Although it was not the Marines’ primary objective, Tsuru still discussed with Nanamo how the remaining members of the Donquixote Family should be dealt with.
The World Government only needed confirmation of Doflamingo’s death, but the Marines still had their reputation to maintain. Throwing a few pirates into Impel Down was the best choice.
However, there were not many members of the Donquixote Family left. Lao G, Baby-5, Gladius, and Senor Pink still showed signs of life. As for the rest, they could basically be buried on the spot.
Their original bounties were roughly doubled, and these people were directly handed over to the Marines. The same applied to the corpses, though since they were already dead, they could only be counted according to their normal bounties.
In Dressrosa, Nanamo and the others did not immediately leave either. At the moment, they were at the underground cavern, inspecting whether the place could be developed.
Hermes flew back and forth near the top of the cavern, occasionally ramming into it a couple of times to test whether it was sturdy and whether this enormous underground cavern would affect Dressrosa’s surface environment.
However, the one who went down with Hermes was not Nanamo, but Alber.
The exact environment inside the cavern was unknown, and no one knew what kinds of gases might have accumulated in a cavern that had been sealed for who knew how many years.
Therefore, a special lifeform Homie like Hermes and the highly adaptable Alber were more suitable for exploring the place.
“Princess Nanamo.”
Hermes’s voice echoed slightly through the vast empty cavern, but it still carried clearly upward.
“Dressrosa’s geological structure is fairly solid. Alber’s attack was simply too powerful. We can basically confirm that this cavern formed naturally.
It’s roughly the size of two plazas, and there’s also a tributary of an underground river off to one side.”
Dressrosa already had a foundation for tourism. The sunflower fields and the Corrida Colosseum were both local attractions, but because of the dangers of sea travel, few people came here specifically for sightseeing.
Sabaody Archipelago, Fishman Island, and Dressrosa together could form a complete land-undersea-underground tourism chain.
The direct sailing distance from Sabaody Archipelago was less than three days. If the Ryugu Kingdom could solve the route issue, this place really could be revitalized.
“The underground river here leads to the northeast coast. A waterway entrance could be developed, reducing the pressure on surface infrastructure.”
What they were doing now was only a preliminary inspection. More detailed geological reports, hydrological monitoring, projected infrastructure costs, and similar matters would have to be handled by other people.
Based on that premise, Tesoro soon received a new work notice. And it was not only him, even Arlong in East Blue received a task reassignment notice issued by Nanamo.
The reason was simple. When it came to the entertainment industry, Arlong could be considered someone with a bit of achievement.
Although developing an underground cavern was not the same thing as building a water park, having related experience in the entertainment business was still better than having none.
However, when Arlong received the news, he could not help but have another thought.
After all, judging by the results, all of Shyarly’s divinations had come true. Through his achievements in East Blue, he had indeed gradually gained recognition, and just as Arlong himself had imagined, he eventually became connected with Nanamo.
Although he was only temporarily in charge of a project and would still return to his post in East Blue once matters there were settled, no matter how one looked at it, this was a good beginning.
King Riku naturally agreed to such an economic project as well. Giving his country another stable and safe source of revenue was ultimately a good thing.
As for the matter of Doflamingo, a Shichibukai, attacking an affiliated nation, the true major figures had already finished communicating among themselves.
It was not only the Ryugu Kingdom. Dressrosa also received a sum of financial compensation, with the condition that they not widely publicize the specific details of what had happened and make it common knowledge.
As a Shichibukai, Doflamingo naturally could not simply disappear from the sea without explanation. However, several days later, when the matter was finally made public, the story had already been changed into a different version.
The Marines, who had originally been completely useless and could even be said to have had a counterproductive effect, turned into heroes who deserve the greatest credit.
Naturally, this achievement would not be handed to the G-5 Branch. The fact that Vergo had infiltrated the Marines as a spy was already humiliating enough for them.
Although the G-5 Branch itself had not been responsible for that decision, as the branch where Vergo had served, G-5 was still affected by association.
In the end, the credit was given to the Marine undercover agent, Rosinante. The accumulated merit also allowed Rosinante to cross the threshold between the field officers and generals and officially become a Rear Admiral of Marine Headquarters.
After all, Rosinante had connections as well. He was Sengoku’s direct subordinate and had even been raised by Sengoku. As long as he did not make any mistakes, promotion was only natural.
If Luffy joined the Marines, he would receive the same kind of treatment.
However, Rosinante himself was not very satisfied. In his eyes, this achievement was practically a slap in his face.
Rosinante had indeed worked hard, but judging by the results, what he had actually accomplished was limited. Between the hush money and the later publicity campaign, Rosinante felt as though this achievement had been bought.
“Is this really okay, Fleet Admiral Sengoku?”
Rosinante had changed out of his previous clothes, and the special face paint was gone as well. He was now wearing a Marine uniform and discussing military affairs with Sengoku inside Sengoku’s office.
“There’s nothing wrong with it. The Marines need to have done something in this incident. Even if we actually did nothing, from the outside world’s perspective, it would still be seen as a failure on the Marines’ part.”
Although the Marines had always opposed the Shichibukai organization, the outside world would not see it that way. As the largest military arm under the World Government, the Marines could not distance themselves from this matter.
“If we didn’t put you forward, were we supposed to commend the Marines of the G-5 Branch instead? If we did that, there’d be no suppressing Dressrosa’s objections.”
When dealing with an affiliated nation, they could not simply resort to violence. Unless Imu personally decided to micromanage things, both the Marines and the World Government would primarily handle matters through negotiation.
“Also… I read your report. You can take those two with you.
But if they commit another crime, you’ll bear joint responsibility, Rosinante. Do you really want to do this?”
“Yes, Fleet Admiral Sengoku. I think they can still be saved. Rather than throwing them into prison, it would be better to let them atone for their crimes through good service.”
The people Rosinante was referring to were the surviving members of the Donquixote Family. Lao G and Gladius had already been sent to prison, but Baby-5 and Senor Pink had been held back by Rosinante through his own connections.
In Rosinante’s view, the members of the Donquixote Family could not all be judged the same way. Baby-5, for example, had been born on an island plagued by food shortages. She had been disliked by her family since childhood and was eventually abandoned outright.
She longed to be needed and longed for recognition. Doflamingo had simply seized upon that vulnerability in her heart.
Senor Pink’s circumstances were different, but he had also helped Rosinante quite a bit while they were in the Donquixote Family, so Rosinante had kept him as well.
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