The moment Fleet Admiral Kong finished speaking, every Marine officer's attention turned toward Finn. They all knew who deserved the lion's share of credit.
Roger had been captured essentially single-handedly by Finn. Shiki had been defeated through the combined efforts of Finn, Gion, and Admiral Sengoku. Among those three, Gion and Finn had played supporting roles, but Gion's contribution was clearly smaller than Finn's. As for Sengoku, he'd already reached the ceiling. Unless promoted to Fleet Admiral, he had nowhere else to go.
Therefore, the primary credit naturally belonged to Finn.
Admiral Sengoku held a document and began reading. "Commodore Doberman of Marine Headquarters is hereby promoted to Rear Admiral of Marine Headquarters, effective immediately. Rear Admiral Gion, for exceptional merit, will be considered for promotion to Vice Admiral at the next evaluation period..."
Sengoku continued down the list, announcing accumulated merits for numerous Marine officers. Some received promotions and salary increases. Others earned commendations. Anyone with significant involvement received recognition in some form.
Just as Finn had predicted, while capturing Roger was his achievement within the Marines, from an organizational perspective it was the entire Marine's accomplishment. He couldn't be the only one rewarded.
"Vice Admiral Rodriguez Finn of Marine Headquarters," Sengoku finally called his name, "is awarded the honor of Admiral Candidate and appointed Commander of G-7 Base."
Finn grinned broadly. The Admiral kept his word. Everything promised, delivered.
"That concludes the announcements," Sengoku said.
Immediately, every officer in the conference room sat ramrod straight and spoke in perfect unison: "Everything for justice!"
Finn was seated beside Kuzan. After shouting the slogan, he nudged Kuzan's shoulder with exaggerated smugness, winking like a villain who'd just pulled off the perfect heist.
Kuzan rolled his eyes dramatically. "Okay, okay, you're amazing. Happy now?"
"Hahahaha!" Finn's laugh was entirely too pleased with itself.
Sengoku and the others looked at Finn with amused tolerance. "What are you laughing at, brat?"
"Just remembered something funny," Finn said with forced innocence.
Kuzan took a sip of tea, his expression deadpan. "He's mocking me, specifically."
"Mocking you about what?" Gion asked with genuine curiosity.
"The first time I met Finn was in the medical facility. We discussed various things, and he told me he'd surpass me eventually. Now he's actually done it..." Kuzan's smile held no bitterness, just rueful acceptance.
Nobody thought Kuzan would genuinely be upset about this, so several officers chuckled along. It was just a funny anecdote among colleagues.
But thinking about it carefully, Finn truly was remarkable.
Back when Admiral Zephyr brought him from North Blue, virtually nobody had taken him seriously except Sengoku, who'd had his own reasons for interest. Sakazuki, for instance, hadn't even bothered acknowledging Finn's existence.
Yet from 1496 to now in 1500, in just over four years, Finn had climbed from North Blue Branch Captain to Vice Admiral with Admiral Candidate honors. In this era, that was practically unprecedented.
Fortunately, Finn had joined the Marines as a child, which helped silence certain critics. After all, counting his branch service, he'd been in the organization for over a decade. Viewed that way, his rise made more sense.
Now Finn had become an Admiral Candidate. Currently, Sakazuki, Borsalino, and Kuzan hadn't received that designation yet. Gion and Tokikake hadn't even been promoted to Vice Admiral, let alone anything beyond.
In four years, Finn had risen to the leading position of their entire generation.
With the Admiral Candidate honor secured and Admiral Sengoku deciding to send him to G-7 for field command experience, everyone understood the implications. Once Finn performed well at G-7, demonstrating his comprehensive capabilities, when opportunities for Admiral promotion arose in the future, Sengoku and Kong would absolutely recommend him.
This was no longer merely a Vice Admiral. Finn was now a potential Admiral, perhaps even future Fleet Admiral material.
After arranging several other administrative matters, Kong adjourned the meeting.
Roger and Shiki's fates were now sealed. Roger was dead, his body already cold. Shiki was being imprisoned and transported to Impel Down even as they spoke.
Finn knew Shiki would remain imprisoned for approximately two years before breaking Impel Down's "impregnable" myth, becoming the first person in history to escape by force. Though he'd return to the seas afterward, he'd vanish for twenty years following that jailbreak.
Honestly, by the time he resurfaced, he wouldn't be much of a threat. Twenty years would erode his strength completely. He'd only have his legendary reputation to trade on, and even that would fail when the Straw Hat Pirates eventually defeated him.
Still, Finn didn't want Shiki escaping at all. After all, they shared blood enmity. Who knew what that madman might be thinking? Coming after Finn for revenge wasn't impossible.
Though Finn knew Shiki would escape in roughly two years, he didn't know the exact date. He couldn't station himself at Impel Down watching Shiki constantly.
So he'd simply warned Sengoku to increase security and left it at that.
Finn's current direct subordinates included Rear Admirals Momonga, Onigumo, and the newly promoted Doberman, plus Gion. They were all members of the "Special Operations Unit" Finn had formed.
However, the unit currently served no real purpose, which embarrassed him somewhat.
He'd been organizing various initiatives: first creating that "non-existent organization" within the Marines, which now existed in half-dead limbo waiting for Stussy to establish Pleasure Street. Then he'd formed this Special Operations Unit as Vice Admiral, but before making proper arrangements, circumstances had swept him along. South Blue, capturing Roger, defeating Shiki, promotion to Admiral Candidate, now assignment as regional base commander.
He simply lacked time to properly develop the Special Operations Unit. Rather embarrassing.
