Secrets and Common Sense

Additionally, according to Stussy, given the vast disparity in individual strength in this world and the harsh reality that the Celestial Dragons had become more useless with each generation, special regulations had been established to prevent desperate servants from murdering their masters. These rules clearly defined the rights and obligations of both masters and slaves. Celestial Dragon masters were not allowed to excessively abuse or humiliate the powerful CP0 agents under their names. Those unwilling to accept this could appeal to the Joint Council for a ruling.

As a result, the lives of official CP0 members in this world were far better than those of Qing Dynasty bannermen. Aside from being unable to travel freely and often needing to hide their identities, they had authority when they wanted authority and income when they wanted income. Even the Marines could not compare.

One had to know that Marine officers, especially those at Marine Headquarters, already received astonishing benefits.

As Mousse understood it, an ordinary Marine Headquarters Rear Admiral earned at least thirty or forty million Berries a year, including special allowances similar to a "Loyalty Bonus" that ordinarily could only be collected after retirement!

Even so, they paled in comparison to CP0's slaves. Taking Stussy herself as an example, her official annual income alone exceeded fifty million Berries.

On top of that, her Celestial Dragon master rewarded her from time to time. In the year that was about to end, that income alone had been no less than her annual salary.

Then there were the enormous subsidies for being an external operative, especially since the Pleasure District was so lucrative.

Including side income, Stussy's total annual earnings exceeded one hundred million Berries, more than the annual salary of a Marine Admiral or even the Fleet Admiral, excluding allowances, bonuses, and other extra income!

"So CP0 really was tightly bound to the Celestial Dragons. Just like eunuchs in ancient China, the Marines still had the slightest possibility of betrayal, but CP0 had none at all." As Mousse thought this, something suddenly occurred to him, and he noticed a problem.

"But speaking of the Marines, didn't Marine Admirals have an obligation to answer Celestial Dragon summons at any time? Yet Sengoku was the only Marine Admiral on the surface now, wasn't he? Did that mean he had to remain permanently stationed at Marineford and never leave? Could it be that this was simply impossible to do, so they just gave up and refused to fulfill this legal duty? Uh, could Fisher Tiger's escape after setting fire to Mary Geoise and rescuing people be related to this as well? Even if CP0 deliberately slacked off, he still could not have escaped if a Marine Admiral had fulfilled his duties!"

Stussy's answer confirmed Mousse's guess and casually revealed a secret he had never expected.

"I knew Garp had refused promotion to Marine Admiral, but even Red—no, Akainu had refused before?" Mousse was genuinely stunned this time. His mouth hung open for quite a while before it finally closed.

Stussy immediately realized that she had said too much. But then she remembered that even if she said nothing, he could ask the Homies made from her soul, so she simply gave up and continued telling the truth.

"Yes. The Marines said, 'Sakazuki, Dragon, and Borsalino are not far apart in either seniority or strength. How could only one of them be promoted to Marine Admiral? If anyone is promoted, all three should be promoted together!' But the Five Elders had never been willing to relent, so the two sides remained deadlocked until now. For quite some time, such a vast Marine force has been left with only Sengoku as its sole Marine Admiral."

"Why wouldn't the Celestial Dragons agree? They would rather lose the Marines' direct protection than promote two more Marine Admirals? Even if Marine Admirals were highly paid, that was not much money to the World Government, was it? Did they really need to be this stingy?" Mousse became even more confused after hearing this. He knew that this stalemate would continue for a long time afterward.

Even when Arlong was captured by Kizaru, the latter was still only a Navy Vice Admiral!

Stussy was somewhat surprised to hear that, but one look at Mousse's childish and adorable appearance made her realize it was her own fault.

He had only just turned six. He was simply too young; no matter how intelligent he was, he could not possibly know everything with so little time.

His book knowledge was already extensive, but it was not at all strange that he did not understand certain common knowledge that ordinary people knew.

But since it was merely common knowledge, there was no need to hide it. He would learn it sooner or later anyway.

Thus, Mousse finally learned some details of the Marine system that the manga had never mentioned. In this world, Marine Admirals represented more than just a rank. They were also Governor-Generals of the Naval Base who wielded immense authority.

Unless they were too old and had stepped back into a secondary role while retaining only the title, every Marine Admiral was assigned at least two Marine Headquarters Vice Admirals, eight Marine Headquarters Rear Admirals, numerous ships including twenty main battleships, and at least two first-class Marine bases under their full command.

If Marine Headquarters could not provide sufficient manpower, Marine Admirals could even recruit externally on their own. They possessed tremendous autonomy, and once this authority was granted, it could not be revoked unless the Marine Admiral retired or committed a grave crime and was removed from office.

"Why did ten generals need twenty warships when Marine Admirals did not even have dedicated flagships? Because warships could not pass through the Red Line at Holy Land Mary Geoise! If they were not assigned one warship on each side, then in the event of an emergency summons, would they have time to spend months circling the world? You mean coating a ship and diving through Fish-Man Island? What if an accident happened beneath the sea? Any situation requiring troops to be moved to the other side of the Red Line was a major event and could not tolerate the slightest mishap! If it could be solved with money, it was actually worthwhile. Let me put it this way: last year, the World Government allocated only a little over sixty billion Berries in military funding to the Marines, but every additional Marine Admiral increased military spending by at least fifteen billion! That was why there were generally only two Marine Admirals. Only when faced with a major crisis threatening their survival would they appoint three."

The various bits of common knowledge Stussy casually revealed rapidly filled out Mousse's understanding of this world, and the terrifying figures that had initially startled him began to seem perfectly natural.

"This was no ordinary officer. Command authority, personnel authority, and financial authority were all in his hands, and he could not be reassigned or dismissed at will. Even Tang Dynasty Jiedushi could not compare. How much territory and how many troops did an ordinary Jiedushi command? Yet a new Naval Base alone possessed at least a quarter of the current Marines' strength! Only an exception like An Lushan, who commanded three military districts alone, could compare, or perhaps a provincial governor from the late Han Dynasty—but it would have to be one from a major province, like Yuan Shao. This was effectively a regional lord with the power to rebel!"

Mousse now completely understood the World Government's—or more precisely, the Celestial Dragons'—thinking. It was much like the attitude ancient Chinese emperors had toward regional military governors.

"No, it went beyond that. The fact that those three in the Marines were willing to advance and retreat together showed either that they were close and had formed a clique, or something even more frightening: the Marines, as an organization, had developed their own collective consciousness. Especially since Celestial Dragon rule was unpopular, something even they themselves knew. At the very least, the Five Elders and Im certainly understood it. Meanwhile, the Marines constantly proclaimed and promoted justice. Some simple-minded people surely believed it and became dissatisfied with the Celestial Dragons and the World Government. That made the latter even more wary of the Marines."

Mousse gradually sorted out the relationship between the Marines, the World Government, and the Celestial Dragons, yet his expression slowly relaxed instead.