East Blue Incident

Likewise, in the East Blue, at the entrance to the Grand Line, lay Loguetown.

This was the birthplace of Pirate King Gol D. Roger, and also the place where Pirate King Gol D. Roger was executed. Thus, later generations called Loguetown the town of beginnings and endings.

Because of Loguetown's location and the Pirate King, it had become one of the most prosperous towns in the entire East Blue. Many pirates came here to witness the execution platform where the Pirate King had drawn his last breath, while many merchants came to trade.

Guarding these waters was a hardline Marine colonel, a man of smoke who had consumed the Logia Smoke-Smoke Fruit—"White Hunter" Smoker.

Any ship wishing to enter the Grand Line through Reverse Mountain had to pass through the waters around Loguetown and undergo inspection. Only after it was confirmed that it was not a pirate ship in disguise would it be allowed through.

"Colonel, this is a document from Headquarters!" Tashigi promptly handed the Headquarters document to Smoker. Although this was the Marine branch at the East Blue entrance to the Grand Line, documents from Headquarters rarely arrived here.

"Hm?" Smoker took the document from Tashigi, curious as to why Headquarters had suddenly sent him one. But upon seeing the first page, he discovered that it had not been sent to him alone. It had been issued to every Marine branch across the East Blue.

"Looks like something serious happened in the East Blue." Smoker looked at the document in his hand, his expression grave.

The document actually mentioned that an admiral would be coming? If it had not been issued by Marine Headquarters, Smoker would have assumed someone was playing a joke on him. Although he had never met a Marine admiral, he knew they were stationed in the Grand Line year-round. Given their status, there was no way they would personally investigate a "missing persons case."

"Colonel Smoker?" Though Tashigi was curious about what kind of document could make the usually composed Colonel Smoker show such an expression, she knew some matters were beyond her authority. She suppressed her curiosity and did not ask. A qualified soldier needed more than obedience to orders; they also needed organizational discipline!

"Corporal Tashigi!" After exhaling a puff of smoke, Smoker suddenly said with a stern expression, "Pass down the order. Starting today, increase patrols in the surrounding waters. The moment you spot a suspicious vessel, detain and inspect it immediately."

"Yes, sir!" Tashigi snapped to attention and saluted. After leaving Smoker's office, she immediately began arranging the tasks he had ordered.

Inside the office of Colonel Nezumi at Marine Branch 16 in the East Blue, Colonel Nezumi stared fixedly at the document from Headquarters.

"Damn it, why did something this serious have to happen in the East Blue?" Colonel Nezumi did not care about any major incident. What he cared about was whether the investigator sent by Headquarters would uncover his secrets.

Although the investigator held the same rank as him, that of colonel, he had been sent by Headquarters. In Colonel Nezumi's eyes, throughout the entire East Blue, only that monster "White Hunter" Smoker, who guarded the East Blue entrance to the Grand Line, would dare challenge someone from Headquarters.

"If the investigator finds out about my dealings with Arlong, my life will be over. I need to prepare a generous gift for him." A thought suddenly struck Colonel Nezumi, and he secretly rejoiced.

"But I can't pay for it myself, can I? I should go ask Arlong for some sponsorship money." On one hand, Colonel Nezumi was going to Arlong to demand money. On the other, he needed Arlong to keep a lower profile.

If it were merely an investigator of equal rank, Colonel Nezumi would not have been so panicked. The main reason was the Marine admiral mentioned in the document. That was the crucial point.

Normally, Marine admirals had to be stationed in the Grand Line and should not remain in the East Blue for long. But the investigator was different. The admiral might not stay long, but who knew how long that investigator would linger in the East Blue?

If a Headquarters investigator happened to pass through his jurisdiction, he had better make some gesture. Colonel Nezumi did not want to be investigated and then thrown in prison. If necessary, he would grit his teeth and give up Arlong, his money tree. After all, as long as the green hills remained, there would be no shortage of firewood.

Grand Line, Sabaody Archipelago.

Bang!

