71 changes

Do not wake sleepwalkers.

--Inscription

……

The year 1517 in the Haiyuan calendar is a year that is quite difficult to define for the entire naval headquarters.

From late summer to autumn until early winter, the Marineford Navy headquarters was in a tense state for several months. The internal reorganization of the navy caused by the death of Lieutenant Colonel Uriel under Lieutenant General Ghost Spider took place during this time. .

It wasn't until the operation was closed and all relevant personnel were convicted that this incident called "cleaning up" was notified to the generals of various departments through internal documents.

The incident started with the death of the lieutenant colonel of the Navy Headquarters, but what was gradually revealed during the investigation was a jaw-dropping darkness.

Lieutenant Colonel Uriel of the headquarters used his own advantages to deceive ignorant women into a trap, and then forced them to lurk beside each predetermined target in a marriage situation, and obtained naval intelligence, resulting in the failure of the naval operation, killing those poor women afterwards, and engulfing the fallen soldiers pension.

On the one hand, Lieutenant Colonel Ulier, who looks pious, sells the secrets of the operation to the hostile camps outside, on the other hand, he waits for the leak of the secrets to lead to the death of the defeated target, and then defrauds the pension through those women.

In the end, that man colluded with some morally corrupt generals, and sold the merits of the soldiers and low-ranking officers who died in battle to those who were greedy for life, afraid of death, and addicted to power.

At the end of each battle, when sorting out the list of the dead, Uriel and his accomplices privately replaced the dead soldiers with those who paid the money to become heroes, so that the original heroes could not get the honor they deserved after death.

What Uriel and his group did has insulted the entire naval camp, and even more insulted the justice they initially upheld.

Unforgivable sin.

……

In fact, including the Marshal of the Warring States Period, the high-ranking officers of the navy have all noticed that the era of great pirates has been in existence for 20 years. Until now, the navy camp looks good on the outside, but it is gradually becoming corrupt inside.

Under the shroud of power determined by power, looseness at the top will often lead to chain effects. The system set by the naval rules seems to be extremely pure on the surface. Soldiers who make mistakes will be judged with an iron fist. Once the deterrence weakens, or once the controller loses balance, the absolute power The dark side will spread rapidly, and even have no bottom line than other camps.

The so-called prosperity must decline, the so-called light and shadow follow.

Every senior general of the Navy headquarters is well aware of this, after all they are not idiots.

It's just that no one probably thought that the so-called "decline" actually happened within reach, and it had already started a few years ago. What blinded their eyes and caused them to overlook it?

There is no answer to this question yet, but it is enough to cause all the generals to think deeply.

Perhaps it is as written in the commentary of the Marshal of the Warring States Period on the front page of the dossier:

The expansion of desire/desire leads to the weakening of faith, the lax self-discipline leads to moral collapse, and the degeneration of the guardian, its destructive power and consequences are more serious than any enemy.

The existence of the navy is the lock of punishment for the pirates, and the "justice" in the hearts of the soldiers is the sword of Damocles hanging over the heads of the generals.

……

On the day when the first snow fell in early winter, Kizaru temporarily dropped his status as a general and went to see off his friends in the name of Polusalino.

Alexis, the senior staff officer of the Navy Headquarters, was also the highest-ranking general involved in the purge operation. Polusalino and Sakaski were students of the military academy at the same time, and one of the few classmates who are still alive today.

……

When the verdict was finalized that day, Polusalino heard that Alexis had to choose the latter between "detention in a deep sea prison" and "secret execution". As a classmate of the year, he decided to see him for the last time.

In the underground prison that few people know about in Marineford Naval Headquarters, Alex is held in the deepest cell. As the prisoner with the highest military rank involved in the case, after he gets his due punishment, the others will be sent to prison according to the severity of the crime.

When Polusalino entered, Alex was sitting cross-legged on the ground, with a vermilion lacquer plate in front of him. He was not surprised to see him, but picked up the white porcelain wine cup, smiled slightly, and drank it down.

Lighting up the empty wine cup, my classmate of decades looked calm, "It's a good wine, it's a pity I can't respect you."

Polusalino didn't speak, but just looked at the other side quietly. He understood Alex's choice. As a navy, he was imprisoned in the deep sea prison, and his fate would be worse than death.

Internal executions in the Navy would at least give him a face, and even if the crime was publicized internally, it would not leak to the outside world.

It's just... Polusalino has been unable to figure out why Alexis would do such a thing, desecrate the honor of soldiers, and insult the justice they shoulder.

Alexis joined the army at the same time as him. There are only a few of them left in the first period, but everyone who survived is already in high positions. Polusalino still doesn't understand, what else... is worth Alexis choosing to abandon his beliefs .

that power?ambition?desire?

Isn't everything already satisfied?

Alex kept smiling until the poisonous hair. Seeing his friend like this, Polusalino sighed, but he was not ready to ask. He knew that it was too late to say anything.

Too late to regret, or no regrets, it doesn't help at this moment.

