Chapter 66: Smoker Reports Captain Nezumi's Corruption to Marine Headquarters!New2 days ago
Marine Headquarters.
Inside the Fleet Admiral's office, a meeting had just concluded.
Admiral Kuzan, better known as Aokiji, was preparing to leave when the Den Den Mushi he was carrying suddenly rang.
Purupurupuru!
Purupurupuru!
Kuzan picked up the receiver.
"Hello, Kuzan speaking."
"It's Smoker."
A familiar voice came from the other end of the Den Den Mushi.
"Oh, it's you."
Kuzan raised an eyebrow.
"Now that's unusual. I didn't expect you to call me."
"What happened? Is there trouble in Loguetown?"
Kuzan and Smoker were both former students of Zephyr.
Furthermore, they shared somewhat similar views regarding justice.
Because of this, the two had developed a fairly close relationship and could even be considered friends.
However, given Smoker's personality, he rarely contacted Kuzan unless something important had happened.
Hearing the familiar voice coming from Kuzan's Den Den Mushi, Fleet Admiral Sengoku, who also paid attention to the stubborn young Marine Captain, turned to look.
"Nothing particularly serious has happened in Loguetown."
Smoker's deep voice came through the receiver.
"However, something has happened involving the Marines of the 16th Branch in East Blue, including their commanding officer, Captain Nezumi."
"The 16th Branch?"
Kuzan raised an eyebrow and glanced toward Sengoku.
Hearing the conversation, the other two Admirals—Kizaru (Borsalino) and Akainu (Sakazuki)—stopped and looked over curiously. They, too, had been preparing to leave.
Although the incident had occurred in East Blue, a problem involving an entire Marine branch and its commanding officer was still significant enough to attract the attention of Marine Headquarters.
"A group of bounty hunters brought Captain Nezumi and several Marines from the 16th Branch to Loguetown."
Smoker began explaining.
"They also brought evidence proving that those Marines were colluding with the Arlong Pirates."
"Furthermore, the same bounty-hunting team delivered the bodies of the wanted criminals from both the Arlong Pirates and the Krieg Pirates."
"I believe this matter should be reported directly to Fleet Admiral Sengoku."
"However, I don't have authorization to contact him directly, so I was hoping you could pass along the information."
Hearing this, Sengoku immediately stood up from his seat.
He walked over to Kuzan, his eyebrows tightly furrowed.
"Smoker, I'm here with Kuzan."
"Explain the entire situation to me in detail."
A Marine Captain and the soldiers under his command had actually been captured by bounty hunters for colluding with pirates?!
Such an incident was practically unheard of!
Of course, what concerned Sengoku even more was the allegation that Captain Nezumi had been secretly cooperating with the Arlong Pirates.
A Marine Captain stationed at a branch base was responsible for maintaining security throughout a considerable stretch of ocean.
If someone holding that position began cooperating with pirates, it wasn't difficult to imagine the terrible conditions the civilians living under his jurisdiction would suffer.
"Oh, Fleet Admiral Sengoku is there too?"
"Then I'll explain everything."
Hearing Sengoku's voice, Smoker immediately began recounting everything he had learned about Captain Nezumi.
The longer Sengoku listened, the darker his expression became.
"Hmph!"
"Marines like that deserve to be executed immediately!"
Akainu, who firmly upheld Absolute Justice and couldn't tolerate such corruption, spoke coldly from nearby.
Judging by his expression, if he were currently in East Blue, he would probably have gone straight to the 16th Branch and personally dealt with Captain Nezumi and the other corrupt Marines.
"If these allegations are true, then those Marines certainly need to be brought to justice."
Sengoku nodded.
"However, Smoker, have you investigated the matter?"
"Can we be certain the bounty hunters are telling the truth?"
"The bounty-hunting team used a Visual Den Den Mushi to record Captain Nezumi's conversation with one of the pirates."
Smoker answered immediately.
"I currently have the recording in my possession."
"Furthermore, judging by the reactions of the captured Marine soldiers, there's clearly something wrong with them."
Hearing that, Sengoku finally began to believe Smoker's report.
