Chapter 648: The Promise!
"So… what if we step in?"
Borsalino strolled out from the side, hands in his pockets, smiling as if he were discussing lunch.
"Intervene?" Sakazuki slumped back into his chair, voice low. "If the three of us move together, we're still only comparable to low level Guardians at best."
"How do we face Gol D. Roger and Athostan?"
He sounded unwilling, but he did not deny reality.
"The three of us can't beat a Guardian head on."
Kuzan stepped forward, eyes calm, tone even.
"Maybe not. But if we're willing to bet the Navy's strength, it's not impossible to tear a chunk of flesh off them."
"If we keep hiding inside Headquarters, how do we establish authority when the seas need us to hold the line again?"
"You mean… we go out ourselves?" Issho spoke up from the doorway.
Even blind, he grasped the situation perfectly.
"If you leave, then Marine Headquarters needs protection. The Navy, the high ranking officers, everything is here."
Borsalino lifted a finger, still smiling.
"Not only Admiral Issho. Professor Zephyr, and other admiral level Marines too."
"They're our people. We should trust them."
"Right, Fleet Admiral?"
Sakazuki stared at the three of them.
"…So you already decided this while you were in the back."
"Now you've come out together because all three of you want to go fight."
Then Sakazuki laughed, the sound rough and strangely bright.
It had been a long time since he felt this.
The reckless heat he once carried across the seas, the urge to punch through any storm with his own fists, had been buried for years beneath paperwork and responsibility.
He was a Magma Magma Fruit user by nature. Irritable. Direct. Violent when necessary.
This calm hesitation had never suited him.
Kuzan's smile deepened.
"Then it's time to remind the sea… the three of us aren't too old to throw hands."
"Even the Guardians and the Evictors can't hide that truth."
People had forgotten. Kuzan knew it.
They looked at him and saw laziness, indifference, a man who moved only when he felt like it.
But on the seas, reputation was built with blood, and Sakazuki and his two peers had carved theirs out step by step until the world had no choice but to call them Admirals.
Sakazuki stood.
"Admiral Issho. Starting today, you and Vice Admiral Gion will oversee all Marine Headquarters affairs."
"Admiral Issho… you can handle it, can't you?"
The respectful address made the room go slightly still.
Sakazuki did not even speak that politely to the Five Elders.
Issho smiled gently.
"Thank you for the responsibility, Fleet Admiral. I will do my best."
This Navy… was the Navy he had wanted to join.
Not a machine that crushed everything for power, not a blade that obeyed without conscience.
This was justice he could stand behind.
…
Back with the Dragon Hunter Pirates.
"Captain, should we move now?" Najenda asked quickly.
"I have a feeling this problem isn't as simple as they claim."
The crew had already arrived at the other side on their own. After listening to Jay and Vegapunk, the contradiction only grew sharper.
Jay's existence was the worst of it. If his goal were only getting his body back, he would not have gone to these lengths.
And it was confirmed by Shirahoshi's bloodline sense. The one who brought the Three Kings back then was Jay. That feeling did not lie.
Vegapunk and Lilith were no better. Their timing was too perfect, their actions too staged, like they already knew where Ryuunosuke would step next.
Chrollo nodded.
"Captain Najenda is right. The attitudes of those two sides are strange."
"Captain, do you have a new plan?"
"Or do we stick to the decision we made earlier?"
Everyone's eyes turned to Ryuunosuke.
One order from him would shape everything that followed.
Ryuunosuke's gaze did not waver.
"I must obtain the Seed of God."
"To fully control the Gate of Eternity, I need the Seed of God's power."
"This world is practically sealed. Unless the Seed of God breaks it open completely…"
His voice dipped, and for the first time the pressure behind his words felt personal.
"Then I might not be able to fulfill my promise to you."
"Promise?" The crew exchanged looks.
They had fought beside him since they arrived through the system. Many still did not fully understand his reasons.
They just followed the result.
And the result was simple. Their Captain was strong enough to make arrogance look like certainty.
Ryuunosuke exhaled.
"Didn't I say it before?"
"You came to this world to help me. After I finish what I need to do here… it's my turn to help you."
"The Gate of Eternity can connect the heavens and countless worlds."
"I already located your worlds."
He explained everything, quickly but clearly, laying out the logic, the road, the price.
When he finished, silence lingered like a held breath.
Chrollo spoke first, calm as ever.
"So you did all this… so we could return to our own worlds?"
"Honestly, we don't depend on the original world that much."
He was a Phantom Troupe member. In his world, freedom was stolen and kept by force.
His current life was not worse. If anything, it was more exciting.
Ryuunosuke shook his head slightly.
"It wasn't about you."
"Nightraid. The Empire needs saving."
"Yahiko. You need to stop Akatsuki, end the ninja war, and crush the Otsutsuki conspiracy."
"Meliodas. You still need to lift your curse and destroy the Demon King."
He continued, listing each of them as if the missions were carved into his bones.
When he spoke like that, it sounded less like a plan and more like a vow.
Najenda's eyes narrowed with a sharp, amused edge.
"Captain… you really know a lot about our lives."
"If I hadn't grown up alongside you, I'd think you were some kind of god."
"So…"
Meliodas leaned forward, grin widening.
"When do we go?"
For him, risk never mattered as much as the chance to end what needed ending.
And at least on the surface…
They finally had the upper hand.
.....
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