Handling

The next day.

After waking up and washing up, Xia Che arrived at his office and picked up the newspaper that had already been placed on his desk, uniformly ordered by the Marine branch.

After giving it a quick glance and seeing that it contained no information about what had happened in the East Blue last night, a trace of surprise flashed through Xia Che's eyes, followed by understanding.

Right~

How big of a deal had last night really been?

They said the East Blue Overlord had joined forces with East Blue pirates to bathe Marine Branch 16 in blood, but if one looked closely...

What even were they?

Setting aside Moke's fifty million Beli bounty, the highest bounty among the remaining pirates belonged only to the captain of the Krieg Pirates.

But.

That was only seventeen million Beli!

They claimed there were over ten thousand pirates, yet if all their bounties were added together, they probably would not even surpass the bounty of a single pirate crew in the New World.

As for pirates attacking a Marine branch, it was not like they had attacked Enies Lobby, Marineford, or Impel Down.

No one knew how many Marine branches were attacked by pirates across these seas every day.

The only difference was probably that most pirates acted sneakily, while Moke had been so brazen.

So, to Marine Headquarters, this matter was probably no bigger than a sesame seed. If Garp had not talked it up, Marine Headquarters likely would not have known until Moke had truly wiped out Marine Branch 16.

Just like the Straw Hat crew. After they attacked Colonel Mouse, if Colonel Mouse had not specially talked up Luffy, Luffy's first bounty probably would not have reached thirty million Beli.

So with the East Blue in this state... what standing did it have?

And it wanted to make the news and trend?

If the big-name pirates of the Grand Line and New World saw this... wouldn't they laugh their teeth out?

Perhaps that was why Marine Headquarters had only sent one colonel, Smoker, to provide support.

If this had happened in another sea, with more than half the pirates in the entire region attacking, the Marines would at least have sent a Marine officer to provide reinforcements.

But the East Blue now... there was really no need.

Seemingly having figured something out, Xia Che nodded and continued reading the newspaper.

There were currently two main trending topics in the papers. One was the East Blue super rookie—Portgas D. Ace.

Ever since he had left the East Blue, this guy had risen to fame. Relying on his own strength, he had quickly cleared the Grand Line and entered the New World.

The World Government was now inviting him to become one of the Shichibukai, so the matter had stirred up a huge commotion across the seas.

The other trending figure was Bartholomew Kuma, known as the Tyrant, the protagonist of the one-man revolution in the Sorbet Kingdom of the South Blue several years ago.

Of course, after the former king of the Sorbet Kingdom, King Becori, fled and cooperated with the World Government, leading several Marine warships back to the Sorbet Kingdom, Kuma sank every last one of them by himself. Bartholomew Kuma had now also gone to sea as a pirate.

While traveling the seas with his daughter in search of a doctor to treat her illness, he had also sparked so-called revolutions in various countries. The uproar had made him a trending topic in the newspapers, and the World Government had placed a high bounty on him.

As for Moke... although his bounty was already high for a newcomer, he really did not seem to have many impressive achievements.

Before thirty million, it had all depended on Xia Che, his boss, talking him up. After that, Garp had talked him up to fifty million, and his attack on Marine Branch 16 had failed, even dragging down all the pirates of the East Blue with him.

The pirate forces in the East Blue would probably find it difficult to recover anytime soon.

Xia Che sighed inwardly. After shaking his head with emotion, he put away the newspaper and looked at Miss Robin beside him. "How are those pirates being arranged?"

"It is already being handled, but since the number this time is indeed rather large, it will probably take some time to settle them all." Still reading, Miss Robin did not look up. As she turned the pages of the book in her hand, she said unhurriedly, "Udo is watching over there. As you instructed, some will be used for construction on the Conomi Islands, while others will be used for construction here at the Marine branch."

As she spoke, she also used her ability to pour Xia Che a cup of black tea.

"As for Nami, she went early this morning to sort through the gains from this operation. Moke has already taken his new ship out to sea. As for the Marines... Colonel Smoker is still here, while Petty Officer Tashigi was taken away by Guina early this morning for a spar."

"Moke has already gone to sea?"

It seemed that after getting his new ship, Moke was quite excited too~

After hearing Robin's introduction, Xia Che roughly understood the current situation.

In short, everything had been properly arranged, and there was no need for him to worry.

As for Colonel Smoker, he was probably still here because of Tashigi.

After all, she had suddenly met someone who looked so much like her and also used a sword. Of course the two of them would have to properly spar!

So there was no need to bother with Smoker.

"How are things in the East Blue? Has Moke been exposed?"

Since he could not get any useful news from the newspaper, he could gather information from the East Blue later.

"People have already been assigned to gather information, but it will take some time." Seemingly recalling something, Miss Robin revealed a helpless smile.

Who would have thought that he would arrange for Moke to save a group of small-time pirates in the end?

By holding back a Marine Colonel alone, he had left hope for the East Blue pirates. Those pirates had probably been so moved by the sight of Moke's back that they were nearly in tears.

And Colonel Smoker... his face had been dark all night. They had heard that the cigar ash by his feet had nearly piled up.

"Oh, right~" Robin looked up with an elegant smile. "We found quite a few civilians who had been abducted by pirates aboard some of the pirate ships this time. Since they were all unconscious at the time, they do not know what happened. You were not awake this morning either, so Udo specifically came to me just now and asked me to ask you later how they should be handled. Also, I heard you intend to recruit a few pirates?"

"Civilians? If they want to go home, have Colonel Smoker take them away later. Those who want to stay can be arranged as before." Xia Che pondered for a moment before speaking.

When Moke and the others usually kidnapped people, they followed his instructions and took them from poor places. Therefore, after coming here, those who had experienced poverty cherished life here greatly.

But this time...

It had merely been an accident.

Quite a few of them were probably civilians who had not originally been poor, but had simply encountered pirates by accident and been abducted.

So there was no need to force them to stay. In this East Blue... there was no shortage of people looking for work anyway.

As for recruiting pirates...

There were only a few of them, especially Captain Kuro. Of course, whether he lived or died did not matter, as long as he left Silent Step behind.

So he could just have Udo handle it later. Xia Che believed Udo would get it done.

What mattered instead was...

Name: Xia Che

Occupation: Level 4 Section Chief

Target Count: 8000. Note: When the employee count reaches 10000, you may be promoted to Level 3 Section Chief and receive an employee benefit.

This operation had actually increased it by 2,500, from the original 5,500 to 8,000. It was nearly on par with when the Inspection Team had come last time. Was it because he had wiped out several of the little bosses the protagonist would encounter early on in one go?

But it had to be said, this time's gains had truly been abundant!

Since there was nothing else to do, Xia Che stretched and stood up directly. Looking at Robin, he said, "Want to go take a look around Cocoyasi Village together?"

At his words.

Miss Robin thought for a moment, closed the book in her hands, and gently brushed back the hair before her forehead with her delicate jade-like hand. Then she nodded with a smile and said elegantly, "All right, BOSS~"