As Garp rambled on about the old days, Gern rubbed his brow,
his gaze sweeping over another document on the desk, delivered by Tesoro not long ago and marked "Top secret."
At one corner of the document, the word "SWORD" peeked out.
SWORD... Gern sneered inwardly.
SWORD was a secret unit established during Sengoku's tenure, nominally answering directly to the World Government, though in reality it was controlled by certain senior Marine officers.
It carried out particularly dangerous special missions, and most of its members were second-generation Marines with powerful family backgrounds or connections.
Because of its independence and special status, its allegiance and loyalty had become a thorny issue after the Marines declared independence.
And according to the latest intelligence and the report in Gern's hands, this "sword" did not seem willing to submit quietly to the Neo Marines' unified command structure.
Especially its two most vocal troublemakers:
X Drake, the former captain of the secret Marine special unit SWORD, was actually an undercover Marine, currently embedded among Kaido's forces.
After the Marines declared independence, he had not obeyed orders to return to duty. Instead, he continued operating in the New World as a "pirate," his movements secretive and his responses evasive.
Intelligence indicated that, while serving under Kaido, he was secretly contacting remnants of the former World Government's Cipher Pol apparatus.
But it was another name that brought a cold glint to Gern's eyes-Koby, the "Shame of the Navy."
After the Paramount War, he had risen to fame for "stepping forward" to persuade Red Hair, as well as for the Rocky Port incident.
The young captain, whom some regarded as "the hope of the Marines' next generation," had become bafflingly active after the Marines declared independence.
Not only had he publicly questioned the "legitimacy" and "justice" of Marine