You Stole My Senbei Again

"Hello? What do you want this time, Jin An?"

A deep male voice came through the Den Den Mushi, and he did not sound to be in a very good mood.

"Karp! You stole my senbei again!"

"You have so much senbei. What's wrong with sharing a little? This stuff has a short shelf life. I'm doing this for your own good..."

Muffled excuses came from the Den Den Mushi, accompanied by crunching sounds.

"Get the hell out of there!!! Is that what you call taking a little? You dug out my entire stash!"

Jin An also realized that his timing for this call was somewhat inappropriate and glanced at the people beside him.

Huo Shaoshan's mouth twitched. He recognized the people on the other end of the call: Marine Headquarters Admiral Sengoku and the hero Karp. Had he learned something he was not supposed to know?

The pirates wore the same expressions. Their eyes darted about as they continuously shrank back, terrified that they would make a sound, upset those big shots, and get dragged into it—then slapped to death.

"Ahem!"

Jin An coughed lightly and cleared his throat, indicating that the call had not been disconnected.

"What is it?"

There was a moment of silence on the other end before Sengoku's dignified voice continued.

"I've more or less handled the matter you assigned me," Jin An said directly.

???

Sengoku was utterly confused. "What matter?"

"Admiral Sengoku, are you messing with me? You already forgot what you arranged yesterday?" Jin An said irritably.

He began to suspect that he had been played. He had worked so actively and diligently for nothing.

"You brat, are you trying to amuse me again?!"

"Did you think I didn't know? Even from the Sorbet Kingdom to the person nearest to you, it would take a whole day by warship!"

Sengoku shook his head with some wistfulness. Young people these days were completely different from his generation. Back then, he had taken things one step at a time and never looked for shortcuts.

"Tell him whether I got it done or not."

Jin An was speechless. Why did no one believe anything these days? Where had the trust between people gone?

At Jin An's signal, the pirates reluctantly spoke into the Den Den Mushi, their tones helpless.

"Uh... we're pirates... We were... captured..."

Huo Shaoshan covered his face. They had not said a single word that mattered.

"You caught a bunch of pirates just to fool me?" Sengoku's tone turned hostile.

"Get lost, get lost, get lost!"

Jin An found these pirates more and more unpleasant to look at.

"I arrived on the island under the jurisdiction of the colonel I was supposed to investigate and discovered that the Marines here were colluding with pirates to oppress civilians."

"As for how I got here, you should know very well."

Jin An had never hidden his relationship with Bartholomew Kuma. A check by Marine Headquarters would reveal it easily enough.

Sengoku slapped his forehead. He had been so busy arguing with Karp that he had thrown all those matters to the back of his mind. In short, he had gotten carried away.

"Ahem..."

Sengoku covered up his embarrassment with a light cough.

Wait, this brat was standing next to pirates? Then the argument he had just had with Karp...

His lifelong reputation was ruined. Completely ruined in the hands of those two bastards...

"Anyway, send someone here to deal with this first..."

Jin An continued, "Based on the evidence I currently have, the highest-ranking person in charge of this island is definitely the mastermind. As for the other islands... send someone to investigate them yourself."

Jin An felt somewhat tired. Everywhere he went, people died. Was he the problem, or was it this world...

There were times when he truly wanted to transform directly into the Azure Dragon and solve every problem with a single blast of breath.

But he could not. He was a Marine and had a responsibility to civilians!!

Even if there was only one civilian in a pirate den, he would choose to find that person himself.

"Fine. I'll send someone over."

Sengoku rubbed his brow, looking troubled. Why were the Marines betraying "justice"?

Since the Rocks Pirates had been established, the world had become increasingly chaotic, leaving the Marine higher-ups powerless despite their intentions.

Were the people below truly carrying out their orders with care?

By that measure, this brat Jin An had done rather well in such matters.

His evaluations also showed that he was someone who worked seriously.

There was only one reason they did not want to entrust Jin An with important responsibilities—he was highly likely to be someone who had escaped from God Valley.

(There was no direct evidence of Jin An's identity. No such person existed among the original residents, nor was he listed among the slaves.)

The people above did not want such an unstable factor to enter the Marines and disrupt the balance of this world.

"Admiral Sengoku, I hope to take some leave during this period," Jin An said.

Sengoku's eyebrow twitched. There it was. That familiar feeling had returned.

He took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed the urge to curse.

If possible, he truly wanted to transfer Jin An to his side. Then he could scold him when he was in a good mood, and scold him to his face when he was in a bad mood. Just thinking about that life was thrilling.

Sengoku spoke in a low, solemn tone:

"South Blue is short on manpower right now. You cannot leave."

"Besides, this matter has not yet been settled. As the person directly responsible, you must take responsibility."

Jin An raised an eyebrow. Had he not talked Sengoku into sending someone to handle this? Why did he still have to stand at the forefront?

He had chosen to come to the pirates first because pirates were easier to deal with, and there was bound to be direct evidence here proving the crimes committed by the Marines.

If he had gone directly to investigate the Marines, he would certainly have encountered all kinds of "accidents."

Who would believe that someone could climb to the highest position in a region without a few tricks up their sleeve?

"I understand all that, Admiral Sengoku."

"But as a mere major, I really can't be of much help. I might even hold those important people back. I think it would be better for me to withdraw directly."

What Jin An said was also true. If he were truly put in charge of this matter, he would not care what identities those who had done evil possessed. Nobles, Marines, civilians—so long as they had done wrong, he would punish them.

Sengoku pondered for a while, carefully considering Jin An's words.

Given Jin An's personality, he truly was not suited for this sort of work.

He still remembered that the first time he had spoken with Jin An was because this little fellow had single-handedly wiped out a pirate crew of one thousand.

To show respect for a genius, Fleet Admiral Kong had assigned him to contact Jin An.

He still remembered something the young man had said then: "Since coming into this world, I have never done anything that violated my beliefs or made me regret it, and I never will!"

Just as Sengoku sank into his memories, a discordant voice came from the Den Den Mushi.

"Of course, if you make me a colonel, then maybe I'll agree to your request."

Jin An still wanted to push for it. He had to climb to the very top so no one could control him. Colonel was a hurdle; he had spent a whole year stuck as a major without advancing.

The beautiful memory was ruthlessly shattered. "Get the hell out!!"

"Sure thing."

Jin An decisively cut off the Den Den Mushi connection and slipped it into his pocket. The corners of his lips rose slightly. His promotion was in the bag.

Marine Headquarters.

Sengoku hung up the call, and the anger on his face quickly faded.

"Karp, make a trip to South Blue."

"Bring the letter of appointment."