Bell-mère stared blankly at the handsome Marine who had descended from the sky, momentarily dazed.
It wasn't until she heard her subordinates putting away their weapons that she snapped back to reality.
She stepped forward and instinctively saluted the man with a Marine salute.
"Thank you for your help, Marine-san."
Michael didn't think there was anything strange about it. After all, plenty of people knew how to salute like a Marine.
So he returned the salute in a formal manner.
Then he glanced around and said:
"The damage from this round of shelling… is pretty serious."
"The deck basically needs to be completely replaced."
Bell-mère nodded. That's the effect of solid cannonballs.
They only damage the deck and the ship's exterior—not the interior.
These days, it's basically the go-to choice for looting.
"You're sailing this route—so you're headed for Alabasta, right?"
"That's right. Alabasta is the largest cargo hub in the first half of the Grand Line, with the biggest market. It's a must-stop for all merchant ships."
"Then that explains it." Michael nodded. "In that case, you should continue on to Alabasta... As for the cost of repairing your deck, don't worry—someone will fully compensate you."
"Huh!? Full compensation!? There's such a good deal!?" Sohan came rushing out of the cabin, and upon hearing what Michael said, got so excited she once again faceplanted in one of her signature pratfalls. "Handsome Marine-san, are you serious?"
"Of course." Michael nodded and explained, "Because the ones responsible for this attack weren't pirates, but a country near this route called the 'Caribbean.'"
"A c-country!?"
"That's right. The royal family of the Caribbean Kingdom, along with their palace guards, lead their citizens in disguising themselves as various pirate crews to carry out looting here. After each successful raid, they quickly hide in the concealed harbors of their country. Previously, because Alabasta didn't have a Marine branch, we weren't able to thoroughly investigate the area."
"...What the hell?"
This wasn't just shocking to Sohan—even Michael, who was explaining it, found it outrageous.
Although the Caribbean Kingdom is one of the smallest member nations of the World Government in terms of land area, its contribution of Heavenly Tribute is ranked around the middle to upper tier.
After arriving in Alabasta, Michael had conducted a thorough investigation of the surrounding countries and regions.
And he discovered something very wrong with this country!
The country is small, and the population isn't large—but it has no arable land.
Yet the citizens appear to live in considerable wealth.
Combined with the amount of Heavenly Tribute they pay, Michael immediately drew a conclusion...
That king must have a side hustle!
But what he didn't expect was that the king not only ran his side business impressively, but even got the entire population involved!
"You think they're just robbing merchant ships?" Michael shook his head, his expression tinged with a trace of helplessness.
"After robbing part of the cargo, they send in another team disguised as a rescue crew to 'help.' Then they guide the merchant ship to their country. Grateful for the help, the merchants spend lavishly while resting and trading in the Caribbean Kingdom."
After he finished speaking, Michael couldn't help but sigh.
He had to admit—the king of the Caribbean Kingdom was a genius!
Snatch a little for free, then profit again with goodwill discounts.
They earned money and gained a good reputation.
And to achieve this effect, over all these years and after robbing so many merchant ships, they hadn't killed a single person.
It's only in the past two years, when merchant ships began to arm themselves more heavily, that the operation started to fail and their cover gradually fell apart.
Which is why Michael only arrested them instead of executing them...
Because he valued their talent.
Any seasoned revolutionary knows that the most important resources in a rebellion are money and food.
And food can always be bought—so in the end, it comes down to money.
War = burning money.
The Revolutionary Army and the future Navy are no exceptions.
Moreover, as the secret financier behind the Cross Guild, Michael still needed to supply them with funding.
Though he already had Rosinante, who had eaten the Gold-Gold Fruit, it would still take time to reach the level where any object could be turned into gold—that would require awakening the fruit.
And there was no telling when that would happen.
Besides, even if Rosinante did awaken the fruit, Michael wouldn't let him recklessly mass-produce gold.
Otherwise, the new world order might not even have time to form before collapsing under hyperinflation.
So, Michael had always lacked someone with the ability to "generate money."
He didn't want Dragon to fall into the pattern of "plundering one country's treasury to fund the liberation of the next."
And now, the King of the Caribbean Kingdom... had caught Michael's eye.
But whether he'd actually use him—that still required further observation.
"Good grief, something like this really exists?" Sohan looked dumbfounded after hearing all that.
"We only recently arrived on the Grand Line from the East Blue… Last time we took this route, nothing like this happened."
"Last time we sailed this way, I spotted a suspicious ship while on night watch. Since it was still far off, I immediately ordered us to speed up and escape!"
"How come I never heard about this?" Sohan blinked. How had she not known?
"Obviously! That night you were dead asleep! Everyone else was yelling up and down the deck, and you didn't wake up at all!"
"Heh, good thing we had you, Bell-mère." Sohan grinned and patted Bell-mère on the shoulder, then suddenly remembered something. "Oh right—Nami was so scared by the earlier cannon fire that she started crying. You'd better go check on her."
"You should've started with that!" Bell-mère shouted at her boss, then gave Michael a nod and headed into the cabin.
Michael, however, froze in place.
Nami?
Bell-mère?
His thoughts suddenly tangled.
First of all, shouldn't Bell-mère have returned to Cocoyashi Village after adopting Nojiko and Nami?
Second...
Didn't Bell-mère's hairstyle usually have a bit of a punk or visual-kei edge!?
Who the hell was that long-haired pink beauty down to her waist!?
Michael wasn't surprised that his butterfly effect had started to shift history...
But how the hell did it change their appearance too!?
"Sorry to pry, but that Bell-mère-san just now… she used to be a Marine, right?"
"Yep. Back in the East Blue, I rescued her and the two kids onto my ship. To repay me and give the kids a better life, she didn't return to the Marines."
Listening to Sohan's explanation, Michael began to piece things together.
...The new Alabasta Marine Branch had just been established—and they were seriously understaffed.
---
(For each review +1 additional chapter)
read +100 chapters on Patreon tambeerg