"How about it, mister? I thought this would be just right for your purpose, and some extra pocket money."
"Hahahaha! Yeah, not bad, festival guy."
The two pirates, who should have been natural enemies, were talking very amicably through the Den Den Mushi.
"We were planning to move forward with the plan in twenty years, but it wouldn't be interesting if the Navy just gets stronger in the meantime. This is a good way to buy time."
"That's a relief. On our end, we can definitely transport slaves with your help."
"Yeah, but I'll take a few suitable slaves for myself. We need some for odd jobs, and if there are any useful subordinates, I'll reward them with women."
"Of course, that's fine. But are you sure? With this plan, your men left behind in the New World might end up being disposable."
"I don't care. I've already taken the useful ones. The rest can just cause trouble in the New World. If any survive, I'll use them again."
The pirate looked down at the sea spreading out below him. The enormous ship flying through the sky was hidden above the clouds as it made its way through the air.
"Whoa."
"What's wrong?"
"There's a warship directly below us. That size must be the flagship."
"What are you going to do?"
"It's part of the final job. Sink it. It might confuse the Navy into thinking I'm in the western sea."
"Hahahaha! Well, it might not be a bad idea to let them know we're around."
"Besides, sending five ships from Headquarters to this sea must be loaded with mercy for the people."
"Ah, I see... Okay, count me in. As a favor from me, I'll arrange for additional weapons along with the slaves. There's a man I want you to meet who deals in such things."
"Hahahaha, that's good. You can never have too many slaves and weapons."
"Well, then..."
The man had no legs. In place of his legs were two swords that looked sharp enough to cut through anything. He had thrust the handles into the stumps of his legs and was using the swords as legs.
With the clinking sound of metal, the ship began to descend.
"You'll be the first to test this 'Golden Lion' Shiki, you Navy scum!!"
***
"Kuzan, are you serious?"
He usually addressed him as "Admiral" in front of other officers, but he couldn't help but ask in his usual tone. But the other officers didn't reprimand him. Or rather, they didn't have the luxury to do so.
"Yeah, it's true."
And Kuzan's face was pale. This is bad. Even an ice-cold man would look like that.
"All five reinforcements from Headquarters have been sunk. We just received a report that the nearest branch has sent a rescue ship."
Oh no! That means we can't even counterattack. We'll have to reevaluate our troop deployment!! No, first we need supplies!!
"We'll send ships from here too. Tell us the coordinates."
"Ah, I'm sorry... Does anyone have a map?"
Even Kuzan doesn't have his usual confident demeanor. He's genuinely depressed. No wonder, he was counting on reinforcements from Headquarters to give us some breathing room, and now this.
Even the veteran officers from the West Sea look pale. The officers who have been on the front lines dealing with refugees and know the situation well are genuinely despairing.
This is bad! If the morale of the troops drops to rock bottom here, it will affect the civilian morale that has finally started to stabilize! We haven't even started hiring day laborers for the recovery efforts yet, so we're completely dependent on supplies!
"Daz! Load every available blanket and medical supply onto all ships except those for defense! Rescue as many Marines as possible! Take all the ship's doctors with you!"
"...Alright. We're leaving immediately."
Daz, who was handling supply-related documents, realized the severity of the situation. Though his face betrayed a hint of anxiety, in such moments, it was best to act swiftly and delegate tasks.
"Mihawk, I'm sorry, but I'll need you too!"
"No problem, use me as you see fit."
Thanks, Mihawk, you're a lifesaver!
"Prepare the medical facilities for receiving casualties."
Wait, wait, there must be a significant number of casualties, but if even ten percent survive... No, it's impossible, we don't have enough space to accommodate them.
"Convert all the food warehouses we built recently into emergency medical facilities. Depending on the number of survivors, at least set up some beds. Stay in close contact with the rescue teams via the communication devices."
"Got it. I'll borrow Chris and the usual crew."
He's the guard who's been practicing his sword with Amis. He works alongside Miaxis, so he must be reliable.
"No problem, count on me."
"Good. You do your part."
I'm really sorry, Mihawk. We'll have another duel when we have time.
"Amis, send a message to the personal guards in all areas. Tell them to keep an eye on the people. Report any suspicious activity immediately."
