The next morning.
The sunlight over Gold Crown Island was still so bright it was almost blinding.
The sea breeze swept across the fortress known as the "Pearl of the Golden Route," making the gold-trimmed Marine flags snap loudly in the wind.
However, for the base commander, Commodore Nelson, this beautiful morning felt like pure torture.
"R-Commodore Gion, the scenery here is only decent. Too much sea breeze is bad for the skin. The air by the shore is damp too, so why don't we head back to the fortress and rest? I've already had someone prepare excellent tea and snacks for us to enjoy..."
On the military pier of G-17 Branch, Nelson followed close behind Gion.
He kept wiping the endless cold sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief that was already soaked, all while forcing out a stiff smile.
Although he held the same rank as Gion, Nelson did not have the slightest bit of a commander's dignity at that moment.
He kept his back bent and his hands rubbing together as he followed her step by step.
He looked less like a Commodore and more like an old servant trying to please a difficult guest.
His heart pounded wildly.
His eyes darted around like a thief's, occasionally flicking toward the horizon with anxiety and fear.
Today was the day to receive the "Rough Stones."
According to the agreement with the "Crystal Duke," they needed to complete a statue with the "Despair" trait.
That piece had been specifically ordered by the Celestial Dragon Saint Jalmack.
The final batch of " Stones," fifty unlucky people recently captured from nearby waters, was scheduled to arrive at the port this morning and be stored in the warehouse.
This was supposed to be a top-secret operation.
Normally, because they used this exclusive Marine military route, everything could be brought in without anyone noticing.
But today, of all days, this Commodore from Headquarters seemed to be acting strangely.
Early that morning, she had brought her two subordinates to the port without any warning.
She claimed she wanted to carry out a "routine defense patrol" and had planted herself on the pier without moving an inch.
"Commodore Nelson, you seem very hot."
Gion stopped and turned around.
The sea breeze lifted the wide "Justice" coat behind her.
Her slim pink suit outlined her tall, striking figure.
The beauty mark beneath her eye added a touch of charm to her already beautiful face, but at that moment, the look in her eyes was so sharp that few people could meet it directly.
One hand rested on the hilt of Konpira as her gaze cut across Nelson's greasy face.
"The sea breeze here is clearly cool."
"It... it's cold sweat. An old problem, an old problem," Nelson said with a strained laugh.
His clothes were already soaked through.
"I'm just worried about your health, Commodore Gion. After all, the banquet lasted very late last night, and now you're patrolling again today..."
"Commodore Nelson."
Gion cut him off.
Her tone carried a faint hint of amusement, but also suspicion.
"If I remember correctly, last night you swore that the base's supplies were fully prepared and everything had already been arranged. Since that's the case, why aren't you in your office drinking tea this morning? Why did you personally come to this windy pier to stand around? Are you worried about something? Or were you just brushing me off yesterday?"
"H-How could I dare!" Nelson's face stiffened, and he waved his hands in a panic.
The sweat on his forehead only grew thicker.
"I... I'm doing this to show how much I value Headquarters! Yes! Personally confirming the port's security is also for your peace of mind, Commodore! Th-This is my duty!"
While Nelson was desperately trying to hold his lies together,
Aiden stood at Gion's side, holding a spyglass and casually observing the sea.
With the terrifying range of his Observation Haki, the telescope had long since become a useless prop.
He had already locked onto that ship when it was still dozens of miles away.
But as a "diligent" subordinate, he still had to play his part.
Within Aiden's senses, there were dozens of people in the ship's lower hold, all tense with fear.
It's here.
Aiden deliberately frowned and adjusted the focus of the telescope, acting as if he had just noticed something unusual.
"Commodore Gion, Commodore Nelson."
Aiden lowered the telescope and pointed toward a blurry black dot on the distant horizon.
His tone carried the perfect amount of confusion.
"There seems to be a ship approaching from that stretch of sea. It looks worn out. It doesn't seem to be a warship or a normal merchant vessel."
He handed the telescope toward Gion.
"And its course... seems to be taking it straight toward the restricted military berths in Area C. Wouldn't an unknown vessel showing up in a high-security military zone be against regulations?"
Nelson's whole body stiffened.
He looked in the direction Aiden was pointing.
Even though he could only make out a tiny black dot with the naked eye, his fat face instantly turned pale.
"Ah? Wh-Where?"
He pretended not to understand and leaned over to look.
