Not long after.
The four of them boarded the pirate ship under Mok's warm welcome, and soon, with the cheerful hospitality of Mok's pirate crew, they set sail toward Cocoyasi Town.
However...
"What's going on?" Mok scratched his head in confusion as he looked at the group, especially at Udo, whose face looked like he might cry or was full of sorrow. "Udo, are you feeling unwell?"
"I... I'm fine. I just suddenly remembered I left my clothes at home."
"Is that all? It's just rain. If they get wet, just dry them out later." Mok didn't dwell on Udo's words and turned to look at the other three who had followed. Curiously, he asked, "Who are these three? Are they new brothers from the branch? Why does everyone look so serious? And why is this person so old and still joining the navy?"
"...."
Please, stop talking.
Udo was completely exasperated as he looked at Mok, who was clueless. He blinked and was about to give a subtle hint to this big, clueless guy to contact Captain secretly and inform him of the situation when—
Suddenly.
Knock knock~
Commander Tashigi, who was visibly upset, walked over to the door of the nearby cabin, raised her hand, and knocked. Frowning, she asked, "What's inside?"
There was a strange sound.
As soon as those words were spoken.
"?!"
Udo, who was about to give a hint, seemed to have thought of something. His expression changed again, and he hurriedly said, "No, there's nothing in here…"
Before he could finish.
"Indeed, there's nothing," Mok said with a grin, walking up to the cabin door and opening it directly. "Just some starving refugees. I've had them all captured."
As the door opened.
Immediately.
The scene revealed to the three of them was a spacious yet dimly lit warehouse. Inside the warehouse… were countless figures squeezed in.
They were packed tightly together.
All of them had terrified, desperate expressions, huddled in the corner, dressed in rags, gaunt and pale.
There were men and women, old and young, even what seemed to be a mother and child. The mother held her child tightly.
When the door suddenly opened, everyone panicked and looked up at them.
Udo: …
Smoker: …
Tashigi: …
Garp: …
Conclusive evidence?
Just as the three of them looked black in the face.
"Blub-blub~"
The sound of a Transponder Snail's ring echoed.
Before realizing the seriousness of the situation, Mok happily took out the Transponder Snail and said, "Ah, it's the boss!"
But moments later, scratching his head in confusion, he looked at the disconnected Transponder Snail, "Why did the boss suddenly tell me not to call him boss? If not boss, what should I call him? Big brother? Could something have happened?"
Looking puzzled at Udo, who had a face full of despair, "Udo, do you know what's going on? And… what happened to you?"
"I'm… damn… fine!" Udo was about to say something when he felt three cold gazes from behind. He held it in and gritted his teeth, "Also, don't call me by name. We're not close."
"???"
Before Mok could say anything more, his confusion remained.
At that moment…
"Is that it ahead?"
Tashigi's voice suddenly rang out. The group looked up, gazing toward the ship's bow. What they saw was a huge dock that seemed completely out of place for a small town.
Standing on the dock was a familiar figure.
Black hair, a white navy uniform, but no justice cloak given by the Navy Headquarters. Instead, they wore a black fur coat…
Captain Dande Chacher, the base commander of the Navy's 16th branch.
Colluding with pirates, capturing refugees.
Not even brave enough to wear the justice cloak anymore?
Captain Smoker narrowed his eyes, staring at the figure on the shore. He coldly removed the cigar from the corner of his mouth.
Do you still stand for the justice you claim to carry?
Chacher!
…
Meanwhile.
At the Cocoyasi Town dock, Captain Chacher, who was about to return to the base, noticed the slowly approaching Mok Pirate Ship.
Upon seeing the five figures on the ship, he fell silent, a twitching smile forming at the corner of his mouth.
People?
You really brought someone along, huh?
"We're screwed!" Nami, startled, grabbed Dande Chacher's right hand, her entire body leaning into him as she looked at the approaching ship in fear. She rambled, "Have we been discovered? Has Mok been captured by the Navy? What do we do now? We should run! Let's get out of here, hurry!"
"Don't panic~ If it gets too bad, we'll just pretend we don't know Mok."
"Don't panic? Can we still pretend we don't know him now?" Despite Dande Chacher's attempt to comfort her, Nami remained panicked. She grumbled under her breath, then turned her head, looking around as if searching for something.
"Where's Robin? Where's Robin? Call Robin, let's head to the sea!"
"Head to the sea? Isn't it fine here? Just calm down a bit~" Dande Chacher pulled his hand from the warmth of Nami's grip, giving her a light knock on the head with a chestnut. He sighed and said, "Robin's busy with something else, she's gone to take care of it!"
Although people were generally bad at recognizing faces at sea, even if Robin stood here, as long as her true identity wasn't exposed, Smoker and the others likely wouldn't guess that the Devil Child, who was wanted by the World Government, was hiding here.
But after thinking about it, Garp had also come along. To avoid any accidents, it was better to have Robin hide for now.
And also...
It had been years since Admiral Aokiji Kuzan had made an appearance. Dande Chacher wondered what that guy was up to. He didn't believe Kuzan wouldn't know that Robin was here now!
"That hurts~" Nami, annoyed by the sudden knock on the head, shot a glare at Dande Chacher. However, after that small hit, she calmed down a little, though still nervous and curious, she asked, "You really have a plan?"
"Of course~"
"What's the plan?"
"Well, that would be..." Dande Chacher lifted his head, giving a meaningful look at the pirate ship now docking. "Go along with it~"
...
As the ship drew closer, Smoker, with a grim face, and Tashigi, along with Garp, who had regained his calm expression but whose eyes were slightly deeper, stepped down from the ship.
Colluding with pirates, embezzling military funds, and capturing slaves!
These crimes were enough to arrest the corrupt Marine Captain.
**********
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