As soon as he left the Fleet Admiral's office, Finn picked up the Den Den Mushi and answered. "Gion? What's going on?"
"When you came back to Headquarters from the New World, you didn't even call me," Gion said, her tone faintly resentful.
Finn smiled with a hint of resignation. "Things are different now. I'm an Admiral in the Marines, and I'm very busy. You don't even know that I didn't even listen to the Fleet Admiral finish talking just to answer your call. I just left his office."
"Come on. You've been back at Headquarters for three days, and you spent the past two days sleeping at home!" Gion bluntly exposed his lie.
Finn was silent for a moment, then laughed awkwardly. "Hahahaha. Mainly because the previous mission was too exhausting."
"Your fleet encountered a big storm and rested for almost two weeks. You even went to Vikra Island to take a hot spring bath," Gion said softly.
Finn was silent again, then cursed. "Hina, that traitor. I'm going to teach her a lesson!"
"Hina?" Gion sounded puzzled. "What's wrong with Hina?"
"Hmm?" Finn was equally surprised. "Didn't Hina betray me?"
"How could that be? Isn't she your secretary?" Gion said in confusion.
"Then how did you know about my situation?" Finn scratched his head.
"Ah, did you think Hina told me these things? Hehehe. If it was Hina who said it, I would have contacted you three days ago. But I only found out today that you were at Headquarters. The news came from Chaton. There was nothing confidential about your mission this time. Three days of rest at Headquarters is enough time for others to find out," Gion said with amusement.
"Chaton. That bastard always uses these little tricks to cause trouble for me," Finn muttered. Then he asked, "Honestly, do you hate him?"
"I wouldn't say I hate him. I just find him a little annoying," Gion said calmly.
Don't be fooled into thinking Chaton was some pathetic bootlicker who'd seize every opportunity to confess his feelings to Gion.
In fact, Chaton was quite sensible in how he handled things. First of all, he never crossed any physical boundaries. Secondly, he was always open and aboveboard, never resorting to underhanded tricks. Finally, whenever Gion rejected him firmly, he wouldn't continue pestering her for a while.
He wouldn't try again until three or four months later.
It had to be said that Gion's harsh rejections without leaving any room for negotiation, and Chaton's gentlemanly restraint to a certain extent, both proved that they were decent people.
Because of this, Gion only found Chaton annoying, but didn't actually dislike him.
"Really?" Finn murmured. He paused for a moment, then asked more seriously, "Gion, you—"
But when the words came to his lips, Finn stopped. He laughed at himself. "Nothing."
There was silence on the Den Den Mushi for a while. After about ten seconds, Gion said softly, "Finn, if you'd said what you were about to say just now, our relationship would have ended there. We wouldn't even be friends anymore. Fortunately, you still have a conscience."
Finn leaned against the wall and touched his nose. Even though there was no one in the corridor, he still felt a little embarrassed.
Just now he'd wanted to ask Gion if she was using him as a shield.
But just as he was about to say it, he suddenly realized that question would be the greatest insult to Gion.
Since when did Gion need a shield?
That inquiry questioned her character, and at the same time, questioned Gion's silent devotion to Finn over the past few years.
"I'm sorry. It's my fault," Finn apologized seriously.
Gion was quiet for a moment, then said, "Just apologizing won't cut it."
"Hahahaha. Really? After the World Conference is over, let's take a vacation together?" Finn's tone suddenly became much more relaxed.
Gion, on the other end of the Den Den Mushi, looked a little surprised. Then a gentle smile appeared in her eyes. "I've known you for so many years, and this is the first time you've asked me out."
"I've treated you to drinks many times, haven't I?" Finn complained.
"But not just the two of us," Gion said, raising an eyebrow.
"Tsk." Finn smacked his lips unhappily at first, then, as if feeling guilty, he quickly changed the subject. "You wouldn't contact me just for this, would you? That's not like you."
"Sometimes I can't help but miss you. I suddenly see something and think of you, so I call. Isn't that reasonable? What's more, there are traces of you everywhere in G-7. I can't forget you even if I want to," Gion said suddenly.
This sudden, thinly veiled confession left Finn momentarily bewildered.
However, before he could react, Gion seemed embarrassed and quickly changed the subject. "We captured a slave ship in the Calm Belt."
Finn's mind was in a mess, and he responded instinctively. "Well, a slave ship— Hmm? A slave ship? Do I need to be informed about this?"
He was an Admiral of the Marines. Although he seemed a little lazy now, he didn't have much to do except dealing with some daily documents. But Gion didn't need to report a mere slave ship to him, right? Wasn't that a bit excessive?
But soon, Finn came to his senses and asked in a deeper voice, "Could it be that some royal family from a member nation was captured?"