A man was shot and collapsed to the ground. Yet when the surrounding people saw the perpetrator, not only did they not condemn him, their hearts were filled with fear. No one dared accuse him. They wished they could hide themselves away.

"You lowly commoners actually dared lose my toy?" The shooter was a young Celestial Dragon. When he learned that his "toy" had disappeared in the East Blue, he immediately flew into a rage.

The "toy" he spoke of was the Devil Fruit that William had once been ordered to escort, only for William to eat it. In his eyes, the lives of every soldier aboard that warship were less important than a single "toy."

He had originally planned to have some slave eat it once the Devil Fruit arrived at the Sabaody Archipelago, then use the Fruit's ability to perform for them.

They truly did not think much of Devil Fruits, nor did they care who ate one. But they would not allow anyone to lose their "toy," even if it was not that person's fault.

"I'm going to punish those people who lost my toy properly!" The Celestial Dragon kicked a slave as he shouted, "These toys are too fragile. Hurry up and buy several more for me!"

Clearly, aside from Devil Fruits, these slaves were nothing more than toys in the Celestial Dragons' eyes. The reason they wore glass helmets when going out was because they did not wish to breathe the same air as the lowly commoners outside. This was the ugly nature of the World Nobles.

"Those Marine trash couldn't even keep watch over a toy. Lowly commoners will always be lowly commoners!" said another Celestial Dragon riding on a slave. In their eyes, the Marines were merely tools.

"Forget it. I'll go find other toys," the young Celestial Dragon said indifferently.

Although the young Celestial Dragon had suddenly given up on that missing "toy," the World Government and the Marines clearly did not know that. They continued to treat the matter as an important case.

Meanwhile, after receiving news that Colonel William had lost contact, Marine Headquarters immediately issued documents ordering every Marine branch in the East Blue to conduct a search. They also arranged for an investigator to head there.

At the same time the Marine investigator departed from Headquarters, a massive body nearly seven meters tall suddenly appeared without warning on the shore of an island near the waters where Colonel William had disappeared.

"Where did that brat William go?" The massive figure stared at the sea for a long time before muttering expressionlessly.

But before the huge figure could use his ability to leave, a flash of light descended from the sky. A lecherous-looking middle-aged man stood nearby and said, "Oh? Isn't this Bartholomew Kuma? What are you doing here?"

The person who had appeared on the island was one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, Bartholomew Kuma, known as the "Tyrant." He was the user of the Paw-Paw Fruit and could use its power to repel things and achieve instantaneous movement.

The man who appeared right after him was one of the current three Marine Headquarters admirals, "Kizaru" Borsalino. He was the user of the Logia Glint-Glint Fruit and could transform his body into light to move at light speed.

"The doctor sent me," Kuma answered expressionlessly.

"Who was it again? For the doctor to worry about his safety, he must be something special. Too bad his luck was terrible. Look at this, even I've become an errand boy." Kizaru complained as well. It was unknown whether he had not remembered William's name or simply did not care.

Ordinarily, a Marine colonel going missing had nothing to do with him. No matter how powerful that colonel's backing was, it would not matter. But unfortunately, the Celestial Dragons' "toy" had disappeared along with that colonel. Wasn't that what had dragged him into this?

Therefore, his purpose in coming to the East Blue was not to find the missing Colonel William, but to find the missing Devil Fruit. Of course, if he found Colonel William's trail, he would bring him back to Headquarters as well, so they could give the Celestial Dragons an explanation.

Among the admirals, only he was the fastest. Although Headquarters had already dispatched an investigator, how long would it take for a warship to arrive? The Celestial Dragons were throwing a tantrum now. He could only remain stationed here before the investigator reached the East Blue. Otherwise, the entire Marine Headquarters would be turned upside down by the Celestial Dragons and become unable to function.

Yet William himself, the one responsible for this incident, had no idea that his "disappearance" had brought a Marine admiral and a Warlord to the East Blue to investigate this "missing persons case."

Pirate Knowledge: Bartholomew Kuma's name came from Bartholomew Roberts, one of the most successful pirates of the Golden Age of Piracy. From Africa to the Caribbean Sea, the region fell under his control.