Akainu looked at the people Luffy had dragged in behind him and spoke.
"Are the men you bound Marines?"
"Yes, they're from one of the G-2 Division's sub-branches."
"What crimes are they accused of?"
"Pillaging and raping civilians, murder, and collusion with pirates."
"Bribing me was just a bonus."
"P-please hear me out!"
The moment Luffy finished speaking, one of the men tied up in ropes—a scarred figure wearing a Justice coat—shouted.
"Speak."
"Th-the place where we committed those acts was an unincorporated territory—a country that collapsed under the burden of Celestial Tribute!"
"What do you mean by collusion with pirates?"
"That's money we took from the pirates who settled there and operated—we accepted it on the condition we wouldn't interfere."
The Celestial Tribute is the tax that member nations must pay to the Celestial Dragons, who rule the World Government from the Holy Land Mariejois, in exchange for their protection.
Most lands of impoverished countries that cannot pay the Tribute—an amount determined by population—become unincorporated territories outside Marine protection, lawless havens where pirates run rampant.
"Originally, the Marines have no obligation to intervene in unincorporated territories. Unless you took money in exchange for committing illegal acts, you're not subject to punishment."
"Y-yes! The money we took was from criminals in those areas who paid up out of fear every time they crossed paths with us at sea!"
"So you didn't take it as payment for illegal acts...!"
"Admiral Akainu, I have something to report on this."
Before the captured officer could finish, the Marine standing next to Luffy spoke up.
The white-haired man, well over two meters tall, withdrew thick stacks of documents from his coat.
"You are... Captain Smoker?"
"Do you know me?"
"I hear you ate a Logia-type Devil Fruit like the one I have."
"I've also heard from Kuzan that besides being a Devil Fruit user with solid skills, you often disobey orders, which has slowed your promotions."
"Ahem, that's..."
"So you two already know each other, huh?"
"I've been investigating on my own, suspecting that one of the G-2 Division's sub-branches was colluding with pirates."
"Luffy recognized me as a Marine while I was investigating, and that's how we got acquainted, recruit."
"What's written on those papers you have there?"
"The investigation shows that these guys have been exploiting the fact their branch's island lies some distance from the main division's island to extort money from the villagers living there."
"Then they took money from the pirates they were in league with and helped them take down rival pirate crews."
"The pirates got rid of their enemies, and these guys got their share of the credit."
"See for yourself."
"Th-there's more than that!"
The moment Akainu took the stacks of papers from Smoker, a pink-haired boy in Marine uniform—slightly shorter than the 170-centimeter Luffy—shouted.
"They were letting those pirates come and go freely on the branch's island!"
"They didn't care what the villagers suffered at the pirates' hands! I saw those atrocities myself!"
"And you are?"
"I'm recruit Coby! I recently enlisted thanks to Luffy bringing me here from the East Blue!"
"It's an honor to meet Admiral Akainu like this...!"
"With the evidence here, we have enough to arrest them, Coby. No need to testify about crimes you can't prove yet."
"Ah... that's true, Captain Smoker."
"Why hold back, Smoker? Lacking evidence doesn't mean you can't testify."
"Besides, we came and witnessed their actions on that island based on your tip, and that's why we brought them in."
"Thanks to that, Coby, you can hand over the evidence you gathered once you got here, right?"
"Yes, Luffy!"
As Coby shouted in excitement at Luffy's words, Akainu, reviewing Smoker's documents, looked up.
"Luffy, then what about the pirates who were colluding with these men? You just left them behind?"
"Of course not! We couldn't leave them alive and risk what they might do to the villagers!"
"We wiped them all out."
"…Good."
As Akainu spoke, he raised a hand shrouded in crimson flames reminiscent of blood.
"W-wait a moment, please! I can explain...!"
"The evidence here is sufficient."
With a sweep of his arm, the flames arced between Luffy and Coby, engulfing the bound Marines.
Kyaaa!
"F-f-fire...!"
Coby, startled by the flames grazing past him, stumbled backward. Luffy grabbed his arm and helped him to his feet.
"No need to be scared, Coby. As long as the fire doesn't touch your body, it won't hurt you."
"Luffy, just as I heard, Admiral Akainu is indeed, like Captain Smoker, a..."
"Logia-type Devil Fruit user. He ate the Flame-Flame Fruit."
Standing up, Coby turned to look down at those consumed by Akainu's flames.
In the brief moment it took him to be startled, fall, and stand again, the captured Marines had been charred black like coal.
"Even though it just grazed me, it wasn't hot at all... How can fire blacken someone's flesh like that...?"
"What's with him just spouting fire without warning? He's something else..."
"L-Luffy! What do you think you're doing, talking like that right to the Admiral's face?!"
"Coby... even I didn't know Luffy was this insane."
