The Little Girl Buying Flowers

On the other side.

Momonga and his two companions, accompanied by over a hundred Marine soldiers, were walking through the bustling town streets, heading toward the residence of Saint Childers.

Gion looked preoccupied, her gaze fixed on Momonga's back as he walked ahead.

She felt that something was off, constantly suspecting that Darren had intentionally sent her and Gion's partner away so he could act alone.

"Big sister, you're so pretty."

At that moment, a childish voice rang out from the side, interrupting Gion's train of thought.

Gion was startled and turned around.

Coming into view was a little girl wearing a simple floral dress, with a backpack on her back filled with individually wrapped red roses.

The little girl looked to be only seven or eight years old, with large, sparkling eyes. She bowed politely to Gion and asked:

"Would you like to buy a flower?"

Seeing the little girl's adorable appearance, Gion's heart nearly melted. A gentle smile appeared on her face as she half-knelt and stroked the girl's hair:

"Little sister, how much for one of these flowers?"

Seeming to notice the long sword hanging at Gion's waist, the little girl said timidly:

"Sister, 200 Berries each, is that okay?"

Gion chuckled.

"You shouldn't be asking me that."

Noticing the little girl's gaze, she smiled gently:

"Don't worry, sister is a Marine; I'm here to protect you."

"Sister's sword is only used to deal with bad guys."

The little girl: "Really?"

Gion nodded with a smile:

"Of course, that is what we Marines are supposed to do."

She looked at the flowers on the girl's back.

"Give me one, please."

With that, Gion took out 200 Berries and placed them in the little girl's hand.

The little girl looked up in surprise, then clumsily set down her backpack, her small face serious as she began to pick one out.

"Hmm, this one is the most beautiful."

She selected a red rose that was clearly in full bloom and held it up high with both hands, offering it to Gion.

Gion took it and asked with a smile:

"Little sister, why are you out selling flowers at such a young age?"

The little girl gave a sweet smile and replied:

"Lia isn't little anymore; I can help my daddy now."

She looked at the roses in her backpack with a face full of pride.

"These are the flowers my daddy grows; they're as pretty as you, sister!"

Gion laughed.

So that was it; was her father a flower farmer?

"And where is your mommy?"

"Mommy..." The little girl's eyes dimmed. "Mommy is sick, and Daddy told me she went to a place very, very far away to get treated."

Gion was stunned, a flash of sadness crossing her eyes.

Then, the little girl turned around to look at Gion's partner beside her, bowing politely as she asked:

"Uncle, would you like to buy a flower?"

Gion's partner's face darkened.

The corner of his eye twitched as he crouched down, forcing a smile he thought looked friendly.

"Little sister, I'm not even 20 years old yet; you should call me 'big brother'."

The little girl opened her eyes wide in surprise, carefully examining the man in front of her who wore a brown hat and had a cigarette in his mouth, before finally shaking her head firmly:

"No, Uncle, you don't look like a big brother; you look like an uncle."

Gion's partner: ...

He gritted his teeth, his expression stiff as he forced out a smile:

"Little sister, if you call me 'big brother', I'll buy all of your flowers."

The little girl's eyes lit up, but she quickly became conflicted, her small, fair hands twisting in front of her, her face full of grievance:

"Although Lia really wants to sell all the flowers... but Daddy told me I can't lie to people."

Bang!

Gion's partner face-planted onto the ground.

He scrambled back up and snarled viciously:

"Damn it!! Open your eyes and look, I'm clearly only 19 years old!!"

He shrieked in a frenzy.

"Alright, alright..." Seeing the little girl looking so pitiful that she was about to cry, Gion kicked Gion's partner away in annoyance, then crouched down to pat the little girl's head.

"That uncle might look a bit ugly, but he's a good person, so don't be afraid."

The little girl blinked her large eyes and nodded blankly.

Immediately after, she took the 200 Berries Gion had paid for the flowers, spread them out in her palm, counted them clumsily, and then took out 40 Berries to put in her left pocket, placing the remaining 160 Berries in her right pocket.

Seeing this, Gion asked curiously:

"Why do you keep your money in separate places?"

The little girl said earnestly:

"Daddy said that we have to hand over a portion of our income so that the people with weapons won't come to cause trouble for us."

Gion's expression shifted slightly.

Just then, a man ran over with an anxious look on his face, grabbed the little girl's hand, and bowed to Gion in a panic:

"I, I'm very sorry, Marine officer. Lia doesn't know any better and was just talking nonsense."

After saying this, he picked up his daughter and left as if fleeing.

"Goodbye, big sister!! Goodbye, uncle!!"

In her father's arms, the little girl waved her small hand at Gion and Gion's partner with a smile.

"Damn it!! I told you I'm a big brother, not an uncle!!"

Gion's partner said bitterly.

Gion watched the figures of the father and daughter as they walked away, as if she had realized something.

Handing over a portion of income... people with weapons... taxes...

She furrowed her willow brows, strode forward, and intercepted Momonga, who was nearby directing his subordinates on their mission.

"Major Momonga, tell me, has that guy Darren gone off to do something shady again!?"

Gion looked grave.

Momonga looked at the serious-faced Gion and said with a headache:

"Major Gion, as the supreme commander of the entire North Blue Marines, Base Commander Darren naturally has his own matters to attend to."

"As his adjutants, our primary responsibility is to execute the orders he issues."

"Our most important task right now is to carry out the security work for Saint Childers."

Gion shook her head stubbornly:

"No, I want to know what exactly Darren has gone to do."

