At the Sabaody Archipelago, on the official, exclusive dock belonging to the City That Never Sleeps, a group of stewards dressed in tailcoat suits suddenly appeared. They moved swiftly, clearing away all unrelated personnel from the area.
This dock had always been reserved exclusively for the City That Never Sleeps, used only by so called official vessels. On ordinary days, even people with certain ties to the city's authorities were allowed to make use of it.
But today, regardless of whether they were officials of the City That Never Sleeps or people connected to them, everyone was driven away. The entire dock was placed under strict control.
"What's going on today? Why have the tailcoats been mobilized?" someone exclaimed in shock from the distant crowd watching the scene.
They could not help but be astonished. Because the Oathblood Guard all wore tailcoat suits, people within the City That Never Sleeps jokingly referred to them as the Tailcoats.
These Tailcoats were the highest law enforcement unit of the City That Never Sleeps.
However, after the city had stabilized, the Oathblood Guard had gradually withdrawn from handling daily security matters. Routine security was instead handed over to the City Security Bureau, which operated under the City's Executive Committee.
The Oathblood Guard would only step in when situations arose that the City Security Bureau could not handle.
Because of this, over the past year, the Oathblood Guard had rarely mobilized on such a large scale. Even when they did appear, it was usually just one or two individuals. No one had ever seen such a grand and aggressive deployment.
Yet now, the entire dock was filled with Oathblood Guards clad in tailcoats. This made people instinctively suspect that something serious was happening.
"It looks like they're welcoming someone."
"Look, not only are the Tailcoats here, even the top leadership of the City That Never Sleeps has arrived!"
"Those high-ranking figures can't even get inside and can only wait outside the guarded perimeter. Could it be that some major figure is about to appear today?"
"Nonsense. If it weren't a big shot, would the Tailcoats really be deployed like this? The question is, who is it? The Fleet Admiral of the Navy? A top figure from the World Government? Or maybe even one of the Four Emperors?" The crowd buzzed with speculation.
The so called upper echelons of the City That Never Sleeps referred to its management layer, namely the City Operations Committee, the City Executive Committee, and the City Finance Department.
These three major departments governed the operation of the city. A single word from them could determine the rise or fall of an entire industry within the city. They were known collectively as the three great powers of the City That Never Sleeps.
In truth, these three upper bodies were not composed of members from the Grey Domain. After all, the Grey Domain was ultimately a pirate crew, while the City That Never Sleeps was a commercially managed city. Managing and developing such a city was a daunting task for those rough men of the Grey Domain.
Although Rosinante possessed some insight, even in his previous life he had only been an ordinary shut-in. Asking him to manage a massive economic entity like this was simply too much.
Therefore, during the early stages of the city's development, Rosinante established the three major committees to govern the City That Never Sleeps.
The City Operations Committee was responsible for formulating development policies. Its members were elite business talents with formidable management skills, selected through Doflamingo's intelligence network and then "invited" over by the Grey Domain.
The Executive Committee and the Finance Department were also not composed entirely of Grey Domain members.
The Finance Department was jointly established and overseen by the World Government and the four great pirate groups, while part of the Executive Committee consisted of personnel recruited by the Grey Domain from various vassal states, especially from Sky Island.
The people of Sky Island were known for their strictness and discipline, making them well suited to carrying out the decisions issued by the Operations Committee.
As for whether corruption and harm to the city's interests would occur, the answer was an unequivocal yes. Faced with such a colossal economic system, expecting no corruption at all would be naïve to the point of denying human nature.
However, these three departments had one crucial advantage. They were not part of the Grey Domain, so killing them carried no emotional burden.
Above the three departments stood the oversight of Katakuri and the Oathblood Guard, while all important documents were reviewed by Laki.
If corruption, violations, or actions harmful to the city's interests occurred, the Oathblood Guard would not concern itself with minor matters. But once certain bottom lines were crossed, they did not even need evidence to arrest or directly execute those involved.
What was the Grey Domain? It was a pirate crew. And what was the Oathblood Guard? It was the violent apparatus of the Grey Domain.
Much like the Imperial Guard of the Ming dynasty, they were Rosinante's personal troops. Within the Grey Domain itself, if any division showed signs of betrayal, the Oathblood Guard could arrest and kill without hesitation. There was no need to even mention these subordinate departments beneath the Grey Domain.
Over the three years since the city's establishment, the personnel within the three departments had been replaced again and again. Eventually, those who remained gradually learned the Oathblood Guard's bottom lines, and only then did things settle down.
They understood that those lines could never be crossed. Otherwise, no matter how wealthy or capable one was, their head would be taken off directly. Their family would be implicated, and all their assets confiscated.
Although the status of the three committees was not particularly high within the Grey Domain, in the eyes of outsiders, especially the merchants doing business in the City That Never Sleeps, they were the very heavens of the city. They controlled everything, even matters as trivial as daily living.
Saying that the three departments managed even eating, drinking, and sanitation was no exaggeration at all.
When Rosinante established the City Operations Committee, he placed special emphasis on environmental management. He demanded strict regulation of garbage disposal and public behavior in order to protect the city's environment.
As a result, under the Executive Committee there was also the City Management Force, responsible specifically for maintaining street order and cleanliness.
At the beginning, many people were not accustomed to this. Even the three major departments themselves had difficulty understanding it. But the Oathblood Guard executed Rosinante's orders unconditionally, regardless of whether those orders were right or wrong.
With their supervision, even the three departments had no choice but to enforce these regulations strictly. In fact, many members of the Executive Committee were executed over this very issue.
After strict enforcement, people gradually adapted. Then they discovered the benefits of clean streets and a hygienic environment. Not only did it attract more visitors to the City That Never Sleeps, it also made life far more comfortable for those who lived there.
Through continuous governance, the city flourished more and more, and the three departments gradually established their authority.
In the eyes of residents, merchants, and visiting traders, the three great departments were the heavens of the City That Never Sleeps, while the Oathblood Guard in their tailcoats were an absolute force of violence capable of tearing the heavens down themselves.
And now, so many influential figures of the city were gathered here, craning their necks in anticipation. This made everyone intensely curious.
Just who was this great figure, capable of making the three major departments and the Oathblood Guard wait here together?
Very soon, a luxurious cruise ship appeared before everyone's eyes.