Deep within the woods, the students of the Elite Training Camp had been divided into various small groups. Some consisted of only two people, while others had as many as seven or eight. Following each group was an instructor, shadowing them in secret. These instructors were all Marine captains; given the current strength of the students, there was no way they could detect them.
Back on the beach...
"Sean, how many of them do you think can pass the assessment?"
"Hmm... probably none?" Sean answered after a moment of serious consideration.
Hearing this, Zephyr let out a soft sigh. If Sean could see it, then Zephyr had already anticipated the result long ago.
Years ago, the Marine was teeming with talent, and almost every class of the Elite Training Camp produced several exceptional candidates. But in recent years, aside from a few outliers, true talent had become scarce.
The Marine... was suffering from a gap in its ranks.
Even Aokiji, the youngest of the three Admirals, was already in his forties. Kizaru was already over fifty. Once this generation of Admirals stepped down, there was simply no one in the Marine capable of stepping up to maintain that level of prestige and power. Even the two current Admiral candidates still had a significant gap in strength compared to a full Admiral.
At this point in time, because the events surrounding Weevil's appointment as a Warlord had not yet occurred, Zephyr still cared deeply about the future of the Marine.
"Alright, old man Zephyr, isn't that what I'm here for?" Sean chimed in. "The Marine of the future will definitely be stronger than it is now!"
That was right; there was still Sean. How had he forgotten about this kid?
Zephyr's mood brightened instantly. With this boy's talent, his future achievements would likely surpass the current three Admirals. After all, none of the current Admirals had been nearly as strong as Sean during their first year in the Elite Training Camp.
As for raw talent, it wasn't even a contest. In the martial arts, Sean had witnessed Garp use Soru once and was able to learn and improve it immediately. In the way of the sword, he possessed top-tier genius. Furthermore, Sean possessed a mysterious energy that Zephyr still couldn't comprehend.
As long as Sean stayed with the Marine, there was no need to worry about its future.
"Brat, I don't need your comfort!" Zephyr barked. "Besides, shouldn't you be getting to your actual business?"
Sean nodded. He hadn't come here to take an assessment.
"The pickup ship should be here by now, right?"
"I just got word; they're waiting thirty miles out. Ain has already prepared the transport boat," Zephyr replied.
"Alright, I'll change my clothes and head out. But old man Zephyr, don't you dare sneak any of that meat while I'm gone!" Sean added with a sudden, stern expression.
'Sneak meat? What does he mean?'
Zephyr blinked, confused for a second. Then, it clicked. The kid was worried he would carve off some meat from that ferocious beast to eat.
'Am I that kind of person? Surely not!!'
Then again, if the kid was that worried about it, just how delicious would the leg meat of that beast be? Since he was here, maybe a little taste wouldn't hurt?
Sean had no idea that while Zephyr hadn't planned on it initially, he was now seriously considering it.
'''
A few minutes later, a small boat was lowered from a warship. Under the operation of Sean and Ain, it gradually sailed away. Both were dressed in plain clothes, looking no different from ordinary civilians.
Thirty nautical miles away, a merchant ship specially arranged by Sengoku was waiting for them. Aside from Sengoku, Tsuru, and Zephyr, only Sean and Ain knew about this operation.
'''
Two days later.
"Captain, what island is that?" Sean asked, pointing toward a sliver of land appearing on the horizon.
"That's a small island on the outer edge of the Conomi Islands. There's a village there called Cocoyasi Village. They produce a lot of oranges, but... sigh!"
"Is there something wrong with Cocoyasi Village?"
"I can't say, I really can't!!" The captain waved his hand, refusing to elaborate.
The reason they had managed to evade the World Government's eyes was that Sengoku had not used official Marine channels to arrange this mission. This merchant ship was actually a smuggling vessel from the East Blue. Tsuru had arranged the deal and paid them one million Belly to pick up two people. Consequently, the captain didn't know Sean and Ain's identities as Marine officers.
He didn't ask questions, either. In his line of work, the less you knew, the safer you were. As long as the money was good, why ask?
"Sean, I feel something is off. I suspect there's a problem with that Cocoyasi Village," Ain whispered.
"I agree, but don't rush. If we press for details or ask to be dropped off there, we might arouse suspicion."
"Right, I'll follow your lead," Ain agreed.
Their mission was secret. Whatever problem Cocoyasi Village had could be investigated later; there was no need to trigger alarms now.
Half a day later, the merchant ship docked at a trading island within the Conomi Islands, located only a few dozen kilometers from Marine Branch 16. After saying goodbye to the captain, the two disembarked.
Their priority was intelligence gathering.
"Sean, look over there!" Ain suddenly pointed while they were wandering through the market.
Sean followed Ain's gaze to an orange stall. On the surface, it seemed perfectly normal. However, not far from the stall, several Marines were standing guard.
Marines protecting an orange vendor? What kind of operation was that? No matter how you looked at it, it was highly abnormal.
'Wait... could it be...'
Sean quickly arrived at a possibility. In this area, there was only one island famous for producing oranges. Although Arlong had seized that place and completely sealed it off, forbidding anyone from entering or leaving, that raised a question: who were the villagers selling their oranges to?
