Expansion

A warship drifted alone on the tens of kilometers of sea around Oran Island.

On the deck, Zephyr paced back and forth, waiting anxiously for something.

Until a thin figure in a yellow suit appeared on the sea surface and flew over to Zephyr using Geppo.

Zephyr hurried forward to ask:

"How is it, Vice Admiral Fukurou, is there any way to rescue Vice Admiral Rock Wolf and Vice Admiral Tanuki!"

"It's difficult, Lind's telekinesis is too strong. He was using telekinesis to control Vice Admiral Rock Wolf and Vice Admiral Tanuki the whole time earlier, so I had no way to make a move."

"As for the prison, it's also located dozens of meters underground. Unless there's a special Fruit Ability that can bypass the guards, there's no way to rescue people."

Vice Admiral Fukurou looked at Zephyr's anxious expression and said somewhat sheepishly.

"Sigh, this isn't your fault. Lind's ability is too unusual, I anticipated this long ago!"

"We can only wait until Lind is away from Oran Island in the future to think of a way to rescue the two vice admirals!"

Hearing Vice Admiral Fukurou's reply, Zephyr wasn't particularly surprised and sighed.

"It's just that Vice Admiral Rock Wolf and Vice Admiral Tanuki will have to suffer for a while!"

After sending Zephyr off, Lind and the others returned to their quarters, accompanied by the left-behind Rock Wolf and Tanuki.

"Calvin, you two don't need to be sent back to the prison either, it's too much of a waste of manpower. Just place them under house arrest right in our base, and arrange for people to guard the door!"

On the way back, Lind thought about it for a bit and still felt it was better to place the two people directly at the base. After all, the prison environment wasn't good, and given the strength of the two, they would still need to specially assign people to keep guard.

It was better to just arrange them close by for convenience. There wasn't any deep hatred between them, and although Lind himself was a pirate, it didn't prevent his appreciation for ordinary marines.

At the same time, treating prisoners well could also give Lind a good reputation, so why not do it.

After arranging the two marines, there weren't any other matters to attend to. It was just a matter of reading and training with peace of mind, while waiting for the news of taking over subordinates in other cities on Oran Island.

In fact, Lind had still overestimated the complexity of this matter. Before noon even arrived, Allison came to report on the progress.

The other few cities on Oran Island could be said to have been subdued by a mere proclamation. Basically, as soon as the cadres of Lind's division arrived, various factions found the person in charge and actively asked to be taken over.

Various conditions were also agreed to quite readily, leaving Lind and several cadres with the feeling of punching cotton.

One could only say that Lind's battle record was too astonishing, earned purely by taking on the marines. After successively defeating Sengoku and Zephyr, Lind's reputation was already completely no less than Whitebeard's or the Golden Lion's.

In the evening, it was the familiar conference room.

Only this time, compared to last time, there were quite a few more people-all reserve cadres that Lind was currently cultivating.

"Although no battle took place this time, everyone did very well. Still the old rules, Allison, you'll arrange everyone's rewards later."

"Aside from the cadres present, the other members shouldn't be short of what they're due either. Just handle it as you see fit!"

"Phil, Kite, you did well this time. You are now the new cadres! As for your subordinates, they'll be in place very soon."

Sitting in the main seat, Lind as usual distributed money first to win people over, followed by the appointment of new cadres.

"As for the others, there's no need to rush, you'll all be able to officially step up very soon."

"Taking Oran Island can be considered completing the first-stage objective. What needs to be done now is to strengthen the control over Oran Island."

"Starting tomorrow, we'll begin recruiting, expand the headcount of each squad, form new squads, and while strengthening the degree of control over Oran Island, prepare for subsequent expansion."

"We guard such a large expanse of sea, and the manpower we need is quite a lot."

"The original five squads will each be expanded to 100 people, and at the same time, five new squads will be formed with 50 people each."

"The captains will be the five of you, Phil and Kite. However, Ford, Saiken, and Saide, the three of you are still acting captains. Whether you can officially step up depends on your subsequent performance!"

As he spoke, a smile unconsciously appeared on Lind's face.

The same went for everyone else. As Lind's voice fell, a smile appeared on the face of everyone present.

After all, starting today, they could be considered completely stabilized, with their own territory and sphere of influence, stepping onto the path of expansion.

"This rest period will be three months, because the recruits on Oran Island have a foundation much weaker than yours."

"Even if we choose elite ones, training for another month can only mean barely reaching the level of elite."

Watching the few people deep in thought, Lind paused and continued.

"In addition to the elite squads, this time we also need to recruit enough ordinary pirates. There is temporarily no strict quantity requirement; three thousand to ten thousand people will do, the more the better."

"One thousand of them will be your responsibility, Larry, serving as Oran Island's security force. The rest will serve as subordinate forces for each squad according to recruitment conditions and specific needs."

"Right, that deserted island I mentioned before-I'll lead a team there myself when the time comes!"

"The current focus is still on training, coordinated with the magical plants and Sea Kings meat on that island."

"I hope that three months from now, I can see an army capable of sweeping across this sea area!"

"Do you all have confidence?" Lind grew somewhat excited as he spoke.

"Yes!"

"Boss, just leave it to us!"

The emotions of the other cadres were likewise stirred up by Lind. No pirate could resist the temptation of leading a grand army to sweep away everything.

The next day, the vigorous recruitment campaign began, with various captains pulling off all sorts of stunts to recruit subordinates.

Some looked for people directly on the streets, some went to ask major factions for help, and some even directly borrowed ships to go out to sea to find people.

On Lind's side, he had also contacted news organizations with a branch on Oran Island last night, publishing news about recruiting new members.

Right now, the news of Lind's division recruiting new members should have already spread across the world along with the newspapers.

In the coming period, perhaps every day people would arrive at Oran Port by boat and then join the Seventh Division.

It was a pity that Morgans had not made his fortune yet, and there was no super giant like the World Economy News Paper in the world. The efficiency of using newspapers to spread news was still a bit lacking.

If it were Morgans, the entire world would probably know the news of the Seventh Division looking for people right now.

As things stood, as long as most inhabited islands in the New World could get word of the Seventh Division's recruitment, Lind would be quite satisfied.

"Perhaps I can seek out Morgans in advance, then cooperate with him and help him make his fortune."

"Morgans is just a small fry right now, definitely a good opportunity to buy in."

Lind suddenly discovered a business with a small investment and a big return, and muttered with his eyes shining.