There was no hiding this. Even if Loa said nothing, anyone with eyes could tell something was wrong with Tony. A closer investigation would expose the truth.
So Loa chose to be honest.
"I arrested him."
"Arrested?"
Haisoken paused with his cigar halfway to his mouth and stared at Loa in surprise. "Why?"
Loa frowned and sighed. "He killed civilians."
Killed civilians!
Haisoken whipped his head toward the long, narrow Wavebreaker Warship. Tony was locked in a makeshift cell below deck. "Do you understand how serious this is?"
Was it serious?
Of course it was.
Plenty of rotten Marines had appeared in the original story, but none of them had belonged to Marine Headquarters.
On the contrary, Marine Headquarters was an organization devoted to Absolute Justice.
Its discipline was strict, its soldiers well trained, and its troops fierce in battle.
Even without counting its monstrously powerful officers, its soldiers and junior officers alone could handle most notorious Pirates.
And the greatest reason Marine Headquarters maintained that edge was its strict discipline.
If the higher-ups learned that Tony had killed civilians, he would be sent to Impel Down even if he escaped execution. Forget Zephyr—even Sengoku could not protect him.
Most importantly, Tony was Zephyr's student. He was a member of the Elite Camp!
That was the most serious problem.
Never underestimate political struggles among the higher-ups.
Not even in a hot-blooded manga.
Haisoken had seen the criticism Zephyr had faced over the past few years. It left a bitter taste in his mouth, but too many factors were involved for him to do anything about it.
He still wore his usual cheerful smile, yet he had never forgotten.
Just half a month ago, he had heard that Vegapunk was designing a mechanical prosthetic arm for Zephyr. The finished weapon was