Take It All the Way to Navy Headquarters!

The seawater was black as ink. Streetlights spilled across the surface, barely holding back the darkness.

They reflected the two cheerful groups gathered on the pier.

"Captain Nezumi, long time no see!"

With a cigar clenched between his lips, Capone Bege warmly embraced the sharp-faced Marine captain, his large hand slapping the word "Justice" on Nezumi's cape with a series of smacks.

"I've missed you too, our great merchant, Capone Bege! Hehehe~"

Nezumi patted Bege's white suit as well, casually accepting the cigar handed over by a nearby gangster.

He held it beneath his nose and took a sniff.

The two exchanged glances, crooked smiles spreading across their faces.

What followed was a round of meaningless mutual flattery.

The two men led their groups down the pier at a leisurely pace, as though they were out on a spring outing.

Bege got to the point.

"What brings you to my port all of a sudden, Captain Nezumi?"

Captain Nezumi rubbed his hands together, his eyes darting about. His gaze passed Bege and settled on the mountain of cargo piled across the broad pier before returning to Bege with a half-smile.

"Didn't we receive a report?"

"They said someone here was selling arms. The quantity... even I, a Marine captain, was quite frightened when I heard about it!"

The corner of Bege's mouth twitched, and he forced out a smile.

"Someone must have made a malicious report!

This is my private port. How could I not know if someone was selling arms here?"

As he spoke, he suddenly changed his tone and said seemingly offhandedly,

"Or... does Captain Nezumi think I'm the one selling arms?"

His voice was very soft, but under Bege's utterly cold gaze, Nezumi shuddered violently. He hurriedly looked away, cold sweat seeping down his back.

"How could that be? You're our great merchant!

It's just that someone reported it. As Marines, we had to come take a look..."

He laughed awkwardly.

As they walked, no one noticed that a Marine soldier at the very back of the group suddenly collapsed into the darkness.

When he emerged again, the brim of his cap was pulled low.

The spring outing at the pier soon came to an end—one of the Capone Family members hurried over, called Bege aside, and showed him a magazine.

When Bege returned to Nezumi's side, his face had turned ashen.

Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that the one who killed Gotti and drew this greedy Nezumi here would be a historian he had never taken seriously!

...A historian!!

Where did those worthless scraps get the nerve?

But that was the truth.

Now that he knew the truth, he had no interest in dragging things out. He waved a hand, and one of his men brought over a suitcase and stuffed it into Captain Nezumi's hands.

"No need to say more. Thank you for making the trip, Captain Nezumi. I'll conduct a thorough inspection.

This is a small token from the Capone Family. If there's nothing else, I won't keep you."

Nezumi weighed the suitcase in his hand, somewhat dissatisfied.

He had rushed over here for much more than this.

—That was a truly terrifying shipment of weapons!

Was Bege really not going to offer more to keep his mouth shut?

But when he saw the fury nearly overflowing from Capone Bege's face, he forcibly suppressed his greed.

"I knew Mr. Bege was a straightforward man. Don't worry, no Marines will be paying attention to this place for a while."

After putting away the suitcase, Nezumi led his group toward the pier.

Under the lights, watched by a crowd of gangsters, the scruffy-looking Marine soldiers boarded the warship one by one.

The reflections on the water swayed, and ripples shattered the faces of those boarding the ship.

At the back of the group, the young man's fleeting smile was reflected in the water.

A few minutes later, the Marine warship left port.

Dark Harbor... no, all of Sunflower Island was mobilized amid Bege's furious roars.

At the same time, in another Dark Harbor, the Acne Pirates' captain, who was leisurely preparing to disembark for a drink, received an unfamiliar call.

"You bought a Den Den Mushi that quickly? Historians really are rich. You even bought something as overpriced as a miniature Den Den Mushi without batting an eye."

"What important news can't wait until later?"

"Not listening, not listening. I don't have time. Do you know what's most important right now?"

"Drinking! Haha~"

"Let me teach you something else: nothing in this world can stop a drunkard who wants a drink! Hahaha... huh?"

"What do you mean, you offended the Capone Family?"

The Acne Pirates' captain froze for a moment.

"Huh? What do you mean, you killed one of their people?"

"Huh?!!! What do you mean the Capone Family's combat captain died by your hand?!!!"

Crash!

The bottle fell to the ground and shattered into pieces.

He practically shouted those last words while trembling.

That guy had been ashore for less than a day!!

How the hell had he already killed the Capone Family's combat captain?

Could someone who dominated West Blue really be killed just like that?

