After brief pleasantries and catching up, Finn turned his attention toward the man being beaten.
Stussy spoke at precisely the right moment. "Alright, stop for now. Take him away. Don't upset Vice Admiral Finn."
"Yes." Two CP-0 agents responded in unison. They grabbed the unfortunate man's arms, one on each side, and dragged him away like a corpse.
Finn had no intention of involving himself in CP-0's dirty work, so he ignored the scene. He looked at Stussy instead. "Commander Stussy, what's the situation? Has it been confirmed that the tyrant Bartholomew Kuma is planning to rebel against the World Government? Force the Sorbet Kingdom to withdraw from membership?"
The current king of the Sorbet Kingdom was none other than the future Warlord of the Sea, the Tyrant Bartholomew Kuma.
But honestly, Finn knew perfectly well that Bartholomew Kuma was no tyrant.
On the contrary, he was an extraordinarily gentle person.
The reason he'd acquired that moniker was entirely due to World Government manipulation.
Because Kuma wanted to lead the Sorbet Kingdom out of World Government membership.
Finn wasn't entirely certain of all the reasons, but according to mission intelligence, there were many. Perhaps Kuma didn't want to see citizens paying enormous quantities of Heavenly Tribute to the World Government annually. Perhaps he was disgusted by the World Government's corruption.
Whatever the specific motivations, they could be readily identified.
The embarrassing part was that the World Government had noticed these intentions before Kuma could act on them.
The World Government had no shortage of member nations. It didn't particularly care about losing one.
But there were acceptable ways to lose a member nation. Pirates could destroy it. It could be expelled for failing to pay Heavenly Tribute. It could collapse due to internal political turmoil.
The one thing that couldn't happen was a nation choosing to voluntarily withdraw from the World Government, or publicly making statements unfavorable to the World Government!
Because that would damage the World Government's image and authority!
If member nations could join or leave at will, what would that mean? That the World Government was some kind of marketplace where you could come and go as you pleased?
Where was the dignity in that?
This precedent absolutely could not be allowed. Otherwise, it would have severely adverse effects on other member nations.
Therefore, the World Government had quickly launched a comprehensive plan against the Sorbet Kingdom.
CP organizations were indeed professional dirty workers. They'd infiltrated the country in large numbers, stirring up political unrest, manufacturing social crises, and manipulating public opinion to shift all blame onto Bartholomew Kuma.
Bartholomew Kuma had been completely unprepared to handle such professional sabotage.
Within a year, his originally stellar reputation had been utterly destroyed by CP operations. He'd become a "tyrant" in the eyes of his own people.
Consequently, most citizens of the Sorbet Kingdom believed their country had become miserable because Bartholomew Kuma was king.
They'd launched a movement to overthrow the monarchy. When Kuma's royal army suppressed it, that only further cemented his reputation as a tyrant.
Now, the time had come. The World Government had decided to use this manufactured situation as justification to remove Bartholomew Kuma from his position as King of the Sorbet Kingdom.
That's right. Even when dealing with royal families of member nations, the World Government still needed some semblance of legitimate reasoning as a fig leaf.
If they could simply replace monarchs on a whim, royal families across member nations would feel deeply insecure. Necessary procedures had to be followed.
However, because Bartholomew Kuma possessed tremendous personal strength, the World Government feared he might do something desperate. The CP agency alone might not be able to handle the situation.
Therefore, they'd assigned a political task to the Marines, requiring cooperation with CP organs to execute this recall operation against Bartholomew Kuma.
And Finn was the executor of this mission.
As for whether the mission was just? Obviously not. But he had no intention of making a fuss about it.
Though the Marines possessed certain authority to push back against the World Government, there was no need to oppose them on most trivial issues.
This time, in the Marines' eyes, it was a trivial matter. Just changing a king. What was the big deal?
At the same time, Marine Intelligence had received reports that Dragon, who'd defected from the Marines and disappeared, seemed to have appeared in the Sorbet Kingdom.
Therefore, Finn had come with an additional confidential mission from Marine leadership: locate Dragon, determine what he was doing, and if possible, bring him back to Marine Headquarters.
"What you mentioned has been 'confirmed', Vice Admiral Finn." Stussy smiled.
"Confirmed...?" Finn repeated softly. "Interesting choice of words."
In truth, he didn't know much concrete information about Bartholomew Kuma's case. It was entirely possible that what he did know was fabricated "truth."
But he didn't particularly care about those details. After all, it wasn't the Marines who should be doing such dirty work. And Finn wasn't a Marine with grand integrity and sense of justice.
