"Darren!!"
Gion glared furiously at the newly appointed top Marine authority of North Blue, who was leaning back in his chair with a frivolous, infuriatingly relaxed expression. Her silver teeth were almost grinding together, her chest rising and falling sharply with anger.
Before coming to North Blue, she had already heard plenty of unsavory rumors about this man.
She had even prepared herself mentally.
Yet no matter how hard she tried, she could never have imagined that a Marine—someone sworn to uphold Justice—could degenerate to this extent!
Those vulgar, shameless, and indecent actions—when they came out of Darren's mouth—had somehow turned into "caring for the people" and "military–civilian cooperation"!
Gion felt like she could barely stand to look at those words anymore. Words that should have been noble and dignified now felt completely tainted.
"What you're doing doesn't just damage your personal reputation—it disgraces the entire Marine organization! You scum!"
As if seeking validation, she turned sharply to Kaji.
"Am I right, Kaji?!"
"…I never imagined 'caring for the people' could be done like that. Truly inspired… Ah—Gion, you're absolutely right!"
Kaji, who had been muttering to himself in a daze, suddenly snapped back to attention. His wandering eyes instantly turned righteous. He slammed his hand on the table and glared at Darren.
"That's right! Darren, you're a disgrace to the Marines!"
Darren gave him a faint, knowing smile.
"So you don't want to, Lieutenant Commander Kaji?"
"Of course I want to—! Ah, no! I mean—of course I care about the people!"
Kaji stiffened, his face flushing bright red.
Darren chuckled softly, exhaling a long stream of smoke. His gaze returned to Gion's furious, strikingly beautiful face as he spoke leisurely.
"This sort of thing is completely consensual. Mrs. Margaret is happy. I'm happy. Everyone wins."
Win your head!
Gion absolutely refused to accept this twisted line of reasoning. Gritting her teeth, she snapped:
"But the Governor of the Yadis Kingdom definitely won't be happy! If this gets out, do you have any idea what kind of political consequences it could cause!?"
"—Who said Governor Tyrell wouldn't be happy?"
Darren suddenly smiled.
Gion froze.
Kaji's mouth fell open.
At the same time, an unbelievable thought surfaced in both their minds.
Don't tell me…
Darren casually flicked the ash from his cigar.
"Besides, this isn't really a big issue. I'm not hiding anything. Since you already know, Marineford naturally knows too."
"Then ask yourselves—why hasn't anyone from Marineford ever impeached me?"
"Have you ever thought about that?"
He slowly stood up, planting one hand on the conference table as he leaned forward. The playful air around him vanished, replaced by an oppressive, domineering presence—cold, disdainful, and razor-sharp.
As Darren's smile faded, Gion and Kaji both felt an inexplicable chill creep into their hearts.
Looking down at the two "Marineford elites," Darren spoke indifferently:
"Because I get results."
"And besides—are the images of other Marine officers really that spotless?"
Those words left both of them speechless.
They thought of Monkey D. Garp, casually picking his nose and sleeping wherever he pleased.
They thought of Sengoku, the so-called Great Strategist, talking to goats and constantly muttering to himself.
They also thought of the two "monsters" of their generation—Sakazuki and Borsalino.
One pursued Absolute Justice with brutal efficiency, showing no mercy even when civilians were caught in the crossfire.
The other mocked everything with a lazy drawl, calling every situation "so scary."
When viewed that way…
Was the Marine's image really all that noble?
No—wait.
Gion suddenly snapped out of it.
I can't let myself be led astray by him!
But before she could speak, Darren waved a hand dismissively, cutting her off.
"That's enough. My training time's up."
"If you're interested, you're welcome to watch. I'll be on the training ground."
"And if either of you has any objections to how I do things…"
He smiled faintly.
"I'd be more than happy to spar with two elite officers from Marineford."
He stubbed out his cigar, tossed a fresh box of cigars to Kaji, and strode out of the base commander's office.
The door slowly closed.
Gion and Kaji sat there in stunned silence.
After a long moment, Gion finally snapped back to herself.
"That bastard… I refuse to believe that kind of warped logic!"
She clenched her teeth, pulled out a Den Den Mushi, and dialed Marineford.
"Gion? What are you doing—"
"I'm reporting Darren's misconduct to Marineford!"
Gion stared intently at the Den Den Mushi as it rang.
Soon, the call connected.
"Gahahahaha! Little Gion, you've arrived in North Blue already? How's the environment?"
The hearty laughter of Fleet Admiral Sengoku came through, the Den Den Mushi perfectly mimicking his familiar appearance—seagull hat and round black-rimmed glasses included.
"Reporting, Fleet Admiral Sengoku."
Gion spoke stiffly and formally.
"I've arrived at Branch 321. However, during the inspection, I discovered that Colonel Darren's personal conduct is extremely problematic—serious enough to damage the Marine's reputation and even trigger political disputes!"
Her voice trembled with anger.
"Oh?"
Sengoku sounded mildly surprised.
"What sort of problem? From what I remember, that kid Darren is pretty capable…"
Pretty capable…?
For some reason, Gion felt something was off when she heard that.
She opened her mouth, her face gradually turning red.
"He… he… he—"
The matter was simply too shameful to say aloud.
Kaji snatched the Den Den Mushi away.
"He slept with the Governor of Yadis Kingdom's wife!!"
Silence.
On the other end—
Marineford, Fleet Admiral's Office.
Sengoku stared at the Den Den Mushi as Kaji continued indignantly:
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku! I strongly recommend that bastard Darren be dismissed and investigated!"
"That's a governor's wife! And she's still charming and extremely beautiful!"
Sengoku's forehead twitched.
Why do you keep emphasizing that part?
"Hm… so it's about that."
That was all Sengoku said.
Gion and Kaji froze.
That's it?
That's your reaction!?
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku… your attitude—"
Gion couldn't help sounding dissatisfied.
Sengoku scratched his head.
"Gion, there are some things you don't know. Darren does have many issues—Tsuru and I are well aware of that."
"And what you mentioned? This isn't the first time."
"Complaints about him have already piled up like mountains in the Marine's inspection and administration departments."
Kaji felt his legs go weak.
That meant Darren had "cared for" countless noble ladies and women like Mrs. Margaret?
How many times had he carried out this so-called military–civilian cooperation!?
…What an animal.
He took several aggressive puffs from his cigar.
Gion was even more shocked.
"Then why was he still promoted to be in charge of all of North Blue!? If he keeps acting like this, the entire sea will fall into chaos!"
Sengoku sighed quietly, thinking how young and idealistic she still was.
"There's a reason he can hold that sea together."
Gion frowned.
"But Fleet Admiral Sengoku… weren't Rear Admiral Borsalino and Rear Admiral Sakazuki also stationed in North Blue before?"
"Are you saying Darren did better than them?"
Sengoku's mouth twitched.
"Gion… you don't understand those two well enough."
"During Borsalino's tenure, unless Marineford explicitly ordered him, he barely worked at all. Piracy only got worse. We eventually had no choice but to transfer him."
"And Sakazuki?" Gion pressed.
Sengoku sighed again.
"Why do you think Sakazuki was transferred?"
"He suppressed pirates without regard for civilian safety or political consequences. Entire towns and kingdoms suffered massive damage."
"In the end, more than ten allied nations jointly pressured Marineford. We had no choice but to remove him from North Blue."
Gion: …
Kaji: …
Sengoku pinched the bridge of his nose.
"In short, both Sakazuki and Borsalino supported Darren's promotion."
"The fact that he earned approval from those two speaks volumes."
He added meaningfully:
"Study hard."