At the same time, the Marines had not been idle either.
Taking advantage of the World Government's covert counterattack, Marine Headquarters further intensified its cleanup operations.
Four Seas Branches.
New World Cruise Fleet.
Adventure Group System.
The three fronts moved simultaneously.
Marine warships departed from branch bases one after another, while Adventure Groups accepted bounty missions in droves.
Seagull flags began appearing more frequently over post-disaster ports, remote villages and towns, and shipping routes along the outskirts of the New World.
Pirate crews were crushed, slave traders were executed, and those who looted during disasters were arrested.
The scattered villains who had lost the protection of the two Emperors and intended to join new powers were intercepted before they could even find a new patron.
In the past, such people would have hidden in deeper darkness like rats in a filthy sewer.
Once the heat died down, they would change flags and continue pillaging, trafficking people, and clinging to new monsters.
But this time, they found that disappearing was not so easy.
Marine Branches watched the ports.
The cruise fleet watched the seas.
Adventure Groups watched the gaps between small islands, trade routes, and villages—places the Marines could not yet reach.
This net was no longer supported by Marine Headquarters alone.
Adventure Groups were no longer merely civilian armed forces.
They acted under bounty missions issued by the Marines, in exchange for greater freedom to adventure and to protect peace in their own regions.
They willingly took action to wipe out pirates.
They escorted merchant ships, cleared pirate strongholds near villages and towns, and delivered disaster relief supplies to ports.
They also blocked the first wave of villains before Marine warships arrived.
Some Adventure Groups were not particularly noble.
They liked fame, bounties, and seeing their names in the newspapers.