The Mysteriously Vanished Island

After their conversation that day, Shanks and the other two indeed became much more diligent.

They no longer needed his supervision every day and completed their assigned tasks on their own. Bartholomew Kuma even exceeded his quota.

"Colonel, you're finally here!"

When Huo Shaoshan saw Jin An enter the office, he nearly burst into tears.

The past few days had been pure misery. He was either working overtime or on his way to work overtime, rising early and staying up late until dark circles had formed beneath his eyes.

"Huo Shaoshan, is it? Have you gotten used to life here? Kuzan should have properly helped you familiarize yourself with the work around here."

Seeing the dark circles beneath Huo Shaoshan's eyes, Jin An felt a little guilty.

But that guilt was quickly eaten by a dog.

"Colonel, these are the documents that have piled up over the past few days and require your signature. Please review them." As he spoke, Huo Shaoshan stepped aside, revealing the scene behind him.

Documents were piled up in the office like a small mountain. Standing before them, one could only marvel at one's own insignificance.

"All... all of these?" Jin An's voice trembled as he rubbed his eyes, afraid he was hallucinating.

Then Huo Shaoshan's words dragged him back to reality and threw him straight into hell.

"Reporting, Colonel, this is only part of them." Huo Shaoshan secretly reveled in it. "There are still plenty more in my office and Mr. Kuzan's office."

Jin An's vision went black, and he fainted.

Huo Shaoshan seemed to have anticipated Jin An's reaction and instantly pulled a chair out from behind him.

Jin An landed steadily in the chair without the slightest deviation.

Then Huo Shaoshan pushed the chair, sending Jin An over to the desk.

"Are you demons?" Jin An extended a trembling finger toward the documents. "When am I supposed to finish processing all this?"

Huo Shaoshan remained unmoved. "The documents in this room must all be approved within the next two days. Please make haste, Colonel."

"Once you're done, we'll still need to assign personnel to distribute these documents throughout the South Blue, so please finish as soon as possible."

After saying that, Huo Shaoshan hurriedly left, thoughtfully closing the office door behind him.

"What a sin!"

Even through the door, Kuzan could still hear Jin An's heart-wrenching roar.

"Senior Kuzan..." Huo Shaoshan gave a military salute. "The mission has been completed."

"If you want to laugh, just laugh..."

Kuzan looked at the smile Huo Shaoshan was clearly struggling to suppress and shook his head with a smile himself.

"Report! I have undergone strict training. No matter what happens, I will not laugh!"

Huo Shaoshan tried his best to control his facial muscles, but it had the opposite effect, making them twitch uncontrollably.

"Honestly, let's see if he dares slack off again." Kuzan, this miserable office worker, had finally repaid all the resentment he had built up, with interest.

Those documents had conveyed a message to every island in the South Blue: the new South Blue Governor had assumed office, and each region was to report its most serious problems for the Governor to personally handle.

Once that news was sent out, the Marines on the troubled islands were overjoyed, itching to report every major and minor issue in their areas.

"Isn't this a little too much..."

Huo Shaoshan still felt somewhat uneasy. Once the Colonel realized what had happened, he wouldn't make things difficult for him, would he...?

Kuzan reassured him, "Don't worry. Our Colonel isn't a petty man. He won't take it to heart."

As for whether Jin An would write it down in his little notebook, Kuzan could not guarantee that.

"Let's go. We have a mountain of work waiting for us too." To fulfill the justice in his heart, Kuzan did not care how much hardship he had to endure.

The South Blue remained as calm as ever, with no major incidents taking place.

Warm sunlight filtered through the leaves and fell across the desk. Jin An bit down on his pen, his brows tightly furrowed. Looking at the documents in his hands and spread across the desk, he seemed to see three words—easy mark.

Jin An took the pen from his mouth. "Why are all these people asking me for money? Do I look like I run a damn bank? Where am I supposed to get that much money?"

"Isn't disbursing funds the headquarters' responsibility? What went wrong?"

Unable to figure it out no matter how hard he thought, Jin An could only write a note on the requests for money: 'No money, only my life. If you have the nerve, come to the Sorbet Kingdom and discuss it with me face-to-face.'

Then he rejected every document of that kind.

"Nothing but trouble all day... Pirates are causing trouble on Mamoli Island again? Didn't we just sweep that place clean not long ago?" Jin An felt like his head was about to explode.

Mamoli Island had a certain reputation in the South Blue for its abundant dairy cows. Jin An had even made a special trip there to taste the food of this world.

He truly felt that the pirates in this world were like chives. Cut down one batch, and another immediately grew back.

"Looks like I need to station some capable Marines on that island."

If they relied solely on reinforcements, it was only a matter of time before the island suffered a terrible disaster.

But overall, the South Blue had been relatively stable lately, and the pirates' momentum had been effectively curbed.

Since the situation in the South Blue was looking so good, he could finally rest properly, improve his strength, and wait for the day he crossed paths with the powerful figures of this world.

Knock, knock, knock!

"Colonel Jin An!" A Marine pushed open the door, carrying a stack of materials as he hurried into the office. "I have something strange to report."

Can things quiet down for even a moment? My rare good mood is about to disappear again...

Jin An said irritably, "What is it? Let's hear it."

The Marine failed to notice the displeasure in his superior's tone and immediately said, "I am a member of the newly formed research team. Recently, we discovered something strange in the central region of the South Blue."

"An island in an area we have been continuously monitoring has mysteriously disappeared."

"That island possessed enormous crystal reserves, and many pirates had previously been entrenched there."

Hearing that there had only been pirates on the island, Jin An visibly relaxed. "Before the island disappeared, did you notice anything unusual?"

The Marine thought carefully for a while but had no clue. "I'm very sorry, Colonel. We didn't notice anything out of the ordinary."

"That island seemed to vanish into thin air. We clearly saw it on the afternoon before it disappeared. After one night, when we passed by there again, it was gone."

"Alright. I'll go inspect the site later. You may return for now." This was the first time Jin An had received such a report, and it piqued his interest somewhat.

Island disappearances had occurred many times in Marine records.

Some islands had sunk because powerful fighters clashed upon them, some had been destroyed by natural disasters, and others had been annihilated by gigantic Sea Kings.

"I wonder what caused it this time?" Jin An propped up his chin with one hand, looking forward to the investigation ahead.