OP: My Aircraft Carrier Evolves#84+85: A Life's Mentor, Kuma's Awakening! and the Leader of the Revolutionaries, Dragon!

Sea Calendar, 1519.

Early February.

A cruel spring wind cut across the southern part of the Sorbet Kingdom. The landscape was a panorama of scorched earth and utter devastation.

Worried that his presence would bring further harm to his people, Kuma had chosen to leave.

King Bekori had retaken the throne!

Despite the humiliating experience of being driven from his own palace by Kuma, the king, upon his return, did not repent. He doubled down. He set another great fire in the southern part of the country, burning tens of thousands to death.

The survivors were all sold to slave traders.

When Jin told him the news, Kuma had rushed back.

From the scorched earth, from the arms of a dead father, he lifted the charred body of a small child.

He knew these people. He remembered this child, his family. Tears streamed down Kuma’s face as he looked out at the desolation.

Crows circled overhead.

There were more bodies.

Jin watched in silence.

The world of One Piece, for all its laughter, was filled with a deep and terrible sorrow.

The Goa Kingdom. Ohara. Alabasta. Fish-Man Island. Elbaf...

Every nation had its own twisted, dark history. That was why pirates and revolutionaries existed.

It was the era, and the men who shaped it, that had created this world.

"What is the right thing to do?" Kuma’s voice was a broken whisper.

Jin glanced at him.

Kuma was filled with a towering rage, but he kept it bottled up inside. He considered himself a pacifist.

Faced with tragedy, his only response was to endure, to flee.

He was too much of a coward.

"Where there is oppression," Jin said, his voice cutting through the sorrowful wind, "there must be rebellion."

"King Bekori sits on his throne, tormenting his people, sleeping on a bed of money earned from selling them into slavery. What do you think is the right thing to do?"

Kuma was silent.

"The time for rebellion has come," Jin continued. "This is not about inciting hatred, it is about awakening conscience. This is not about destroying order, it is about rebuilding justice. If the world itself is absurd... if its kings are absurd... if they meet the ideals, the hopes and the cries of their people with nothing but cold silence and malicious hostility—then if a man does not rebel, how is he a man? What separates him from a worm?"

"If life itself is absurd—"

Jin pressed on, his words a relentless tide, "—then to avoid being enslaved, to find a reason to live in the midst of that absurdity and despair, ONE MUST REBEL. And only through that rebellion can a man's dignity and meaning truly be expressed."

"With great power... comes great responsibility!"

CRACK-BOOM!

A sudden clap of thunder. Jin looked up. A great, dark cloud had gathered overhead.

"Thunder?" Law said, surprised. "Is a storm coming?"

A fierce wind swept in from the sea, a mournful howl, like the roaring of a thousand ghosts.

Jin glanced toward the coast. He could feel it—a "monster" had arrived.

Rebellion.

Kuma was lost in Jin's words. He remembered what Jin had said when they first met.

KILL THE KING.

He rose to his feet in a single, fluid motion.

KILL KING BEKORI!!

He was the root of all the problems.

—————————

In the north.

In his castle, King Bekori was enjoying a life of luxury. He had made a fortune selling the "peasants" from the south. This year's Heavenly Tribute would be no problem at all. He’d even have a surplus.

The one lesson he had learned was to invest in his own security. He had hired a team of high-priced mercenaries as his personal guard. The castle was heavily fortified, inside and out.

But he was facing a man who had eaten two Devil Fruits and was in a state of pure, unadulterated rage.

The anger Kuma had always suppressed had finally, at the sight of the child's body, broken free.

He shot through the sky like a missile, crossing from the south to the north in an instant and crashing through the five-meter-thick castle wall with a deafening boom.

"Who goes there??"

"Stop!"

Bekori's mercenaries tried to intercept him, but before they could even get close, Kuma sent them all flying with a single "push."

But Kuma was still too kind. He sent them flying, but he didn't kill them.

He landed outside the castle.

Beneath his little bear-eared hat, his massive body seemed to steam in the cold air. He stood taller than before, his aura terrifying.

In that moment, Kuma was the very picture of overwhelming power.

"IT'S... IT'S HIM..."

"KUMA..."

"THE TYRANT!"

Inside the castle, the guards trembled with fear.

"Open fire! Fire!"

Bullets and cannonballs shot from the castle's arrow slits. This was a fortress built on the flesh and blood of his people, stocked with enough supplies to withstand a year-long siege, armed with enough weapons to crush any peasant uprising.

Kuma ignored the hail of bullets and cannonballs and simply walked forward, his mind filled with memories of the people he had prayed for, the children who had brought him joy, the townspeople he had known.

