The Marines needed to free themselves from their dependence on the World Government as much as possible.
Though they never said so openly, that was what they thought deep down.
The Marines generally bought their food from affiliated nations that were major grain producers.
And the representatives handling those purchases worked for the World Government.
The affiliated nations colluded with World Government officials, often selling grain at inflated prices when it could have been bought cheaply.
This meant the Marines' military budget was worth less than it appeared.
There was plenty of room for manipulation.
Enormous profits lurked beneath the surface.
In truth, the Marines had no way to interfere with this.
As for arms, the World Government had its own dedicated weapons factories.
Once a branch ran out of arms, it had to purchase more from designated weapons factories.
These factories existed across the various seas, supplying the Marines while also selling arms throughout the world for profit.
This arrangement was somewhat better. The World Government maintained fairly strict controls, selling arms to the Marines below market price.
But the discount was small, leaving enormous profit margins.
An army numbering in the hundreds of thousands consumed a considerable sum in arms every year.
To some extent, a portion of the military budget flowed back into the World Government's hands.
On the seas as they stood, the Marines' arms and warships often no longer gave them much of an advantage.
The World Government would never agree to let them shift their arms orders to other manufacturers.
So they could not do it openly.
Behind the scenes, personnel at some Marine branches in the Four Seas had already begun secretly purchasing arms from the Vulcan Arms Company or the Fengshen Arms Company.
These weapons copied standard Marine designs, making them difficult