The Holy Land, Mary Geoise, was undoubtedly the center of the entire world.
Located on the Red Line, it connected the front and back sections of the Grand Line, and at the same time, it bridged all four seas.
The location was excellent.
At the same time, this was also the political center of the World Government. Relying on the power of the World Government, this place had been quite peaceful and secure for hundreds of years.
Because of this peace and security, the economy here was highly developed. At the same time, there was sufficient spending power: the Celestial Dragons, the great nobles from all over the world, and the massive bureaucracy of the World Government.
Although it was uncomfortable to admit, most of the cultural knowledge in this world was in the hands of the nobles.
Therefore, this place was also a cultural flourishing center for the entire world, its status far beyond the comparison of so-called "holy places" like O'Hara.
For hundreds of years, Mary Geoise had been hailed as the political, economic, and cultural center of the world.
But beneath every light, there existed a dark shadow.
Too many horrific things had happened in Mary Geoise.
There was no need to elaborate here.
But at least on the surface, this place could indeed be called a true "holy land."
By taking the bubble elevator, one could travel all the way from the port at the base of the Red Line to the top.
At this moment, Finn stood in the elevator, reading a manual in his hand. His secretary, Hina, who stood beside him, was gazing out at the scenery with obvious curiosity.
The manual in Finn's hand listed the main topics of this World Conference. As expected, the first one was about the Revolutionary Army.
The rest had little to do with him. Just as Fleet Admiral Kong had said before, the Marines were basically prepared to keep a low profile at this meeting.
"Admiral, have you been to Mary Geoise before? Have you met the Five Elders?" Hina asked Finn curiously after retracting her gaze.
Finn didn't even raise his head, still flipping through the manual in his hand, learning about the important matters of various countries and taking a glimpse into the world situation to see if there were any details he'd overlooked.
However, after hearing Hina's question, he still said, "I've been here many times. When there are missions to carry out, the Marines often use Mary Geoise as a transit point to reach various major sea areas. As for the Five Elders, I've never seen them once."
"Even when you were promoted to Admiral, you weren't summoned by the Five Elders?" Hina asked in surprise.
"Well, it seems they admired me before, but now they don't seem to like me very much," Finn said with a smile, turning to the next page.
"Ah?" Hina was stunned for a moment. "Did you do something?"
"No, it's just the general trend. This is my position as an Admiral of the Marines, and that's their position as the Five Elders. We've never even met each other, so how can there be any grudges between us?" Finn closed the manual, looked at Hina, and waved his hand dismissively.
As soon as he finished speaking, the bubble elevator stopped. When the elevator door opened, the prosperous scene of the Holy Land appeared before them.
Finn stepped out of the elevator, and Hina kept looking around like a curious child.
"If I'd known you were this sheltered, I should have let you pass through the New World last time to broaden your horizons," Finn complained.
Last time, he'd used his Devil Fruit ability to levitate the ship and flown directly across the Red Line without passing through Mary Geoise at all, so Hina had never been here.
Hearing Finn's "disdainful" words, Hina's face turned red and she stopped talking, mildly annoyed.
But soon, after following Finn deeper into Mary Geoise, her irritation dissipated and she became excited again, looking around eagerly as if she wanted to ask a dozen questions.
"Admiral, what kind of technology is this automatic walkway? It looks very advanced," Hina said in amazement as she stepped onto the automatically moving platform.
Finn grinned, revealing a dark smile. "Do you know how to use Observation Haki?"
Hina looked a little embarrassed. She nodded first, then shook her head. "Not really."
"Forget it. There's probably a large group of slaves under your feet, pushing you forward. This so-called automatic walkway looks high-tech, but in reality, it's just a human-powered facility. It's not that the World Government is incapable of using better technology. This phenomenon is precisely proof of privilege and corruption," Finn said, curling his lips.
"Slaves?" Hina was startled and seemed embarrassed to stand there.
Finn's expression remained unchanged, and he had no mental qualms. He stood steadily on the moving walkway. "Experience this sin. Light and shadow are never seen separately. The prosperous Holy Land in your eyes is the product of countless piles of flesh and bones."
"Wasn't slavery abolished long ago? Isn't this illegal?" Hina asked anxiously.
"Law?" Finn smiled and was about to speak when he paused, frowning.
On the other side of the moving walkway, a Celestial Dragon was riding on the back of a tall slave, swaggering toward them under the protection of a group of guards.
"Look. How can you talk about the law with bastards like that?" Finn said with a disdainful smile.
Hina was a little panicked. She tugged at Finn's sleeve. "Admiral, they're Celestial Dragons. Don't we need to salute them?"
"I have no intention of bowing to these parasites. Do they deserve it?" Finn said with contempt.
"Then let's stay away from them to avoid unnecessary conflict," Hina said quickly.
After a brief pause, she whispered, "Admiral, at least in Mary Geoise, don't keep calling them parasites. It will cause trouble."
"Hmph." Finn snorted, obviously unhappy.
He raised his foot and stomped lightly on the moving walkway. The next second, the ground beneath the Celestial Dragon who'd just stepped onto the walkway suddenly broke apart. The entire group collapsed as if the floor had given way, and they all fell beneath the moving platform.
