Wealth Brought by the Economy Needs the Barrel of a Gun to Back It Up!
The Marines has Marine Base on the Sabaody Archipelago, but since the Sabaody Archipelago is an island under the jurisdiction of the Celestial Dragons, the Marines here is basically invisible and has no real power or influence.
Generally speaking, the commander of Marine Base is Vice Admiral. The commander of the Sabaody Archipelago base is at least Rear Admiral, which shows that the Marines does not really value this place.
Otherwise, how could the Sabaody Archipelago be such a chaotic and lawless place? If the Marines had such strong control over this area, would pirates be able to brazenly sail from here to Fish-Man Island?
Rear Admiral Sabaody Archipelago is a close acquaintance of Ortolan.
Teacher Zephyr's classmate from the same year, who had previously experienced bullying at Strawberry 'Ortolan school.
Upon receiving the Den Den Mushi from Ortolan, Strawberry jumped up from his office sofa and immediately began calling for reinforcements. In less than five minutes, he led five hundred Marines and swiftly arrived at Ortolan.
Looking at the huge hole in the wall of the slave shop, Strawberry sighed, ordered the Marines soldiers to surround the place, and then reluctantly walked into the shop.
Once inside, you see Ortolan sitting on a sofa in the shop smoking, with a green-haired young man standing next to him, and a beautiful blonde woman beside him.
However, Strawberry didn't pay much attention to the green-haired and blond-haired guy. He walked over to Ortolan and asked, "What brings you here? What's going on?"
"I'm here on vacation, but you, kid, it's been ages since I've seen you. What happened to you, being sent to this godforsaken place?" Ortolan asked with a chuckle.
Strawberry curled his lip. "What kind of place is this? This place is close to the headquarters, it's easy, and I can accumulate some experience. I only got here by pulling strings. After a couple of years, I might even be promoted to Vice Admiral when I go back."
It's clear that despite experiencing bullying at Ortolan School, the students in their year still have a good relationship.
After exchanging pleasantries for a while, Ortolan said, "Our Marines is the representative of justice. In your jurisdiction, there are people openly buying and selling slaves, and you don't do anything about it?"
"Don't give me that bureaucratic talk," Strawberry rolled his eyes at Ortolan. "You know what's going on in this godforsaken place. It's an island under Celestial Dragons control. Our Marines has no law enforcement authority here. It's all under the guise of these merchants, but in reality, they're all front men, backed by those noble lords from Mary Geoise..."
The term "noble lord" here does not refer to the Celestial Dragons. In fact, Mary Geoise is not only home to Celestial Dragons and other world nobles. Many wealthy nobles from various countries like to congregate in Mary Geoise because Mary Geoise is the central hub and core of the world's ruling government.
It is called Holy Land not only because it is the political core, but also because it is the economic and cultural core of the world's government.
Because it connects various sea areas, Mary Geoise is extremely rich in resources. As long as you have money, you can buy anything you want, which is a privilege that other Affiliated Nation cannot enjoy. Therefore, both the living standards and economic level are very high-end. As a result, wealthy nobles from various countries like to live in Mary Geoise and buy mansions and the like.
There are even frequent rumors of 'inspiring' news, such as a certain nobleman doing something in Mary Geoise and befriending the Celestial Dragons.
That's right, here you have a better chance to meet with top-tier nobles from the world of mortals. For these idle and carefree nobles, this is the most important thing.
The expenses in Mary Geoise were naturally very high, so they would try every means to earn more wealth to support their extravagant lifestyle.
The Sabaody Archipelago is a product of this background, a product of the colonial system. The bubble parks, upscale restaurants, shopping streets, and even the illegal slave trade on the islands are all actually run by the great nobles of Mary Geoise.
Ortolan shrugged. He had no intention of making things difficult for Strawberry. What use was a Marine Admiral to him?
Therefore, Ortolan said, "I won't talk to you about difficult things. Deep-seated problems can't be cured with a single stroke. So, close all the slave shops on this street, and confiscate all their ill-gotten gains..."