With a Visual Den Den Mushi recording serving as evidence, combined with Smoker's personal observations, the allegations were unlikely to be fabricated.
"There's something else I'd like to report."
Smoker continued.
"The leader of this bounty-hunting team is a man named Luo Qi."
"Apparently, he's fought Hawkeye Mihawk before."
"From what I've seen, he should be a fairly powerful master swordsman."
"Oh?"
"He fought Hawkeye Mihawk?"
Sengoku's eyes immediately brightened.
"To think someone with such extraordinary talent has appeared in East Blue!"
Although East Blue was commonly regarded as the weakest of the four seas, Sengoku knew perfectly well that many genuinely powerful individuals had been born there.
The former Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, had come from East Blue.
And so had the Marines' very own hero, Monkey D. Garp!
Now that he had learned about someone capable of exchanging blows with Hawkeye Mihawk, Sengoku naturally became extremely interested.
If someone like that could be recruited into the Marines...
Almost immediately, Sengoku arrived at the same conclusion as Smoker.
Unfortunately, before he could say anything, Smoker informed him that Luo Qi had already expressed his lack of interest in joining the Marines.
"So he's someone who cares quite a bit about money, huh?"
Kizaru, who had been listening nearby, rubbed his chin.
He was beginning to find this Luo Qi fellow rather interesting, despite never having met him.
"In that case, why don't we try offering him an attractive salary, Fleet Admiral Sengoku?"
As an Admiral who preferred earning a generous salary while taking things easy at work, Kizaru naturally thought of financial incentives before anyone else.
Hearing his suggestion, Sengoku nodded in agreement.
"Smoker."
"Try inviting Luo Qi and his companions to join the Marines again."
"If he's willing to enlist, I can make an exception and assign him an appropriate rank based on his strength."
"He won't have to start as an ordinary Marine recruit."
"As for his compensation, we can offer him a suitable salary."
"I'll give it a try."
Smoker nodded.
After exchanging a few more words, he ended the call.
Just then, another voice sounded from the other side of the office.
"Hey, Sengoku."
"Why don't you let me head back to East Blue and take a look at this Luo Qi fellow?"
Garp was sitting nearby, leisurely eating Sengoku's rice crackers.
"If he's suitable, I can personally bring him back and recruit him into the Marines."
"Garp!"
Sengoku shot him a sharp look.
"Do you think I don't know what you're planning?!"
"You just want another excuse to slack off and take a vacation!"
"I'm telling you right now—ABSOLUTELY NOT!"
"Tch!"
Garp clicked his tongue.
"If you don't agree, then you don't agree. What's the point of shouting so loudly?"
He casually rubbed his ear.
"But don't blame me if the Marines end up losing a promising recruit because of this."
With that, Garp tipped the bag of rice crackers into his mouth, eating every last one.
Then, he casually walked out of the Fleet Admiral's office.
For a moment, Sengoku stared at the now-empty bag.
Then—
"GARP!"
"YOU BASTARD!"
"YOU ATE ALL MY RICE CRACKERS AGAIN!"
Sengoku's furious roar was so loud that it seemed to penetrate the office walls and echo throughout Marine Headquarters!
...
Meanwhile, in Loguetown.
Under Tashigi's guidance, Luo Qi successfully arrived at a weapon shop.
"Welcome!"
The moment the two pushed open the door, an enthusiastic greeting reached their ears.
Looking toward the source of the voice, Luo Qi saw a middle-aged shopkeeper with a partially bald head and a rather prominent red nose approaching them.
"Welcome, customers!"
"Are you looking to buy swords?"
"I carry nothing but excellent weapons here!"
"Shopkeeper!"
Before Luo Qi could respond, Tashigi stepped forward enthusiastically.
Then, with a grand sweep of her hand, she gestured toward Luo Qi.
"This gentleman is a master swordsman who has personally crossed blades with Hawkeye Mihawk, the World's Greatest Swordsman!"
"Please bring out the finest sword in your shop!"
Her expression was filled with excitement and pride.
Anyone watching might have thought Tashigi herself had been the one to fight Hawkeye!
