"Nami, didn't you tell me your sexual orientation was perfectly normal and that you'd never fall for that kind of thing?"
"And you, Kaku! I thought you were as Strong willed as a board, but it turns out you're just a closeted type!"
"Look at Jabra. Now 'that' is what I call reliable. You two could learn a thing or two from him!"
On the deck, Sean was relentlessly roasting Kaku and Nami.
At first, the two of them kept their heads low, faces flushed with shame. However, the moment Sean called Jabra "reliable" and told them to follow his lead, their shame instantly turned into irritation.
It wasn't that Jabra was reliable; it was that his taste was bizarre!
If Hancock looked like Marigold, would Sean still tell Jabra to go for it? He bet Jabra would be even more pathetic than a standard Marine recruit.
"Anyway, where is Jabra? I don't see him," Sean sighed, turning to look at Lucci. He hadn't seen Jabra for a while and wondered where he had vanished to.
"Vice Admiral, Jabra went aboard the Perfume Yoda," Lucci replied, pointing toward the side of the ship where the Perfume Yoda remained docked against the warship.
'Huh? What is Jabra doing over there? And would Hancock even allow him on her ship?'
Feeling curious, Sean looked over and saw Jabra following behind the three Gorgon sisters with a look of pure flattery on his face.
"What's going on?" Sean was baffled. Didn't Jabra think Hancock was ugly? Now he was acting like a sycophant, bowing and apologizing periodically. What on earth was Jabra thinking?
Beside him, Robin let out a soft chuckle.
"Robin, do you know what's happening?"
"I do," Robin replied. "Commander Jabra has fallen in love at first sight with someone from the Kuja Pirates. For the sake of his romance, no matter how ugly he thinks the Pirate Empress is, he has to apologize against his will. Otherwise, if the Empress blocks him, how could he possibly pursue his true love?"
"Love at first sight? I wonder which great talent of the Kuja Pirates managed to catch Jabra's eye?"
"Hancock's sister, Marigold."
"Pfft... That is completely unexpected, yet somehow makes perfect sense!"
Sean was speechless. Then again, if it was Marigold, she probably actually 'was' a super beauty in Jabra's eyes.
'Should I give him a hand?' Sean wondered. Back when Jabra was in CP9, his romantic life had been cut short when he was transferred to Sean's branch. A potential "golden couple" had been torn apart.
It was a pity. Now that he had finally found someone he liked, Sean felt that as the Branch Chief, he should help the man out.
With a nod, Sean walked toward them.
'''
Under normal circumstances, Hancock wanted nothing more than to slaughter Jabra. After all, the man had called her both ugly and disgusting.
However, Sean had helped the three sisters remove the Celestial Dragon brand, an act of immense kindness. If she attacked his subordinate, it would be ungrateful. Because of this, she had been enduring him.
Still, the man was incredibly annoying, constantly following her and apologizing. She had already told him he could leave, yet he clung to her like a leech, driving her to the brink of madness.
Just as Hancock reached her limit and raised her leg to kick him back across the railing, she heard Sean's voice and stopped.
"Hancock, there's something else I want to discuss with you."
"What is it?"
"We previously agreed that you would recruit fifty female soldiers from Amazon Lily, right?"
"Since I have given my word, I shall not go back on it. You need not worry," Hancock replied.
"No, that's not what I meant. I mean that I'll assign someone from my side to coordinate the recruitment with you to make things more convenient."
"Very well. Who will you assign?" Hancock didn't see a reason to refuse.
"Hmm, how about Jabra?"
"What? You want him... No! Absolutely not! The only reason I haven't killed him yet is out of respect for you!"
"I know, but you don't need to handle the tedious details. Just let your sister coordinate with Jabra. Marigold would be perfect for the job. What do you think?"
"That... is possible. But why do I feel like you're plotting something?" Hancock asked, her eyes narrowing with suspicion.
"Me? Plotting something? Look into my sincere eyes!"
Staring into Sean's gaze, Hancock found it unbearable and quickly looked away.
"Fine, fine. Marigold can be the contact person for your recruitment."
Jabra's eyes lit up, and he looked at Sean with profound gratitude. Sean gave him a meaningful look and patted him on the shoulder.
'Jabra, this is as much as I can do for you. For the rest... good luck!'
'''
Five days later, the warship returned to the 16th Branch in the East Blue.
The 450 new recruits were quickly sent to the training camp, where they joined the 30 Shandia warriors brought back from Sky Island to begin their basic training.
Sean returned to his office and contacted Barry via Den Den Mushi.
"Barry, what's the progress on the new ships?"
"Vice Admiral Sean, two large ironclad warships have been launched; one is an export model. Two medium general-purpose ironclads and three small high-speed ironclads have also been launched."
"Why is the efficiency for the small and medium ships so low?"
"That... is mainly due to a lack of manpower. We can't run all the dry docks simultaneously."
"Alright. How many more people do you need? I'll get them from Iceburg."
"To get all the docks running at full capacity, we need about fifty more workers, and ideally one or two master shipwrights."
"No problem, I'll handle that. Also, have the export version ready for departure. I'll arrange for someone to receive it."
"Understood. What about the other warships?"
"No rush on those. Give it some time..."
After finishing the arrangements, Sean placed another call to Akainu.
"Admiral Sakazuki, where are you currently?"
"I just finished a mission and returned to Headquarters."
"The warship you ordered is complete. It should arrive at the 16th Branch in a few days. Can you arrange for someone to come and pick it up?"
"What? The ship is finished?"
Akainu sounded genuinely excited. Which man doesn't love giant ships and massive cannons? This was especially true for Akainu, a veteran of several decades in the Marines. Ever since he had experienced Gion's warship, he had been longing for one of his own.
