At the port, the crowd was all talking at once about different things, creating a chaotic buzz. For Kuzan, Yoriichi Tsugikuni, and the other Marines, their minds were flooded with disorganized fragments of information, making it nearly impossible to piece together a coherent picture of what was going on.
They could only gather that a large number of children had gone missing from the island—dozens, in fact.
"Everyone quiet down, please calm down!"
"Let this elder speak first! Then we'll hear from each of you in turn."
"If you all talk at once, I can't make sense of anything!"
Kuzan raised his voice to bring some order to the situation. As his words echoed out, the pier quieted noticeably. Only a few parents who had lost children still sobbed uncontrollably, unable to contain their emotions.
Seeing that things had settled down, Kuzan helped the elder gentleman to his feet and said kindly, "Sir, how should I address you?"
"It seems like you might be speaking on behalf of everyone. Could you please tell us the details of what's happened?"
As Kuzan addressed the elder, a wooden ladder had already been lowered from the warship. Yoriichi Tsugikuni led more than a dozen Marines down to the dock, surrounding Kuzan and focusing their attention on the old man.
"Base Commander Kuzan, my name is Sisso. Thanks to everyone's trust, I'm currently the mayor of Migo Town."
"In the past ten days or so, dozens of children have gone missing from Migo Town!"
"I've already organized the townspeople to search thoroughly, but we haven't found a single trace of them."
"Not even one!"
"I suspect these children were taken by a human trafficking group. That would explain why we can't find them on the island."
"We're just ordinary people. The boats in our town are all small vessels that can't travel far."
"That's why I want to ask the Marines to help us find the missing children!"
As Mayor Sisso spoke, his knees gave out again and he tried to kneel before Kuzan and the others—but Kuzan reacted quickly, catching him before he could kneel.
"Everyone, bring your children's photos to Base Commander Kuzan."
Having been stopped from kneeling, Sisso didn't insist. Seeing that Kuzan was easy to speak with, he turned to the townspeople and called out. After he spoke, the crowd surged forward again, thrusting photos of various sizes into Kuzan's hands.
Kuzan didn't turn them away. He accepted the photos and began flipping through them quickly. He also handed half of them to Yoriichi Tsugikuni, who scanned them rapidly as well.
Some of their subordinates gathered behind Yoriichi, and upon seeing the photos, couldn't help but mutter angrily:
"This is unforgivable!"
"They're all such young children!"
"Those traffickers deserve death!"
"Vice Admiral Yoriichi, it must be a slave-hunting group. They're all over the New World. My own hometown experienced something like this before!"
Seeing the photos in Yoriichi's hands, one of the Marines clenched his fists in rage, deeply empathizing with the parents who had lost their children.
"Please, we beg of you!"
When the townspeople heard the words "slave-hunting group," their faces turned pale. In the New World, such groups were as feared as pirates.
The main difference between the two was their source of income. Slave hunters usually had lower combat power than pirates, and made their money by capturing and selling slaves.
The origins of these slaves varied widel, pirates, civilians, debtors, or prisoners of war.
And these slaves were shipped all across the world to serve nobles who demanded such "goods."
The largest consumer of slaves in the world was none other than the Celestial Dragons living in Mary Geoise.
But finding the kidnapped children in this vast sea was like fishing for a needle in the ocean.
"Slave hunters, huh…"
"If they're just after money, why kidnap five- or six-year-old children?"
"Aren't adult men and beautiful women more valuable?"
Yoriichi, still flipping through the photos, frowned deeply and raised the question aloud. His words stunned the Marine who had spoken earlier, and even Kuzan, Sisso, and the surrounding townsfolk fell silent, turning to Yoriichi.
"Maybe… maybe because young children are easier to lure."
"Less risk, yeah… That must be it."
After some thought, the Marine replied.
Yoriichi nodded slightly, accepting the explanation for now, then turned to ask:
"Mayor Sisso, how many people live in Migo Town?"
"Can your town really search the entire island in such a short time?"
Hearing this, Sisso looked to Kuzan in confusion and asked, "Base Commander Kuzan, this man is…?"
Understandably so. Kuzan was clearly the leader of this Marine unit, yet his subordinate had spoken so assertively. Sisso was confused—who was actually in charge?
"He's Vice Admiral Yoriichi Tsugikuni of Marine Headquarters, and my adjutant."
"Whatever you say to him, it's as good as saying it to me."
Kuzan responded while mentally noting Yoriichi's line of questioning.
In the world of slave trading, the most valuable were rare-species young women. Below them were beautiful human women, followed by strong combat-type slaves, then robust laborers.
Children were almost worthless on this scale. Few nobles wanted them. At most, those around ten years old might be considered, as they could work and be trained for obedience.
But five- or six-year-olds? They required care and brought little profit. Even dogs might refuse such "goods." Unless they were infants, they wouldn't attract any buyers.
"Our town has fewer than 100,000 people."
"I've been mayor for nearly thirty years. While I don't know every single person, I know this town like the back of my hand."
"These children were searched for by everyone. We truly couldn't find them! They must have been taken!"
Hearing the mayor speak so firmly, Kuzan and Yoriichi instinctively exchanged glances.