His rage reached its peak.

This change in Kuma hadn't happened overnight. Since he had come aboard the ship, Jin had been feeding him a steady reality-check.

And so, when he was confronted with the proof that his choice to leave had been a mistake, when he contrasted it with Jin's methods... his own worldview had naturally begun to shift.

He walked through the storm of fire and lead and arrived at the castle's massive iron gate. He raised his hand, his palm aimed at the gate.

"Pressure Cannon!" he roared, and a white, paw-shaped bubble of compressed air shot forward.

The impact was a dull, heavy boom. The ten-ton iron gate was blown clean off its hinges, taking a large chunk of the surrounding wall with it.

The guards who had been stationed behind the gate were instantly crushed, reduced to a bloody pulp.

"STOP HIM!"

The remaining guards opened fire.

Kuma stomped his foot. The stone beneath it didn't just crack; it buckled, a spiderweb of fissures spreading out in all directions. The guards in front of him were terrified. They scrambled back.

The sheer force of Kuma's aura was enough to shake the very foundations of the castle.

Anyone who stood in his way was sent flying.

He stormed into the throne room and once again came face to face with King Bekori.

Kuma's shadow fell over him.

Bekori was terrified, but he still clung to his throne, spewing curses.

"You bastard! How dare you come back?? I am the king! If you kill me, the people will pay the price! Even if you drive me out, I will return! I AM THE KING OF SORBET!"

He was screaming hysterically. Not because he wasn't afraid, but because he was so terrified that his fear had turned into a desperate, barking rage.

Kuma looked at him, his expression cold and empty.

He raised his hand.

Bekori's legs began to tremble. This Kuma... he was different. He really was going to kill him.

When he saw the white light gathering in Kuma's palm, his courage finally broke.

He fell to his knees, tears and snot streaming down his face as he wailed, "Don't kill me! Aren't you a pacifist?? You can't kill me!"

The word "Pacifist" gave Kuma a moment's pause.

Seeing a glimmer of hope, Bekori scrambled to say, "Kuma, I know you're a good man! I have money! I can give it all to you! You can use it to save those peasants!"

"Your money?" a mocking voice echoed through the hall. "You stole that money from your people, and then you sold them to slavers. Those Berries are stained with their blood. And you have the nerve to use them to buy your own life?"

Bekori raged. "I am the king! Those peasants exist to serve me! Is it wrong for them to sell themselves to support their king??"

The doubt that had been in Kuma's mind vanished. "Is it not wrong? On what grounds?"

The light in his hand grew brighter, more dangerous. He slowly lowered it.

The kneeling king wet himself in terror.

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"I was wrong! I was wrong!" he shrieked, his scalp tingling with fear. "I can tell you where they were taken!"

Kuma's hand paused.

"It was the World Government!" Bekori blurted out. "They took the slaves! They said they were taking them to a place called the Tequila Wolf!"

Kuma's expression changed. The World Government was involved. No wonder Bekori had been so bold. And that's why there had been nothing about it in the newspapers. A complete media blackout.

Luckily, Jin had his own sources.

'Tequila Wolf?' Kuma thought.

"That's right!" Bekori threatened. "If you kill me, the World Government will know! And those people... they'll all die! They'll pay the price for what you've done!"

He knew Kuma was a good man, an honest man. He was easy to manipulate.

Behind them, Jin remained silent. Whether Kuma could break through his own limitations... it all came down to this moment.

The hand hesitated.

A look of triumph flashed across Bekori's face. He laughed to himself. 'This idiot! All that size, and for what? He's even damaged my castle. I'll have to come up with some new laws to squeeze the money for repairs out of those peasants.'

Just as he was reveling in his own cleverness, Kuma's hand descended.

"Ursus Shock!"

A massive shockwave, in the shape of a bear's paw, expanded in a hemisphere, radiating out in all directions.

First, there was absolute silence, as if all sound in the world had ceased.

Then, as the white light expanded, the thunderous roar of a massive explosion.

King Bekori was instantly vaporized. Not even a speck of bone remained.

The high walls and buildings of the castle, unable to withstand the shockwave, crumbled and collapsed.

A single, full-power attack, capable of destroying an island.

When the tremors stopped and the dust settled, Kuma was kneeling on the ground, his face stained with blood. The entire castle had been leveled.

King Bekori was dead.

Kuma's emotions were a tangled mess.

He had killed a king.

—————————

"You did the right thing," Jin said, pleased. So Kuma did have some fight in him after all.