"Yes, sir."
"Also, there's a high possibility that the agitator will appear. If you find him, capture him at all costs. If that's not possible, kill him."
"Understood."
"Toya, assist Amis while keeping an eye on the movements of the rulers of other nations. They probably won't act yet, but if they learn that the shortage of supplies is continuing, some might try to take foolish actions behind the scenes."
"Understood, Captain!"
Both we and the Marines have stiff expressions. I thought assigning tasks here might ease the tension a bit... but maybe we need one more push.
"Everyone, relax! Many of you may not know this, but when I was surrounded by only Daz and the elite guards, I felt even more alive."
"After all, unlike that time, I'm not about to wet myself yet! ...So I guess I have some leeway."
Someone let out a small laugh. It was Miaxis, who had been standing nearby.
(Good! You laughed well, Miaxis!)
Since taking on more responsibilities managing the unit after the Germa battle, he must have gained enough composure to play along with such a little act.
Some of the men in his unit laughed, and even the Marines' faces relaxed slightly. Alright, things are starting to pick up, even if just a little.
"Hahaha! So that was the legendary battle? If our unit had been there, we might have captured you, Kuro."
"Ah, please spare me that, Colonel Taki. I know well how hard you and your men work. If it were someone smaller, we could have pretended they fell into the sea, but there's nothing we can do about someone like him."
The elderly colonel who had been injured in the previous battle and had been resting in the naval hospital came aboard. His response helped the Marines regain some composure. A small wave of laughter spread.
"Alright, I'll leave the reinforcement of the rescue operation to Colonel Taki. The remaining officers, hold your positions at all costs."
And Kuzan seemed to have a little more leeway.
"Admiral Aokiji, if possible, I'd like to borrow Colonel Borzoi."
"Oh dear, why again?"
"Before joining the military, he worked for a merchant who was the exclusive supplier to the nobility of the West Sea. I'd like him to observe their situation, as he's familiar with their way of thinking. He might notice something we overlook."
Kuzan asked the young-looking officer, "Understood?" The officer, Borzoi, saluted and replied, "Yes, sir!"
(We've worked together with Toya quite a bit, so our teamwork should be fine. I've also heard from Miaxis that the two of them get along well.)
"It's regrettable that supplies from Headquarters have been cut off. However, we've received word that the Government has finished assembling an aid fleet and it's set to sail. Admiral Borsalino and Admiral Kizaru are also on board. If we can protect them, the situation will improve. Everyone, hold on a little longer."
It's rare to see Kuzan being so serious. But, but...
(To be honest, I don't really care about that side anymore.)
***
"The enemy's next target was to occupy the naval branch, right?"
"That's what I think."
After finishing commanding the combined naval and pirate forces that had managed to stabilize the situation, I decided to share my thoughts with Kuzan.
"We won't know for sure until we hear the details from the survivors, but with all five of Headquarters' ships sunk, the rumors will likely spread unstoppably. A gag order, if implemented carelessly, could backfire and be even more dangerous."
"What should we do... Oh, you mean the agitators."
"Exactly. Fortunately, we had a contingency plan in place to manage without Headquarters' supplies, but the decline in ration quality is impossible to hide. If we try to cover it up, the agitators will only fan the flames."
"Then maybe we should tell the truth upfront and assure them that we're making arrangements to prevent starvation..."
Well, it's more like the lesser of two evils.
"Whether to impose a gag order, restrict public information, or disclose everything is up to you. However, we must explain the situation to the kings of each country. Naturally, they will be concerned."
"To reassure them, we must intensify surveillance. I see."
Yeah, that's right.
"That means our permanent forces at the branches will be significantly reduced. We can only keep a few ships for emergencies."
I think the original plan was to focus all our forces on taking down one large location. The reason we kept our main forces hidden was to attack when the Government ships arrived, stirring up panic among the people.
We were gathering intelligence and trying to find out where the enemy's main forces were hiding to narrow down the location...
But now, there's a possibility they'll split up and attack multiple branches.
(This isn't going well at all...)
Before the main force was destroyed, we planned to secretly gather our forces at the targeted high-security branches, ambush them when they attacked, and then counterattack. We would interrogate the captured enemies to find out the location of their base, then launch a surprise attack with a separate unit.
