East Blue Call to Arms

As a renowned Marine Genius Colonel known for his swordsmanship, Dander Xieche had graduated after just two and a half years of training.

He had naturally noticed Guina's little move long ago.

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

He had acquired it in Loguetown while passing through after arriving in the East Blue, and had used it ever since.

Although Sandai Kitetsu was not one of the Ryo Wazamono, merely a fine blade, its qualities and craftsmanship had already satisfied Xia Che greatly.

He had used it all this time.

As for why he did not use Yuki, one of the Good Grade Swords: Fifty Works?

He had had no money back then!

At the time, it had been less of a reassignment and more like exile. Unlike Smoker, who had brought his subordinates aboard a luxurious Marine warship to the East Blue, Xia Che had only had himself and a small boat.

If he had not encountered Robin at sea, he probably would have gotten lost.

And unlike Smoker, who had been reassigned to a prosperous town in the East Blue, Xia Che had been exiled directly to the remote 315th Branch.

If he had not later worked with Colonel Sean, he would probably still have been stuck at that sparsely populated 315th Branch.

As for Sandai Kitetsu's so-called curse... Xia Che merely laughed at it. He was not even afraid of being poor, so why would he fear a mere curse?

He had been so poor back then that his pockets jingled!

Therefore, for a Marine Genius Colonel, Guina's attempt to defeat him with that alone was simply wishful thinking.

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

In the end, Xia Che tapped her on the head with the flat of his blade, and Guina surrendered while clutching her head, puffing out her cheeks in anger.

She kept pouting and resentfully complaining that Senior Brother Xia Che had hit her on the head.

After training ended, Xia Che took Nami and Robin to welcome Guina and celebrate the arrival of Marine Branch 16's swordsmanship instructor.

The next day.

Because the swordsmanship instructor had arrived, Xia Che specially convened an emergency meeting to welcome the new instructor and arrange the upcoming work of Marine Branch 16.

Of course~

It was only a branch in the weakest sea, so there were not many people who could attend the meeting.

Robin went without saying.

As a Marine Branch 16 sergeant and the head of the Finance Department, Nami naturally had to attend. Guina, the newly appointed swordsmanship instructor, was also present. Udo, likewise a Marine Branch 16 sergeant and Marine Branch 16's chief steward, certainly had to attend as well.

The rest... were merely a few members of Marine Branch 16's management.

Looking at the scant handful of people in the 16th Branch, most of whom were little more than dead weight, Xia Che could not help sighing inwardly.

If Moke had not needed to work outside, he would have had a seat here as well.

Of course~

The one consolation was that although there were few of them, they had basically all been brought up by Xia Che, so they were extremely loyal to him.

After briefly introducing Guina, Xia Che received warm applause. Guina then stood and declared that she would diligently teach swordsmanship to Marine Branch 16 and contribute to the branch's development. Next...

"A brief message arrived from Marine Headquarters this morning."

Miss Robin opened the notebook in her hands. As Xia Che's secretary, she had already gathered and recorded all the work that needed to be arranged today in her notebook.

She pushed up the flat glasses she wore for decoration and said with a strange expression, "Marine Headquarters will send over the military funds we requested the day before yesterday as soon as possible. They even specially increased the funding by ten percent."

As soon as she finished speaking.

Other than Guina, who had just arrived and did not understand the situation, and Xia Che, who frowned, everyone around the conference table froze. Then they all cheered.

"Not only did it come so quickly, they even raised it by ten percent?"

"That's awfully generous!"

"More than generous, they actually didn't drag it out this time. They approved it so quickly. This is unbelievable."

Everyone was extremely excited. Nami, who had recently been troubled over their lack of money, practically had stars in her eyes.

She even silently thanked the Marines, whom she usually only cursed at.

However.

"Quiet." Xia Che rebuked them, and after everyone calmed down, he turned to Robin. "Did Marine Headquarters make any demands?"

"They did." Robin nodded, her expression still somewhat strange.

Before the frowning crowd could ask, Robin said directly, "Marine Headquarters hopes that we will stop, or even arrest, the Moke Pirates. No matter what, we absolutely cannot allow the Moke Pirates to enter the Grand Line."

"..."

Everyone fell silent, equally strange expressions appearing on their faces.

As Marine Branch 16's management, they naturally knew all about the Moke Pirates~

Was Marine Headquarters really planning to send them money this time?!

"Ahem, ahem, ahem~" Xia Che gave a fake cough, drawing everyone's attention back. He looked at Robin with the same strange expression, then said solemnly, "Have someone reply to Marine Headquarters later. The 16th Branch will certainly do everything in its power to intercept and stop the Moke Pirates. We will absolutely not allow this band of vicious pirates to enter the Grand Line."

He had not planned to let the Moke Pirates enter the Grand Line yet. Would it not be better for them to develop obediently in the East Blue, then occasionally sneak into the Grand Line to recruit talent?

What was the point of hiding all over the Grand Line?

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

"Understood." Robin smiled faintly.

Knowing that they had fooled the World Government put her in quite a good mood, considering she had been hunted by the World Government since childhood.

Next...

