Aboard a Marine warship trailing closely behind the White Dragon.
Captain Andy lowered his binoculars and frowned. "You're absolutely certain this is the correct trajectory?"
"Yes, Captain!" his subordinate saluted sharply.
"Is their ship truly constructed of solid gold? That can't possibly be real, right? What kind of absolute lunatic uses solid gold for a hull? It's completely impractical."
When Captain Andy first received the tip from his underworld informants, his immediate reaction was sheer disbelief. However, after receiving three separate, corroborating reports from different ports, he cautiously mobilized his warship to investigate. Even now, looking at the glittering speck on the horizon, he found it incredibly difficult to believe.
"Captain, according to our most experienced appraisers who viewed it through telescopes at the last port, there is an 80% probability that it is authentic, solid gold," the subordinate reported meticulously.
Captain Andy nodded slowly. An 80% probability was more than enough to risk it. He raised his binoculars again, scanning the horizon.
"Are we gaining on them? Why haven't we closed the distance yet?"
Captain Andy's heart was pounding with uncontrollable excitement. An entire ship made of solid gold! How many billions of Belly was that worth?!
Just this one last job! Once he secured this colossal payday, he could instantly purchase a noble title in the World Government and peacefully retire in absolute luxury, despite only being in his mid-forties.
"Rest assured, Captain. Our steam-powered warship is significantly faster than their galleon. We will inevitably overtake them," the subordinate replied.
He perfectly understood the Captain's frantic excitement, because his own heart was racing just as fast. The pie this time was simply too massive; even if he only got to lick the crumbs off the plate, it would be enough wealth to last him three lifetimes.
'Retirement sounds pretty good,' the subordinate thought to himself.
He vividly remembered the day he officially joined the Navy. He had been a hot-blooded, passionate youth, absolutely determined to eradicate piracy and uphold Justice. But for what? He had watched countless brothers-in-arms die brutal deaths on the sea, all for a pathetic, meager monthly salary that barely covered living expenses.
Eventually... he achieved enlightenment.
Ever since he aligned himself with Captain Andy, he never had to chew on the 'hard bones' (strong pirates) anymore. Belly flowed endlessly into his pockets. Over the years, he had amassed enough dirty money to live like a king. Sure, his conscience occasionally stung when they committed unspeakable acts, but Captain Andy had powerful political backing at Headquarters. They were untouchable.
A short while later.
"I see them! Full steam ahead! Catch them!" Captain Andy roared, his eyes wide with greed as the blindingly golden White Dragon finally came into clear view.
"Yes, Captain!"
The Marines scrambled across the deck, pushing the engine to its absolute limit. Every single sailor on this ship was a hand-picked, fiercely loyal confidant of Captain Andy. They all drank from the same corrupt soup.
Aboard the White Dragon.
Watching the aggressively approaching Marine warship, Bardock briefly explained the situation to his crew. Their expressions instantly hardened.
To think their very first encounter with the Navy in the South Blue would be a pack of corrupt, murderous dogs.
"Galdino, you're a local. Do you know anything about these specific Marines?" Bardock asked, leaning against the railing.
"Captain Andy?" Galdino pushed up his glasses, recalling his underworld intel. "I've heard the name. He's a Base Commander recently transferred here from the Grand Line. Rumor has it he has an iron fist; he brought the entire local Marine branch to heel in just a few years. However, I never expected him to be running a black-ops piracy ring."
"It doesn't matter," Bardock said dismissively, pointing at the warship. "These Marines already view the White Dragon as their personal piggy bank. Therefore, you don't have to worry about naval artillery; they won't risk damaging the gold. They're going to initiate a close-quarters boarding action."
Bardock cracked his knuckles. "Now that we're in the South Blue, it's time for you guys to start accumulating real, life-or-death combat experience. I'll let you handle the grunts. Enel, Bonez, and I will hang back and observe."
Although the crew didn't fully understand why Bardock was suddenly pushing them into the vanguard, nobody objected. Even Galdino looked eager to participate. While chaotic frontline brawling fundamentally clashed with his refined aesthetic, he felt it was necessary to publicly demonstrate his value to his new, terrifying crewmates.