The scene descended into immediate chaos. The guards who hadn't yet boarded the walkway were all shouting the name of "Saint So-and-so" and scrambling to rescue him.
Finn and Hina walked past from the side without paying any attention.
"Admiral, that was you just now, wasn't it?" Hina asked with a knowing look after they'd left the area.
"Little girl, stop talking nonsense. If you don't have evidence, I'll sue you for defamation. Attacking the Celestial Dragons is a capital crime. Do I have the courage to do that?" Finn raised his eyebrows.
Hina chuckled but didn't press the issue.
Soon, Finn arrived at Pangaea Castle in Mary Geoise and happened to meet Admiral Sengoku, who was also accompanied by several Marine officers.
"Hey, Admiral! I haven't seen you back at Headquarters for two months. Have you been busy in Mary Geoise?" Finn called out, waving from a distance.
Admiral Sengoku noticed Finn and stopped, smiling. "I've returned a couple of times, but I didn't stay long, so we didn't meet. Although the Marines don't intend to express any opinions this time, I still need to personally monitor Mary Geoise's defenses."
"Admiral Sengoku, it's good to see you," Hina said politely, standing beside Finn.
Admiral Sengoku nodded gently at her, then said, "Hina, don't let Finn lead you astray."
"That's unfair. I was raised by you, Admiral. If Hina gets led astray by me, then who led me astray? The root of the problem lies with you," Finn said, rolling his eyes at Sengoku.
All three of them laughed.
After chatting for a while, they walked into Pangaea Castle together. Finn then asked quietly, "Admiral, how is it? Did you find the answer to the question I asked you to look into?"
Admiral Sengoku glanced at Finn. "Why are you looking for a Devil Fruit all of a sudden? If I remember correctly, don't you still have two Devil Fruits in your possession?"
"There's only one, the Horse-Horse Fruit. I handed that over a long time ago, okay? As for the other one, I still don't know what its ability is. It's been left with Gion and has never been touched. If you want it, I can give it to you," Finn said with a smile.
"No need," Admiral Sengoku said indifferently.
At their stage, Devil Fruits weren't that precious anymore, especially since they were already Devil Fruit users and had no further interest.
At this point, Admiral Sengoku took out a list from the folder under his arm and handed it to Finn. "Here, the list you asked for. In Mary Geoise, I can find out about the Devil Fruits in reserve, but that's all. The rest may be in the hands of some Celestial Dragons, but that's beyond my reach."
"Thank you," Finn said, taking the list with a smile. After looking at it for a few seconds, he pointed to a Devil Fruit on it. "Paramecia type, the Love-Love Fruit. I want this one. Can I have it?"
Admiral Sengoku looked at Finn in surprise. "What do you want that fruit for? But I can give it to you."
There were basically two destinations for the Devil Fruits stored in Mary Geoise. One was that they were taken away by the Celestial Dragons to play with. Yes, for that ridiculous reason. They were taken to play with or fed to slaves.
As for the other destination, if no Celestial Dragons took them in the short term, they could also be mobilized and used as rewards for various organizations under the World Government.
The Marines were naturally one of them, but in the past the Marines had their own channels for obtaining Devil Fruits and wouldn't use this method regularly, so the majority went to the CP agencies.
In the original story, on Enies Lobby, Spandam had applied for some Devil Fruits for Kalifa and the others. This was the source.
Finn had just wanted to try his luck and asked Admiral Sengoku, who happened to be in Mary Geoise, to help him look into the matter. His purpose was to find the Love-Love Fruit and see if he could obtain it.
"I'm preparing to nurture a new seedling," Finn said with a smile.
Admiral Sengoku glanced at Hina beside Finn and smiled. "Is it Hina? If she ate this fruit, it would really suit her well."
However, Hina was stunned for a moment, then shook her head. "Admiral Sengoku, don't look at me like that. Actually, I'd already become a Devil Fruit user before graduating from the officer training camp."
"Huh?" Admiral Sengoku was a little surprised, then said with slight regret, "Really? Then I was overthinking it."
Needless to say, the Love-Love Fruit was naturally prepared for Hancock.
The upper and lower limits of this fruit were simply outrageous. Its strength was calculated based on the charm of the person who consumed it.
At the same time, there was also a potential bonus involved.
The higher the charm of the ability user, the stronger the power the fruit could exert. Conversely, if the charm of the ability user was too low, they'd be a complete weakling.
In Finn's opinion, there were probably two people who were perfectly suited for this ability. Needless to say, one was Hancock, the future "World's Most Beautiful Woman."
The other, though somewhat odd, was White Horse Cavendish twenty years later. He also seemed well-suited to this ability.
Admiral Sengoku obviously knew the information about this fruit as well, so he'd assumed Finn was preparing it for Hina.
After all, Hina was still a young beauty. Maybe she couldn't maximize the fruit's power, but she wouldn't disgrace the Love-Love Fruit either.
They didn't dwell much on the fruit. After accepting it, the two Admirals talked about other matters and walked into the castle while conversing.