Such an end is what Alex deserves, and the severity of the sentencing will not change the original intention because of whether the sinner repents or not, and the other end of the trial balance is the evil consequences of his crime.

The deep cell was so quiet that there was only the breathing of the dying. Polusalino didn't want to see his friend die. He originally planned to turn around and leave, but when he moved slightly, Alex suddenly started laughing.

"So that's it! That's it! I lost to that woman again, and I can die without regret~"

Unable to support himself, he fell to the ground. The person lying on his back laughed intermittently, his chest heaved violently, and his heartbeat gradually calmed down.

After a long time, Polusalino closed his eyes and put a sigh in the corner of his mouth.

……

That night Polusalino had another dream of the past.

He dreamed of Marineford under the scorching sun, dreamed that they were young and frivolous, dreamed of being a thousand years old.

Perhaps it was some incredible imagination triggered by Alex's death. After 27 years, Polusalino actually dreamed of the scene of the death of a thousand years old.

He dreamed of the scene described in the file he had seen. Thousands of years turned into a huge black bird with wings spread out to cover the sky.

The jet-black feathers fluttered endlessly, and ashes annihilated wherever they passed, burning like the karmic fire of hell.

Polusalino always felt that he had seen such an apocalyptic scene somewhere, but even in a dream, he knew that it was impossible for him to witness the black sea of ​​hellfire.

Twenty-seven years ago, when Qiantui died, he was thousands of miles away. Thinking about it for so many years made his bone marrow painful. He didn't even want to set foot on the Chitu Continent, because that land was where she was buried.

In recent years, he has rarely dreamed of her, perhaps because he has calmed down?He is now sitting in the position of admiral, and his only purpose is to keep the faith in his heart.

Until he dies in battle, until he closes his eyes, then death will let him and her meet again.

……

Alexis was buried in Marineford, not in the Navy Cemetery, but in a remote location, and with his death, the purge of the Navy Headquarters finally came to an end.

After the last soldier involved in the case was escorted to the prison, all the files were sealed in the confidential room, and then the Marshal of the Warring States Period announced that the blockade of the Navy Headquarters, which had lasted for two months, was over, the curfew and the wartime state were lifted, and everything was back on track.

After Marineford lifted the ban, it was followed by an intensive campaign against pirates.

The various strategic plans that had been stagnated due to this operation were restarted, and the garrisons in various places began to change, and the lieutenant generals set sail in order according to the military plan of the previous year.

Probably from that time on, Polusalino gradually realized that there seemed to be something wrong with him.

In the beginning, he was fidgeting every night. After the lights came on, he would subconsciously take care of himself, put on the most suitable clothes, use pomade, gold tie clips, jeweled cufflinks, everything must be just right, like a young man on an appointment, Uneasy and joyful.

However, Polusalino would suddenly wake up every time he came to go out.

He has long since lost the idea of ​​having fun. In recent years, he has been ascetic. Unless his condition is really wrong, he will just find a woman. Apart from the office, the place where he spends most of his time is the residence of Marineford. He even finds someone Drink very little.

Like every night recently, the urgency to go out is not because of the insatiable desire, but...the blood is full of unknown sweet and sour expectations.

Polusalino couldn't tell where his feelings came from. He had lost the instinct to keep his heart beating as early as his death.

At night, he wanted to go out like a sleepwalker but had no goal. After waking up, he lost his interest. When he fell asleep, he always dreamed of a scene where a thousand years old and a hundred years old were wiped out.

Repeatedly every night every night, tortured him so much that he was restless.

And as time passed, gradually, the doomsday scene where the sky and the earth were completely dark became more colorful.

He saw bones strewn with ruins and broken walls. It was the most open square in Marineford.

In his dream, he saw a person hidden under the folded wings of thousands of years old, saw the wind blowing flames and burned her body, saw her half-upturned face, with resentment in the brows.

Those fragments were fragmented and clueless, and in the end, without exception, he couldn't save her.

Polusalino did not believe in ghosts and gods, and after having similar dreams for half a month in a row, he began to consider whether his spirit had finally gone wrong.

Maybe it was tortured to the point of madness by longing?Or maybe...his life was nearing its end?

Hearing that there will be omens inexplicably before death, Polusalino thought that the dream of a thousand years old was an invitation from her to him.

Was she alone in the world of the dead?So you want to take him away?

Thinking of this, Polusalino was a little happy again, and he even secretly wrote the will.

……

On the day of the winter solstice, he got a premonition of death and quickly dealt with the affairs behind him. General Kizaru expressed that he was in a very happy mood. When he met Aokiji before leaving get off work, he asked his colleagues to go home for a drink.

Is it an early farewell?Polusalino thought so at the time.

Aokiji, who ran into him head-on, readily agreed, and the two of them walked slowly and swayed back to their residence. Polusalino realized from Kuzan's strange behavior that he couldn't help squinting at the corner of his eyes, that this colleague was absolutely I came to find him on purpose, not as simple as I thought I ran into him by chance.

Polusalino didn't think for a moment why Kuzan was looking for him, because his colleague had just returned to Marineford today, and in the morning he heard that Marshal Sengoku shot General Aokiji away in anger.