Right after that, he took a step sideways and tried to block their line of sight with his bulky frame.
His voice had gone sharp from tension.
"Oh! That! That's... that's a trash ship! Yes! A cleaning ship that takes the base's wastewater and garbage out for disposal! That place is too dirty and too smelly, full of flies and rats! To avoid offending you, Commodore, let's head somewhere else..."
"A cleaning ship?"
Aiden didn't back off just because the other side was a Commodore.
Instead, he raised the telescope again and said calmly, "Sir, forgive me for being blunt, but that ship is riding very low in the water. It's clearly entering port fully loaded. If it were taking garbage out, it should be arriving empty. Does G-17 Branch import its trash from outside?"
"This..." Nelson was instantly speechless.
"And there's more."
Aiden turned to Gion, came to attention, and reported, "Commodore Gion, according to Marine regulations, any unknown ship entering a military port must undergo a routine inspection. For your safety, I believe it is necessary to verify what it is."
"Hey! No! Sergeant Aiden!"
Nelson panicked.
He no longer cared about his dignity as a Commodore and scrambled forward to stop him, looking both ridiculous and pathetic.
"You really can't go! That area... it was just disinfected. There are toxic gases there! Chemical toxins! It's very dangerous!"
"Commodore Nelson."
Gion's cold voice came from behind him, carrying an authority that could not be questioned.
"Since there are 'toxic gases,' then we need to inspect it even more. If dangerous materials are leaking in the port, that would be a serious accident. As an inspector from Headquarters, I cannot pretend not to see it."
She strode past Nelson, her military boots clicking sharply against the pier.
"Lead the way."
Nelson watched her back, and a flash of malice crossed his eyes.
But in the end, he could only swallow his anger, grit his teeth, and follow.
His fat hand, covered in rings, gripped the edge of his coat so tightly that his knuckles hurt.
Area C Pier.
The dilapidated merchant ship, flying no flag at all, had already docked.
Its rusty hull stood in sharp contrast to the brand-new warships nearby.
A group of burly men in Marine uniforms, though they looked more like thugs than soldiers, were hurriedly carrying large, tightly nailed wooden crates out of the hold.
"Careful! Be careful with them!"
A man who looked like the foreman barked in a low voice, his face tense.
"This is 'cargo' that Lord Nelson personally ordered us to protect! If anything gets bumped or scratched, he'll skin you alive!"
At that moment, Aiden, Gion, and Smoker appeared at the entrance to the pier.
"What are you doing? Stop."
Aiden called out sharply as he walked toward the pile of wooden crates that had just been unloaded.
The porters immediately panicked.
Their movements froze, and one of the crates in their hands nearly slipped.
"O-Officer..."
The foreman snapped into a shaky salute, his eyes frantically shifting toward Nelson behind them.
"What's inside these?" Aiden tapped one of the wooden crates.
The box was heavy, and a muffled sound of breathing came from the air holes.
"It's... it's..."
The foreman stammered, unable to get the words out.
Nelson rushed over, out of breath, shoved the foreman aside, and answered first.
"Pigs! Live pigs! I specifically had a batch of black-haired pigs purchased from another island so your meals would be better during your stay, Commodore!"
"Oh? Live pigs?"
Aiden looked at the crate with a faint smile.
Gion frowned and looked at Nelson.
"Commodore, didn't you just say this was a trash ship? How did trash turn into live pigs in the blink of an eye?"
"This... this..."
Nelson was drenched in sweat and could only lie wildly.
"They... they came together! We brought pigs along with the trash! Yes, that's it!"
Right in the middle of that awkward standoff,
one of the men carrying a crate became too nervous.
His palms were slick with sweat, and his grip slipped.
Clang!
The heavy wooden crate slammed hard against the stone steps of the pier.
The impact knocked the lid loose.
It popped open just enough to leave a crack about two fingers wide.
For a moment, time seemed to stop.
Through that crack, a pair of bloodshot eyes filled with fear and despair stared desperately at the outside world, at Gion.
The tears running from those eyes, streaked with dirt, were clearly visible.
Nelson felt as if something exploded inside his head.
It's over.
Everything is over.
She saw it. She definitely saw it.
In that instant, Nelson's face went pale as death.
He could almost feel a noose tightening around his neck.
He stood there stiffly, waiting for Gion's fury to explode.
But Gion did not draw her sword.
She only glanced at the crack once, then very calmly looked away.
From inside her coat, she pulled out a white handkerchief and elegantly covered her nose and mouth.
