"Alright, she'll agree. You handle the follow-up."
"Yes, Colonel!"
Bellemère...
Who the hell is that?
Ian felt like his colonel had shoved another handful of mental paste into his brain today.
Forget it. No point in thinking too hard.
Just follow the colonel's orders and execute.
---
They arrived at a three-story building.
Unlike the usual style of the pirate world, this structure resembled a modern office complex from Ian's past life.
> [Navy Building (Grade D)]
[Special Effect: +50% Focus when Processing Administrative Documents]
Like an augmented reality overlay, information appeared in Luo Lan's vision the moment he looked at the building.
Yes—this building had special effects.
Luo Lan had constructed two such buildings. He chose this one as the division's headquarters precisely because of its special bonus.
When handling various administrative paperwork for the division, this effect boosted focus, reducing the chances of error.
While it didn't benefit Luo Lan much personally, he wasn't the only one working in the building.
As for the other building? It granted +50% to analysis when processing intelligence files. Naturally, that one was allocated to the intelligence department.
Luo Lan headed up to the third floor and pushed open the door to a spacious office.
Like the building's exterior, the interior décor clashed with the aesthetic of this world—it was designed in a sleek, modern minimalist style.
A full wall of floor-to-ceiling windows dominated the room, providing a sweeping view of the base.
Visually? Stunning.
Through the enormous glass panes, half the base lay in clear view.
It looked like a modern, miniature corporate campus.
Two three-story buildings.
Three two-story buildings.
Two warehouses.
One factory.
Two dormitories.
A massive training ground.
A residential zone made up of several villas for officers.
That was everything above ground.
Of course, that wasn't all to the 157th Division.
Beneath the surface were two hidden structures granted by the starter package.
> S-Class Facility: Hive-Structured Integrated Underground Research Center
S-Class Facility: 800-Meter-Class Deep-Sea Prison
As for personnel, the 157th Division now had 487 people, including Lorain.
Apart from the 150 marines assigned to combat, the rest were intelligence agents, researchers, logistics staff, factory workers, and more.
It was hard to imagine that just a year ago, this place consisted of a single two-story ruin—
The kind that looked ready to collapse at any moment.
And only seven marines.
All of this had been hidden deep within the interior of Rhodé Island.
At the island's center lay a vast forest, occupying two-thirds of its landmass.
The original 157th Division was built outside this forest, just a few hundred meters from the coast. But now...
They had flattened a section inside the forest to build this base. Unless viewed from the sky, it was nearly impossible to detect.
The old headquarters building was still intact, preserved for one reason:
Every three months, the Navy delivered supplies.
Besides the personnel stationed here, nearly a hundred pirates were being held in the deep-sea prison.
All of them had been captured by Intelligence Division Two.
Those with blood on their hands—whether it be marines or civilians—were immediately disposed of: fed to sea kings in the Calm Belt to erase all trace.
The rest—pirates who hadn't harmed innocents—were spared and incarcerated in the prison instead.
How long would they serve?
Well...
Until the 157th Division was ever exposed, they weren't going anywhere.
Lorain took out a large bundle.
Unwrapping it revealed a scroll—an old calligraphy piece.
As his fingers brushed across its surface, memories surged through his mind.
---
"Old man, why did you take down that calligraphy?"
A ten-year-old Luo Lan pointed at the stored scroll on the desk, voice loud with defiance.
"Luo Lan, you're still young. There are things you don't yet understand."
"But just because I'm young doesn't mean I don't get it! 'Absolute Justice'? What a joke. It's just absolute obedience!"
"That's enough!!"
Sengoku's voice thundered.
The room fell silent.
What had the original calligraphy said?
"Justice Reigns Supreme."
What did that mean?
It meant justice should always stand above all—even the Celestial Dragons.
It meant no one, regardless of rank or status, was beyond justice.
In his youth, Sengoku had believed in that principle. But...
After becoming Fleet Admiral and witnessing far more of the world's darkness, his ideals shifted.
Justice reigns supreme? That was just an impractical dream.
If he clung to such an ideal, the World Government could replace him at any time—with someone more obedient.
And who could guarantee that replacement would be just?
Perhaps then, the entire Navy would become nothing more than a dark slaughter machine, fully controlled by the government.
At that point, forget about supreme justice—there might not be any justice left.
So, Sengoku's pursuit of justice changed.
From idealistic Supreme Justice
To Limited Justice—
The kind that could survive under the World Government's thumb.
In the pirate world, absolute justice often equates to absolute obedience.
Obey, and you are justice—even with blood on your hands.
Disobey, and you're a pirate. Evil.
To protect even that small shred of justice, Sengoku replaced the original scroll with one that read:
> Absolute Justice
In a way, it was his way of pledging loyalty to the World Government.
---
"If you've forgotten your original intent...
Then I'll be the one to carry that justice forward."
The small boy clutched the scroll tightly to his chest and walked away—
Leaving Sengoku alone, sitting in silence.
Recalling all this, Luo Lan couldn't help but sigh.
Now that his memories had returned, he understood Sengoku's decision better.
After all, Sengoku wasn't a protagonist.
He didn't have a system.
He wasn't a reincarnated genius with foreknowledge.
Nor did he possess strength that could dominate an era.
Given his limitations, Sengoku had already done quite well.
And Luo Lan—after a year in this world—had never hung up the scroll, because he knew he hadn't yet earned the strength to do so.
But now...
Everything had changed.
It was time to hang the scroll again.
Soon, the once-empty wall was adorned with a bold calligraphy piece:
> Justice Reigns Supreme
---
Cocoyashi Village
"Nami, do you think... is it true?"
"Was Bellemère really part of that organization?"
"If she was... what kind of organization is it?"
Though it had been a while since speaking with Luo Lan, she still couldn't make up her mind.
---
It had been quite a while since her last call with Luo Lan, but she still couldn't make up her mind.
"The only organization I can think of that Bellemère once served... is the Navy."
After a moment of thought, Nojiko finally spoke.
Nami was stunned at first. But almost immediately, she began to shake her head.
Impossible. How could it be the Navy?
This was an organization known for using pirates to raid nobles—was that really something the Navy would do?
But what Nojiko said next left her completely speechless.
"Nami, haven't you noticed? Over the past year, every noble that's been raided was one of the truly despicable ones. And every pirate crew involved? Without exception, they all vanished without a trace afterward."
"At first glance, these incidents seem brutal. But after a whole year, the ones who got hurt..."
"...have only ever been the corrupt nobles and the pirates. Not a single commoner has been harmed. Even the workers and slaves aboard those ships—only a small number were taken away..."
"And none were ever killed on the spot."