On the other side.
Momonga and two others were walking through the bustling town streets with over a hundred Navy soldiers, heading for Saint Childers's residence.
Gion looked preoccupied as she watched Momonga walking ahead of them.
Something felt off. She couldn't shake the suspicion that Darren had deliberately sent her and Gion's partner away so he could act alone.
"Big sister, you're so pretty."
A childish voice suddenly rang out beside her, interrupting Gion's thoughts.
Gion froze and turned around.
A little girl stood before her, dressed in a simple flower-print dress. She had a backpack on her shoulders, stuffed with individually wrapped red roses.
The girl looked only seven or eight. Her large eyes sparkled as she politely bowed to Gion and asked,
"Would you like to buy some flowers?"
The girl was so adorable that Gion's heart practically melted. A gentle smile appeared on her face as she crouched down and patted the girl's hair.
"Little one, how much are your flowers?"
Perhaps she had noticed the long sword at Gion's waist. The girl looked a little timid as she replied,
"Two hundred Beli for one, big sister. Is that okay?"
Gion chuckled.
"That's not something you need to ask me."
Noticing the girl's expression, she smiled warmly.
"Don't worry. I'm a Marine. I'm here to protect you."
"This sword of mine is only for fighting bad people."
"Really?" the girl asked.
Gion nodded with a smile.
"Of course. That's what Marines are supposed to do."
She glanced at the flowers in the girl's backpack.
"I'll take one."
As she spoke, Gion took out two hundred Beli and placed them in the girl's hand.
The girl looked up in delight, then clumsily lowered her backpack and carefully examined the flowers.
"Hmm, this one's bloomed the prettiest."
She picked out a red rose that was clearly in full bloom and held it up to Gion with both hands.
Gion accepted it and asked with a smile,
"Little one, why are you out selling flowers at such a young age?"
The girl smiled sweetly.
"Lia's not that little anymore. I can help Daddy."
She proudly looked at the roses in her backpack.
"Daddy grew these flowers. They're as pretty as you, big sister!"
Gion laughed.
So that was it. Her father was a flower farmer?
"Where's your mother?"
"Mom..." The girl's eyes dimmed. "Mom got sick. Daddy told me she went somewhere very, very far away to get treatment."
Gion froze, sadness flashing in her eyes.
Then the girl turned to Gion's partner and politely bowed.
"Sir, would you like to buy some flowers?"
Gion's partner's face darkened.
The corner of his eye twitched. He crouched down and forced what he thought was a friendly smile onto his face.
"Little one, I'm not even twenty yet. You should call me big brother."
The girl's eyes widened in surprise. She studied the man before her, with his brown hat and cigarette between his teeth, then firmly shook her head.
"No. You don't look like a big brother, sir. You look like an uncle."
Gion's partner: ...
He gritted his teeth and managed a stiff smile.
"Little one, if you call me big brother, I'll buy all your flowers."
The girl's eyes lit up, but she quickly grew conflicted. Her small, pale hands twisted together in front of her, and she looked deeply troubled.
"Lia really wants to sell all the flowers... but Daddy told me I mustn't lie."
Thud!
Gion's partner toppled face-first onto the ground.
He got back up and glared furiously.
"Damn it!! Open your eyes and look! I'm clearly only nineteen!!"
He let out a frustrated shriek.
"All right, all right..." Gion saw the girl looking so frightened she was on the verge of tears. She kicked Gion's partner away in annoyance, then crouched down and stroked the girl's head.
"That uncle may be a little ugly, but he's a good person. You don't have to be afraid."
The girl blinked her big eyes and nodded blankly.
Then she spread out the two hundred Beli she'd earned from Gion's purchase and counted them clumsily. She put forty Beli into her left pocket and the remaining one hundred and sixty into her right.
Seeing this, Gion asked curiously,
"Why are you keeping the money in separate pockets?"
The girl answered seriously,
"Daddy said we have to hand over part of what we earn, so the people with weapons won't come looking for trouble."
Gion's expression changed.
Just then, a man ran over in a panic and took the girl's hand. He bowed anxiously to Gion.
"I-I'm very sorry, Marine. Lia doesn't know any better. She shouldn't have said those things."
After saying this, he scooped up his daughter and hurried away as if fleeing.
"Goodbye, big sister! Goodbye, sir!"
The little girl, cradled in her father's arms, smiled and waved to Gion and Gion's partner.
"Damn it!! I told you I'm big brother, not uncle!!"
Gion's partner grumbled.
But as Gion watched the father and daughter disappear into the distance, she seemed to realize something.
Handing over part of their income... people with weapons... taxes...
She furrowed her brow and hurried forward, stopping Momonga, who was directing his subordinates nearby.
"Major Momonga, tell me—is that bastard Darren off doing something shady again!?"
Gion's expression was stern.
Momonga looked at her grave expression and replied with a sigh.
"Major Gion, as the highest-ranking Marine officer in the entire North Blue, Base Chief Darren naturally has matters he needs to handle."
"As his adjutants, our first responsibility is to carry out his orders."
"Our most important task right now is to provide security for Saint Childers."
Gion stubbornly shook her head.
"No. I want to know what Darren's really doing."