"Very well. I'll send someone immediately!"
Hanging up the Den Den Mushi, Sean looked across his desk at Robin, who was holding a set of documents in silence.
"What's wrong? Thinking about Ohara?"
Robin remained silent.
When it came to the Ohara Incident, there was no doubt who the most ruthless Marine had been. It was Akainu—the man who had sunk even the civilian evacuation ships without hesitation.
Even within the current Marine, this particular incident remained a point of heavy criticism for many.
In Sean's previous life, it had been one of Akainu's greatest stains.
However, Sean held a completely different view.
"Take off the mask!"
At his command, Robin removed the mask. As expected, her face was etched with hatred.
"Robin, do you hate Akainu?"
"Yes!"
"Then let me ask you something else. Back then, while the scholars in Ohara were researching the Void Century, the World Government sent envoys several times to communicate with them, hoping they would stop their research. That part is true, isn't it?"
"That happened, but..."
"Don't try to change the subject. I'll ask you again: the history of the Void Century is a taboo of the World Government, and those scholars were well aware of that. Correct?"
"Yes!"
This time, Robin didn't argue; she simply nodded.
"Good. Based on that, if the scholars continued to ignore the World Government's warnings and persisted in their research, it was highly likely to provoke a lethal response from the World Government. That shouldn't have been hard to predict, right?"
Robin nodded again.
It was a fact. She had personally heard the scholars debating what would happen if the World Government decided to eliminate them. Ultimately, the scholars believed that even in the face of death, they could not surrender and must continue their research.
"Knowing all this, then why didn't those scholars leave Ohara? Why didn't they move their research to some uninhabited island?"
"If they had moved to a deserted island, would the civilians living in Ohara have been dragged into the tragedy?"
"Or... did they intentionally stay in Ohara to conduct their research, attempting to use a massive civilian population as a shield, hoping the World Government wouldn't dare to act?"
'You're lying!'
Robin desperately wanted to scream those words.
But she was no longer the eight-year-old child she once was.
Usually, because no one had ever framed the events of that day in this manner, she had never considered this angle. But after hearing Sean's words, she began to hesitate.
It was true. Since they knew the World Government would not let the matter drop—and would likely resort to extreme violence as a last resort—why wouldn't they leave Ohara for a deserted island?
Perhaps the real reason was exactly as Sean suggested: they attempted to use the civilians as hostages, betting that the World Government would be too hesitant to strike.
They had simply underestimated the World Government's ruthlessness.
The World Government hadn't just struck; they had struck with absolute brutality. They deployed a Buster Call, leaving no one alive in all of Ohara except for her.
"Even so, Akainu is still unforgivable! He attacked the evacuation ships filled with civilians!" Robin gritted her teeth and spoke again.
"Fine. Let's go back to Akainu," Sean replied.
"You've probably heard about the time the World Government tried to find and sever the bloodline of the Pirate King, Roger. After Roger was imprisoned, they killed every pregnant woman and newborn on Baterilla Island within a ten-month window. You know about this, don't you?"
Robin nodded.
She had naturally heard of it. It was said that over a thousand pregnant women and newborns were slaughtered. However, she didn't understand what this had to do with the discussion about Akainu.
"Are you wondering why this is relevant to our conversation?"
"Actually, it's incredibly relevant!"
"That incident tells you everything you need to know about the World Government's operating style: they would rather kill a thousand innocents than let a single target escape!"
"Now, let's return to Ohara and Akainu. What were the World Government's orders at the time?"
"A Buster Call. To kill everyone in Ohara, leaving no one alive!"
"The evacuation ships? Did the World Government permit them? No, they did not!"
"If Akainu had let that evacuation ship go, what would have happened next?"
"I can tell you exactly what: they would have dispatched pursuit teams to hunt them down and kill everyone on board!"
"And if time had run out—if the people on the ship had scattered across various islands and the World Government couldn't determine exactly who was where..."
"Then, to ensure absolute success, the World Government would have slaughtered every single island those ships had visited to ensure there were no leaks!"
"I'll say it again: the World Government's style is to kill a thousand rather than let one escape!"
"So, if Akainu had let those hundred-odd people on that ship escape, the result could have been the deaths of tens or hundreds of thousands of others as collateral damage!"
"Now tell me, if you were Akainu, what would you choose?"
"Would you satisfy your own conscience by letting those hundred people go, thereby triggering a series of massacres and countless deaths?"
"Or would you be like Akainu—choosing to harden your heart, wipe out the evacuation ship, and willingly bear a lifelong reputation as a monster?"
"Without the strength to overturn the entire system, Akainu had no better choice. This isn't his fault; it's the fault of this world!"
"If you really want to say Akainu did something wrong, it's this..."
"He was too weak!!"
"Anyone can say beautiful words, but a leader who only speaks in platitudes can never truly lead!"
"Because such people are incapable of making the correct choice when it truly matters."
"And more often than not, the 'correct' choice is one that others will never understand or accept!"
"Think about it carefully!!"
Sean stepped close to Robin and gently patted her shoulder. Then, he left the office.
Akainu would never know about this conversation. If he did, the iron-blooded man might have actually wept. After all, after so many years, someone finally truly understood him.
As Sean reached the office door, Robin suddenly turned around.
"What about you, Sean?"
"If you encountered the same situation, would you make the same choice as Akainu?"
Sean stopped in his tracks. He didn't hesitate for a second.
"If you're talking about right now, then yes. I would make the same choice as Akainu. Without a doubt."
"But if this were two years from now... I wouldn't!"
"Because by then, I will possess the strength to overturn everything!"
"Justice... that thing has always been predicated on absolute power!"
With that, Sean stepped forward and walked away.