CP and the Marines were two departments of the World Government, belonging to separate systems.
The Marines were the World Government's public face, operating in the open.
CP was the World Government's direct intelligence agency, operating in the shadows.
Therefore, it was unreasonable to have CP4 investigate Oren's case.
However, having CP4 investigate it also demonstrated how seriously the World Government took the matter.
That would silence the allied countries.
After all, CP and the Marines belonged to different systems, so there was no suspicion of them covering for each other.
"Seriously, they actually made me investigate such a boring case."
A warship without a hull number had docked at Fast Port. On the port side, a man in a black-and-white striped suit and slicked-back hair was complaining.
Once the warship reached the shore, the man swaggered off with an arrogant, six-relatives-denying gait.
The man's name was Gana, the highest-ranking officer of CP4.
A hundred agents followed behind Gana.
This was Gana's way of doing things. Wherever he went, he had to be accompanied by more than a hundred men.
That not only made him look imposing on the road, but with so many people around him, he was safe wherever he went.
Count Reinhardt was waiting for Gana at the wharf.
Gana came before Count Reinhardt, pulled his identification from his pocket, and waved it in front of him. "My name is Gana. This is my identification."
"Mr. Gana, this way, please."
At Count Reinhardt's invitation, Gana boarded the carriage.
In the carriage, Count Reinhardt briefly mentioned several of the "coincidences" to Gana.
Gana did not express any opinion.
Count Reinhardt and Duke Richard had already gathered information about Gana through various channels. They believed Gana would not accept their one-sided account before seeing the evidence.
Of course, if they wanted Gana to work, they had to give him something in return.
Gana was a greedy man.
The carriage stopped in front of Count Reinhardt's estate.
Gana entered the estate together with Count Reinhardt.
Although it had been looted by "pirates," and parts of it had even been burned down, Count Reinhardt owned many houses, and repairs had been completed quickly.
Therefore, the reception was far from lacking in grandeur.
After they took their seats, Count Reinhardt first poured Gana some wine, then said, "This wine is a specialty of my country, a fine red wine from the South Blue. I've also prepared some for Mr. Gana to take home."
Ten servants carrying wooden crates of wine came before Gana.
The crates were opened in front of him.
They were filled with banknotes!
Each crate contained twenty million Berries.
Two hundred million Berries.
Gana's eyes lit up, and a smile appeared on his face. As he drank the fine red wine, he said, "I will begin investigating this case immediately. As long as the evidence is conclusive, the offenders will certainly be punished severely."
Money could make the devil turn a millstone.
The nobles understood this principle very well.
Moreover, Count Reinhardt had already investigated Gana. He knew Gana was a man who would open his eyes at the sight of money.
Gana had framed quite a few people for money in the past.
His reputation was as bad as it could possibly be.
"Thank you for your efforts, Mr. Gana. The Kingdom of Arthur will not forget your hard work," Count Reinhardt said with a smile.
Gana had accepted two hundred million Berries, so naturally, he had to investigate.
As the saying went, whoever tied the bell had to untie it.
To investigate whether the attack on Fast Port had been carried out by Branch 189, all they had to do was conduct individual interrogations of the Marines from Branch 189.
As for whether they would confess?
It did not matter. If one wanted to frame someone, there was no shortage of excuses.
Of course, the prerequisite was that Count Reinhardt was willing to pay more.
Two hundred million Berries alone? That was nowhere near enough to satisfy Gana.
Gana arrived at William Port.
Order had long since been restored in William Port.
If not for the traces of burning on the buildings inside the port, no one would have been able to tell that it had suffered a pirate attack.
At that moment, Gana noticed something.
Every merchant and traveler who landed at William Port was lining up to "donate money."
Gana went closer and took a look. The money was being donated to the Marine Veterans and Disabled Personnel Foundation.
"What happens if we don't donate?"
At that moment, a traveler in gray clothes asked.
Another traveler wearing a yellow hat answered, "Then you can't enter William Port, and you'll also be taken away for questioning."
The traveler in gray asked, "Why?"
The traveler in the yellow hat replied, "Those are the rules set by the Marines."
Gana had thought collecting evidence would be troublesome. He had not expected it to be so easy.
Forcing people to donate just to enter the port already constituted extortion.
Still, Gana rather admired the commander of Branch 189. Not only was he greedy, he was also quite bold.
Extorting money in broad daylight—their speed at lining their pockets was even faster than pirates robbing people!
Just as Gana and the others were about to leave the port, a squad of Marines blocked their way. "Wait."
"What is it?" Gana asked with a frown.
The ensign blocking the road reminded them, "Go in the direction of the line."
Gana took out his identification and waved it casually. "See this?"
It was CP4's identification.
"CP4?"
After taking the identification and learning that Gana was from CP4, the Marine ensign asked him, "What are you doing here?"
"We're handling a case for CP4. Do we need to explain ourselves to you?" Gana chuckled. He did not take the Marines of a South Blue branch seriously.
"Wait here while we verify it."
The ensign then went to contact Oren.
Gana snorted softly and smoked his cigarette without a care.
In the South Blue, CP4 could walk sideways.
After a while, the ensign returned and allowed Gana to pass.
Gana put away his identification and swaggered toward the Branch 189 base.
By then, Oren had learned that Gana had brought people in, and he was waiting for Gana with a group of officers.
After meeting Oren, Gana took out his identification and the World Government's investigation documents, then said, "Following a report from the Kingdom of Arthur, Branch 189 will be subject to an investigation from this moment onward."
The Kingdom of Arthur had reported them?
The Marine officers behind Oren grew somewhat tense.
If the Marine Headquarters had sent someone to investigate, they would not have been afraid.
But CP and they belonged to different systems.
They normally had no dealings with CP.
People feared the unknown!
Oren smiled when he heard this. He came to Gana's side and whispered into his ear, "Brother, do you know Vice Admiral Victor?"
"Vice Admiral Victor? Of course I do," Gana replied casually.
Of course he knew Victor.
Over the past few months, Victor had become the Marines' rising star!
Gana was certain that Victor would be promoted to admiral in the future, perhaps even Fleet Admiral!
Oren suddenly raised his arm and shouted, "Long live Lord Victor!"
The sudden shout left Gana utterly bewildered.