As Coby muttered, Luffy's words stunned Coby, Smoker, and the surrounding Marines.
And Akainu, his expression turning even more grim, glared at Luffy and spoke.
"Luffy, you ignored the procedures you're required to follow as a Marine, and you carried out an unauthorized operation against your own allies whose guilt wasn't even confirmed."
"Why did you bypass the proper procedures to carry out this?"
"If you had approved Smoker's request to investigate in the first place, none of this would've happened."
"This entire mess happened because the Marines are filled with useless people unfit for their positions."
"They say that for the lower water to be clear, the upper water must be clear as well. By that logic, Admiral Akainu, this is your responsibility..."
"You could've contacted me at the telegraph snail number I gave you on the field."
"So why didn't you reach out? Was the situation so urgent you couldn't alert us before you caused all this trouble?"
"...I couldn't just stand by and watch those pirate scum walk around."
"Are you... accustomed to getting blood on your hands?"
"I spent my childhood in the mountains. I once hunted a wolf on my own."
"That was the first time I truly stained my hands with blood... I came to spill human blood a bit later."
"Were they worth killing?"
"They were the kind who slit the throats of people cowering and begging on the ground."
"Those guys looked at me with eyes nothing like the wolf's."
Luffy wore a fierce expression as he recalled that time when he was even smaller than he is now.
The men wielding knives were grinning with a feral expression.
"What I saw in their eyes wasn't fear, but delight."
"It wasn't hunting for survival, but slaughter for amusement."
"Seeing that, I tried to kill them too, and so I did."
"...How did that feel?"
"At first, after I killed them all, my hands were shaking a lot... but after I went home, slept, and woke up, I was fine."
"People who live as they please deserve to suffer as they please, don't they?"
"Indeed, evil humans have no right to live."
"That is what it means to be 'Human Disqualified'."
"...But doesn't that apply even to Marines?"
"What are you trying to say?"
"Let me apprehend those kinds of people myself. Of course, I'll also hunt pirates."
"If I give you that authority, will you once again ignore proper procedures like today?"
"If it's necessary, yes."
"Freedom comes with responsibility."
"If you're granted a position that allows you to circumvent procedures, you'll also bear the responsibilities that come with it as a Marine."
"Do you have the confidence to shoulder that responsibility, Recruit Luffy?"
"..."
As a brief silence settled, Luffy smiled and spoke.
"Let's do it."
"Good. I'll make the position for you."
"Isn't that authority reserved for the Fleet Admiral?"
"I'll make the request myself. So prepare yourself."
"Prepare for what?"
"You can't handle everything by yourself."
"To take down corrupt Marines, you'll need to lead a unit capable of carrying out a variety of roles."
"You'll have to take the exam I mentioned last time, so study up."
"Ah, I don't really want to do that... but can I add these two to my unit?"
Luffy gestured at Smoker and Coby standing on either side of him.
They both looked surprised, and Smoker spoke first.
"I never thought it'd come to this when we first met... but in any case, I'm counting on you, Luffy."
"Luffy, I don't deserve to be in such an important unit..."
"Coby, it was thanks to you evacuating the civilians well this time that Smoker and I could fight comfortably."
"So you can be confident."
"I-I will do my best!"
"They both say yes, Akainu?"
"Do as you see fit."
At those words, Luffy put an arm around Smoker and Coby's shoulders, and seeing that, Akainu turned and headed back the way he came.
As he walked away with a faint smile, at a short distance Sengoku, Kuzan, and Borsalino watched as Luffy linked arms with the others.
"What a display of youth~ Isn't that right, Sengoku?"
"Didn't I tell you earlier that he'd grow into it on his own?"
"It's time we prepared the role befitting Luffy."
Not long after these events, within the Marines, an Inspection Unit was established for the purpose of conducting internal investigations.
The members of the Inspection Unit were granted the title of Inspector regardless of rank, and Luffy, holding the same Major rank as Smoker, was appointed as Chief Inspector.
As Chief Inspector, he received the authority to investigate suspects without Headquarters' permission, and alongside the inspectors, he apprehended numerous pirates and corrupt Marines.
Bribes held no sway over the righteous man, and few Marines dared threaten him, the hero Garp's grandson.
There was even one who plotted to betray the Marines and kill Luffy alongside pirates, but that attempt was thwarted by Luffy and the inspectors.
One year after Luffy became Chief Inspector, he encountered a woman,
"Who the hell do you think you are?!"
She, with glossy black hair and blue eyes, pointed at Luffy and shouted.
She was the pirate empress whom countless people lauded as the most beautiful woman in the world,
"Can't you hear the words of this beautiful body?! Answer me, now!!!"
She was none other than Boa Hancock, one of the Shichibukai.
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