Finally, the warship pulled alongside the White Dragon.
Captain Andy stood at the bow, adopting a posture of absolute, righteous authority. "You filthy pirates! You actually dared to steal a classified, solid-gold Marine vessel?! Soldiers! Board their ship and execute them all! Leave no survivors!"
Huh?!
Bardock blinked, genuinely taken aback. That was way too incredibly blunt! He had honestly expected Captain Andy to put on a bit of a theatrical performance, maybe invent a fake arrest warrant or pretend to perform a 'routine inspection' first. The guy just skipped straight to the summary execution?!
Following Andy's ruthless command, the fiercely loyal Marine soldiers instantly drew their weapons. The swordsmen formed a tight vanguard wall to prevent counterattacks, while the riflemen lined up in the rear, taking aim at the crew. The battle was about to erupt.
Before a single shot could be fired, Robin calmly raised her hands and crossed her arms.
"Cien Fleur: Finger Sprout."
Every single Marine rifleman in the rear line suddenly felt a bizarre, fleshy sensation on their hands. A tiny, extra finger had miraculously sprouted directly behind the trigger of their rifles, physically wedging the mechanism and making it completely impossible to fire.
Executing such a massive, hyper-precise, multi-target technique was a direct result of Robin finally awakening her Observation Haki.
"What the hell?!" "My gun is jammed! Wait, what is this extra finger?!" "It's a Devil Fruit user! Be careful!"
The Marine backline instantly descended into chaotic panic. These men weren't New World elites; they were easily startled.
"Maintain formation!" Captain Andy barked, a bad premonition suddenly washing over him. He felt he might have acted a bit too hastily. "It's just a minor parlor trick! Swordsmen, charge!"
The vanguard Marines roared and vaulted over the railing, charging onto the golden deck.
"Careful, don't let their blood stain the gold!" Bardock quickly warned as Perona prepared to launch a volatile Hollow Explosive.
Perona glared at Bardock, clicking her tongue in annoyance. She dispersed the explosive ghosts and instead summoned her signature Negative Hollows. Four semi-transparent, cackling white ghosts flew forward, passing straight through the charging Marine vanguard.
Seeing the ethereal ghosts, the Marines panicked. A few even dropped their swords and shrieked, "GHOSTS!" dropping to the deck in terror.
"You idiots! It's just a Devil Fruit illusion! Kill them!" a bolder Marine roared, slashing his sword directly at a Hollow... only for the ghost to pass harmlessly through his chest.
"I'm a pathetic waste of space... I originally wanted to be a good Marine..." "When will this miserable life end? I'm just a corrupt dog..." "I'm so sorry, Mom... I should have just been a baker..." "Why am I risking my life for a few measly Belly...?"
The bold Marines instantly collapsed onto their hands and knees, weeping uncontrollably and aggressively questioning their life choices. The rest of the charging squad couldn't escape the swarm and were systematically pacified.
"Stitch-Stitch! Advanced Tailoring: Rainbow Patchwork!"
Leo moved like a blur, zipping between the depressed, groveling Marines. His tiny needle flashed, threading a nearly invisible, unbreakable string through their uniforms. With a sharp tug, he violently stitched seven Marines together into a tangled, immobile ball. He immediately moved on to the next batch, creating a flawless, devastating combo with Perona.
"Avoid the ghosts! Do not let them touch you!" Captain Andy yelled frantically from the warship.
The remaining Marines aggressively scattered, desperately trying to evade the Hollows. However, doing so completely broke their formation and made it impossible to advance.
"Wax Carpet!"
The flame on Galdino's head flared brilliantly. He slammed his hands onto the deck, unleashing a massive, rapidly expanding wave of viscous, white wax. The fluid spread across the deck, completely engulfing the boots of the scattered Marines. With a flex of Galdino's will, the wax instantly hardened to the density of steel, permanently anchoring the Marines to the floor.
Perona's eyes lit up. Stationary targets!
The Negative Hollows swarmed the trapped Marines, instantly plunging them into severe depression. Leo followed right behind, rapidly stitching them all to the deck for good measure.
A cold sweat broke out across Captain Andy's forehead. What the hell was he looking at?!
