"Hey, Loa, why do you think Drake betrayed the Marines?"
Standing beside Loa, Simon had spent the whole night puzzling over it. At last, he asked.
Drake's father, Diez Barrels, had once been a Marine officer whom Drake admired and trusted deeply. But years ago, Barrels had deserted the Marines and become a pirate.
Then, when Drake was nineteen, Barrels had died in Doflamingo's Birdcage farce. Vice Admiral Tsuru had rushed to the scene and rescued Drake amid the chaos, and he had joined the Marines afterward.
With his father as such a cautionary example, Drake should have been loyal to the Marines.
But even after combing through the family records, Simon couldn't find a reason for Drake to desert. Even if he wanted revenge on Doflamingo, wouldn't he have a better chance from inside the Marines?
They would have to wait until they caught Drake. Perhaps then they could get the answer from him.
"The reason?"
Loa glanced at Simon. "Honestly, I don't care. And I don't think you should, either."
"As a soldier, all you need to do is follow orders."
"Uh, you're right." Simon faltered, then smiled as the matter fell into place. "There's no point digging into it."
Still, why do I feel like I'm missing something, Loa?
Simon frowned as he watched Loa's tall, straight-backed figure.
Did Loa really know nothing?
Of course not.
At the very least, he knew enough from the available information to explain Drake's betrayal.
According to the records, Vegapunk's Pacifistas had made significant progress a few days earlier. Soon, they could be mass-produced and officially deployed.
But as he continued refining his work, Vegapunk—the scientist said to be five hundred years ahead of the world—wasn't satisfied with the Pacifistas' current capabilities. He wanted to make them stronger.
That raised a