"What do you say? What am I supposed to do? After all, you're a lieutenant Vice Admiral, and I'm just a Rear Admiral. What can I say? But let me make this clear first: I can't cover this up. Ortolan, are you sure you can?" Strawberry was magnanimous and readily agreed, while also giving Ortolan a reminder.
"I'm a G-5 mad dog, of course I can handle it, but if you don't take responsibility, I won't share the blame with you," Ortolan said without hesitation.
"I don't need to rebuild the Marine Base, what would I need so much money for? When you leave later, I'll load it all onto your ship," Stolobey laughed.
"Fine, shut down all the slave shops on this street, and execute all the owners on the spot. Pack up all their illegal gains and take them with me when I leave. If they're convicted, say they openly violated the World Government by trafficking people. This damn boss even threatened me to my face, saying he has connections. So add another charge against them: threatening a high-ranking Marines officer and falsely accusing someone in Mary Geoise of colluding with him in corruption, seemingly intending to overthrow the World Government. Then tell those damn nobles that I've convicted them of this crime. If there are any problems, let him complain to headquarters or contact me through G-5. I'll personally explain it to him!" Ortolan said Haki.
Stolobey chuckled and asked, "It's unlikely that headquarters will file a complaint. This is illegal, and if no one cares, no one cares. Even if someone cares, they won't be able to say a word. But what if those guys are really stubborn and go after G-5? Are you really going to take them all out?"
"How could that be?" Ortolan patted his chest and said, "I'm a law-abiding Marines. Then again, there are so many pirates in the New World. If they get kidnapped by pirates on the way, they can't blame me. In that case, I can only uphold justice, try my best to rescue the hostages, and negotiate with those pirates to see if they can pay me to release them. I think I still have some influence..."
Stolobey looked at Ortolan and then said, "I think you're really going crazy for money. Is the situation in G-5 that difficult?"
"It's going to be tough..." Ortolan sighed with a bitter expression, but didn't say anything more.
Seeing that he was unwilling to say more, Stolobey didn't ask any further questions. He waved his hand, called over his adjutant, gave instructions on the action plan, and then the Marines outside the door immediately dispersed.
A short while later, while sitting inside, Ortolan heard a chorus of gunshots outside. Clearly, those who should have been executed had been shot.
After hearing the commotion, Ortolan turned to Tesoro and asked, "Is there anything else bothering you? Tell me and I'll take care of it for you..."
Tesoro looked at Ortolan with eyes full of admiration. This time, Ortolan showed him not his strength, but his power!
Tesoro felt that this was truly amazing!
Upon hearing Ortolan's question, Tesoro immediately shook his head and said, "No, no."
"If there's nothing else, go back and deal with your mess. We should go now," Ortolan said, standing up and stretching.
Tesoro looked at Stella, Stella gently shook her head. So Tesoro said, "Bane, I don't need to take anything with me. Let's go!"
Ortolan nodded, then put his arm Stolobey's shoulder and said, "Then I'll head over to the docks to find a boat. Don't you dare embezzle my public funds..."
"I can't even be bothered with you." Stolobey glanced at Ortolan, then said, "Let me know when you get back to headquarters. I live close by; it's been a long time since we had a drink together..."
"I know, I'll definitely do it next time!" Ortolan replied with a serious expression.
Then, he took Tesoro and Stella and left the place in a carefree manner.
After Tesoro stepped out of the store, he glanced at the street behind him and saw those wealthy businessmen who were usually high and mighty, now lying on the ground like dead dogs, their heads blown open by bullets.
At this moment, he seemed to understand some truths again: the wealth brought by the economy needs the support of the gun, and these were things that he had not read in the books.
"What are you thinking about? You look like you've got something in mind?" Ortolan glanced at Tesoro and asked casually.
"My neighbor hoards grain, I hoard guns; my neighbor is my granary..." Tesoro said, looking at Ortolan.
Ortolan paused for a moment, then laughed and said, "Young man, you're perfect for my G-5, just my type!"