"Since the orders from Headquarters have already been issued, the authorities at Marineford must have already communicated with the governor of Batia Island; there is no need for Darren to personally go and handle the handover."

"Since the mission to protect Saint Childers is so important, Darren, as the person in charge of the operation, should be even less likely to leave."

She bit her lip and demanded:

"Did Darren... go to collect taxes from those Mafia families with the mayor!"

Momonga was stunned, feeling a bit surprised inside.

Although Gion's thinking was often very naive, she was indeed very clever; she had actually guessed Darren's objective.

"I knew it!"

Gion clenched her fists tightly.

From Momonga's reaction, she had already received a definitive answer.

"How could you all do this! While the harm the Mafia poses to civilians might not be as great as that of pirates, their existence still leads to the suppression and exploitation of the common people!!"

Gion questioned him angrily:

"Darren is one thing... that degenerate, corrupt bastard is already beyond saving!"

"But Major Momonga, how could you sink to his level and collude with the Mafia families!"

"We are the righteous Marines; our duty is to protect the civilians, not to squeeze and exploit them!"

She had wanted to confront Darren about this earlier, but the sudden war ignited by Germa 66 had interrupted her.

Momonga looked at the anger and determination in Gion's eyes and suddenly let out a long sigh.

What an admirable conviction... It is just a pity that in a place like the North Blue, absolute justice is the most useless thing of all.

"Major Gion, do you see this street?"

He did not answer directly, but instead pointed toward the street ahead.

"Would you mind telling me what you see?"

Gion was stunned for a moment, then opened her eyes to look.

Shops lined both sides of the street, displaying a dazzling array of goods. The crowd was as dense as a weaver's shuttle, with young parents playing with their children; laughter and joy filled the air everywhere.

A scene of peace and tranquility.

"Peace." For some reason, Gion's voice dropped a notch.

"...Yes," Momonga shook his head, "but you wouldn't know that a year ago, this street was the most notorious lawless zone on Batia Island."

"It used to be crawling with swindlers, thugs, con artists, and murderers... filled with a darkness and chaos that a genius like you, raised in Marineford, could never imagine."

Gion opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, Momonga pointed to a building not far away.

It was a hospital.

"That place used to be a shelter for refugees and vagrants."

He then pointed toward the port where they had docked.

"The port where we docked our warship used to be a stinking sewer piled high with corpses."

"The road we just walked down was, a year ago, a foul-smelling garbage dump."

Watching the expressions of Gion and Gion's partner shift, Momonga let out a long sigh:

"Batia Island was once one of the most chaotic transit hubs in the North Blue."

"Pirates looted without restraint, and dozens of mafia families, large and small, ran rampant here..."

"Gunshots rang out almost every day. The island's crime rate exceeded 30%, and more than half of the children joined the ranks of pirates, swindlers, gangsters, and gamblers before they even reached adulthood."

"In a way, the bustling trade of Batia Island was a hotbed for breeding sin."

"This... how is that possible..." Gion and Gion's partner muttered, their faces turning pale.

Looking at the commercially prosperous and thriving island before them, they simply could not reconcile it with the dirty, chaotic image Momonga had described.

"But for all these years, did the North Blue Navy not send troops to suppress it?" Gion suddenly gritted her teeth and asked.

"Send troops? Of course they did."

A mocking smile tugged at the corner of Momonga's mouth.

"When Rear Admiral Sakazuki was in office, he led troops here more than once to crusade against pirates and the mafia, turning the place into a river of blood, leaving almost no one alive."

"Of course, this process also resulted in many civilian and official casualties, which triggered significant political pressure, eventually leading to his reassignment to Headquarters."

"But... at least it was effective, right?" Gion pressed.

"Effective? No... the situation on Batia Island actually became even worse." Momonga's expression was quite complex.

"That's impossible!" Gion and Gion's partner retorted in unison.

Since Sakazuki had led troops to suppress them, it should have had a deterrent effect regardless.

How could the situation on Batia Island have become worse?

They found it completely unbelievable.

"It is indeed hard to believe. If I hadn't experienced it firsthand, I probably wouldn't believe it either, but that is the reality."

Momonga sighed:

"Because pirates and mafia families cannot be wiped out... at least not in the North Blue."

"Less than half a year after Rear Admiral Sakazuki's aggressive military intervention, a massive influx of thugs, outlaws, criminals, swindlers, pirates, and mafia members swarmed into this bustling trade island like locusts, turning it back into a chaotic, lawless land."

"And in truth, no one could solve these problems."

"Rear Admiral Borsalino's policy of 'indulgence' had no effect, and Rear Admiral Sakazuki's policy of 'iron-fisted' rule had no effect."

"--Until a year ago, when Darren was promoted to Base Commander of Branch 321."

Momonga said calmly. As he spoke that name, a look of deep admiration gradually radiated from his eyes.

"He led the Navy to forcefully suppress the rampant pirates and mafia families in this area, leaving only two mafia families behind and demarcating clear, distinct territories for them."

"He once told me, 'Pirates, the mafia... these things cannot be eradicated in any era. The key to governance lies in control, at least in the North Blue'..."

"After retaining two mafia families that were relatively easy to control, Colonel Darren completely let go, allowing them to maintain a balance of hostility while unifying the island's underground forces."

"Thus, the situation finally stabilized. For the sake of their own interests, and fearing Colonel Darren's bloody purges, these two major mafia families have coexisted and cooperated without incident."

"There are no more gang wars, civilians are able to rest and recuperate, the economy and trade of Batia Island have seen long-term development, the face of the city has undergone a heaven-and-earth transformation, and the original crime rate of over 30% has dropped to below 5%..."