"Yoriichi, what do you think?"
Kuzan scratched his head, unsure where to even begin.
He'd been a Marine for many years, but had rarely encountered cases like this. His experience was in fighting pirates and leading naval pursuits—investigating abductions wasn't his strength.
"Mayor Sisso's words have merit. I suggest we first question all the families who lost children in detail—see under what circumstances the disappearances occurred."
"From that, we can search for leads."
"Also, we should investigate any ships that docked recently. See if any are suspicious."
"The island search must continue too. In a town this size, we can't rule out the chance the children are hidden somewhere."
As Yoriichi spoke, his [Observation Haki] had already spread across the island. Compared to adults, children's auras were easier to detect. If they were still alive and concentrated in one area, finding them wouldn't be too hard.
But if they were dead, or separated, or already taken to sea… then things would get complicated.
Kuzan, impressed by Yoriichi's logic and thoroughness, immediately decided to let him take full charge of the investigation.
He wasn't good at this type of thing, it was better left to someone who was.
Interrogations and casework couldn't be finished quickly. Kuzan also had to focus on building the new Marine branch base. Priorities had to be set, and division of labor was necessary.
He would handle logistics, recruitment, and foundation-building. Yoriichi would handle the townspeople and the missing children case.
This way, the Navy wouldn't neglect their duties nor disappoint the people.
To be honest, from a cold, utilitarian standpoint, building a new base to catch more pirates would benefit the world's peace more.
But neither Kuzan nor Yoriichi thought that way.
There were people in need right in front of them, ignoring that wasn't something their conscience would allow.
"Yoriichi, I'll leave this to you. I'm not very good at this. If you need extra hands, I'll send people to help."
"I'll take care of the base construction."
Kuzan's words, however, were misunderstood by Mayor Sisso and the others as evasion.
Yoriichi looked too young, Sisso's own grandson might even be older.
Entrusting something this important to a "baby-faced" officer? That didn't inspire confidence. Even if he was a Vice Admiral, the villagers were uneasy.
Sisso's knees buckled again, and he prepared to kneel, crying out:
"Base Commander Kuzan! You can't just leave this to others!"
"The children… the children need the Marines!"
"Aren't you supposed to stand for justice?! Is ignoring us what justice means?!"
Moral pressure!
With just a few words, Mayor Sisso pushed Kuzan into a moral corner.
Kuzan had a strong sense of morality, emotional blackmail worked well on him.
Desperate people sometimes resorted to such tactics to get help. While uncomfortable, it was often a last resort.
And for the Navy, even if such behavior was unpleasant… could they really ignore it if they truly claimed to uphold justice?
At least for Kuzan, the answer was no.
He furrowed his brow, just about to speak, when Yoriichi stepped forward and said:
"Mayor Sisso, was it?"
"We Marines will investigate this matter thoroughly."
"I will personally help look for the missing children. But we'll need time to gather information."
"You've come to us for help, and we will not turn you away."
"But at the same time, I won't make empty promises. I won't say something like 'we'll definitely find them.' I hope you understand."
"You've searched yourselves for this long, you know how hard this is."
"We'll do our best. And whatever the result, we'll give you an answer."
"Until then, please trust the Marines."
Yoriichi stepped in front of Kuzan, speaking calmly but resolutely. His words made Kuzan pause.
Mayor Sisso looked at the young red-haired Marine before him, opened his mouth, then slowly nodded.
Strangely enough, this young officer seemed more composed than the base commander himself.
It eased Sisso's heart just a little.
Even if Yoriichi had only spoken in formal platitudes, at least he hadn't blindly promised anything. That alone made him seem more reliable.
"If the Marines are willing to help, that's already more than enough."
"As for the outcome…"
"We know this isn't something that can be forced."
"Thank you… thank you, Base Commander Kuzan, thank you, Vice Admiral Yoriichi."
Sisso bowed deeply to both of them. The people behind him—those who had lost their children—echoed their thanks one after another.
Now that they'd agreed to help, it was time to act.
Mayor Sisso arranged a private office in town for Yoriichi to interview each affected family individually.
Kuzan assigned two Marines to assist Yoriichi while he led the rest to purchase supplies and recruit settlers for the new base.
Yoriichi's investigation lasted from morning till night.
By the time the moon hung high above the trees, he had finished all the interviews.
That night, he returned to his cabin and reviewed the notes with a tightly furrowed brow.
"All the disappearances occurred within the same week."
"There were no signs beforehand. There's a strong chance they were taken out to sea."
"It wasn't likely a slave ship, no large or medium vessels were docked longer than a week."
"The only ship that stayed longer…"
"…was one from the World Government."
"…Could it be…"
Night fell. The sea breeze blew cold and sharp.
Yoriichi walked to the deck, raising his head to the stars. A chill ran through him, not just on his skin, but in his heart.
He stared at the stars for a long time. Then he drew his blade, gazing at the kanji etched at its base: 「滅」 (Annihilation/Destruction).
Yoriichi already had an answer.
"Come on. Let's see if I'm right."
/////////////////////////
100 P.S = 1 Extra Chapter
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