"I suppose there's a Marine chasing after you from behind, right?" Leo had only asked tentatively, but he actually received an affirmative answer.
Ship Doctor Masked nodded. "That's right. A female Marine named Iska has been relentlessly pursuing us, and she seems a little interested in Ace, too."
"Ah, Iska's here?" Ace suddenly sat up from his food bowl, rice grains and meat still stuck to his face. Grabbing his hat, he looked around and asked.
"No, we just happened to be talking about her." Masked turned to look at the somewhat nervous Ace and laughed. "Leo was just about to tell us about the relationship between the Marines and us."
"What?" Ace asked curiously.
"Let's use the simplest example." Leo glanced at Ace. What he was about to say would surely leave a deep and unforgettable impression on him.
"Marine Vice Admiral, the Hero of the Marines, Iron Fist Garp, and Pirate King Roger spent their lives locked in a love-hate rivalry. They were enemies, opponents, and friends, and they respected each other."
"You should know that better than anyone, Garp's grandson." Ace's expression changed drastically. He had not expected Leo to know even that, but on second thought, Leo even knew who his father was. It was hardly strange that he also knew Garp had raised him.
"Aren't you curious? Your father had so many friends, former subordinates, and old companions, so why did he entrust you and your mother to a Marine? A Marine he had been entangled with his entire life?"
"They were friends in spirit and enemies in position. They trusted each other's character without reservation."
"This had something to do with a Marine policy."
At the mention of gossip involving Roger and the Hero of the Marines Garp, everyone in the Spade Pirates and the nearby Kuja Pirates escorting them perked up their ears.
That was right. If they were merely used as an example, it would not prove anything universal. But if Pirate King Roger and other famous figures were brought up, their appetite for gossip alone was enough to make them listen to Leo with rapt attention.
"Pirate King Roger and Iron Fist Garp were probably the most famous pair, and the ones the Marines watched grow into such power. Did Garp make Roger, or did Roger make Garp? No one could say for sure. But was something like this merely a coincidence?"
"In truth, it wasn't."
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku and Whitebeard, Golden Lion and Chief of Staff Tsuru—Marines and pirates always grew together, bound by fateful entanglements.
"And after discovering this, the Marines even developed a complete theory and put it into practice.
"First, the Marines were always the victors.
"—Even if they lost, they could retreat and return stronger, so the Marines had enough resources and time to test this theory.
"Second, powerful pirates always spurred Marines to grow.
"Then came experiments using ordinary cases.
"Of course, many Marines would die. But wasn't it only natural for Marines to die while hunting pirates? Those deaths were simply counted as battle losses. But if those Marines survived, they would all be driven by the pirates to become stronger.
"And the final outcome? Once that Marine seed grew strong enough, several powerful Marines would join forces to crush that promising pirate and bring him in." Leo smiled faintly, placing several apples on the table as a demonstration.
He had calculated this theory through logic without any evidence, but a closer look revealed that it truly formed a system—Iska and Ace, Smoker and Luffy, Garp and Roger, Sengoku and Whitebeard... there were traces to follow in all of them.
And if Marines could really leave their stations whenever they pleased to chase pirates, the entire Marine organization would have descended into chaos long ago.
Take the G1 through G9 branches. Each branch controlled a vital route or fortress. If every commander abandoned their post without authorization, the Marines might as well shut down altogether.
Did Smoker have special privileges? He did. As a Logia Devil Fruit User and a colonel assigned by Marine Headquarters, he naturally had some privileges. But abandoning his entire branch and taking a single ship to pursue the Straw Hat Pirates was absurd.
The higher-ups in the Marines had probably agreed without hesitation for some reason.
For example, perhaps the depressed and dispirited Smoker had suddenly found his drive again. Perhaps he himself was a seed candidate. Or perhaps assigning one seed candidate to a crew of highly promising pirates was a Marine tradition...
All of that could be explained.
The reason the Marines were not afraid of pirates growing bigger and stronger was because they had an organization behind them.
The Marines possessed a massive violent organization spanning the Four Seas. Even if they could not win, they could call in high-ranking officers for support. Those Vice Admirals with Haki and Life Return could beat pirates who had only just entered the Grand Line as easily as beating their sons.
The most classic example was when Caribou, a Logia Devil Fruit User with the Swamp-Swamp Fruit, was knocked flat with a single punch by Borsalino, one of Big Mom's combatants.
That was probably why the Eleven Supernovas later had no choice but to attach themselves to the Four Emperors and work under them.
The pressure from the Marines was simply too great. Wasn't it better to hide under a Four Emperor's banner and develop in secret?
Of course, forming alliances was another option. But when everyone had similar strength, similar reputations, and were equally vicious and evil, would you dare entrust your back to an ally? They would probably be the first to crush your pirate crew and absorb your crewmates.
That was how the current balance came to be.
The members of the Spade Pirates touched their own necks, feeling that the adult world was truly too sinister.
"Hey, Ace, are all Marines this devious?"
"No... I'm afraid only the people at the very top, the ones who play with schemes and plots, are like that." Thinking of his grandfather's carefree personality, Ace shook his head and rejected their claim.
Leo smiled faintly and did not correct him, but in his view, the true strategic genius was definitely not Sengoku or Tsuru—it was Garp, the genuine Hero of the Marines!
"So Iska is the Marine seed who keeps growing stronger while chasing after us?" Michael frowned, carefully considering Leo's words. The more he thought about them, the more reasonable they seemed.
"Who knows? Even if she's just an ordinary Marine, the Marines can afford the loss. After all, they have the entire world behind them, and countless people who believe in justice want to join them."
"As for whether they'll be disappointed after seeing the true World Government, that's another matter entirely." Leo chuckled.
PS: Consider this today's second update. My back hurts too much to keep going~
Before you continue