We would eliminate them before they could set anything on fire and recover the supplies. Once the situation was stabilized to some extent, we planned to use the Government's aid supplies to stabilize the allied nations while continuing our own plans...
"I've asked Bedge to negotiate additional deals, but depending on the situation, we might not even have enough food."
"Ah, that's still better than nothing. Sengoku also promised to pay properly."
"It's good that we've gained their trust, but..."
Well, what should we do now? If the ship that was sunk was from the West Sea, things wouldn't have gotten this bad.
The Navy's trump card, not exactly, but still enough to intimidate even half-baked pirates, a force equivalent to a quasi-Buster Call was sunk, which is why things have gotten this bad.
"Hey, Kuro... Do you think the refugees might lose hope and start causing trouble?"
"It'll be fine. Though it's risky, the situation is still stable. There's no sign of riots or looting among the people. Plus, the people know that the Government's aid ships are protected by Kizaru, so they're unlikely to be sunk. If we can hold out that long, we'll manage somehow."
Seven large Government transport ships and the Headquarters' escort fleet. This is the real deal. They've even added Admiral Kizaru at the last minute... Well, that's to be expected.
If this continues, it won't just be the Government's prestige that's at stake, many member nations will face famine, and if winter comes, the people might rise up. In the worst case, many member nations could turn against us.
"I think this incident was probably just an unfortunate encounter."
"An encounter?"
"A force capable of fighting the Headquarters fleet would only draw more reinforcements if exposed. I would have either shown my hand from the start or kept it hidden until the very end."
Despite that, they attacked. They were discovered by chance... or did they attack because they were discovered by chance? If their forces are so weak that not a single ship remains, the pirates hold the initiative in battle.
"For the purpose of capturing the branch you mentioned?"
"...The branch is a key location for protecting the allied nations, so it's heavily fortified. There are a significant number of soldiers stationed there. If it falls and is taken over by pirates, even if Government supplies arrive, it would severely disrupt the transportation plans."
"...In that case, the main fleet would finally be deployed, right?"
"But that would reduce the number of people hunting pirates in the New World, giving more mid-level pirates time to sell slaves and grow stronger."
This is really bad.
"There's no point in revealing forces that have been hiding so thoroughly that they've never been detected before to attack Headquarters forces here."
"But we're facing a crisis of supplies!"
"If they have the strength to take on Headquarters, it would be more effective to attack the main fleet rather than the Headquarters forces, which are only providing temporary aid. The Government is also making a big deal about it. Even if we can't wipe them out completely, sinking a few ships would deal a major blow to the Government."
"...Ah, I see. That makes sense."
"They're probably not involved in the main plan."
If they were part of the main force, there wouldn't have been a battle like this. They would have gathered more forces and been lying low, waiting to target the Government's ships from the start.
...Could they be the ones responsible for transporting the people from the West Sea to the New World? Their true identities are unknown, but if they can take out the main forces so easily, it wouldn't be surprising if they have the means to cross over.
They must have an important role, but they acted before attacking the Government's ships... Are they collaborating with the mastermind behind this? No, that's not right. Did they make a deal?
At the very least, they must be working toward different goals.
"Daz reported that several drifting Marines were discovered and rescued."
"...We can only wait for information from them."
Yeah, I thought the same thing back then, which is why I stayed here with Kuzan, coordinating the operation.
"Headquarters Colonel, Momonga. Reporting for duty."
Wow. That's someone I recognize. Isn't that the Vice Admiral from the Perona incident!? He was transferred from the branch to Headquarters!!? No, Rear Admiral!? Demoted!?
"...Also a Captain. Hina, reporting for duty."
And why are you here too!! At least wipe yourself down or change your clothes before coming in! This is awkward!!
"Ah, I'm truly sorry to bother you when you're tired, but we need information immediately. ...It must be tough, but can you tell us everything that happened? The other soldiers are all too exhausted to even stand up."
"Yes, sir."
...Rear Admiral, no, Vice Admiral... When saluting a superior officer, don't look at us like that... Don't look at us like we're pirates.
Hina too. Please, I beg you.
***
10 Advanced Chapters Available on my Patreon!
https://patreon.com/Well_being