It wasn't that Mjosgard was suddenly a good person.
He was still a Celestial Dragon, the "most noble" breed of monster in the world.
He just wasn't stupid enough to kill his own return ticket.
For now, he needed Jin alive. Once they reached the Holy Land?
One troublesome Marine could be crushed like an ant.
"Hmph. We're going back to the Holy Land," he said, turning away.
"Yes, Lord Mjosgard!" the two CP agents chirped, scrambling to lead the way.
As they moved, Tokikake edged closer to Jin and murmured, "This isn't over. Be careful. You know how Headquarters is about them."
Jin grinned. "You think I'm just going to sit and wait? Don't forget—dragons can fly."
He leaned in a little. "With how fast I am now, if I decided to start robbing the Heavenly Tribute… or certain traveling nobles… how fast do you think the Holy Land would panic?"
Tokikake imagined it for exactly half a second, then violently shook his head.
Because in that half second, he'd pictured Jin dropping out of the sky onto golden tribute ships and noble carriages, cutting through Celestial Dragons like a storm.
Nope. No. Not thinking about that.
Better not to tempt fate.
Behind them, Otohime, Neptune, Jinbe, and the others hurried to follow, unwilling to let Mjosgard leave without at least a token escort.
But Otohime's gaze drifted again and again to Jin.
Her Observation Haki was… different. It could nudge hearts, soften anger, pull out hidden empathy—and it could tell the difference between lies and truth.
She'd felt it clearly: that Marine wasn't bluffing. If Mjosgard had fired, Jin truly would have killed him.
And her. And everyone else in the hall.
What a terrifying man, she thought.
Jinbe, meanwhile, couldn't take his eyes off Jin either.
Jin felt his stare and ignored Otohime, turning his head toward the blue shark in a kimono.
"Yo, Jinbe," he said. "Why do you look like you want to kill me?"
Everyone stopped walking at once.
Even Mjosgard turned back, curious.
The Marines raised their weapons, aiming at Jinbe on instinct. The tension in the air thickened.
Jinbe clenched his fists. "Much as I might want to, I am one of the Seven Warlords," he said stiffly. "I won't act carelessly."
Jin walked up to him until they were only a step apart.
"Did you know?" he asked quietly. "After I killed Arlong, I wanted to kill you too."
The hall went dead silent.
Dragon Palace guards stared wide-eyed. Otohime's hands flew to her mouth. Neptune's fingers tightened on his trident.
Jin's aura darkened, pressure rolling off his body. Jinbe stepped back, legs bending, ready to fight.
"Do you know what those trash you let walk free did next?" Jin asked.
"Those 'brothers' of yours?"
His voice stayed calm. That only made it worse.
"They went to East Blue. To a little place called Cocoyasi Village."
Otohime's heart lurched. Her Observation flared.
"They killed people. Put a tax on life itself. Ten thousand berries a month for each adult. Five thousand for each kid."
He shrugged.
"If it had ended there, I would've just been pissed. This world is rotten. People die every day. I don't like it, but I can live with it."
His eyes sharpened.
"But do you know what Arlong did in the end?"
Jinbe knew this feeling. He'd felt it once when Fisher Tiger died. Right now, the danger radiating off Jin was worse.
"Arlong," Jin said softly, "decided to kill a woman in front of her child. Then force that child to join his crew.
"He liked bullying the weak. So I gave him what he liked."
Jin turned away, as if the story bored him now.
"Know how he died?"
He didn't wait for an answer.
"I cut him," Jin said. "Slowly. One slice at a time. Until there was nothing left to cut."
Otohime's eyes filled with tears. Neptune looked stricken. The palace guards glanced at each other in horror.
Jinbe's fists trembled.
Jin chuckled, low and cold. "His face at the end was beautiful."
"That's enough," Jinbe snapped, eyes rimmed in red. "Even so. Even so—you shouldn't have tortured him like that. You should've given him a clean death."
"Should I?" Jin turned back, grinning.
"Jinbe, I used to say I was a Marine with no 'justice.' But I was wrong. I do have justice."
Tokikake and Kuro both watched him closely.
"The others all yell about 'absolute justice,' 'lazy justice,' 'burning justice,'" Jin said. "Mine's simple."
His smile widened, feral.
"Black justice is still justice."
Tokikake stiffened in shock.
Kuro just smiled faintly. No shackles, he thought. No rules. Just what he thinks is right.
Jin's golden eyes locked onto Jinbe.
"So if you want to start something, do it now," he said. "Give me a reason. Then I can kill you with a clear conscience."
"Interesting. You're an interesting Marine," Mjosgard said, laughing. "At first I thought I'd settle accounts with you once we were back in the Holy Land.
"But I've changed my mind."
Jin raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"
"I think you're amusing," Mjosgard said. "I could use a man like you. Come work for me."
"No thanks," Jin said immediately. "I like breathing."
