There was no need for a special system like the Shichibukai. It was hardly unusual for an affiliated nation to command a number of pirates.
The Happo Navy of the Kano Country was a prime example. Besides, Nereus had not really done anything with a massive impact over the past few years.
If he could keep Bullet from going on another rampage, the Marines and the World Government would simply turn a blind eye and pretend they saw nothing.
And at present, the Marines’ attention was not focused here anyway. On one hand, they were busy dealing with the Great Pirate Era; on the other, they were hunting for Roger’s orphaned child.
Any suspicious target could be killed on sight, and the operation had stirred up a bloody storm across the seas.
Even if Garp handed Rouge over right now, it would serve no practical purpose. Doing so would only invite trouble and bring disaster upon himself.
At this stage, the operation would only end when the World Government and the Marines became convinced that no suspicious targets remained.
After all, even if someone were handed over, they could simply be a smokescreen. No one could prove how many children Roger had actually left behind.
In fact, there was no evidence at all that Roger had left behind any children. This operation was, from the very beginning, a purge defined by time itself, with no concrete target.
To a certain extent, the higher-ups were trying to use the deaths of a small number of innocents to demonstrate to the public the consequences of becoming pirates. Through such actions, they hoped to intimidate ordinary people and reduce the number who would choose to join the ranks of pirates.
Meanwhile, Garp successfully fulfilled Roger’s final request. Combined with Rouge’s own determination, the massive manhunt never reached them.
In the blink of an eye, Roger’s execution had become a thing of several months past. By the middle-to-late months of the year 1517 of the Sea Circle Calendar, the Great Pirate Era ignited by Roger was gradually beginning to take shape.
The first massive wave of pirates had already begun closing in on the Sabaody Archipelago.
At Marine Headquarters, countless reports were being gathered together. Although they were mostly rookies, quite a few troublesome individuals were among them. Relying on their Devil Fruit abilities, they had already exhausted the Marine branches in the first half of the Grand Line.
“This is the chaos Roger has unleashed. There are too many incidents caused by these b*stards to even count.”
Kong rubbed his temples. During this period, affiliated nations had filed no shortage of complaints about the pirate problem, and the World Government had directly dumped the problem on the Marines, giving Kong quite a headache for quite a while.
Still, the Marines had their own good news. New pirates were constantly emerging, but the Marines had their own rising stars as well.
Sakazuki, Borsalino, and Kuzan had all joined the Marines over the past few years. Having graduated under Zephyr’s training, they had already earned reputations as monsters in their own right.
From those three, Kong could already see the shadows of the future Three Admirals.
At the moment, all three were present in the Fleet Admiral’s office as observers. The Marines had placed great expectations upon them, especially Kuzan.
Although their overall strength was roughly equal, Kuzan’s ability held particular significance for the current Marines.
The power of the Ice-Ice Fruit to freeze the sea could allow the Marines to regain home-field advantage in battles against the Fish-Men.
Even with the agreement between the World Government and the Ryugu Kingdom, the Ryugu Kingdom remained a hypothetical enemy in the Marines’ eyes.
“No matter what, Roger is already dead. Compared to that, these pirates who are about to arrive at the Sabaody Archipelago are the real concern.
Never before have so many pirates landed on the Sabaody Archipelago at the same time.”
“Actually, there’s no need to overthink it. These pirates won’t stay in the Sabaody Archipelago for very long.
The Marines only need to keep an eye on the situation there and prepare for any possible incidents. Compared to us, that ‘His Majesty the King’ probably has far more things to worry about right now.”
Tsuru blew gently across the rim of her teacup and leisurely took a sip. At this moment, she felt that the agreement between the World Government and the Ryugu Kingdom might not have been such a bad thing after all.
Regardless of their motives, the Ryugu Kingdom would deal with a portion of the pirate problem in the Sabaody Archipelago, genuinely easing some of the Marines’ burden.
“Increase the frequency of warship patrols. Give those pirates a sense of urgency and force them to dive beneath the sea and leave the Sabaody Archipelago as soon as possible.
That’s the method that results in the least loss for us.”
The Marines also had territories in the New World that required protection. They could not simply ignore those pirates after they entered the New World, but that was still preferable to having them all remain on the Sabaody Archipelago.
After all, the Sabaody Archipelago housed a World Government office, and Celestial Dragons occasionally passed through.
As for the New World…
Its brutal weather and the constant conflicts between pirate crews would naturally reduce the pirate population.
Though those who survived would become stronger, most would be forced to assimilate into the pirate power structure that already existed in the New World and become yet another participant in the endless struggles between pirate forces.
“That’ll be 500,000 Berries.”
“Pfft! How much?! Five hundred thousand?!”
Staring at the cocktail in his hand, the pirate at the bar wore an expression of complete disbelief before slamming his fist down onto the counter.
“You want 500,000 Berries for a single drink? Are you robbing me?!”
“Sorry, I misspoke.”
“Now that’s more like it…”
“You damaged the counter. Including repair costs, that’ll be 5 million Berries now.”
Hearing the quoted price, the pirate felt a surge of rage rise within him. Even robbery outside wasn’t this profitable, yet this woman casually demanded such an outrageous sum.
What infuriated him even more was—
“No problem! I’ll pay whatever it takes!”
“Here’s another million Berries! Two more drinks!”
His subordinates had completely ignored his orders. As though bewitched, they were lining up to hand over money.
“Stop! You idiots! This woman is ripping you off! Can’t you tell?!”
“But isn’t the bar called the ‘Rip-Off Bar’?”
“……”
That single sentence left the enraged pirate speechless. But he quickly chose to break the silence with violence. Thanks to his fists, his subordinates finally regained their senses.
Not only did they stop trying to hand over money, they decided to kidnap the woman instead.
“Are you really going to do this?”
Shakuyaku showed no panic. She calmly lit a cigarette and, seeing that the pirates were fully committed to their decision, casually blew a smoke ring toward them.
Before long, Shakuyaku was dragging a large sack toward the Ryugu Kingdom’s office on Sabaody Archipelago.
Given her and Rayleigh’s identities, there was naturally no way they could take wanted pirates to the Marines and collect bounties. But here, she no longer needed to find any Underworld broker. Instead, she could directly entrust the matter to the Ryugu Kingdom.
In a sense, this was also part of a special agreement she had reached with Nanamo years ago…
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