"Well, I don't care about these 'confirmed' matters at all," Finn said directly. "I came here simply to cooperate with your CP agency. How do you need me to cooperate? Commander Stussy, just tell me plainly."
"In fact, we genuinely wanted to give Mr. Bartholomew Kuma one last shred of dignity," Stussy explained. "Three days ago, we sent a CP-0 member to the royal palace to meet with him, hoping he would accept the World Government's will and declare abdication voluntarily. But unfortunately..." She shrugged helplessly.
"What happened to the person you sent?" Finn asked with mild amusement. "Was he beaten to death?"
Stussy sighed. "No, he's missing... and Bartholomew Kuma told us he went traveling."
"Hahahaha!" Finn burst out laughing. "Then perhaps he really did go traveling. Just like the truth has been 'confirmed,' he's also been 'traveling.'"
"It's been two years since we last met," Stussy said with a somewhat resentful tone, observing Finn's schadenfreude. "Your personality, Vice Admiral, seems to have become even worse than before."
"Was I a bad person two years ago?" Finn asked after a brief pause.
When we first met, you beat me until I vomited blood. You think you weren't bad?
However, Stussy clearly didn't want to dwell on that particular memory. She cleared her throat. "Ahem. Anyway, Mr. Bartholomew Kuma has rejected our goodwill. He also possesses tremendous personal strength. I alone cannot subdue him... This requires your assistance, Vice Admiral Finn. I believe that with the strength of Marine Headquarters' 'Violent Tiger,' you should be able to help us at CP-0 achieve our objective, correct?"
Finn's smile faded. He looked at Stussy seriously. "Do you want to kill him?"
Stussy shook her head with a smile. "No. Death allows people to be forgotten. Only the living can serve as warnings to the world."
"How cruel..." Finn sighed.
The World Government had no intention of killing Bartholomew Kuma. On the contrary, they hoped he could become a classic cautionary tale for other member nations: if you dare to offend and rebel against the World Government, even as a king, you'll suffer a fate worse than death.
Exhaling another stream of smoke, Finn dropped his half-finished cigar to the ground and stood. "When do we move? Force him to abdicate?"
"Two days from now. I'll personally come to your warship to invite you, Vice Admiral Finn." Stussy smiled.
Even though her current administrative rank still slightly exceeded Finn's, her tone remained full of respect and deference.
"Understood." Finn nodded.
Then he ground out his cigar on the floor, waved to Doberman and said, "Let's go."
After leaving the hotel, Doberman asked, "Vice Admiral Finn, what should we do next?"
"You lead the squad back to the warship. I have other business. Don't move around this chaotic country for the next two days. As for the mission, it's sufficient to do what we're required to do. Don't worry about anything else." Finn gave his orders.
"Yes, everything for justice!" Doberman responded crisply.
"Justice?" Finn smiled, didn't respond, and turned away alone at an intersection.
The capital of the Sorbet Kingdom was actually this port city. Judging from the scale of the buildings, this nation must have been quite prosperous in the past.
Otherwise, there wouldn't have been sufficient financial resources for such infrastructure construction.
Similarly, the densely packed buildings indicated the country must have had a substantial population base previously.
But now the nation was clearly in decline. It was incredibly difficult to make a country prosperous. But destroying one? CP-0 had managed it in about a year.
Finn walked through dark alleys, observing the street urchins and vagrants who lurked there. He thought back to his time in the North Blue, when he'd been just like one of these wild dogs.
Some were disabled. Some were strong. Some had lifeless faces. Some had hatred burning in their eyes. The only common characteristic was an aura of desperation.
It was difficult for people living in this environment to maintain any kindness.
Simply surviving was a luxury. Who had the capacity to care about morality and law?
As for justice? Something as lofty as justice could never reach such remote and dark gutters.
"Ah..." After walking for a while, Finn stopped in an alley and stretched. Then he said casually, "So, how long are you planning to follow me?"
"Oh? You discovered me that long ago? I thought I was hiding rather well." A somewhat strange, yet familiar voice reached Finn's ears.
He turned around, relit a cigar, and looked toward the trash containers lining the alley. A small whirlwind rose. A figure slowly emerged from the wind itself.
This long-absent figure was none other than the former Vice Admiral of Marine Headquarters, Monkey D. Dragon.
"Compared to Armament Haki, I've focused more on practicing Observation Haki these past two years," Finn said, exhaling smoke. "I keep it active constantly now. Haven't you been tailing me since I landed at the port, you bastard?"
After a brief pause, his expression brightened into a genuine smile. "Long time no see, Dragon."
Dragon looked at Finn with visible emotion. Finally, he smiled as well. "Your changes really are... earth-shattering. Long time no see, Finn."