"Ha! Honest, too." Mjosgard pulled a small Den Den Mushi from his robes and tossed it to Jin. "Take it. If you need something, contact me."
Jin caught it, weighed it in his hand, then tucked it away.
"Be rude to refuse twice," he said lightly. "Thanks, I'll hang onto it."
Mjosgard laughed and strutted ahead like a pig who thought he was a peacock.
Behind them, the fish-men stared at Jinbe.
He let out a long sigh. It was his fault. He'd let Arlong leave. What followed… he couldn't blame on anyone else.
"Don't worry, Queen Otohime, King Neptune," he said finally. "I won't make a move."
"Jinbe," Otohime said quietly. "Find a way to make amends to that family. Someday. I can feel it—his heart isn't bad."
"Alright," Jinbe murmured. "I understand. I'll do it."
They rode a giant flatfish toward the harbor.
Partway through the journey, Otohime stepped closer to Jin. Neptune, Jinbe, and the ministers tensed instantly.
"May I speak with you, Marine-san?" Otohime asked, looking up at him. At two meters forty, Jin towered over her.
"Honestly?" Jin said. "I really don't want to talk to you."
"Eh?" Kuro and the Marines stared at him like he'd lost his mind.
Didn't you say you like married women? their eyes screamed. She's gorgeous, she's kind, she's a queen—and you're turning her down?
"How rude!" the Left and Right Ministers snapped.
Otohime raised a hand to stop them, never taking her eyes off Jin.
"May I ask why?" she said gently. "Why don't you want to talk to me?"
"My name's Arakaki Jin," he said. "Call me Jin. 'White Ghost' if you like titles."
He thought for a moment. "As for why… because you're too kind. Way, way too kind."
Everyone around them choked.
"Too kind?" Otohime tilted her head. She could feel he wasn't lying.
"Is kindness a bad thing now?" Neptune muttered, face dark.
Otohime ignored him. "Then, Jin-san, may I ask something else?"
"Shoot."
"Why did you look at me with that… 'so it's you' expression when we first met? Why did you act like you already knew me?
"We've never met, have we?"
Tokikake stared at Jin like he was waiting for a shared joke. Neptune's face grew darker by the second.
"Newspaper," Jin said smoothly. "Saw you there."
Otohime frowned slightly.
Lie.
She chose not to pick at it. If he didn't want to say more, forcing him would only close his heart.
"Then, Jin-san," she said instead, "what do you think of Fishman Island? Of us fish-men? I can sense no hatred from you."
Everyone stared harder. Even Mjosgard glanced back, interested.
From his point of view, Jin was the type who should loathe fish-men—he'd brutally executed Arlong, had just menaced Jinbe, and carried himself like a man disgusted by weakness.
"I don't hate any race," Jin said. "fish-men, humans, giants, minks—it's all the same.
"Different flesh. Same world."
His eyes sharpened.
"As long as they don't piss me off first."
Otohime nodded slowly. "Then, Jin-san, what are your thoughts on humans and fish-men living together in peace?"
Jin snorted.
"Why should they?"
Everyone's eyes nearly fell out of their sockets.
"You're a Marine," Neptune blurted. "Is that something a Marine should say!?"
Jin didn't answer him. Instead, he pointed toward a nearby alley.
"Look," he said.
A small group of humans were there, rough-looking men with nets and sacks, shoving a crying little mermaid into a crate.
The royal guards immediately bared their teeth.
"Deal with them," Jin said.
"Understood." Kuro stepped off the fish and used Moonwalk, boots hitting the water in a staccato rhythm. He dropped onto the slavers like a blade.
Jin watched Otohime's face.
"You see?" he asked quietly. "Humans do this to you. Every day. They poach your children, drag them off in chains.
"And you, the queen, still stand at the front and tell everyone not to hate."
He looked out over the coral city, eyes cold.
"Do you actually know what kind of life your people live? Today it's a parent killed. Tomorrow, a child disappears. Today someone is beaten for fun. Tomorrow another body floats up in the current.
"What do they need from you?"
He shook his head.
"That's why I said you're too kind. Kindness that goes that far… in this world, it's not kindness anymore."
He smiled without humor.
"It's weakness."
A scream cut through the water. Kuro's job was already done; the slavers lay sprawled and broken, the little mermaid sobbing in the arms of a palace guard.
"Situations like that?" Jin asked. "You know how many times they happen every single day?"
He raised his hand.
"Wind Bullet."
A small, compressed blast of air snapped from his fingertip, whistling through the water.
Far ahead, a fleeing human slaver—one of the ringleaders who'd already tried to escape—jerked as the invisible round punched cleanly through his skull.
He toppled into the sand without a sound.
Jin's voice was quiet, but everyone heard it.
"In a world that eats people," he said, "if you don't learn to bite back…
"you're just meat on a plate."
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