When the Den Den Mushi that shouldn't have been used rang, 'Joker' frowned in displeasure as he picked it up.
"Thank god this one was right...! Hey, you're the 'Joker', right!? Help me!!"
The voice coming through was panicked, which only further irritated the man called 'Joker'.
"The Marine slave thing's been exposed! The hostage surveillance all vanished at once, and the Marines started moving—what should we do!?"
At these words, 'Joker' frowned even more, and for the first time spoke into the Den Den Mushi receiver.
"Hey."
"Ah, 'Joker'! Is that 'Joker'!? Hey, what should we—"
"The unpredictable Garp is in the Grand Line with Vice Admiral Tsuru chasing down the escaped 'Golden Lion' Shiki. Sengoku's a steady man, so he shouldn't move until the Ohara incident settles. Who moved?"
'Joker' asked to add a person of concern to the Marine list in his head.
"No, it wasn't a Marine!"
"Then some sheriff somewhere?"
"That's not it—it was a kid! A pirate kid!!"
At that, 'Joker' lost his irritation and showed a stunned expression.
"Of all things, that pirate-playing brat barged into district headquarters and spilled everything!! We'd been carefully erasing evidence bit by bit so it wouldn't be discovered, but he got caught by Sengoku too! All because of that playing-around bastard—"
--Fufufu... hehe, fufufufu...!
"J-'Joker'? Hey—"
"'Playing around'? Idiot. A bounty head is a bounty head—whatever the reason, the weight they carry doesn't change. And... hehe, fufufu!!"
"He turned himself in to the Marines!? Cooperated!? Fufufu! What kind of crazy do you have to be to become that kind of pirate!"
"Hey, 'Joker'..."
"Ah, what you should do, right? Let's see—"
"Give up. You had bad luck."
Ignoring the voice still shouting something, 'Joker' placed down the receiver and continued laughing quietly alone.
"Behehehehehe."
A large man approached 'Joker'.
"Hey Doffy, what's up? You're in a really good mood, what happened?"
"Nothing, I just heard about a crazy pirate... Hey, Trebol."
"What what what what?"
"Gather information on 'Silent Step' Kuro immediately. Then arrange to spread that information as rumors throughout West Blue."
"Silent Step? That pirate who wrecked the deal?"
"Yeah, I thought he was just a rookie with a decent head—"
"Interesting. Yeah, he's an interestingly crazy pirate. Fufufufu—"
"I don't like it... but at the same time, I like it."
"'Silent Step' Kuro, huh."
–
"Captain Kuro! Course alignment complete!"
"Good! Proceed at maximum ship speed. Those with free hands, to the cabin—I'll explain this voyage."
I feel bad for not just Daz and the others, but the Marines too. When you come back and suddenly get ordered to launch the ship immediately and head for this point, you'd think negotiations failed and we need to escape, right? The Marines must have been tense too, because they moved incredibly fast.
Entering the cabin, all the Marines not currently operating the ship and all executives gathered. Good, I can finally explain.
"I'll start with the conclusion. I spoke with Headquarters Admiral Sengoku. He's currently devising a plan to protect your families."
Rather than relieved voices, the Marines were strangely stirring.
"C-Captain Kuro."
"Hm?"
"You spoke with Admiral Sengoku?"
"Yeah, both Vice Admirals Sakazuki and Kuzan were there too."
"That Sakazuki!?"
Ah, yeah. Even from an ordinary Marines' perspective, that's Sakazuki's image, huh? Well, can't be helped...
No point staring at the pale-faced Marines.
"Thanks to the handwriting and uniforms you wrote beforehand, the conversation went quickly. We could verify immediately, but during that, they discovered a Marine disposing of your documents. ...Well, guys who were involved."
"...Started destroying evidence. Then this ship's destination is—"
Daz seemed to grasp most of it. As expected of my first mate.
"They're already trying to temporarily pull out of the Marine slave business. In that case, there's little possibility they'll leave alive the remaining Marines who saw the faces of members, even if they're just lower ranks."
Here finally, the Marines seemed to understand the situation, their faces hardening.
"Look at this. This West Blue sea chart was borrowed from Admiral Sengoku. It marks the sea areas where accidents were reported and the Navy's nearby patrol routes."
More precisely, he said something like "I'll leave this sea chart in the room and we'll step out for a while"—secretly... was it secret? Well, it was passed to me in confidence. When the business is done, I need to sneak in again to return it.
"Among them, I listed bases close to accident areas yet with fewer subsequent search missions compared to other bases. There's probably no way they're imprisoned in bases, but nearby—pardon the crude expression—I believe there are 'product collection points.' Admiral Sengoku shared the same opinion."
"So we're now heading there to...?"
"Right, we're going to plunder their treasure—like proper pirates."
While the Marines' morale rose at rescuing their comrades and their color returned, Robin had a troubled expression.
"Captain-san."
"What, Robin?"
"Will we have enough time?"
"...That's the problem."
I discussed—no, argued loudly—with Sengoku-san about this repeatedly afterward, but honestly it's fifty-fifty.
"If we find them, we'll definitely rescue them. If necessary, throw in all our food, water, and medicine. And even if we're too late..."
"Whether they're bodies or just fragments of belongings, we'll definitely return them to a Marine base—and to their families."
"Everyone—hold up your honor."
--
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