The reason is that the green pheasant went for a walk and disappeared.

As soon as the ban was lifted from the Navy headquarters, Aokiji Kuzan would go out on a bicycle without saying goodbye. After walking for a month, he was as self-willed as Lieutenant General Garp.

It’s just that Lieutenant General Garp is still on the great waterway today, chasing the newcomer pirate who has become famous recently in a warship and fighting endlessly. The Marshal of the Warring States Period has nowhere to go. man's anger.

As for the green pheasant... the yellow monkey who entered the house and greeted his colleagues to sit down, only smiled inwardly.

Aokiji Kuzan's idea was good, but it was not perfect, at least the other two of the three generals knew it well, not to mention Marshal Warring States and Lieutenant General Garp.

They have worked together for decades, some things are known but they will not interfere.

Even though Kuzan is private for that girl O'Hara...

Well~ After thinking about it, he smiled slightly in his heart and shook his head. Polusalino casually threw a bottle of wine to his colleague who was sitting on the sofa with a strange expression, but did not speak.

……

After a while, the two of them drank the whole bottle of wine. Kuzan put down the empty bottle, let out a sigh of relief, and lay lazily on the sofa. Contrary to his casual attitude, his face became serious.

Polusalino then put down the wine bottle, and asked in a hoarse voice, "Yeah, what can cause you such embarrassment?"

Hearing this, Qingzhi Kuzan raised his hand and took out something from the inner pocket of his clothes and threw it out. He raised his chin, "Someone exchanged this with me for the answer to one matter."

After receiving the thing thrown in front of him, he lowered his eyelids and glanced at it. Polusalino raised his eyebrows, "Yeah, it looks like something very important, right? Did you agree to exchange information?"

It was a thin piece of paper held by his fingertips. Polusalino looked at it over and over again, but he didn't rush to take it apart. Instead, he asked, "What's the matter?"

Aokiji Kuzan raised his eyes, met Polusalino's gaze, and replied awkwardly after a long time, "She asked me if the music box was engraved with ancient characters."

"Her?" After a moment of hesitation, Polusalino quickly came to his senses, who else could it be?It can make Aokijiku agree to exchange that kind of fatal information, except for Nicole.Robin... Who else would be so generous.

After getting the answer, Polusalino didn't say anything about Aokiji's behavior. He quietly looked at his colleagues for a while, then lowered his eyes, and slowly unfolded the paper card in his hand.

……

A picture is drawn on a thin piece of paper...

At this moment, the heart seemed to be tightly clenched by invisible hands, and then there was a bang in the brain, and countless chaotic images flew wildly, detonating in the sea of ​​​​consciousness.

Unable to bear such a huge amount of information, his mind was agitated as if being pierced by a red-hot needle, and he was about to lose consciousness. Polusalino was so painful that his whole body broke out in cold sweat. He couldn't help moaning, closed his eyes, and trembled uncontrollably .

I don't know how long it took, the long buzzing sound in the cochlea finally subsided, Polusalino opened his eyes, and stared at the anxious-looking Aokiji Kuzan who was nearby.

It is rare for a colleague to see him at a loss, "You...how are you..."

Polusalino shook his head and said with a sneer, "Yeah~ It's just that I can't help being surprised when I'm old."

After a long while, Polusalino sat up straight with the outstretched hand of his colleague, lowered his eyes again, looked at the picture on the paper carefully, and slightly curved his mouth, "Yeah~ So, Kuzan, you have already Have you noticed something is wrong?"

"Our memory, no..." After a pause for a few seconds, Polusalino raised his eyes, without hiding the sharp pain and anger in his eyes, "The entire memory of Marineford has been tampered with."

A thousand years old!

The paper that Aokiji Kuzan brought was the deck of a warship overlooking from a high altitude. A group of people were drawn on it. They hold a child and an animal in their arms.

Polusalino focused on the two people behind, one was him and the other was a thousand years old.

Seeing this painting triggered a catastrophe like a memory tsunami. Polusalino remembered everything in an instant, and suddenly realized that his abnormalities in the past month were not due to other reasons, but memory problems.

And the culprit... is a thousand years old.

She tampered with him... No, it was the entire memory of Marineford, she erased all the memories from the time she appeared until she disappeared again, no wonder he always felt wrong, it turned out to be like this!

He forgot everything about her return, but subconsciously went to see her every night.

It was so!

turn out to be!No wonder Alexis would say such inexplicable words before he died, is it because the ability to live for a thousand years disappears when he is about to die?

Remembering everything in an instant, Alex would say, 'That's it!I see!Once again defeated by that woman, I will die without regret~'

……

The fingers clenched unconsciously, with such force that they tore the paper, and Polusalino hated it to the extreme for a moment.

The incomparable anger and remorse flooded the reason like a flood.

She disappeared before his eyes, and he was once again unable to help.

She dared to erase his memory on her own initiative!

She lied!

She clearly promised to say goodbye before leaving, but she didn't say goodbye!