Marine Meeting

However, the resentful Smoker knew nothing of this...

At that moment, Marine Headquarters was holding an emergency meeting that had a great deal to do with him.

Inside a smoke-filled office.

Several Marine officers responsible for administrative matters in the East Blue had gathered there.

The man at the head of the group was, remarkably, a Marine Headquarters rear admiral!

Within the Marines, ranks did not necessarily have to be earned through combat.

Some specialized civilian personnel could likewise become the backbone of the Marines through their own means.

Yet now, these very pillars of the Marines all wore nervous expressions as they silently waited for the rear admiral who was on the phone.

"Yes!... I understand!... Please rest assured!... Mm!... Mm! I understand!..."

After a string of acknowledgments, the rear admiral, his face covered in cold sweat, suddenly let out a long breath and hung up the Den Den Mushi with a click.

Then his expression changed. His sword-sharp gaze swept directly across everyone present.

"You all heard what was said on that call, didn't you!?"

The rear admiral's voice was low.

"The highest commander of a Marine branch actually chose to become a pirate!!!"

"And over the past two years, Morgan committed unforgivable crimes in Shells Town!"

"If this matter isn't handled properly, it will seriously damage the Marines' authority in the East Blue!"

"Some newspapers have already begun reporting on what happened in Shells Town."

"We must come up with a way to resolve this matter smoothly before the end of today!"

"We need to give the people of the East Blue an official answer!"

The rear admiral slapped both hands onto the desk, exuding an extremely stern presence.

The Marines attending the meeting were instantly affected by it and sat up straight.

They had already heard about G-153 Branch.

To be honest, this was not the first time they had encountered something like this.

After all, the East Blue was what it was. Compared to the other three seas, it truly was an environment where vermin could easily breed.

In fact, if they seriously investigated the matter, some of those seated here might even be the very vermin's protectors.

In the past, they had always used the same old methods: either control public opinion and minimize the impact, or simply ignore it and let time wash everything away.

However...

Who would have thought that somehow, word of G-153 Branch had reached Fleet Admiral Sengoku's ears!

It had caused the fleet admiral to fly into a rage at the East Blue Marine organization.

What enraged the fleet admiral was not that the branch base had been attacked, but that Morgan had tyrannized Shells Town for two whole years without a single person noticing!

If they could not resolve this matter perfectly, they would have no choice but to put someone forward to bear the consequences.

No one could be certain that the person sacrificed would not be themselves.

For a time, every Marine in the meeting room began racking their brains.

Before long, an officer wearing square-framed glasses put forward a suggestion:

"How about we say that Colonel Morgan was actually a pirate in disguise, and that the real Morgan had long since been murdered by pirates?"

"..."

The rear admiral glanced at him from the corner of his eye, his expression cold and grave.

"Do you think the fleet admiral is as stupid as you are!? Idiot!!!"

"At a time like this, you're still thinking about dodging responsibility!"

The rear admiral slammed the desk hard, his stern gaze sweeping over everyone.

"Listen up!"

"I can turn a blind eye to your little schemes on ordinary days,

but if you think you can still muddle through this matter..."

"Then get ready for everyone to go down together!!!"

There was a trace of despair in the rear admiral's voice.

In truth, thanks to a few connections in the upper ranks, he had already heard that Fleet Admiral Sengoku was preparing to purge the vermin within the Marines in the near future.

If the investigation revealed that the East Blue truly had a serious crisis of trust, then his position as department head would be finished.

Fortunately, investigations at the grassroots level were always the hardest to carry out, especially in such a turbulent era.

Although Headquarters had stationed Smoker in the East Blue for quite some time, Loguetown's unique geographical location meant that he still did not have an in-depth understanding of the East Blue's situation.

The rear admiral guessed that Smoker was most likely the one who had tipped off Fleet Admiral Sengoku!

Because Smoker was different from them.

Even though he was only a Headquarters colonel, he was a close confidant of the fleet admiral's faction.

Just as the fleet admiral had begun calling for a purge within the Marines, Smoker, who had been stationed in Loguetown all this time, went to Shells Town to hunt pirates.

The coincidences were so frightening that the more he thought about them, the more terrified he became!

But at the mention of pirates, a dark gleam suddenly flashed through the rear admiral's eyes.

He still remembered the name of the pirate crew that had triggered this entire upheaval—the Dusk Pirates!

Come to think of it, it was precisely because the pirates from that crew had caused such a disturbance in Loguetown that Fleet Admiral Sengoku had noticed the situation in the East Blue...

He had even sent his adjutant to personally order the bounty for the pirate named Kael to be issued as soon as possible.

The bounty amount back then had been decided by him and his superiors.

Damn pirates!!!

The rear admiral had already decided that if they got through this incident safely, he would intensify the East Blue Marines' pursuit of the Dusk Pirates!

And that equally damned Morgan!

You had a perfectly good position as a colonel, yet you just had to go become a pirate, huh?!

Just you wait!

I'll have your bounty poster plastered across the entire East Blue!

Enjoy being hunted down by bounty hunters!

Those hunting dogs worked far more seriously than the East Blue Marines!

From time to time, someone in the meeting room proposed their own solution.

But most of them were old tricks they had used in the past, completely unsuited to the current situation.

In the end, a man wearing square glasses who looked somewhat smarter than the others adjusted his glasses and turned to the rear admiral.

"Rear Admiral, I believe that under the current circumstances, it is impossible for us to shirk our responsibility any longer."

"Rather than considering plans that will only make the situation worse, we might as well directly admit our mistakes..."

"Hmm?"

The rear admiral suddenly froze.

He pressed his lips together, seeming to consider something, then lightly tapped the desk.

"Go on."

A flicker of delight passed through the bespectacled officer's eyes. He gathered his thoughts and said in a low voice:

"We do not necessarily need to cover up our mistakes. After all, people will always make mistakes!"

"But we can use certain methods to turn those mistakes into something positive."

"We can first issue a sincere apology to the people of the East Blue through the media and guarantee that nothing similar will ever happen again, thereby gaining the public's forgiveness."

"Then, we can downplay the serious aspects and portray this upheaval caused by pirates as a Marine triumph!"

"After all, not many people know the truth. They only learned from unofficial media sources that the Marine colonel of G-153 Branch became a pirate."

"We can say that Colonel Smoker of Loguetown discovered irregularities involving the commander of G-153 Branch while inspecting the East Blue, and that after a series of battles of wits and courage, he finally obtained evidence of Morgan's crimes..."

"With nowhere left to turn, Morgan could only choose to become a rat despised by all!"

"As long as we find some good writers to emphasize Smoker's greatness in this incident, then get a few media outlets to follow up with reports..."

"We can turn this Marine colonel's betrayal into the heroic tale of Marine Smoker!"

"That way, not only will Morgan's betrayal be downplayed, but the public will trust the Marines even more because the East Blue has a Marine like Smoker!"

"Our reputation will be turned around as well!"

"What do you think, Rear Admiral?"

As soon as the bespectacled officer finished speaking, the entire meeting room fell silent.

After a long while, the rear admiral seated at the head of the table tapped the desk. Looking at the officer with glasses, the corners of his mouth slowly rose into a cunning smile as he applauded.

"Brilliant! Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant~!!!"