This many Devil Fruit users?! A crew with this level of terrifying synergy and raw combat power could easily make a name for themselves in the New World! Why the hell were they sailing around the South Blue?!
From the moment the boarding action began, it had barely been two minutes. Yet, every single one of his elite subordinates had been completely incapacitated. He was the only one left standing.
"Are you absolutely certain you want to make an enemy of the Navy?" Captain Andy asked, desperately trying to keep his voice steady. He had cast his net expecting a fat sheep, but he had accidentally dragged up a Sea King.
"But didn't you just officially declare that we were vicious pirates who stole a classified Marine vessel?" Bardock smiled innocently, leaning against the railing. "The Navy hunts pirates, and pirates kill the Navy. Isn't that the natural, indisputable law of the sea?"
Bardock wasn't in a rush to finish him off. He wanted to pry some information out of the Captain first—specifically, whether Marine Headquarters had dispatched anyone to the South Blue to track them down.
"I... I believe there has been a terrible misunderstanding!" Captain Andy sweated profusely, attempting a desperate pivot. "You aren't even flying a Jolly Roger! Our informants must have provided us with faulty intel! We deeply apologize!"
The moment the word 'misunderstanding' left his mouth, the entire crew unanimously turned to stare at Galdino, several of them smirking openly.
The flame on Galdino's head flared indignantly. "Do you think this is a child's game?! You think you can use the exact same pathetic, low-IQ excuse I just used to get out of this?!"
Realizing that playing dumb wasn't going to work, Captain Andy feigned absolute defeat. "Fine! I surrender! I demand to be treated as an official prisoner of war!"
He slowly walked forward with his hands raised. His eyes darted rapidly across the crew, assessing their threat levels. Finally, his gaze locked onto Chopper. The tiny reindeer was actively trying to hide behind the mast, clearly terrified. 'Ah, the weak link. A pet raccoon dog.'
Once he was within striking distance, Captain Andy's eyes flashed with lethal intent. He vanished instantly, utilizing the Rokushiki technique Soru, and reappeared directly behind Chopper.
Just because he was stationed in a South Blue branch didn't mean he was weak. He had actually mastered two of the Six Powers: Soru (Shave) and Tekkai (Iron Body).
He reached out, fully intending to take the reindeer hostage and use it to negotiate his safe escape.
BAM!
A hand suddenly shot out from the side, clamping down on Captain Andy's wrist like a vice.
"I thought I wasn't going to get a chance to fight today," Sai grinned fiercely, twisting the Captain's arm. "For a Branch Commander, your speed is barely passable."
With a powerful heave, Sai violently hurled Captain Andy across the deck. Before the Captain could even hit the ground, Sai vanished, utilizing his own, far superior version of Soru to intercept him.
Engaging in a fierce hand-to-hand brawl, Captain Andy quickly realized in absolute horror that this martial artist was completely out of his league. The kicks Sai unleashed were devastatingly heavy and blindingly fast.
Unable to dodge the incoming barrage, Captain Andy crossed his arms and activated his ultimate defense. "TEKKAI!"
CRACK!
Sai's Haki-infused heel slammed directly into the Captain's crossed arms.
Captain Andy violently skidded backward across the golden deck, his boots smoking from the friction. He maintained the rigid Tekkai posture for exactly two seconds... before his eyes rolled completely back into his head, and he collapsed to the deck, unconscious.
Sometime later, Captain Andy slowly opened his eyes.
He found himself inside a cold, damp jail cell. Judging by the familiar iron bars, he was actually inside the brig of his own Marine warship. Had he been rescued?! Had Marine Headquarters discovered his corruption and arrested him?!
No, wait! He distinctly remembered getting violently knocked out by that terrifying crew! What was going on?!
He tried to stand up, only to realize he couldn't move a single muscle. He looked down and gasped in horror. He was tightly, meticulously stitched to a wooden cross in the center of the cell, completely immobilized.
Meanwhile, up in the warship's captain's quarters, Bardock and his crew were casually looting the room.