If they couldn't sell them, how could they possibly afford the 50,000 Belly monthly tribute for their lives? They couldn't exactly conjure money out of thin air.
But if the Marine from Branch 16 was involved, allowing a few selected villagers to come out and sell the produce on behalf of everyone, it would make sense.
So, these civilians selling oranges were actually... residents of Cocoyasi Village.
No wonder they all looked so sickly. After struggling every month just to hand over almost all their earnings as tribute, they wouldn't have any money left for decent food. It made sense that their health would deteriorate over time.
"Let's go over and test the waters."
"Right!"
The two approached the orange stalls, picking one and pretending to examine the quality of the fruit.
"Hey there, these oranges look great!"
"They certainly are! The oranges from our Cocoyasi Village are famous throughout the entire East Blue!"
"So you're from Cocoyasi Village. I've heard from my elders before that the oranges from your region are the finest in the East Blue."
"They certainly are! Not to brag, but in the past..."
The villager started with excitement, but halfway through his sentence, his expression suddenly wilted.
Now...
'Sigh!'
Sean naturally knew what was on the man's mind.
"They really are quite good. How much are you selling them for?"
"300 Berries a pound. If you buy in bulk, I can give you a discount."
"Deal. I'll take twenty pounds!"
"Coming right up!!"
The villager was overjoyed. At 300 Berries a pound, twenty pounds would be 6,000 Berries. Even with a discount, he would still make at least 5,000. This single order alone covered a tenth of his survival money for the month.
"To be honest with you, I'm in the orange business myself. I wonder if you could handle larger orders and provide a long-term supply?"
"I can! Of course I can!"
"Great. But first, I'd like to visit Cocoyasi Village to inspect the scale of the plantations and the management. Can you arrange that?"
"This..."
A few years ago, he would have agreed to such a windfall without a second thought. But now, he hesitated.
"What's wrong? Is there something wrong with the oranges?"
"No, no, there's nothing wrong with them. The oranges of Cocoyasi Village are perfect, it's just..."
"Just what?"
The villager fell silent. He didn't dare say more, especially with several Marines staring at them from nearby.
"Stop wasting time! Either buy them or get lost!" a Marine walked over, speaking with arrogant disdain.
Watching this from the side, Ain frowned instantly.
"Forget it. If you won't even let me see the plantations, there's probably something wrong with the oranges. Let's go!"
As he spoke, Sean grabbed Ain's hand to leave.
However, the Marine didn't seem to want the encounter to end so easily.
"Kid, you just told this vendor you'd buy twenty pounds of oranges. Since you said it, you have to follow through. Otherwise, be careful, or I'll throw you both in jail."
"Is the Marine trying to force a sale?"
"So what if we are? On this land, our word is the law, and everyone must obey."
"The law... Heh. Now that you put it that way, it really would be a shame to leave. Fine, we'll take the twenty pounds!"
"Twenty pounds? Since you just tried to scam this merchant, you're now fined and required to buy two hundred pounds as compensation. If you're unwilling, you can spend some time in a cell until someone comes to bail you out."
"Two hundred pounds? No problem, no problem at all!"
Surprisingly, Sean agreed with a smile without a moment's hesitation.
This actually made the Marine regret himself. 'Is this kid really that cowardly? Why didn't I say two thousand pounds?'
However...
"Two hundred pounds of oranges, right? I'll take them. But I never said I was going to pay for them."
In the next instant, Sean's figure vanished.
Within seconds, all eight Marines present had collapsed.
"You lot, load up the oranges and follow me!"
"This..."
"I don't like repeating myself!"
The fierce look in Sean's eyes caused a sudden, inexplicable shiver to run through the hearts of the Cocoyasi villagers. This was natural; besides the glare, Sean had released a sliver of Spiritual Pressure, and the effect was remarkably efficient.
Soon, the villagers were pulling carts of oranges, following Sean toward the harbor. Although many people saw them on the way from the market, no one dared to step forward and stop them. The tiny amount of Spiritual Pressure emanating from Sean was enough to intimidate any ordinary person.
"Sean, what exactly are you trying to do?" Ain asked in a low voice beside him.
"I believe you've realized that something is seriously wrong in Cocoyasi Village, right?"
"Of course. But what does that have to do with what you're doing right now?"
"You really are a silly girl. Do you expect me to just announce I'm a Marine officer on the spot and ask the villagers what's happening? That would just alert the enemy," Sean replied irritably.
Being called a "silly girl," Ain felt a surge of annoyance, but she didn't explode, fighting to suppress her anger.
"So, you're pretending to kidnap these villagers and even steal their boat, so that once you're out of everyone's sight, you can reveal your identity and ask for details?"
"Yeah, you've got part of it right. The key is..."
"The key is?"
"The key is that we don't have a boat, okay?"
Ain froze for a moment.
'Wait, so finding a boat was your primary goal all along?'
In truth, securing a vessel was indeed Sean's main objective. After all, having read the story in his previous life, did he really need to ask people about the situation in Cocoyasi Village? If there was any other purpose besides finding a ship, it was simply to make the whole scene look more plausible. Otherwise, how could he explain how he knew exactly what was happening in the village?