The expansion of the Conomi Islands.

During this period, people on the Conomi Islands had continuously been assigned to cut down trees in preparation for expanding the town and connecting all the villages together.

Now that they had recruited more and more refugees, it was about time to begin.

There was also Marine Branch 16's expansion and training...

Although Marine Headquarters had regulations on the number of personnel and warships a Marine branch could have, and would neither acknowledge nor provide pay or subsidies for those exceeding the limit, sorry... the 16th Branch simply did not follow those rules.

So they would have to cover that portion of the funding themselves.

As for training materials, Xia Che planned to use the Six Powers taught by Marine Headquarters directly as the curriculum. As a systematic training method, the Six Powers were quite useful. He only needed to add a few extra ingredients.

There was also...

Water Breathing.

One of the five basic breathing styles from the Demon Slayer Corps, it had been a benefit he received when he became a full employee.

Although Water Breathing's power level was not particularly high for this sea, aside from its uniqueness, it had been enough for him to dominate this weakest sea at the time.

If combined with the powers unique to this world, it still had considerable potential.

It was just that, perhaps because the power systems differed, others seemed to have a difficult time learning it. Aside from Xia Che, who had learned it through employee benefits, no one else had truly mastered it.

Over all these years, only Guina had touched upon its outer edge. That was also why it would not be so easy for Zoro to defeat Guina.

Perhaps it needed to be modified?

Made more compatible with the methods of this world.

Xia Che looked at his Employee Performance Record...

Name: Xia Che

Occupation: Level 4 Section Chief

Performance Points: 5500. Note: When an employee reaches 10000 points, they may be promoted to Level 3 Section Chief and receive one employee benefit.

After the Inspection Team left, his performance points had jumped directly from 1500 to 5500, an increase of 4000. He was not far from another promotion.

But why had it increased so much?

Could it have been because of the newly arrived refugees at the time? But how much could that small number of refugees have added?

One hundred? Two hundred?

So why had it risen so much this time? It was almost comparable to the points from recruiting Robin and defeating Arlong.

Could it be...

That he had unknowingly changed someone else's fate again?

Garp?

Smoker?

Or perhaps Tashigi?

Unable to figure it out, Xia Che did not dwell on it.

In the end, after setting their next development goals and summarizing them as: build high walls, stockpile grain, and bide their time before claiming the throne, he declared the meeting over.

Other than Robin, Nami, and Guina, Udo and the others left their seats to carry out the upcoming work.

Robin stayed because she was always by his side and would not leave unless she had something to do. Guina still had questions to ask, while Nami...

"No money!"

As Robin listed matter after matter, and Nami heard that they were all projects requiring large amounts of money, her face grew darker and darker.

There had been too many people earlier, making it difficult to say anything. But now...

"Don't you already know our situation?" Nami gave Xia Che no face at all. She walked straight up to him, clutching her head. "Please, Marine Headquarters increased it by ten percent, not tenfold. Where are we supposed to get that much money?"

"You've worked hard, Nami~"

"Y-you, don't think you can fool me again. That doesn't work anymore." Though she said that, Xia Che's consolation still eased some of Nami's anger.

With her arms folded, the graceful figure unique to a lady of the sea was displayed before Xia Che. Yet she still said angrily, "Unless you take me to dig for a gold mine, forget it. I can't just conjure money out of thin air."

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

"A gold mine?"

"It's not time to use our reserve funds yet." Xia Che waved his hand, signaling the bright-eyed Nami to rein herself in, then pulled out the new bounty notice he had received that morning. "It's time for Moke to act."

It was Moke's new bounty poster, offering a reward of fifty million Beli.

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

"..."

What exactly was this girl thinking?

Xia Che's face darkened. Ignoring Nami, he turned to Robin beside him. "Tell Moke that he can act now."

Marineford Year 1517.

A new overlord of the East Blue was born.

A new bounty poster worth fifty million spread across the East Blue in an instant. Aside from a doddering old man in some village who slapped his thigh and laughed uproariously, everyone in the East Blue... anyone who received that bounty poster was filled with shock.

This was the weakest sea—the East Blue!

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

It was practically no different from the Pirate King appearing again!

The entire East Blue was shaken.

The captain of the Krieg Pirates, the East Blue's nominal overlord—Admiral Krieg—only had a bounty of seventeen million Beli. Yet the Moke Pirates... had not even left the East Blue to enter the Grand Line!

And now their bounty was nearly three times as high!

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

What outrageously evil deed had the Moke Pirates committed to receive such an enormous Marine bounty before even entering the Grand Line?

Countless pirate crews were curious, while countless pirates worshipped this rising star of the East Blue and wanted to witness the new East Blue overlord for themselves.

Not long afterward.

Just as everyone was shocked, curious, and full of anticipation.

Suddenly.

The new East Blue overlord sent pirate invitations to the waters near the first half of the East Blue, summoning pirates from nearby seas to declare war on Marine Branch 16. They intended to massacre Marine Branch 16 and announce their position as the new East Blue overlord to the entire East Blue.

For a time.

Pirates throughout the East Blue boiled with excitement.