right? I'm surprised too..." Kuzan looked at Finn's confused expression and whispered again.
Finn's face twitched slightly. He whispered, "I'm not surprised by this. I just had drinks with Dragon at the Marine Club a few hours ago..."
Kuzan looked at Finn in shock, then quickly asked, "You didn't force him away because of Vice Admiral Garp's incident, did you?"
"How the hell would I have that ability? We didn't even talk about that..." Finn said helplessly.
At that moment, Fleet Admiral Kong walked in from outside with an extremely bad expression.
It had been a while since Finn last saw Kong. After G-1 ended, the Fleet Admiral had stayed in the medical facility for a while. However, his injuries weren't as serious as Finn's, so he'd been discharged soon. Finn hadn't seen him since.
Judging from today's situation, he seemed very angry.
"Everyone's here... I won't keep you in suspense. Today's matter is classified as level one confidential," Kong spoke directly.
He didn't even greet everyone, showing how angry he was.
Before the confused people could ask anything, Kong dropped a letter on the table, his expression increasingly gloomy. "It's been confirmed. Vice Admiral Monkey D. Dragon has defected from the Marines."
As soon as he finished speaking, Borsalino said in surprise, "No way?"
The others who didn't know the truth also looked incredulous.
"Could it be he went out to relax? Or is he just temporarily away from work? I saw him this morning," Zephyr said in a deep voice.
Finn also spoke up. "This evening, Dragon and I were drinking at the Marine Club..."
At that moment, Vice Admiral Garp, who'd been silent the entire time, spoke in a low voice. "If that guy had vanished quietly, we could have assumed he was deserting his post or something else. We wouldn't have been so quick to conclude he'd defected. But... before he left, he left a letter for me!"
Since Garp, the father, said so himself, the others fell silent.
Then Kong asked, "Has anyone seen Dragon since yesterday evening?"
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone in the office shook their heads.
Seeing this, Kong looked at Finn. "It seems you're the last one to have contact with Dragon, Finn."
Judging from the Fleet Admiral's expression, he seemed completely unaware of the rumors circulating outside about Finn beating him up.
Therefore, Finn also breathed a sigh of relief and nodded. "It should be me."
"Did he behave in any strange way? Did he say anything unusual?" Kong asked again.
Finn spoke truthfully. "He asked me about justice and related matters. I said I hadn't found mine. He seemed to have something to say but didn't. I asked if he was feeling better lately, and he said nothing was wrong... The rest was just casual conversation, nothing unusual."
As soon as Finn finished speaking, Kuzan said, "Come to think of it, the day before yesterday when Dragon asked me out for drinks, he behaved similarly. I didn't take it seriously at the time... Now that I think about it, it seems a bit off."
Finn froze momentarily. This guy Dragon was still casting a wide net?
He'd thought Dragon was attracted to him specifically, his talented prospect, but it turned out he was a scumbag. Bah!
Afterward, several Vice Admirals said Dragon had also talked to them about similar things not long ago.
Listening to these accounts, Kong sighed. "That's certain then. Dragon chose to defect of his own accord; he wasn't forced. In his letter, he criticized the Marines' limited justice and questioned the World Government's legitimacy... He said he wanted to leave the Marines to find real answers."
Finn felt Kong must have already helped Dragon polish the wording.
Judging from Dragon's personality, he'd probably cursed the World Government in the letter, right?
Maybe he'd even insulted the Celestial Dragons' ancestors for eighteen generations...
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