On the deck of the battleship, Sean was personally leading a group of Marines in training.
Everyone was drenched in sweat. Though the drills were grueling, the past few days of training had made them feel their strength steadily increasing. Most importantly, Sean hadn't held anything back, teaching them techniques and knowledge that were typically inaccessible. After all, even within the Marines, certain advanced methods could only be learned inside the Elite Training Camp.
Sean guided them with immense patience.
Furthermore, since arriving in the East Blue, the Marines had followed Sean in wiping out both the notorious Black Cat Pirates and Don Krieg's crew. These victories had earned Sean their deep respect. In the process, the hidden attribute of "Loyalty" was skyrocketing. This shift was evident in the way the Marines looked at him.
'System, Apply the Multiplier for today!'
[Please confirm the item and method,] the system replied in its usual manner.
Today, Sean intended to experiment with a new method of application. He wasn't sure if it would work, but he was willing to try.
"System, I want to Apply the Multiplier to today's loyalty gains based on quality."
Essentially, he was arguing that since his actions earned him the loyalty of others, that loyalty should count as a personal gain. If that worked...
[Confirmed. Applying the Multiplier...]
[Process complete. Today's random multiplier is 35x.]
The moment the system's voice echoed in his mind, Sean clenched his fist in excitement.
It actually worked!
While 35x wasn't a massive multiplier, it was certainly far from low. The next moment, as Sean looked around at the surrounding Marines, he noticed a change. The respect in their eyes had shifted, now tinged with a hint of fanaticism.
Sean knew exactly what this meant. Since this method was viable, he now had a far more effective way to build a core group of subordinates who were absolutely loyal to him. As long as he ensured the unwavering loyalty of his inner circle, he wouldn't have to worry too much about occasionally revealing his hidden trump cards.
Though, come to think of it... if loyalty gains could be amplified this way, could the affection gains from girls be handled the same way?
'No, no, no. That's getting a bit tasteless!'
Sean quickly shook his head, dismissing the thought. That would be far too shameless... and honestly, too boring.
Just then, the Den Den Mushi on Sean's person began to ring.
'Purupurupuru...'
"Sean speaking!"
"Commodore Sean, this is Kalan from the Lawan Company!"
"Hmm? Our previous transaction was already completed. Is there a problem?"
"No, no, Commodore Sean, you've misunderstood. I'm calling about something else."
"What is it?"
"It's like this—we recently received word from Marine Headquarters that Commodore Sean intends to rebuild the 16th Branch, and that the entire project has reached a scale of two billion Belly. I wondered..."
Sean paused, momentarily stunned. While the Lawan Company was famous in the East Blue, they were a shipping and freight company. What did they have to do with construction?
"That is true, but I don't see how that concerns you."
"Oh, my dear Commodore Sean, it concerns us very much!"
"How so?"
"Well, there are three major construction firms in the East Blue. One of them, the Tokaf Construction Company, belongs to the same corporate group as our Lawan Company."
Well, it really was connected. Since he was planning a massive overhaul of the 16th Branch, Sean had researched the local construction firms. Tokaf Construction was well-known, but they rarely participated in Marine bidding projects. Currently, only one branch in the East Blue was handled by them; the others had been carved up by the other two firms.
In terms of actual infrastructure capability, Tokaf was superior to the other two, but for the same project, their quotes were typically 20-30% higher. As for why that was... well, the East Blue was a complicated place.
Because of this, Sean had already been leaning toward hiring them. He wasn't short on money, and he had no desire to end up with "tofu-dreg" shoddy construction.
"Alright. I'll arrive at the 16th Branch in two days. Arrange for someone to come over and negotiate."
"Understood, Commodore Sean! I will inform the General Manager immediately!"
Kalan was ecstatic. If this deal went through, his contribution to the group would be massive—likely enough to get him promoted from the Lawan Company to a position at the corporate headquarters. How could he not be excited?
'''
Two days later.
The battleship finally returned to the 16th Branch. Thanks to the efforts of the fifty-plus Marines stationed there, the base had been thoroughly cleaned. For the time being, it finally felt like a place where people could actually live.
On that day, the official order from Marine Headquarters finally arrived.
The 16th Branch was promoted to a second-class branch, with its staffing limit increased to 500 personnel. Simultaneously, Headquarters would allocate three medium-sized warships and one large warship for the 16th Branch's use.
That wasn't all. Beyond the ships, the manifest included a massive amount of supplies, weaponry, and training facilities. The specifications and quantities were enough to make any other branch in the East Blue green with envy.
Normally, this would have caused an uproar among the other branches. In fact, several East Blue branches had already complained to Headquarters.
However, regardless of who complained, Sengoku had only one response: "Sean paid for it with his own money. If you have the ability to do the same as Sean, you can have the same!"
That shut everyone up instantly. It turns out Headquarters wasn't being generous; Sean had funded the entire thing himself. And it was three billion Belly!
Considering Sean's current net worth, it actually seemed... perfectly normal.
The protests from the various branches died down in less than a day. Of course, Sean didn't have time to care about that. He was currently arranging the recruitment process. With a staffing limit of 500 and only 100 current personnel, he needed to recruit another 400 men.
While recruiting 400 Marines was a simple task, Sean didn't intend to follow the standard procedure. Recruiting that way would bring in soldiers who were too ordinary... and they wouldn't fit into his future plans.
"Commodore, are you really going to recruit based on these conditions?"
After listening to Sean, Lucci asked a question, his expression filled with doubt.
As the adjutant, Lucci had carefully studied the Marine recruitment system after learning that Sean intended to enlist new soldiers. Generally, the recruitment threshold for Headquarters was 8 Doriki. The requirements for the Four Seas were typically lower, with 7 Doriki usually being sufficient to qualify. In the East Blue, the standards were even more lax; sometimes, those with only 5 or 6 Doriki could be accepted.
However, Sean had just stated that the recruitment for the 16th Branch would require candidates to meet two specific conditions.
First was the Doriki value, which had to reach at least 12. To put this into perspective, even a standard Marine at Headquarters who had completed full training only possessed 10 Doriki. Wasn't a requirement of 12 simply too high?
And Sean's demands didn't stop there.
Beyond the Doriki requirement, the recruits had to possess at least one specialized talent. This could be a combat talent—such as hand to hand, marksmanship, or swordsmanship—or even a vocational skill, such as ship repair, blacksmithing, or culinary arts. In short, aside from basic strength, a candidate needed a distinct edge in at least one area.
These entry requirements were practically higher than those of Headquarters.
"Exactly. Quality over quantity," Sean replied with a nod. "I want elites, not cannon fodder!"
"Once these people are brought in and the training equipment is in place, I'll ask old man Zephyr to send over a few instructors. We will implement a six-month training program based entirely on the Elite Training Camp's curriculum."
"Therefore, if someone lacks an outstanding talent or their basic strength is insufficient, there's little point in recruiting them."
As Sean spoke, he knew in his heart that this batch of Marines wasn't being prepared for the East Blue. If that were the case, the hundred Marines he had already brought with him would be more than enough to suppress every pirate crew in the region.
What Sean truly wanted was to build a pirate guerrilla force.
As for the purpose of such a force? Naturally, it was to farm military merits in the Grand Line.
Sean had set a clear goal for himself: leave the East Blue in two years and strive to take command of a G-series base, preferably one located in the New World. The commander of a G-series base held a rank of at least Vice Admiral.
This meant that Sean had to accumulate enough military merits within two years to reach that position. Simply 'grinding' in the East Blue—even if he completely purged every pirate in the sea—wouldn't provide nearly enough merit to be promoted to Vice Admiral.