At this moment, every eye in the room was fixed on the Hero of the Marines.
Nami, who had been trembling with nerves moments ago, suddenly felt a surge of righteous indignation. Her mind flashed back to Captain Nezumi and the Arlong Pirates.
She looked at Garp with a mix of anger and newfound contempt.
This is the Hero of the Marines? He's no better than Nezumi!
To her, Dande was different. At the very least, Dande hadn't committed any atrocities; he had saved Cocoyasi Village and given people a future.
Even Smoker, who had come to interrogate Dande about his "Justice," looked like a balloon that had just been pricked. He looked at Garp, then at Dande, his face a complex mask of frustration and helplessness. His expression darkened.
If my superior's hands are this dirty, with what face can I condemn a Captain who just wanted to feed his people?
He knew that Garp's "black spot" wouldn't actually matter to the higher-ups—Fleet Admiral Sengoku would probably just sigh and ignore it—but Garp was a symbol! He was the benchmark of faith for every Marine in the world.
And now...
The Inspectorate had collapsed before the investigation even truly began. Even the pirates they were supposed to arrest were looking at them with blatant derision.
Tashigi stood in the corner, her small face filled with confusion. Unlike Smoker, she was kind-hearted and believed in giving even criminals a chance.
She didn't think Dande had violated the spirit of Justice; she saw him as a Marine carrying a heavy burden. But she had no idea how to resolve this mess.
Under the weight of everyone's stares, Garp's frozen smile twitched. Then, he let out a loud laugh and scratched his head. "Arara... was I found out?"
He lowered his hand, his eyes turning calm as they settled on Dande. "Kid, how did you find out?"
"I have my sources," Dande replied with a calm smile. "So... Vice-Admiral Garp, do you have anything else you'd like to say?"
Before the troubled Garp could answer, Smoker stepped forward. He couldn't let this spiral any further into absurdity. He stared at Dande, cutting straight to the point. "Dandé Dande, you colluded with pirates and embezzled funds from—"
"Whoa, hold on," Dande spread his hands as if he were the most law-abiding man alive. "Collusion? The 16th Branch would never do such a thing.
And as for the funds... every request was legal and followed protocol. If Headquarters approved them, they were legitimate. If you don't believe me, ask Udo."
"He's right," Udo chimed in, nodding vigorously. "Every Berry was requested through the proper channels. We have all the paperwork! Captain Smoker, you can't go around slandering us."
"Exactly! We're poor! What's wrong with asking for a little extra?"
Smoker's face turned nearly purple. "The Captain of the Moke Pirates is literally standing—"
"I am deeply grateful to Captain Smoker for assisting the 16th Branch in finally capturing the Moke Pirates," Dande interrupted, his voice dripping with mock sincerity.
"This vicious crew has plagued our waters for years. They are incredibly slippery. I never thought we'd catch them today."
He turned to Udo. "Udo! Take the Captain of the Moke Pirates to the brig! Make sure he doesn't escape!"
"Yes, sir!"
"..."
Does he think we are absolute idiots?
Smoker slammed his hand onto the desk. "Are you playing games with the Navy?! Captain Dande, have you forgotten Instructor Zephyr's teachings? Have you forgotten the Justice you carry on your back?"
"Marine Justice?" Dande glanced at the spectating Garp.
As a transmigrator, Dande didn't believe in the "Justice" dictated by a World Government that was rotten to the core. If they wanted to kill him, fine—the worst that could happen was he'd wake up back in his old office as a mid-level clerk. He wasn't afraid.
Dande sat back down and looked Smoker in the eye. "What exactly is this 'Marine Justice' you speak of?"
"Protecting the world's peace and order! Eradicating the evil that plagues the seas!" Smoker barked.
"Eradicating evil? And which evil is that, Senior Smoker?" Dande sighed. "Is the Justice we carry actually Just? Is it the pirates who loot, or the slave traders who kidnap with impunity? Is it the Marines who hunted down innocent pregnant women just to find one infant? Or is it whatever happened to make a nation like God Valley vanish?"
The room went deathly silent.
"Shut up!"
Garp's laughter vanished instantly. He frowned, his gaze turning razor-sharp. "Dande kid... I don't know where you heard those secrets, but some things are meant to be known, not spoken."
"Of course," Dande smiled thinly. "I was just a bit startled by Senior Smoker's intensity."
Dande looked back at Smoker. "Senior, the Justice the Navy carries isn't as pure as you imagine. In this era, there is no such thing as Absolute Justice."
Smoker stared at him, his mind reeling. He sensed that Dande was hinting at something incredibly dark, something far beyond the corruption of a single branch.
"I knew Sengoku was just dumping trouble on me," Garp muttered, rubbing his temples. "I thought I was coming to find a corrupt Marine. I didn't expect you to be a kid who knows too much. So what now? Shall we pretend we never met?"
"Vice-Admiral Garp!" Smoker shouted, horrified. Was the Hero of the Marines really trying to walk away from his responsibilities?
"Let it go for now," Garp said, picking his nose as he watched Dande, who still had his hand near his sidearm. "I'm getting old, and I don't want to go looking for extra trouble. Besides... Smoker-boy, you don't actually want to arrest this kid anymore, do you?"
"Hmph!" Smoker snorted, but he didn't deny it. He looked at Dande. "The Moke Pirates must be judged. I'm taking them to the Loguetown prison."
"Take me then!" Moke shouted, puffing out his chest. "As long as the Boss is okay, I don't care if I'm locked up!"
"Shut up!" Dande snapped at the idiot.
Dande looked at Garp. "Thirty percent."
"???"
"Thirty percent of all future military funds requested by the 16th Branch."
The room froze again. Everyone stared at Dande in shock.
Is he actually trying to bribe the Hero of the Marines? In front of witnesses?!
Smoker's face turned ashen. Did Dande really think Garp could be bought for a measly thirty percent of a branch's budget?
Garp looked at Dande with a cold, unreadable expression. "Kid... what do you take me for?"
Smoker waited for the explosion, for the punch that would send Dande through the wall.
"At least fifty percent!" Garp barked.
"..."
The silence was deafening.
"Deal!" Dande reached out and slapped Garp's extended hand before the old man could change his mind. "Should I send it to you directly, or to your grandson?"
"Why give it to my grandson? That boy is grown; he can fend for himself!" Garp ignored his own family without a second thought. "Don't give it to me either. You know the Goa Kingdom, right? There are refugees there who need... help."
Dande instantly understood. Garp wasn't being greedy; he was using Dande's "ill-gotten" gains to fix the messes the World Government created in his own backyard.
It was a trade: Dande stays quiet and stays in the Marines, and Garp gets resources for the people the World Government abandoned.
"A pleasure doing business with you," Dande smiled.
"Gahaha! Likewise!"
"Is this really about the percentage?!" Smoker grabbed Garp by the collar and shook him. "Do you have any idea what you're doing, Vice-Admiral?!"
"Arara, Smoker-boy, relax. I know what I'm doing. These Moke Pirates haven't actually done anything bad, have they?" Garp looked at the confused Moke with a meaningful glint. "It's fine to let them go!"
"You're a Marine! They are pirates!"
"Ah, right. I almost forgot. Retract that statement!" Garp laughed, completely unfazed by his own slip of the tongue. He sighed and shook his head, looking out the window. "I can't believe it.
Those Moke Pirates really were as slippery as Captain Dande said. They actually managed to escape from me! I'll have to send a report to Headquarters warning them about how dangerous they are."
Smoker stared at the most shameless man in the history of the Navy.
Does this old man take me for a fool, too?
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