One Piece: So What If I Sin, Lie, and Lust? I'm Still a Good Marine Chapter 258: Volume 2 – - 160: I Don’t Blame Them

"How was that? Pretty impressive, right?"

Dragon tried to smile brightly at Daren.

But he failed.

His smile carried nothing but sorrow and loss. Under the flickering lightning in the sky, it looked desolate.

Daren imdiately caught on. He frowned and suddenly asked,

"This story isn't over yet, is it?"

Dragon forced a smile.

"Yeah... it's not over yet."

He hadn't finished speaking when a fierce wind, the herald of an impending downpour, swept through the street, scattering fallen leaves across the ground—and blowing back the hood that had covered Dragon's face.

Daren's pupils contracted slightly.

Dragon didn't look much different—his high nose, deep-set eyes, and sharply defined features were all the sa, and his ssy black hair was as unkempt as ever.

But now, there was a new scar.

It ran across the left side of his face, fanning out like an umbrella, with rotting flesh and scorched edges.

"A gunshot wound..."

Daren was montarily stunned.

Then—

"It's him!!"

"That's the World Governnt's most recently wanted criminal!"

"Monkey D. Dragon!!"

"Why is he here?!"

"Damn it! Don't move!"

"Notify the Marines—now!!"

...

A chorus of fear, fury, hesitation, and dread erupted from the street.

As Dragon's hood flew off, the nearby pedestrians recognized him, their faces twisting in shock and terror. Panic consud the entire street.

So people went pale as they grabbed their children and ran.

Others, eyes glinting with greed, shakily raised their pistols and aid them at Dragon.

A few scrambled to use the Den Den Mushi in phone booths or shops to contact the local authorities or Marines—only to find, to their horror, that none of the Den Den Mushi could get a signal...

Amid the chaos, Dragon sat calmly, as if none of it concerned him, smiling quietly at Daren.

"I get it now."

Daren's eyes flickered. His fists clenched on their own, faint arcs of electricity sparking along his skin.

"With your strength, if you were even a little prepared, not even a CP agent ard with Seastone bullets could hurt you. That leaves only one explanation..."

"Exactly..."

Dragon gave a bitter smile, then continued his story.

"After I killed that Celestial Dragon, I dealt with the CP guards easily.

But when I turned around, I saw sothing I couldn't believe.

Civilians were running in terror, so frantically calling the Marines, others sobbing uncontrollably—but that wasn't what mattered most."

Dragon paused. Then, he finally picked up his glass and downed it in one go. He choked on it, coughing hard, his face flushing slightly.

Gasping, he said,

"The parents of the boy I saved... they were trembling in fear, and picked up one of the CP agents' pistols..."

A twisted smile crept to his lips.

"...and aid it at ."

It felt like sothing in the air suddenly snapped.

Silence fell.

BOOM!

Another pale bolt of lightning split the pitch-black sky, its roar deafening.

"Just like now."

Daren looked coldly at the surrounding crowd.

They watched, coveting, fearing.

So fled, while others picked up their guns.

Under the sharp, icy glare of the Commodore, the civilians who had been ready to fire dropped their weapons in panic and fled.

"I don't understand, Daren... I was standing up for them. I was protecting them. They shouldn't be afraid of ..."

Dragon's eyes were slightly red, his expression hard to read.

"I was doing the right thing. I was a just Marine."

Daren took a slow drag from his cigarette and replied,

"Yeah. That's why good people end up staring down gun barrels."

Dragon said quietly,

"They kept saying 'sorry' to . I tried to calm them down..."

"But they still pulled the trigger."

Daren cut in.

Dragon fell silent for a mont.

"...Yeah."

"Because you let your guard down. You never thought they'd actually shoot."

"Yeah."

"You know why they did it?"

"I do. They didn't want to die."

Daren gave a cold laugh.

Of course. They didn't want to die.

Dragon had killed a Celestial Dragon. As witnesses, they had to kill him to 'atone,' to even have a chance at surviving. Even if he killed that Celestial Dragon to save them.

The world... what a twisted place.

Dragon let out a long sigh and smiled.

This ti, his smile held a trace of ease—of acceptance.

"I don't bla them."

"I get it... They're just ordinary people. They have their own lives, their own paths. All they want is peace—a quiet life. They were protecting themselves, and their families."

"I don't bla them. It was what they had to do. They already apologized."

"But the mont that bullet hit , I understood sothing."

"All those people who kneel before the Celestial Dragons... they're not bowing to power. They're bowing to this damned, broken world."

"A decaying system. Corrupt morals. Selfish hearts... The Celestial Dragons are nothing more than monsters born from all that filth."

As he spoke, Dragon's gaze drifted to a corner of the street.

Daren followed his eyes.

A woman sat on the muddy, filthy roadside, her face pale from hunger, body gaunt, clothes in tatters.

In her arms, wrapped in dirty rags, was a child.

Less than five ters away stood a lavishly decorated restaurant.

Through its large floor-to-ceiling windows, they could see the chaos caused by Dragon's presence had cleared out the diners inside.

But the tables remained, full of steaming, extravagant dishes.

Dragon looked at the untouched food, then at the starving woman. He pressed his lips together and said quietly,

"You see it, don't you, Daren?"

"This is the truth of this world."

"The Celestial Dragons live in obscene luxury, and to fund that, they squeeze the mber Nations for everything."

"The leaders and nobles of those nations then exploit the landlords and rchants, who in turn crush the common folk."

"Countless lives trapped at the bottom of society—starving. So beco beggars. Others turn to theft, prostitution, gambling... but most beco pirates."

"These poor souls... they spend every last ounce of strength just to stay alive."

Dragon gave another small smile.

"So no, I don't bla them for shooting ."

"I get it. People side with whoever's winning. And I haven't won yet."

This ti, Daren saw it clearly.

There was no more sorrow or disappointnt in Dragon's smile.

Only a calm acceptance... and a hint of guilt buried deep in his eyes.

"It's not just them. Everything we see—disasters, hunger, war—it's all a glimpse of the future. In a world ruled by survival of the fittest, happiness never stays."

Dragon looked straight at Daren, his voice low and firm, every word weighty.

"One day, I will change this world."

Hearing that, Daren couldn't help but sigh.

His mind wandered back to the day when Dragon had gotten drunk and caused a ruckus in his yard.

It had only been two months since then, but Dragon looked like he'd aged years.

That naive, cheerful hothead was almost gone now—replaced by a man who had seen through the world's ugliness and learned to laugh anyway.

He was a true man now.

But still...

He was destined to walk the sa path.