"Admiral Kizaru, huh."
Wuli looked thoughtful. His subordinates might not understand why this had happened.
But Wuli thought he might know.
The branch bases could hardly refuse to provide any supplies just because food was scarce, even if headquarters had said each base could decide for itself.
True, Wuli had two voracious eaters, and the warships under his command needed a great deal of food. But it was not as though Wuli and his people did nothing except ask for provisions.
The peace and stability of these waters were all thanks to Wuli's deterrent presence!
For most island towns, the best option was protection from one of the Four Emperors. Without the protection of an Emperor or the Marines, pirate attacks were a fact of life.
If a town was strong enough to drive the pirates away, all the better. If not, it had no choice but to hand over its treasure. Towns with nothing to give were often ravaged or even slaughtered, depending on the pirates' mood.
In the Great Pirate Era, ordinary people living in the New World lived in constant fear.
Pirates ran rampant through the New World, doing as they pleased. It was practically a lawless land. The banner of justice held little sway here, and the Marines' influence was weak.
The reasons were plain: the New World was a jumble of competing powers, with each of the Four Emperors ruling a territory of his own. Every unruly pirate from the Grand Line gathered here, and fighting broke out somewhere at every hour. With Marine Headquarters outside the New World, the pirates had grown all the bolder.
For some islands, protection from one of the Four Emperors was more useful than protection from the Marines. Besides, Marine protection went only to those that paid the Celestial