Her brows furrowed in disgust, as though she had seen something filthy enough to make her sick.
"These are the live pigs you mentioned?"
Her voice was cold and lofty, laced with obvious distaste.
"Their eyes are dull, and they look half-dead before they've even made it to the pot. You actually dare to bring ingredients of this quality into the base?"
Nelson froze.
His mind went blank.
She... didn't see it?
Or... did she choose to ignore it?
"The Commodore is right."
Aiden stepped forward at exactly the right moment.
Thump!
He casually raised his foot and nudged the cracked lid shut again, sealing it back into place.
"Commodore Nelson," Aiden said, brushing the dust off his pant leg in a professional manner, "if these are sick pigs, then hurry and move them to the quarantine area to be dealt with. Don't leave this kind of bad luck piled up here. If an infection breaks out in the base, it won't end well."
Those words crushed what was left of Nelson's nerves, but at the same time, they pulled him back from the edge.
"Yes! Yes!!"
Nelson felt as though he had just been pardoned at the last second.
His legs went weak, and he nearly collapsed to his knees.
He nodded again and again.
"I'll deal with it immediately! Right away! I won't let these 'sick pigs' offend the Commodore's eyes again!"
"Let's go."
Gion turned and walked away without looking at the crates again.
Her back was straight and cold.
Leaving the pier, they entered an empty corridor.
Bang!
Smoker finally lost control and slammed his fist into the wall, cracking it on the spot.
"You two..."
Smoker growled, his eyes bloodshot like a cornered beast.
"You both saw it, didn't you?! Those were people! Living people trapped inside those boxes!"
"Why did you put on that act?! Why did you go along with that fat pig?! We're Marines! We just stood there and watched civilians being shipped around like cargo!!"
"Calm down, Smoker."
Aiden stopped and looked at him.
His voice remained calm.
"I told you last night. Our target isn't just these fifty people. It's the entire chain."
"Saving these fifty would be easy. But the moment we do that, Victor, the man behind Nelson, will be alerted."
Aiden pointed back toward the pier.
"Those people are the 'perfect materials' Victor wants. Before he gets here and starts 'sculpting,' they have to be kept alive and unharmed. So right now, that holding cell is actually the safest place for them."
"Let Nelson move the cargo in. Let him think he fooled us. Only then will he lead Victor here."
"If we're going to bring them down, we have to wait until they make the first move. We agreed on that last night."
Smoker breathed heavily and glared at Aiden.
Of course he remembered the plan from the night before, but seeing it with his own eyes still made his blood boil.
After a long silence, he spat on the ground and turned his head away.
At the same time, inside the base commander's office,
Nelson collapsed into his chair like a boneless lump.
Sweat had completely soaked his uniform.
What had just happened on the pier had nearly scared him to death.
"They saw it... that woman definitely saw it..."
Now that he had calmed down a little, Nelson was certain of it.
At that distance, there was no way Gion had missed it.
He had regained his wits, but that only made the fear worse.
Although Gion had not exploded on the spot, that attitude of seeing through everything and still refusing to make a move left him even more terrified.
What did that mean?
It meant Headquarters had already made its move.
It meant they were planning to cast a wide net.
They didn't want to startle the enemy.
They wanted to wipe out both him and the "Crystal Duke" in one sweep.
"I'm dead... if they leave this island alive, I'm dead..."
After fear came madness.
Now that he had been exposed, there was no turning back.
"I can't let them leave... I can't let them leave here alive..."
Nelson suddenly grabbed the Transponder Snail with a trembling hand and dialed the number.
It was the direct line to the Crystal Duke.
Bloop... bloop... bloop...
The call connected.
An elegant but lazy voice came from the other side.
"This is Victor."
"D-Duke! It's me, Nelson!" Nelson's voice shook with fear and madness.
"Something happened! A Commodore from Headquarters came, and she... she seems to have found out about our business!"
"Oh?" The voice on the other end remained calm. "And?"
"She didn't make a move. She's waiting for you! She wants to catch all of us at once!"
Nelson nearly screamed.
"My lord, tomorrow... tomorrow we have to strike first! We'll blow those Headquarters bastards and their ship to pieces!"
There was a brief silence on the other end, followed by a soft chuckle.
"This is the first time a Marine has tried to hunt me down."
"Interesting. Then we'll do as you say, Nelson."
"Tomorrow at noon, I will give them a magnificent funeral."