Fortunately, Sengoku and the others didn't seem to care about Finn's organizational failures. After all, from the beginning, Sengoku hadn't held high expectations. He'd simply thought Finn, newly promoted to Vice Admiral and young with sudden power, wanted to prove himself with achievements. That was understandable, so he'd allowed it.
Now it had half-collapsed. Sengoku and the others weren't surprised. This was normal. If Finn succeeded at everything constantly, that would be abnormal and vaguely disturbing.
Seeing him occasionally fail actually felt oddly reassuring.
Finn maintained clear perspective and didn't dwell on setbacks. He always held clear goals for himself. At this stage, the priority was securing the Admiral position eventually.
Therefore, this Special Operations Unit could fail without damaging his foundation. But if he ruined G-7, that would be genuinely embarrassing.
So he'd focus entirely on G-7 now. As for the Special Operations Unit? Let it simmer. The organization and framework wouldn't be cancelled. After Momonga and the others matured, perhaps it would monetize naturally.
Momonga and Onigumo weren't being assigned to follow Finn to G-7. They'd continue working at Headquarters. This was standard procedure. You couldn't allow every departing Vice Admiral to take all their subordinates. That would hollow out Headquarters quickly.
When Finn departed Marineford, he took only Gion and Doberman. From his personal forces, he brought one shipload of elite soldiers. The rest were redistributed to other Marine officers.
This too was normal. After arriving at G-7, Finn would command tens of thousands of Marines. He didn't need these few.
As for their quality? That wasn't Headquarters' problem. It depended on how commanders led their troops.
The warship sailed smoothly across the sea. Doberman stood on deck enjoying the breeze, feeling exceptionally pleased.
He'd graduated from the 8th Officer Training Camp ranked fifth, not particularly outstanding. But because Vice Admiral Finn had taken interest and recruited him as assistant, how much time had passed? Less than one year, and he was already a Rear Admiral at Marine Headquarters.
His classmates from the same graduating class were still struggling at Commodore rank.
I definitely followed the right person.
After Finn captured Roger then cooperated with Admiral Sengoku to showcase his prowess at Headquarters by defeating Shiki, Doberman had become completely devoted. Now heading to work at G-7, Doberman brimmed with confidence, determined to achieve results.
He'd realized that barring unexpected circumstances, the Vice Admiral would eventually become an Admiral. Possibly go even further, standing at the Marine's pinnacle someday.
Doberman possessed self-awareness. He didn't need to think about becoming Admiral himself. So if he wanted to make his mark in the Marines' future, he needed strong backing. Vice Admiral Finn was his right hand. If Finn thrived at Headquarters, Doberman would thrive too.
So he'd resolved to perform excellently at G-7.
Standing there enjoying the sea breeze, Doberman imagined bright futures.
Not far away at the deck's edge, Gion and Finn sat side-by-side on small stools, fishing rods in hand, lines cast into the blue water.
"Finn, what are your thoughts on G-7? When we arrive, where should we start?" Gion asked.
Finn held his fishing rod in one hand, a lit cigar in the other. He exhaled smoke that the breeze carried away. "The island where G-7's located is massive. The entire base occupies less than one-fifth. That's clearly inappropriate. I plan to expand the base first, incorporating about one-third of the island into the installation proper. Create a fortress capable of accommodating at least fifty thousand personnel. Afterward, we'll relocate civilians and establish a military town on the remaining island territory. That's my first-stage vision."
"Fifty thousand?" Gion looked startled. "You're planning to recruit fifty thousand troops for G-7's garrison? That's extremely ambitious."
"Vice Admiral Jonathan's also been appointed as G-8 base commander," Finn said with a slight smile. "He told me he plans to form a garrison of thirty thousand for G-8. My fifty thousand isn't unreasonable by comparison."
Marine bases varied wildly in strength. Powerful installations commanded tens of thousands of troops. Weak ones might have only hundreds or a few thousand. Twenty years from now at the Battle of Marineford, Marine Headquarters would recruit one hundred thousand elite officers from worldwide bases to participate.
One hundred thousand officers, not mere soldiers. An ordinary Captain-rank officer commanded at least one hundred subordinates minimum.
It was conceivable that the elite forces recruited for Marineford alone, viewed from a global perspective, represented how much manpower the Marines possessed overall. And those were just elite officers. Average personnel, and there were vastly more, weren't even qualified to participate in that war.
Therefore, as the ocean's supreme military power, the Marines possessed tremendous strength, just scattered globally rather than concentrated.
By rough estimates, as the world's most powerful military organization, the Marines should have tens of millions of troops. Hundreds of millions wasn't impossible.
Consider Alabasta as comparison. As a military power, Alabasta's capital Alubarna maintained a standing army of six hundred thousand. Finn would never believe Alabasta lacked two million troops nationally. They'd mobilized millions of rebels domestically alone, proving their substantial population and military capacity.
So Finn's statement about recruiting fifty thousand for G-7 wasn't remotely exaggerated.
"Still," Gion said thoughtfully, "recruiting and training that many quality troops will take considerable time and resources."
"Which is why we start with infrastructure," Finn replied. "Build the fortress first. Establish the town. Create the capacity. Then fill it properly. Marineford wasn't built in a day, as they say."
Gion smiled. "You've really thought this through."
"I have to," Finn said seriously, though his eyes held warmth. "This is my chance to prove I can lead at the highest levels. I won't waste it."
The fishing line tugged. Finn's attention snapped to his rod as he began reeling in his catch, grinning at the resistance. "Besides, I've got excellent people helping me. How could I possibly fail?"
Gion laughed and returned her attention to her own line. The future looked bright indeed.