Clark was happy today.

Because as the adjutant of Lieutenant General Jaspad, he has followed Lieutenant General Jaspad to an island called "Shipbuilding Island".

There is a "Shipbuilding Street" on Shipbuilding Island, and "Shipbuilding Street" is lined with shipyards.

If it's just an ordinary shipbuilding island, it's just that, as a navy, all kinds of sea ships have been seen, and it is not enough to be attracted by the shipbuilding street.

But the "Shipbuilding Street" is different, and the genius shipbuilders here have invented a "steamship" - the kind of steel warship that is said to have no sails or oars, and can even be afraid of storms. ①

Since this is the world of "One Piece", the technology tree is different from the earth, so even the "steam ship" is equipped with three masts on it, firstly, the shipbuilders have not yet gotten rid of the inherent concept of a sailboat, and secondly, it can prevent problems with the power system of the steam engine.

The reason why Vice Admiral Jaspard is here today is very simple - the Five Old Stars have already ordered the blockade of steamship technology, and even Hai Lan's proposal for a steam ship was vetoed by the Five Old Stars, and Hai Lan later relied on the concept of "steam steel mill" to save Tom the Fishman.

So Lieutenant Gaspard came here to [confiscate] the steamship, [recruit] the shipbuilders, and block the steamship technology.

The other soldiers may not understand the significance of this operation, but Clark is different, firstly, as an adjutant, he has more information, and secondly, Clark himself is an extremely intelligent soldier.

When Ghost Spider killed Navy soldiers, Wagner had four of his men who were lucky enough to go into exile in the small garden, and Clark was one of them.

Clark, who once served as a "sniper lookout" under Wagner, took photos of ghost spiders killing their naval comrades, and made a great contribution to Hailan's defeat of ghost spiders.

Not every soldier wants to be a general, and not every soldier is suitable to be a general.

After all these years, Clark has never had his own warship. (The captain of the headquarters is already qualified to own a warship)

Clark prefers to be a soldier rather than a commander, so his promotion process is different from others - soldier, colonel adjutant, brigadier adjutant, major general adjutant, lieutenant general adjutant...

So when Gaspard ordered the soldiers to gather the inhabitants of Shipbuilding Island to the harbor, the other soldiers were a little confused, but Clark was not suspicious at all.

Because he knew exactly what he was doing.

"The report will be there, and everyone has arrived."

"Hmm."

Gaspard nodded, walked slowly around and returned to the warship, "Fire." ”

"What did you say?"

Clark's eyes widened, but it wasn't him who made the sound, it was another soldier.

Cecil, who was also Gaspard's lieutenant, was an upright and bold soldier who was a friend of Clark's character, and Clark liked Cecil's personality.

"I said... Fire! ”

"They're just civilians, why would you kill them?"

"They invented the steamboat, and this is already a threat to the government, so they have committed a capital crime!"

"But it didn't say they were going to kill them?"

"?!! above"

Gaspard's eyes widened suddenly, as if the word "above" had touched a nerve in him.

Cecil was so frightened that he took two steps back, he had never seen the usually amiable Lieutenant General Gaspard have such a terrifying side as he is now.

"Did you have an order from above when Akainu bombarded the refuge ship? Why don't you reason with Akainu? Topmost? What's on it? ”

In fact, Gaspard only joined the army so that he could gain more power step by step.

But gradually, he found that there was no chance of rising with his strength, so he planned to defect to the navy, to become a pirate, to fight for his own world, and to fight for the power he wanted.

So he is particularly sensitive to the word "above".

"But... Poof..."

Cecil was still trying to argue with his case, and a blood-stained blade had already pierced out of his chest.

He turned his head with difficulty, trying to see who it was, but the steel knife in the hand of the man behind him stirred it so hard that the pain instantly robbed Cecil of his strength, and he collapsed to the ground, not knowing who was behind him until he died.

Niedes, who was also Jaspard's lieutenant - except in exceptional circumstances, generally every lieutenant general had three lieutenant generals.

How so?

Clark, who had been full of joy before, suddenly looked stupid.

His mind was buzzing, and what remnants of his sanity took control of his body, so that he didn't make a single superfluous sound and made a superfluous movement.

Licking the still-warm blood, Nieders stood beside Gaspard, and it was clear that he had gone along with Gaspard.

"Does anyone still doubt my commands? Fire! ”

"Boom!"

Unsure of whether he was worried about being killed by Jaspad or if he had already joined Jaspad's rebels, the warships soon launched an artillery bombardment of the civilians on the island.

"That steamship is good, just right for me to be a pirate ship, little ones, go grab everything you can!"

Nieders rushed out first.

"!! Adele"

"Brother... Help me..."

Clark could see clearly that Nydes slashed at a three-year-old girl, and a little boy bravely protected the girl, but he was slashed to the ground by Niedes, and the little girl was knocked into the water, and a few waves were thrown and never seen again.

Under the bombardment of artillery fire, the shipbuilding street, which was already full of various shipbuilding materials, soon burst into flames.

Nieders raised his knife and fell, and one by one civilians fell in front of him, and the big word "justice" behind him was particularly dazzling in Clark's eyes under the reflection of the firelight.

"Gaspard has defected, let's destroy these naval scum in the name of justice!"

"Kill them!"

Some of the Navy soldiers, who came to their senses, rushed madly at the naval rebels.

But the three lieutenants died, rebelled, and down, and Gaspard was a special superhuman soft candy real ability... But so what? Some people just have the fearless spirit of seeing death as home, they are soldiers, and they carry justice behind them!

"Poof!"

Clark plunged into the water with a slam.

He felt his chest feel tight, a little out of breath.

It's not because of the pressure under the water, but the word "justice" behind it, like a big mountain, pressing on his head.

Tears welled up in the corners of Clark's eyes, and soon melted into the water.

Clark felt that he was a disgrace to the Navy because he had escaped, and only the Navymen on the shore who were fighting were worthy of the word "justice" behind him.

But he wants to live.

Because there is hope in life.

Because he is alive, he can report all this to the Navy Headquarters, report it to Commander Hailan, and then kill them!

"Kid, hold on, you must not die!"

……

……

……

Note (1): "Gummy Ability" Gaspard and the steamboat are from the theatrical version of "The Adventure at the End of Death", and the world of One Piece itself has a steamship, and this setting is not a nonsense that Liyu herself pulled into.