A certain well-known person once said, "When a person is killed, they die."
Marines are also people. In the course of carrying out missions, Marines can be killed by pirates, and in special circumstances, may even be betrayed by the civilians they are protecting.
The Summit War had already caused the elite forces of the Marines across various regions to suffer losses. After the war, in order to suppress pirate riots everywhere, whether in the Four Seas or the Grand Line, the casualty rate among Marines rose sharply.
On top of that, with the Admiral position left vacant, the Marines experienced a shortage of both lower-level troops and high-ranking combat power.
As the largest military arm under the World Government, the Marines can conduct their own recruitment. Marine branches across different regions all have that authority.
But for the largest-scale recruitment, they still need to rely on the World Government. The World Government must also play its role. This organization isn't just a funding center, it's the seat of power for the entire world.
This isn't the first time the World Government has conducted a draft. Back then, Kaido happened to come across the Marines' World Draft, so his king planned to send him to the Marines in exchange for the right to participate in the Levely.
Perhaps if the king had been wiser at the time, if he hadn't provoked the rebellious spirit within Kaido and had earnestly nurtured him, the Vodka Kingdom could have become a top-tier power thanks to Kaido.
But that king never expected Kaido to grow to such a degree. After Kaido made a name for himself, that king soon died of illness. According to the royal physicians, it was a sudden death brought on by excessive worry, commonly known as being scared to death.
During the World Draft, aside from those who voluntarily joined the Marines, some were forcibly conscripted under pressure from their local kings. After all, the World Government had quotas to meet. If a country couldn't supply even a single soldier, it would make them look bad.
But these forcibly drafted individuals were usually just regular soldiers. Strong individuals have their own pride and convictions; coercion doesn't work on them.
And this World Draft is also the most unique one yet. It's the first time in many years that the Marines are directly recruiting Admiral-level combat power. It can be called an unprecedented move.
Since the start of the World Military Draft, things have proceeded quite smoothly overall. The chaos caused by pirates made many people lose precious things—friends, wealth, family—all turned to ashes in the flames of war.
Hating pirates, they chose the path of revenge, rushing to join the Marines. With the assistance of various nations, the manpower lost by the Marines was quickly replenished, though the quality was somewhat lacking.
Compared to the elite forces lost during the Summit War, these untrained and disorganized recruits are far inferior. Compared to these ordinary people, those with outstanding strength stand out far more.
In the first half of the Grand Line, on a certain Spring Island, Issho walked briskly along a town road with his blind man's cane in hand. The scent of blood had already reached his nose via the sea breeze, and he sensed the scattered corpses lying at the port.
"Again... It's getting worse and worse. Even islands without wealth aren't being spared?"
The blind man's cane in Issho's hand gradually became merely decorative. Even without relying on it, Issho could precisely avoid obstacles and head toward the location where the sounds of fighting were coming from.
"Hey, hey! Old man! Stop right there! There are pirates at the port up ahead! Why did you come here? Didn't you evacuate with the others?"
"Rather than worrying about me, you should worry about yourself. From what I can see, you're pretty badly hurt."
"Don't joke around, old man. You can't even see! Hurry up and go back, our garrison is still here. We'll drive those pirates away."
"Boy, do you know? Every time I meet someone like you, I really want to see what you all look like."
Issho slowly drew the weapon hidden in his cane. His Observation Haki had already locked onto the enemies on the pirate ship, and the pirates who had landed were also within his range of attack.
"Old man, if you want to treat your eyes, I heard there's a very famous doctor..."
"But being blind is actually a blessing. There are just too many filthy and vile people in this world that are unbearable to look at. Seeing their faces would only make me sick."
As he said this, Issho's weapon had already been fully drawn from the cane.
"Boy, in a bit I'll need your help identifying which ones are the pirates. Gravity Blade: Raging Tiger!"
Issho waved his arm forward, and a terrifying pressure instantly swept across the entire dock. The pirate ship was immediately torn into pieces by the gravity, and the pirates on board were crushed into the sea. As for the people on land, both pirates or soldiers of the garrison were pinned to the ground by Issho.
He was unfamiliar with the people here and couldn't distinguish between the two sides in the battle. If it were a familiar force, he could perceive the outline of their clothing to identify them. But now, Issho had no choice but to suppress everyone and handle things out afterward.
"O-old man, aren't you a little too strong…"
"Just doing something meaningful. But, boy, once things are settled here, could I trouble you to take me to a Marine recruitment station? I still haven't found where it is."
Almost at the same time, in the New World, Marine G14 Base.
"Vice Admiral Doll! A strange person has just showed up outside!"
In front of a short-haired woman wearing a leather jacket, a Marine soldier was reporting the situation at the base entrance.
"Strange?"
"Yes, a strange man… and he brought a bunch of weirdos who look like they've been drained dry."
"Don't say it like that, you'll make the beautiful lady think there's something wrong with me. Let me introduce myself: I'm Aramaki. The World Draft sign-up is here, right?"
A man with slightly messy black curly hair, wearing sunglasses and a cigarette in his mouth, walked in.
He was tall and muscular, with long legs. His upper body was bare, with a tattoo on his left side that read "double suicide at death river." His lips were somewhat thick, and at that moment, his right hand had already turned into several vines. At the ends of the vines dangled a group of pirates, drained into dried husks.
"This guy's probably worth about 500 million Berries, right? So… can I meet Sir Sakazuki now? I'd really like him to praise me."
Aramaki, the user of Logia-type Woods-Woods Fruit, agrees with Akainu's philosophy and can be considered a fan of Akainu. It was only after hearing that Akainu had become the new Marine Fleet Admiral that he developed the idea of joining the Marines.
The two of them chose different paths, and their personalities were quite different, but in one respect, they were the same: they both possessed monstrous strength—strength that created an unbridgeable gap between them and an average Marine.
For them, the open recruitment was nothing more than a formality. Their strength was quickly acknowledged by Marine higher-ups.
A new newspaper soon informed the entire sea:
New Marine Admiral – Issho, alias: Fujitora.
New Marine Admiral – Aramaki, alias: Ryokugyu.
Through the World Military Draft, the Marines once again filled the three-Admiral vacancy.
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