Anyone who didn't know better would think he had gone ashore and slaughtered a chicken!

"Everyone, prepare to leave immediately!"

A few minutes later, amid the crew's frantic efforts, the Blackhead was fully prepared to depart.

Suddenly, a crewman ran over to the captain and whispered, "Captain, eight men are missing!"

Eight?

For the Acne Pirates, who had only a little over twenty men left to begin with, that was a massive loss.

"Where did they go?" the Acne Pirates' captain snapped.

Hadn't he explicitly ordered them not to disembark before they found their man?

"Uh... I think they secretly went ashore to find women."

"Those idiots are going to die on top of women someday!"

The Acne Pirates' captain flew into a rage... but not for long.

He was used to it.

If pirates could follow orders without question, they wouldn't be pirates.

"Set sail immediately!" he ordered.

A crewman beside him cried out in alarm, "We're not waiting, Captain? If they get caught, they'll die!"

"That's their problem!"

A trace of reluctance flashed through the captain's eyes, but he still spoke coldly.

He got along well with his brothers, but as captain, he sometimes had to make painful decisions.

A while later, the Blackhead slowly began leaving port.

At the same time, aboard the Marine warship gradually moving away from Dark Harbor.

In an empty corner,

Jogo pressed the cow-dung-shaped cover on his watch and shut off the tiny Den Den Mushi watch.

"If they can find me, they might be able to find the Acne Pirates too."

"Though the timing's tight, the captain should be able to react, right?"

He was not too worried.

The Acne Pirates' captain was an old pirate. Jogo trusted his ability to adapt.

What he needed to consider was what to do now.

Jogo looked around at the quiet, spacious Marine warship cabin, completely different from a pirate ship, and felt a headache coming on.

He was someone whose first choice when going to sea had been becoming a pirate.

So how had he ended up mixing with gangsters first, then Marines?

"I've never been a Marine before!"

Leaning against the cabin wall with his arms folded, he tapped his fingers against his arm and bared his teeth as he fell into thought.

"What now?"

"Wait until we reach the Marine base, then find a way to leave?"

If anyone checked the roster, they would immediately see there was something wrong with him.

"Or should I steal one of the ship's small boats and sneak back while we're still not too far from Sunflower Island..."

As he thought, he suddenly rubbed his chin.

"No, why am I panicking?"

He realized he had fallen into a classic pirate mindset.

"When pirates encounter Marines, their first instinct is naturally to run."

"But now... I'm a Marine!

I may not be on the roster, and I don't know how long I can keep up the disguise, but everyone thinks I am one right now, so I'm a Marine!

Until this ship reaches the Marine base, no one will suspect my identity.

So why not take advantage of this identity and do something useful?"

With that thought, his mind suddenly cleared.

Still not enough experience doing bad things!

So what should he do?

A moment later, a smile curled across his lips as he headed deeper into the ship.

Since he was already here,

Since the Capone Family had forced him onto this warship,

Then he had to give the Capone Family a surprising return gift!

Tap, tap, tap~

Before long, knocking sounded from the Intelligence Unit's dedicated cabin aboard the Marine warship.

"Who is it at this hour?"

Amid an annoyed complaint, a Marine soldier pulled open the door. Looking at the familiar yet unfamiliar figure outside, he scratched his head.

"You... what was your name again?"

He looked somewhat familiar, but the soldier could not remember who he was.

Jogo removed his cap, looked at the three people inside, and said seriously, "Don't bother thinking. I'm your daddy!"

[...

Conqueror's Haki (Awakened):

Trait loadout: "Otherworldly Soul (Silver)" "Spy (Blue)" → "Flower-Flower Fruit (Gold)"

...]

Three bursts of Haki erupted precisely against the backs of their heads.

The three men collapsed unconscious on the floor.

Jogo entered the room, closed the door, opened the Marines' internal communications logbook, found a phone number with an extremely high clearance ranking, and dialed it.

After a brief wait, the call connected.

"This is the Intelligence Unit of the Marine Criminal Investigation Bureau, encrypted line. Speak."

"This is the Marine 81st Branch of West Blue. I am intelligence-gathering Sergeant Umejima... I..."

Jogo set down the nameplate in his hand, pinched his nose, and began sobbing uncontrollably.

"I... I can't bear the condemnation of my conscience anymore. I want to report this! I want to report Marine Captain Nezumi for colluding with the West Blue underworld!!"

Report him!

Report him like crazy!

Report it all the way to Navy Headquarters!!

He refused to believe that such a vast Marine force could not produce even a few righteous people!