Afterward, Ages and Hancock left the uninhabited island and headed into the distance.
Neither Ages nor Hancock knew it at the time, but during their night on the island, Ages had hit the mark in a single shot.
Hancock had become pregnant.
Of course, that was a story for later.
Time flew. After that, Ages received a request for help concerning Ōru and went to Cocoyasi Village, where he killed Arlong.
He then purged the corruption from the Marine Branches in the East Blue before being recalled to Marine Headquarters for a meeting.
Finally, with the approval of the senior officers at a Marine Headquarters meeting, Ages began traveling personally among the branches across the four seas, purging the corrupt Marine Branch officers and wiping them out completely.
Hancock, meanwhile, chose not to accompany Ages so she would not get in his way. Instead, she returned to Amazon Lily to manage the Kuja Tribe.
Time passed in the blink of an eye...
Before they knew it, more than a month had passed since Ages and Hancock left that uninhabited island filled with bold memories.
Ages was now in the North Blue, purging the corrupt officers of its branches.
"Spare me... I know I was wrong, Vice Admiral Aigusu... spare me..."
A North Blue Marine Branch commodore hung suspended in the air, his face deathly pale. He clawed at his own neck with both hands, weeping as he struggled to speak.
Listening to the North Blue branch commodore, Ages held out his left hand and gripped the man's neck from afar. His expression was calm, entirely unmoved by the pleas, as he said indifferently:
"Commodore Gegudo of North Blue Branch 145, you used your Marine authority not to help the people, but to oppress innocent civilians and allow pirates to collect protection fees from the villagers."
At that, a chill killing intent flashed through Ages's pitch-black eyes. He continued:
"For such unforgivable crimes, I hereby strip you of all Marine rights and status in my capacity as a Marine judge."
With that, Ages abruptly clenched his left hand.
Crack...
A cracking sound rang out.
Commodore Gegudo of North Blue Marine Branch 143 had his neck snapped by Ages and was wiped out!
Bang!
After Commodore Gegudo died, Ages loosened his left hand. Gegudo fell straight down from the air and slammed into the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
The street fell silent.
The people stared at Commodore Gegudo, who had been swaggering around on patrol just moments ago. In no time at all, he had become a cold corpse. Unable to quite take it in, they stood frozen in place.
After a long while...
A roar erupted!
The villagers came to their senses and erupted in joyful cheers.
"Oh!!! Commodore Gegudo is dead! He's finally dead!!"
A young villager wept tears of excitement as he cheered and jumped for joy.
"Ptooey! You damned man, you finally got what you deserved."
An old man whose leg Gegudo had broken because he had accidentally dirtied Gegudo's clothes hobbled over on a crutch and spat on the corpse, venting his resentment.
After the villagers had celebrated for a while, they turned to Ages.
They gathered around him, offering their thanks again and again.
"Vice Admiral Aigusu, thank you for ridding us of such a menace. Thank you."
Tears welled up in the village chief's aging eyes as he bowed to Ages and thanked him.
"Vice Admiral Aigusu, you're amazing! You killed Commodore Gegudo just like that."
A village child of about ten gazed at Ages with excitement and admiration.
"Thank you, Vice Admiral Aigusu. You avenged my family and killed Gegudo."
An orphan whose parents had been killed by Gegudo for opposing him wept tears of excitement, repeatedly kowtowing to Ages in thanks.
Seeing the villagers weeping tears of joy, Ages gently waved his left hand. An invisible force suddenly appeared and helped the bowing and kowtowing villagers to their feet.
Ages then smiled slightly and spoke.
"There's no need to thank me. In fact, I should be apologizing to you. We Marines failed in our duty and allowed scum like Gegudo to command a branch."
"I'm truly very sorry. I'll distribute Gegudo's property shortly to compensate you."
"I'm deeply sorry for what Gegudo did to all of you. I apologize on behalf of the Marines."
With that, Ages prepared to bow to them in apology.
But before he could bend at the waist, everyone hurried forward to stop him.
"Vice Admiral Aigusu, please don't do that. We couldn't possibly accept it. Wherever there are people, there will be scum; we know that. You came and got rid of Gegudo for us, and we're already immensely grateful. How could we blame you?"
The village chief smiled at Ages as he spoke.
As soon as he finished, the villagers present chimed in.
"That's right, Vice Admiral Aigusu. We don't blame you."
"Yes, Vice Admiral Aigusu, please don't blame yourself. This isn't your fault. Gegudo was two-faced, after all."
Hearing them, Ages smiled warmly and nodded.
Just then...
"Purupurupuru..."
A Den Den Mushi rang.
Ages took the Den Den Mushi from his pocket and spoke to the villagers.
"Excuse me, I need to take this call. Please go back to what you were doing."
Seeing that Ages had business to attend to, the villagers tactfully replied:
"All right, we'll get back to it."
"Go ahead, Vice Admiral Aigusu. We'll get the Marine soldiers to come deal with Gegudo's body."
Ages nodded at the villagers' words.
Then he walked aside and answered the call.
"Hmm? What is it?"
As soon as Ages spoke, a voice came from the Den Den Mushi.
"Brother-in-law Ages, it's me, Sandersonia!"
Hearing Sandersonia's voice through the Den Den Mushi, Ages was momentarily surprised.
"Sandersonia, why is it you? Are you at Marine Headquarters?"
Sandersonia spoke urgently, her voice full of excitement.
"Brother-in-law Ages, I had important news to tell you, but I couldn't get in touch with you. So I went to Vice Admiral Garp, and he brought me to the intelligence room here and had Ōru help me contact you."
Ages paused in surprise. Important news?
Just as Ages was about to ask what the important news was, Sandersonia spoke.
Her face full of excitement, she came straight out with it.
"Brother-in-law Ages, you're going to be a father!"