From the end of 1503 to the beginning of 1504 in the Sea Circle Calendar, the seas had been in great chaos during this period.
In other words, a large number of people were preparing to make their move: bounty hunters, pirates, slave traders, black market dealers, and messy mafia groups.
The main reason for their activity was that soon the seas would be full of fat sheep.
In fact, the opening of each World Conference could be regarded as a hunting feast for these chaotic elements.
The prey were naturally the royal families of the member nations.
These great nobles who rarely left their countries would set off for Mary Geoise during this period to prepare for the World Conference.
Some countries could be escorted by Marine fleets, while others set out on their own.
But whether they had Marine protection or not, they were rare fat sheep.
Once they were caught during this period, not only could a ransom be extorted from the member nations, but the World Government would also have to find a way to appease the kidnappers in order to maintain the stable operation of the World Conference.
Basically, at every World Conference, a few unlucky royals would get kidnapped.
What was even more surprising was that after being kidnapped, no one would actually kill them or anything like that. As long as the ransom was paid, they'd be returned safely.
This had become an unspoken rule.
Therefore, before the start of each World Conference, the Marines would increase efforts to clean up various sea areas. Generally speaking, for these criminals, the Calm Belt was a very good hiding place—provided their ship had the ability to survive there.
There were two reasons, simply put. The first was naturally because the Calm Belt was a no-man's land and quite desolate. Few people ventured in, so safety was very high.
Secondly, the Calm Belt connected the Grand Line to the Four Blues, making it easier for them to launch surprise attacks and kidnappings.
Therefore, when Gion suddenly contacted Finn at this time and said that a slave ship had been captured in the Calm Belt, Finn instinctively thought of this.
Could it be that some unlucky royal family had been captured?
"They are indeed royalty, but they're not from a member nation," Gion said with a smile.
"Not a member nation? What do you mean?" Finn asked curiously.
But soon, Finn seemed to have thought of something, and his expression changed. "Amazon Lily?"
Gion, who had originally been planning to tease Finn, was stunned. She asked in disbelief, "How did you know?"
"I guessed," Finn said, a smile in his eyes.
"Well, that's really boring," Gion muttered. Then she said calmly, "We were on patrol near Iron Ore Island No. 7, escorting some iron ore back to G-7. As we neared Iron Ore Island No. 6, we suddenly discovered a slave ship anchored on the sea. First, for justice—combating this kind of crime is the Marines' duty—and second, to cover up our various operations in the Calm Belt—Doberman attacked the slave ship without hesitation and, of course, easily captured it."
"And you discovered people from Amazon Lily?" Finn asked with a smile.
"Well, their identities are very significant. The princesses of Amazon Lily are three sisters named Boa Hancock, Boa Marigold, and Boa Sandersonia. What's even more coincidental is that the royal bloodline of Amazon Lily's current generation consists only of these three sisters, but they were all caught by the slave-catching team at once. In other words, right now Amazon Lily must be—" Gion said with a smile.
"A huge mess. The royal bloodline suddenly on the verge of extinction. That's a very serious problem for any country," Finn said, also laughing.
However, he was somewhat surprised. As far as he could remember, the three Hancock sisters were supposed to be sold to Mary Geoise around next year and become slaves of the Celestial Dragons.
How had it happened earlier?
But he soon realized that being sold to Mary Geoise as a slave was one thing, and being caught by a slave squad was another.
Sailing on the seas and finding buyers took a certain amount of time, and it was very normal for the process to take more than a year.
So he didn't think much about it.
"Yes, it's a very serious situation. And I recall that you're very interested in this pirate nation. This may be an opportunity," Gion said seriously.
"Well, the reason Amazon Lily became a pirate nation is actually because it's remote and can't communicate normally with other countries. So this nation can still be saved. It's a good thing for us that we were able to save their princesses this time. However, I don't have time to go to G-7 to deal with this right now. Let's wait until after the World Conference. You detain them at G-7 and take care of them. After I finish things here, I'll make arrangements for them," Finn ordered.
"I understand," Gion responded quickly.
At this point, Finn suddenly recalled the little girl Robin, whom he'd rescued from O'Hara and then essentially abandoned at G-7 without much care.
So he asked casually, "By the way, where's Robin? How is she doing recently?"
"Robin is very sensible. Recently, she's been studying how to join the Marines in the shortest time possible," Gion said with a smile.
After Robin had been rescued by Finn, the man had taken no responsibility whatsoever and simply left her to Gion to be taken care of.
Therefore, over the past two years, Gion and Robin had developed a close relationship.
Finn was confused when he heard this. Nico Robin wanted to join the Marines?
What was going on?
"It's good that she doesn't harbor deep hatred toward the Marines, but why is she even thinking of joining?" Finn asked in surprise.
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