"Outrageous!"
The first to react when Genzo suddenly dropped to his knees was Captain Nezumi.
He stepped forward at once, drew his sword in a flash, and pointed it at Genzo's head.
"You dare block the path of a Vice Admiral? You want to die? Men—drag him away immediately!"
At Nezumi's order, the Marines of the 16th Branch—the same men who had spent years drinking from the same dirty bowl as him—hesitated not at all. They rushed forward at once to seize Genzo.
Seeing this, Vice Admiral Gion's brows drew together.
"Stand down."
Nezumi quickly stepped in front of her and bowed.
"Vice Admiral, such a trivial matter can be handled by your subordinate."
Gion slowly lifted her eyes and said coldly,
"I told you to stand down."
Then she stepped forward, stopping directly in front of Genzo. Her tone turned instantly gentle.
"Mr. Genzo, please stand and speak. I am a Vice Admiral of Marine Headquarters. You just asked me to seek justice for the people of Cocoyasi Village. What exactly happened here?"
"Vice Admiral… the people of Cocoyasi Village have suffered!"
Seizing the chance, Genzo spoke through tears.
"A few years ago, the Arlong Pirates came to our village. The moment they landed, they began extorting money from the villagers. Every month, without fail. Adults had to pay 100,000 beli, children 50,000. If anyone couldn't pay, they were killed…"
As Genzo's sob-filled accusations continued, Gion's expression darkened.
She had never expected that in the East Blue there could still be a pirate crew that had oppressed and slaughtered civilians for years like this.
What shocked her even more was that the Arlong Pirates, who had terrorized Cocoyasi Village and more than twenty nearby villages, had been living all this time in that great building by the sea—Arlong Park.
Years of oppression.
Open murder.
And now, on top of that, the possibility that the red rabbit tied to the Celestial Dragon incident might be connected here as well.
This Arlong Pirates matter was already more than enough to warrant total extermination.
But the truly critical point was this—
The reason Arlong had been able to dominate the area for so many years without being arrested was because he had been colluding with Captain Nezumi.
"Captain Nezumi. Care to explain?"
Gion turned her head and looked at him coldly.
"You are the commanding officer of the 16th Branch, yet you colluded with pirates in your jurisdiction to oppress civilians. Do you know your crime?"
"I'm innocent, Vice Admiral!"
Nezumi dropped to his knees with a thud and cried out urgently,
"How could I possibly collude with pirates? Please don't believe him, Vice Admiral! I know this Genzo—he's the real corrupt policeman who colluded with Arlong! He even has an adopted daughter named Nami, and she's spent all these years drawing navigational charts for Arlong!"
"That's a lie!"
Before Gion could speak, Genzo immediately raised his head and shouted at Nezumi,
"Nami was forced into it by Arlong!"
Purururu—
At that moment, the Den Den Mushi in Gion's coat rang.
"Vice Admiral, the building is empty. From what we can tell, they noticed our arrival in advance and evacuated in time. But the whole of Cocoyasi Village is surrounded now, so they shouldn't be able to get far!"
Gion narrowed her eyes slightly.
"They're fish-man pirates. Most likely they escaped into the sea. Search carefully again. See if you can find any traces connected to the red rabbit."
The moment she finished speaking, several voices immediately came through the line.
"Report! There's a small loft room on the top floor!"
"Go up and check it immediately!"
"Yes, sir!"
"D-don't come up here!"
"Report! We found a girl in the loft! She must not have escaped in time and hid there!"
The moment those words came through the Den Den Mushi, Genzo shot back to his feet.
At almost the same time, Nokjiko, who had been standing nearby, rushed forward and shouted anxiously into the receiver:
"Nami! Is that you? It's me—Nokjiko!"
Seeing the blue-haired girl suddenly rush over, Gion more or less understood the situation.
"Bring the girl here at once. I want to question her."
After saying that, she put away the Den Den Mushi and looked at Genzo and the trembling Nokjiko.
"Don't panic. If it really is true that Captain Nezumi colluded with pirates, then I will absolutely give you justice."
After a pause, she shifted her gaze to Nezumi, who was still kneeling on the ground and shaking.
Based on his reaction alone, she was already close to certain that what Genzo had said was probably true.
Still, that wasn't the primary purpose of her arrival here.
The most important matter before her remained the same:
The red rabbit that had killed a Celestial Dragon and wiped out the royal family of the Goa Kingdom.
"Vice Admiral, I truly am innocent!"
Feeling Gion's gaze grow colder and colder, Nezumi begged desperately even as his eyes darted around.
Waiting passively for the verdict was not his style.
He needed to turn this around.
And he still had one chance.
Right now, Gion's true mission in the East Blue was to capture the lawless red rabbit. Without exaggeration, nothing was more important than that at the moment.
Which meant—
There was still hope for him to reverse the situation.
"Whether you're innocent or not, I will determine that myself."
Gion waved a hand and said evenly,
"For now, get up. A Marine captain should not have weak knees."
The moment he heard that, hope flared in Nezumi's eyes.
He quickly stood and retreated to one side.
Not long after, the Marines who had gone to Arlong Park began returning one after another.
At the front of the group, two Headquarters majors escorted a young girl between them.
She had beautiful short orange hair and brown eyes, and looked around fifteen or sixteen. Though she had not yet fully grown, her figure was already beginning to take shape.
She was unmistakably someone who would become a great beauty.
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