"Headquarters has already issued its orders. Marineford must have spoken with Batia Island's governor, so there's no need for Darren to personally go and coordinate with them."
"And if protecting Saint Childers is so important, then Darren, as the officer in charge of the operation, has even less reason to leave."
→
She clenched her teeth and demanded,
"Darren... is he collecting taxes from the Mafia families with the mayor!?"
Momonga froze, surprised.
Gion could be terribly naive at times, but she was also sharp. She had actually guessed Darren's purpose.
"I knew it!"
Gion clenched her fists.
Momonga's reaction had already given her the answer.
"How can you do this? The Mafia may not pose as great a threat to civilians as pirates do, but they still oppress and exploit them!"
Gion demanded furiously,
"Darren's one thing... that depraved, corrupt bastard is beyond saving!"
"But Major Momonga, how can you go along with him and collude with the Mafia families?"
"We're Marines, the bringers of justice! Our duty is to protect civilians, not squeeze and exploit them!"
She had wanted to confront Darren about this before, but the sudden war Germa 66 had sparked interrupted her.
Momonga looked at the anger and resolve in Gion's eyes, then let out a long sigh.
What an admirable belief... It was a shame that in a place like the North Blue, pure justice was the most useless thing of all.
"Major Gion, do you see this street?"
He didn't answer her directly. Instead, he pointed toward the street ahead.
"Would you tell me what you see?"
Gion paused and looked around.
Shops lined both sides of the street, displaying all kinds of goods. The streets were full of people, with young parents out enjoying themselves with their children. Laughter and cheerful voices filled the air.
It was a scene of peace and tranquility.
"Peace," Gion said, her voice quieter for some reason.
"...Yes." Momonga shook his head.
"But you don't know that a year ago, this street was notorious as one of the most lawless places on Batia Island."
"It was once full of swindlers, thugs, con artists, and murderers... full of 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 toward a building nearby.
It was a hospital.
"That place used to be a shelter for refugees and vagrants."
Then he pointed toward the distant harbor where they had docked.
"The harbor where our warships are moored used to be a foul ditch full of corpses."
"The road we just walked down was a stinking garbage dump a year ago."
Watching Gion and Gion's partner grow increasingly pale, Momonga let out a long breath.
"Batia Island was once one of the most chaotic transit hubs in the North Blue."
"Pirates plundered without restraint, and dozens of Mafia families, large and small, ran rampant here..."
"Gunshots rang out almost every day. The crime rate across the island exceeded thirty percent, and more than half the children joined pirates, con artists, gangs, and gamblers for one reason or another before they even came of age."
"Batia Island was prosperous in trade, but in a way, it was also a breeding ground for crime."
"How... how could that be?" Gion and Gion's partner murmured, their faces pale.
They looked at the prosperous island before them, bustling with commerce and trade, and couldn't connect it with the filthy, chaotic place Momonga described.
"But all these years, didn't the North Blue Marines send forces to suppress the criminals?" Gion asked through clenched teeth.
"Send forces? Of course they did."
A mocking smile tugged at Momonga's lips.
"When Rear Admiral Sakazuki was in command, he led troops here to put down pirates and the Mafia more than once. They slaughtered their way through the island, leaving almost no one alive."
"Of course, that also led to the deaths of quite a few civilians and officials and sparked considerable political pressure. In the end, he was transferred to Headquarters."
"But... at least it worked, right?" Gion asked.
"Worked? No... Batia Island's situation actually got even worse." Momonga's expression was complicated.
"That's impossible!" Gion and Gion's partner protested in unison.
If Sakazuki had sent troops to suppress them, it should have had some kind of deterrent effect, no matter what.
How could Batia Island's situation possibly have gotten worse?
They could hardly believe it.
"It's hard to believe, I know. If I hadn't seen it myself, I probably wouldn't believe it either. But that's what happened."
Momonga sighed.
"Pirates and Mafia families can't be wiped out... at least not in the North Blue."
"Less than half a year after Rear Admiral Sakazuki's forceful campaign, countless thugs, criminals, con artists, pirates, and Mafia members swarmed back into this prosperous trade hub like locusts, turning it into a lawless mess once again."
"And the truth is, no one could solve these problems."
"Rear Admiral Borsalino's 'hands-off' policy didn't work, and neither did Rear Admiral Sakazuki's 'iron-fisted' policy."
"Not until Darren was promoted to commander of Branch 321 a year ago."
Momonga spoke calmly. As he said Darren's name, deep admiration gradually appeared in his eyes.
"He led the Marines in a forceful crackdown on the rampant pirates and Mafia families here. He left only two Mafia families standing and divided the territory between them, making their borders perfectly clear."
"He once told me, 'Pirates, the Mafia... they can never be completely eradicated in any era. The key to governing them is keeping them under control, at least in the North Blue.'"
"After retaining two Mafia families that were relatively easy to control, Colonel Darren let them be, allowing them to maintain a balance of hostility while unifying the island's underworld."
"At last, the situation stabilized. For the sake of their own interests, and out of fear of Colonel Darren's bloody purges, the two Mafia families cooperated without incident."
"There were no more gang battles. Civilians were able to recover, Batia Island's economy and trade flourished, and the city's appearance was transformed beyond recognition. The crime rate, which had once exceeded thirty percent, dropped below five percent..."
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