"These cigars and wines are absolute top-tier South Blue luxury brands. And these flintlocks are masterfully crafted," Galdino appraised, pushing up his glasses. As a local, he knew exactly how much this stash was worth. "This Captain Andy certainly knew how to enjoy his dirty money, and he didn't skimp on his personal armory."
Bardock had been hoping to find some Seastone equipment, but unfortunately, there was none. "Robin, did the grunts confess? Have they been doing this 'kill the innocent and claim the bounty' routine often?"
"They confessed to everything," Robin sighed, her expression heavy with disgust. "They don't do it frequently because they fear an internal audit from Headquarters. They only target incredibly wealthy 'fat sheep', and they always execute the entire crew to ensure there are no witnesses. We were supposed to be their final retirement score."
The sheer, unchecked corruption of absolute authority was terrifying. Many of those Marines had likely joined the Navy with genuine dreams of justice, only to be slowly twisted into remorseless murderers by a systemic lack of oversight.
"Captain, what should we do with them?" Galdino asked.
"Hm..." Bardock crossed his arms. "If we had killed them in the heat of battle, that would be one thing. But they are completely pacified prisoners now. Executing them in cold blood isn't really my style."
Bardock smiled wickedly. "I have a better idea. Let's let the Navy clean up their own trash. There's an official, encrypted Den Den Mushi on this desk, right? I'm going to call Kuzan. The man might be incredibly lazy, but he still possesses a strong moral compass."
Bardock decided to dump this massive political headache directly onto Aokiji's lap. Then, while the Navy was distracted, Galdino could quickly camouflage the White Dragon with a layer of wax, and they could finally slip away unnoticed.
Somewhere on the Grand Line.
Vice Admiral Kuzan was currently laying on the deck of a massive Marine battleship, completely fast asleep with his eye mask on.
Buru buru buru... Gacha.
He pushed the mask up and answered the encrypted snail. "This is Vice Admiral Kuzan."
"Vice Admiral Kuzan! Greetings! This is your friendly neighborhood Ally of Justice, Z-Plus!"
Kuzan blinked, utterly bewildered by the bizarre greeting. 'Z? Is this a reference to Instructor Zephyr? I remember Garp mentioning that Zephyr used to call himself 'Z' when he roleplayed as a superhero as a kid...'
Before Kuzan could ask for clarification, the voice continued. "I'm calling to report a massive, highly classified Naval scandal occurring in the South Blue. It requires your immediate attention. The corruption is absolutely vile..."
Listening to the highly detailed account of Captain Andy's black-ops piracy ring, Kuzan's expression darkened significantly. He didn't immediately dismiss the claims; the fact that this person had successfully bypassed the Navy's encryption protocols meant they likely had concrete proof.
"I will dispatch Internal Affairs to investigate this branch immediately," Kuzan stated coldly. "The Navy will absolutely not tolerate this kind of corruption. If you have tangible evidence, fax it to this frequency. Furthermore... you are using a highly restricted, internal Marine frequency. Who exactly are you? Are you a Marine?"
Kuzan hadn't immediately recognized Bardock's voice over the snail's distortion.
"Oh, no, I'm not a Marine, Vice Admiral," Bardock chuckled. "But you don't need to send investigators. I already did you a favor and captured the corrupt dogs for you. They are currently securely tied up in their own brig. If you dispatch a recovery team quickly, you might find them before they starve to death. Honestly, starving might be too good for them."
"Do not take the law into your own hands," Kuzan warned sharply, suddenly recognizing the casual, insolent tone. "Since you have contacted me, I promise I will ensure justice is served for the innocent lives they took."
Kuzan absolutely refused to allow civilians—let alone pirates—to arbitrarily execute Marines, regardless of their guilt. They needed to face a formal military tribunal.
"Whatever you say," Bardock replied breezily, entirely unconcerned.
Click.
Bardock hung up the snail, fed the written confessions and financial ledgers into the fax machine, and transmitted the warship's exact coordinates. The rest was no longer his problem.
Reading the damning faxes as they printed out, Kuzan's frown deepened. This was a massive scandal. Deciding that this required a much more delicate political touch, he dialed Vice Admiral Tsuru. She was infinitely better equipped to handle this kind of internal rot.
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