Standing behind her, Luo Qi couldn't help feeling somewhat embarrassed.
He already knew that Tashigi was obsessed with swords and swordsmanship.
However, his encounter with Mihawk had hardly been a proper duel.
He had merely entertained the World's Greatest Swordsman for a short while!
He was worried that if Tashigi continued praising him like this, he might actually become arrogant without realizing it.
"Ahem!"
"Tashigi, you don't have to—"
Luo Qi was just about to interrupt her.
Unfortunately, the excited Tashigi didn't seem to hear him at all.
Seeing that the weapon shop owner was still standing there in astonishment, she immediately continued.
"And don't worry about the price!"
"Lord Luo Qi just received a bounty payment of 63.5 million Berries from the Marines!"
"So you can bring out your very best swords without hesitation!"
"WHAT?!"
"Sixty-three and a half million Berries?!"
The weapon shop owner's eyes widened.
For a moment, he could barely believe what he'd heard.
Then, his attitude immediately became even more enthusiastic!
"Please wait here, valued customers!"
"I'll bring out the very best sword in my shop right away!"
Without another word, the shopkeeper spun around and hurried toward the second floor!
...
"Don't worry, Lord Luo Qi!"
Tashigi turned toward him with a confident smile.
"I know this shopkeeper quite well."
"If he says he's going to bring out his best sword, I'm sure it'll be an excellent weapon!"
She proudly patted her chest as she spoke.
"Uh..."
"Well, thank you."
Luo Qi nodded somewhat awkwardly.
Then, rather than waiting where he stood, he began walking toward one of the walls inside the shop.
A messy pile of swords had been placed in the corner.
At first glance, none of them appeared particularly impressive.
In fact, most looked like ordinary, inexpensive blades.
"Lord Luo Qi!"
Tashigi quickly spoke up.
"Those are just ordinary swords!"
In her opinion, a master swordsman of Luo Qi's caliber should naturally be using a much higher-quality weapon.
However, Luo Qi merely waved his hand.
He continued walking toward the corner.
After all, he knew something that neither Tashigi nor an ordinary customer would have realized.
Hidden among those seemingly unimpressive weapons was a particularly good cursed sword!
Well...
I suppose this is a little unfair to the future great swordsman Zoro.
Luo Qi couldn't help thinking about the original story.
However, since he had already encountered such an excellent weapon, he had absolutely no intention of letting it slip through his fingers!
His gaze moved across the pile of swords.
One blade after another.
Then—
Found it!
The corners of Luo Qi's mouth curved upward.
He reached into the pile and pulled out a katana with a relatively long blade.
As he examined the weapon, he could faintly sense an ominous aura surrounding it.
"This..."
Tashigi immediately noticed the sword in Luo Qi's hand.
Her expression changed.
"That sword..."
"Could it be...?"
As someone extremely knowledgeable about swords, she could tell almost immediately that the weapon was far from ordinary.
Just then, the shopkeeper's voice sounded from behind them.
"Dear customer!"
"Please come over and take a look at this sword!"
"I've brought out the finest weapon in my—"
However, before he could finish speaking, he noticed what Luo Qi was holding.
His expression instantly changed!
"W-WAIT!"
"Customer!"
"Please put that sword down!"
"That one isn't for sale!"
Luo Qi turned toward the shopkeeper with an amused smile.
"Is it because this is a cursed sword that you're refusing to sell it?"
"Y-You know about it?!"
The shopkeeper stared at Luo Qi in astonishment.
"That's the Sandai Kitetsu!"
"The Third Generation Kitetsu!"
"It's a cursed blade!"
"Everyone who has wielded that sword in the past has met a terrible end!"
He hurriedly raised the sword he had brought from upstairs.
"If you're genuinely looking for an excellent weapon, the sword I have here is much more suitable!"
However, Luo Qi merely smiled.
"Of course I know."
He nodded calmly.
Then, he glanced at the Sandai Kitetsu in his hand before looking toward the sword the shopkeeper was carrying.
"But I've already made up my mind."
"Both this Sandai Kitetsu..."
"And the sword you're holding..."
"I'll take them both."