Were the Marines Still Marines Without Justice?
A moment later, in the castle hall, Kureha's gaze kept sweeping back and forth between Ivan and Chopper.
Whenever a gaze falls on Chopper's body trembles uncontrollably.
Kureha sighed, her gaze settling on Ivan: "Why is the Shadow Garden here in the Drum Kingdom? Given your usual practices, you're not here for tourism, are you?"
Ivan nodded, not denying it. "That's right, it's not, but rest assured, my actions will absolutely not implicate you."
These words completely relaxed Kureha. She wasn't worried about her own safety; she was more worried about Chopper.
The trouble of the Shadow Garden is beyond the capabilities of Chopper, a little reindeer.
Even she, in all of this, is nothing more than an ant!
Kureha gulped down several mouthfuls of wine to warm herself up, then turned and left. "You'd better remember your promise... Chopper, take the guest to the room to rest, and once he's done, make him leave immediately!"
Kureha's words clearly indicated that she had agreed.
Chopper was overjoyed and immediately stretched out his little paws to Ivan, "Mr. Tanuki, come with me, I'll arrange the most comfortable room for you!"
Along the Grand Line, there are always some beautiful sights that Ivan finds captivating.
He sat on the snow at the edge of the cliff, watching the snowscape ahead.
Several days have passed since Ivan moved into the castle. During this time, he would always send out several Shadow Clones to search around the Drum Kingdom to prevent him from missing the arrival of the warships carrying the Heavenly Tribute without knowing it.
Suddenly, one of the Shadow Clone dissipated on its own, and Ivan gained additional memories.
After processing these memories, Ivan's calm face finally broke into a smile. He teleported to Chopper, who was learning medicine in the infirmary, and asked with a smile:
"Chopper, the time has come. I must fulfill my promise. Do you want to witness Wapol's death?"
Chopper was stunned for a moment, then nodded vigorously, tears streaming down his face. "I want to go with you!"
Just then, Kureha's stern voice rang out from the side. "No, you'll distract Mr. Tanuki. Tanuki won't be able to take care of you in the upcoming battle!"
At the same time, Kureha's eyes were fixed on the Tanuki.
As people age, they become wise and experienced, especially Kureha, who is over a hundred years old. Her more than 100 years of experience have given her an intimate understanding of the Drum Kingdom.
As soon as the Tanuki arrived at the castle, she guessed what Tanuki wanted to do.
They either wanted to emulate the past and slaughter all the corrupt bureaucrats of the Drum Kingdom, or they wanted to obtain her secret medical formulas to strengthen their organization.
Or, you could invite her to join Shadow Garden.
But none of these are it!
This morning, Kureha received news that the warships transporting the Heavenly Tribute would dock at the Drum Kingdom at noon today to receive the Heavenly Tribute and replenish supplies.
Furthermore, the fact that the Tanuki said the time was up confirmed Kureha's suspicions that the Tanuki actually intended to plunder the Heavenly Tribute!
Good heavens, the Shadow Garden is too audacious! First they assassinated Celestial Dragons, and now they're plundering Heavenly Tribute. Do they really intend to wage war against the World Government?
Therefore, Kureha knew that today's battle would be extremely fierce, so she would absolutely not let Chopper go with the Tanuki.
Ivan could roughly guess Kureha's thoughts, so he didn't force her and left alone.
The Drum Kingdom, Port.
Crates filled with Beli and jewels were transported onto a large warship.
But besides Beli and the jewels, there were some strange large boxes, from which faint sobs could be heard. One of the marines carrying them was puzzled and asked his companion:
"Hey, Shiri, what's in there? It looks like a person."
Shiri quickly covered his companion's mouth, looked around, and finding no one had heard their conversation, lowered his head and gave a fierce warning:
"Shut up, do you even want to live? Just get back to work. The more questions you ask, the faster you die. We all know what's going on here, but these things aren't for us low-ranking marines to get involved in!"
The young marine who asked the question paused, his already dim eyes growing even dimmer.
He once joined the Navy with lofty ideals, wanting to kill all pirates and restore peace to the seas.
But as time went by, he witnessed too much darkness, but this darkness was too deep for him to resist, and it made the light in his heart grow dimmer and dimmer.
After this operation, the light in his heart will probably be completely extinguished, and he will become a shrewd old fox like Shiri.
But is such a navy still a navy?
"Ahhh, my lord, there are people in there! They're people! My granddaughter Nasha is in there, and she's not a slave!"
Just then, a commotion arose near the port, and an old man with graying white hair rushed in, trying to reach the large crates.
Upon hearing the old man's words, a loud crashing sound came from inside a box, clearly indicating that the old man's granddaughter was inside.
On one side of the port, flames burned inside an office, where the temperature was warm, a stark contrast to the frigid outside.
Inside the office, the two men were chatting and laughing. One of them was King Wapol of the Drum Kingdom, and the other was Headquarters Vice Admiral Vice Admiral Doberman, who was in charge of protecting the Heavenly Tribute.
Both of them heard the commotion outside.
Wapol's face stiffened, and he looked somewhat embarrassed. "I'm sorry, Vice Admiral Doberman, something unexpected has happened."
Vice Admiral Doberman forced a smile onto his stern face, "Don't worry, Your Majesty Wapol, it's just a minor problem. I'll handle it!"
The two of them walked out of the room together, from the warmth of the room to the cold outdoors.
The old man, being roughly shoved by several marines, staggered up and saw Wapol and Vice Admiral Doberman.
For a fleeting moment, his cloudy eyes surged with a deep-seated hatred for Wapol, then, as if grasping at a last straw, he pleaded with Vice Admiral Doberman in a trembling voice:
"Vice Admiral Doberman, please do me a favor! I am a retired naval veteran!"
My son also inherited this sense of justice and died at sea, while my daughter-in-law succumbed to illness from overwork...
Our family are descendants of true heroes; you cannot allow that scoundrel Wapol to run rampant!
He kidnapped my granddaughter without any reason, intending to offer her to the Celestial Dragons! Please, save my child!
The retired veteran looked hopefully at Vice Admiral Doberman, hoping that the Vice Admiral Doberman could help him punish Wapol!
But Vice Admiral Doberman's reaction was completely unexpected.
Vice Admiral Doberman gave the retired veteran a cold, hard look. "It's your granddaughter's good fortune to be offered to the Celestial Dragons. Get out of here and don't cause trouble, or I'll kill you!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Vice Admiral Doberman kicked out, sending the retired veteran flying a great distance.
He then turned and left, chatting and laughing with Wapol, as they walked into the warm interior.