"Violence is not inherently evil, and peace is not inherently good. Violence in the service of peace—is justice and freedom... To kneel for peace, to be enslaved for peace... that kind of peace is a lie... Did King Bekori know he was wrong? No... He just knew he was about to die—If you had let him go, he would have just brought more suffering, more oppression to the people of Sorbet... Some people are better off dead. And you... you killed their oppressor. Even if you have to bear the weight of that sin, don't you think it was worth it?"

Jin knew that Kuma wasn't happy.

He had just shattered his own "pacifist" beliefs. His worldview, his very will, had been shaken to the core.

But this was the moment to break and then rebuild.

"To bear sin... for the sake of justice and peace," Kuma murmured.

He was a pastor.

He had read the holy texts.

In a way, he was a bit of an extremist.

He had often used his Devil Fruit to heal others, taking their pain into himself, like an ascetic. And later, he had sacrificed himself to save Bonney. It was all part of the same self-sacrificial mindset.

To put it bluntly, Kuma was a masochist. He took on the suffering of the world, and in doing so, he found a twisted kind of joy.

"That's right," Jin said, pressing his advantage. "Think of the tragedy King Bekori caused. All those people who died... were they not innocent? But now... can you hear their cheers? You have avenged them. Even if your hands are now stained with blood... If you do not descend into hell, who will? Is that not also a form of salvation?"

Kuma, on the verge of a complete breakdown, saw a single ray of light pierce the darkness.

"If I do not descend into hell... who will?"

His eyes refocused. He had found a justification for his actions. As long as it was to save everyone, what did a little sin matter?

He felt as if his spirit, his soul, had been cleansed. His understanding of the world had undergone a massive shift.

A sense of calm washed over him.

Kuma stood up easily and looked at Jin. He bowed deeply. "Thank you. If it's possible... I would like you to rule the Sorbet Kingdom. It would be a great fortune for our country."

In Kuma's eyes, there was no better king than Jin.

And really, it was all thanks to the comparison with his peers.

In an era when the world was a mess, a king like Cobra was considered a saint. A king like Jin, who didn't exploit his people, who even started industries to bring them wealth... he was a god.

He had to be a god, descended to earth to save humanity.

Kuma was convinced.

Jin had ruled his kingdom wisely.

Jin had come to the North Blue to save Bonney.

Jin had come to the South Blue for him, to help him awaken, to achieve salvation.

Wasn't this exactly what the holy texts described? The sun god, the warrior of liberation, Nika?

If he wasn't a "God," then what was he?

Jin saw the faith, the adoration, and even a hint of fanaticism in Kuma's eyes. 'Holy crap. Did I... Did I overdo it??'

Rule the Sorbet Kingdom? Jin had no time for that.

"King Bekori's death will draw the attention of the World Government," Jin said. "But as long as you're not caught, his successor will be much more subdued. He'll be afraid you'll come back and kill him, too. As long as you're alive, you're a threat to every king in the world."

Kuma wasn't an idiot. He understood. His eyes lit up. "So I should go kill a few more evil kings?"

Jin was speechless.

Kuma wanted to become a king-killer?

Killing one was a warning.

Killing two or three... that would send a shockwave through the entire world. The Three Admirals, the God's Knights... they'd all have to get involved.

"Let's not be hasty," Jin said. "This is a long fight."

—————————

At the port of Sorbet, two ships slowly docked.

A fierce wind, carrying a torrential downpour, had blotted out the last rays of the setting sun.

A hurricane-force gust swept past, whipping Jin's clothes around him.

"Kuma," a deep voice said, "it's been a long time."

The voice was clearly audible over the howling wind.

Jin looked over.

On the shattered outer wall of the castle stood a tall, hooded figure, the hurricane swirling behind him.

A bolt of lightning flashed.

Beneath the hood, a face with a square, red tattoo was revealed, its expression grim and serious.

"Dragon!" Kuma said, overjoyed. "You're here!"

"Yes," the father of Monkey D. Luffy, the leader of the Revolutionary Army, said with a slight nod. "I heard there was trouble. I came to see what was going on."

"And who is this?" he asked, his gaze shifting from the ruins to Jin.

"He..." Kuma said, "...is my mentor. The King of the Winter Blossom Kingdom, Jin."

Jin cringed.

Mentor??

Dragon was also a little confused. He's so young. Isn't Kuma a wanted man? Where did he find a mentor?

But the second part of the sentence clarified things.

"It's you?" Dragon said, his initial confusion giving way to understanding. "The king who defeated the Warlord Hanafuda?"

—————————

"Achoo!"

In a tavern in Wano, Hanafuda, now with a prosthetic limb, drunkenly sneezed. 'Who's badmouthing me now?'

"Hanafuda! I heard you got beat! Tell me all about it!"