East Blue Assembly Order

As a renowned genius colonel in the Marines, famous for his swordsmanship, a prodigy who graduated in just two and a half years—Colonel Dandy Xia Che.

He had long noticed Guina's subtle movements.

In an instant, Xia Che also swiftly drew his Sandai Kitetsu.

He had acquired it in Loguetown on his way to the East Blue and had been using it ever since.

Although the Sandai Kitetsu wasn't one of the "50 Ryo Wazamono" and was merely a fast sword, its characteristics and quality were already quite satisfactory to Xia Che.

He had been using it until now.

As for why he didn't use Yuki, one of the Ryo Wazamono?

He had no choice; he didn't have the money back then!

At that time, it was less of a reassignment and more of an exile. Unlike Smoker, who directly brought his subordinates and sailed to the East Blue in a luxurious Marine warship, Xia Che had only himself and a small boat.

If he hadn't met Robin at sea, he probably would have gotten lost.

Furthermore, unlike Smoker, who was stationed in a bustling town in the East Blue, he was directly exiled to the remote Marine Branch 315.

If he hadn't collaborated with Colonel Sean later, he probably would still be stuck in the sparsely populated Marine Branch 315.

As for the supposed curse of the Sandai Kitetsu… Xia Che just chuckled. If he wasn't afraid of poverty, why would he be afraid of a mere curse?

You must know that he was utterly broke back then!

Therefore, as a genius Marine colonel, it was wishful thinking for Guina to defeat him with just that.

What she knew, he knew. What he knew, she might not.

In the end, after he lightly tapped her head with the back of his sword, Guina, with puffed cheeks, surrendered with her head in her hands.

She continued to pout, grumbling resentfully about her senior brother Xia Che tapping her head.

After the training ended, Xia Che, along with Nami and Robin, hosted a welcome dinner for Guina, the new swordsmanship instructor of Marine Branch 16.

The next day.

Due to the arrival of the swordsmanship instructor, Xia Che specifically convened a temporary meeting to welcome the new instructor and to arrange the upcoming work for Marine Branch 16.

Of course~

It was just a branch in the weakest sea, so not many people were able to attend the meeting.

Needless to say, Robin was there.

As a Sergeant of Marine Branch 16 and the head of the finance department—Nami naturally had to attend, and the new swordsmanship instructor—Guina also came. Additionally, Udo, also a Sergeant of Marine Branch 16 and the chief manager of Marine Branch 16, certainly had to participate.

The rest… were just a few management staff members of Marine Branch 16.

Looking at the meager number of people in Marine Branch 16, most of whom were incompetent, Xia Che felt a wave of emotion.

If Moke didn't have to work outside, he would also be occupying a spot here.

Of course~

The only fortunate thing was that although there were few people, most of them had been brought up by him, so they were very loyal to him.

After a brief introduction of Guina, to warm applause, Guina stood up and declared that she would diligently teach swordsmanship at Marine Branch 16 and contribute to the development of the Marine branch. Following that…

"A message came from Marine Headquarters this morning."

Miss Robin, standing beside him, opened her notebook. As his secretary, the work that needed to be arranged for today had already been compiled and recorded in her notebook.

She pushed up her decorative flat glasses and said with a strange expression, "The military funds applied for the day before yesterday will be disbursed by Marine Headquarters as soon as possible, and Marine Headquarters has even increased the funds by ten percent."

After she finished speaking.

Except for Guina, who had just arrived and didn't understand, and Xia Che, who frowned, everyone around the conference table was stunned for a moment, and then they all cheered.

"Not only so quickly, but also a ten percent increase?"

"How generous!"

"Not only generous, but they actually disbursed it so quickly without any delay, it's simply incredible."

Everyone was extremely excited, especially Nami, who had been worried about money not long ago, her eyes lit up.

She even privately thanked the Marines, whom she usually only scolded.

However.

"Quiet," Xia Che commanded, making everyone quiet down, before turning to Robin, "Did Marine Headquarters have any requests?"

"Indeed, they did!" Robin nodded, her expression still somewhat strange.

Before the frowning crowd could ask, Robin directly stated, "Marine Headquarters hopes we will intercept, or even arrest, the Moke Pirates. Under no circumstances should the Moke Pirates be allowed to enter the Grand Line."

"..."

Everyone fell silent, their expressions mirroring a strange look.

As management of Marine Branch 16, they were naturally aware of the situation with the Moke Pirates~

Is Marine Headquarters really planning to give them money this time?!

"Cough, cough, cough~" Xia Che faked a cough, drawing everyone's attention back. He looked at Robin strangely before righteously declaring, "We'll respond to Marine Headquarters later. Branch 16 will do its utmost to intercept and stop the Moke Pirates. We absolutely will not let this heinous pirate group enter the Grand Line."

He didn't want the Moke Pirates to enter the Grand Line right now anyway. Wouldn't it be better for them to develop quietly in the East Blue and occasionally sneak into the Grand Line to recruit talent?

What good was it to be constantly on the run in the Grand Line?

If the Moke Pirates really went there, how would Marine Branch 16 apply for funding then?

"Understood." Robin smiled faintly.

Hearing that the World Government had been played by them, she, who had been wanted by the World Government since childhood, felt quite pleased.

Next…

Expansion of the Konomi Islands.

During this period, the Konomi Islands had been arranging for people to cut down trees to expand the town and unite all the villages in preparation.

Now, with more and more refugees being taken in, it was almost time to begin.

At the same time, there was the expansion and training of Marine Branch 16…

Although Marine Headquarters had regulations on the number of personnel and warships for each branch, and would not recognize or provide salaries and subsidies for any excess personnel or warships, but sorry… Branch 16 simply didn't follow the rules.

Therefore, this portion of the funds needed to be covered by themselves.

As for the training materials, Xia Che planned to directly use the Six Powers taught by Marine Headquarters. As a systematic set of materials, the Six Powers were quite useful. He would just need to add a few things later.

And also…

Water Breathing.

One of the five basic breathing techniques from a certain Demon Slayer Corps, this was a benefit he received upon becoming a formal employee.

Although Water Breathing, apart from its uniqueness, wasn't at a high power level for this sea, it was enough for him to dominate the weakest sea at the time.

If combined with the power of this sea, it would be quite promising.

It's just that, perhaps due to different power levels, while he learned it through employee benefits, it seemed difficult for others to learn.

After all these years, only Guina had touched upon a tiny bit of it. Because of this, it wasn't easy for Zoro to defeat Guina.

Perhaps it needed to be modified?

To fit the methods here.

Xia Che looked at his [Employee Performance Record]…

[Name: Xia Che]

[Profession: Level 4 Section Chief]

[Score: 5500, Remarks: When an employee reaches 10000, they can be promoted to Level 3 Section Chief and receive employee benefits.]

After the inspection team left, his score had increased by 4000, reaching 5500. He was not far from another promotion.

But why did it increase so much?

Was it because there were new refugees at the time? But how much could a few refugees increase it?

A hundred or two hundred?

So why did it increase so much this time, almost as much as recruiting Robin and defeating Arlong?

Could it be…

That he had unknowingly changed someone else's fate?

Garp?

Smoker?

Or perhaps Tashigi?

Unable to figure it out, Xia Che didn't dwell on it any longer.

Finally, after he set his future development goals, summarized as: Build high walls, store grain widely, and delay claiming kingship, he announced the end of the meeting.

Besides Robin, Nami, and Guina, Udo and the others left their seats, preparing to carry out the next tasks.

Robin stayed by his side, and wouldn't leave if there was nothing else. Guina still had questions to ask. As for Nami…

"No money!"

As Robin listed one item after another, hearing about projects that required a lot of money, Nami's face grew darker and darker.

But there were too many people just now, so it wasn't convenient to say it. Now…

"Don't you already know the current situation?" Nami didn't give Xia Che any face at all. She walked directly in front of him, covering her head, and said, "Please, Marine Headquarters gave us one more layer, not ten times more. Where are we going to get so much money?"

"Thank you for your hard work, Nami~"

"You, you, don't think I'll be fooled again, it's useless now." Although she said that, hearing Xia Che's comfort, Nami's anger subsided a little.

With her arms crossed, the graceful posture unique to the lady of the sea was displayed before Xia Che, yet she still said indignantly, "Unless you take me to dig for gold mines, don't even think about it. I can't conjure money out of thin air."

"Don't worry, I have a way."

"Gold mine?"

"It's not time to use the reserve funds yet." Xia Che waved his hand, signaling Nami, whose eyes were shining, to calm down. He directly took out the new wanted poster he received this morning. "It's time for Moke to make his move."

The poster displayed Moke's new wanted order, with a bounty of fifty million.

"Moke?" Nami glanced at Moke's wanted poster, frowned, and said, "You're not planning to sell Moke, are you?! Fifty million isn't enough!"

"..."

What was this girl thinking?

Xia Che's expression turned dark. He ignored Nami and turned to Robin beside him. "Tell Moke, he can make his move."

Marineford Year 1517.

A new overlord was born in the East Blue.

A new wanted poster with a bounty of fifty million instantly spread throughout the East Blue. Except for an old man slapping his thigh and laughing heartily in a certain village, the entire East Blue... everyone who received this wanted poster was shocked.

After all, this was the weakest sea – the East Blue!

What did fifty million mean to the inexperienced pirates of the East Blue?

It was practically as significant as the Pirate King reappearing!

It could be said that the entire East Blue was shaken.

Keep in mind that the nominal East Blue Overlord, Captain Krieg of the Krieg Pirates, was only wanted for seventeen million Belly. And the Moke Pirates... they hadn't even left the East Blue to enter the Grand Line yet.

Now, their bounty was almost triple!

If they entered the Grand Line... it was unimaginable.

What heinous and universally condemned deeds had the Moke Pirates committed to warrant such a high bounty from the Marines before even entering the Grand Line?

Countless pirate crews were curious, and countless pirates were admiring this new star of the East Blue, wanting to catch a glimpse of this new East Blue overlord.

And not long after.

Just as everyone was in shock, curiosity, and admiration.

Suddenly.

The new East Blue Overlord issued a pirate notice to the sea areas near the first half of the East Blue, summoning pirates from the nearby seas to declare war on Marine Branch 16, preparing to wash Marine Branch 16 with blood, and to announce his status as the new East Blue Overlord to the entire East Blue.

In an instant.

All the pirates in the East Blue were in an uproar.