Smoker curled his lip in disdain. "As for influence, what damn influence? Everything that could be influenced has already been influenced. Now they're scared? Too late for that, isn't it?"
With a sweep of the cape of justice on his back, he said: "Now follow me into the 315th Branch! As for whether we report anything, I will decide that myself!"
…
The next day, just as Ian was going to train as usual…
"Ian."
He was suddenly called by Instructor Zephyr, who had already returned for several days.
Ian stopped his steps and walked over with doubt, then directly sat down to the side.
"What is it?"
"I've received news from the Marines."
Looking at Ian, who had sat down, Zephyr leaned forward and said with a cheerful smile: "The commander of the 315th Branch has been replaced."
Ian: "..."
"What's wrong? Worried about that guy Enchi? Don't worry, that guy didn't make any mistakes; he just got promoted."
"I already heard about it from Enchi when I came back yesterday."
"You already knew?"
Hearing Ian's words, Instructor Zephyr showed a surprised expression on his face, even looking somewhat disappointed, but soon he returned to his cheerful smile and said: "The Marine Headquarters has already made a move, but don't worry, the headquarters seems to have no intention of taking action against us yet. It's just based on some intel I got from a certain Marine..."
He paused slightly, his tone full of emotion and complexity. "It seems the Marine Headquarters is deliberately reducing our influence inside the Marines."
Ian: "..."
Although Instructor Zephyr didn't say it directly, Ian understood his meaning.
Zephyr had dedicated most of his life to the Marine Headquarters, yet at this age, he left the Marine Headquarters, and now even his accomplishments and influence were being erased.
How could he feel nothing about that?
Of course, it was quite normal too. After all, Instructor Zephyr's status within the Marines was not simple.
Now that he had left the headquarters, how could they still let his ideology continue influencing the Marines?
Otherwise, what if Instructor Zephyr went back to the headquarters to poach people?
As for himself, he had long since retired, so he didn't care at all whether or not he still had influence inside the Marines.
"Compared to that…"
Ian didn't try to comfort Instructor Zephyr. He believed Zephyr was only feeling emotionally complicated for the moment.
Since he had already made his decision, as a former Admiral and Chief Instructor at the Marine Headquarters, Ian didn't think he was the indecisive type.
Ian looked at Zephyr with a strange expression. "There's actually something I'm curious about."
"What is it?"
Sure enough, hearing Ian's words, Zephyr snapped out of his earlier melancholy and looked at Ian with confusion.
"I just wanted to ask."
Ian said without hesitation while looking at Zephyr curiously: "Who is your informant inside the Marine Headquarters? I already asked Enchi, he wasn't the one who told us about those things."
"Hahaha, that's all? You know him, too; it's that annoying old geezer."
"Alright, I know who it is. It really is something that guy would do. How much did you pay him?"
"Not much, just three days' worth of snacks!"
Ian: "..."
Hearing Zephyr's cheerful response, Ian raised an eyebrow. He already knew exactly who it was.
What could he even say?
He really was the Marine Headquarters' professional old fox, selling intel just like that.
And for only three days of snacks!
If the current Fleet Admiral heard this, he would probably smash that guy's head again.
"Right."
Just as Ian was speechless, Instructor Zephyr seemed to remember something and added, "We need to find a way to earn money. Without a stable income, that little bit of gold will eventually run out. Especially since you brought back so much scientific knowledge and equipment this time, I bet you emptied out the entire Punk Hazard research facility! But research... burns money the most. No amount is ever enough!"
"A way to earn money, huh?"
Hearing this, Ian also fell into thought.
Currently, their income mainly comes from three parts: one was the protection... No, it's security and sanitation fees from Grado's side; another was selling gold from the Sky Island; and finally, the business they established at Sky Island back then.
There used to be the green grape wine from the Sibia River Archipelago, but after leaving that place, that business had been cut off and still hadn't resumed.
Right now, they weren't lacking money. The gold from Sky Island was enough for a while, and the business at Sky Island... Honestly, the profits were incredibly high!
Ordinary things from the sea could be sold at an extremely high price on the Sky Island.
Although the overall profit wasn't as high as selling wine in the sea, the cost was low and the return was high; Kuma just needed to work a little harder.
It was clearly a very rare business opportunity!
But just as Zephyr said, if they wanted to pursue technology, no amount of money would be enough.
Especially since Zephyr also wanted to buy a new ship, recruit people, and uphold justice... all of these required huge spending.
You could say the island needed money for everything!
"How about selling wine again?"
Seeing Ian deep in thought, Zephyr said with a cheerful smile, "I heard the wine from the Sibia River Archipelago is really popular on the sea right now. Since production stopped, there are even counterfeit versions appearing out there, and the price keeps soaring. I didn't expect that even after leaving the Marines, it would still sell so well."
Ian: "..."
Ian had heard about this, too, but he wasn't surprised.
Sometimes, certain items would suddenly skyrocket in price like that.
If Zephyr and Garp both died, this year's wine would probably become even more valuable as a collector's item.
But just as Ian was thinking…
"Even the Sibia River Archipelago has started selling wine again."
Ian: "...?"
Hearing Zephyr's words, Ian snapped out of his thoughts and showed a stunned expression.
He truly didn't know about this. "When did that happen? Didn't I tell them not to sell for a while?"
"Don't worry!"
Zephyr waved his hand, still smiling happily. "What they're selling now is fake wine. The taste and bottle are similar, but if you check carefully, it's still a bit different. Even if the Marines investigate it, nothing will happen; at most, they'll just say it's counterfeit wine. The Marines don't arrest people for selling fake wine on the sea; at worst, they just beat them up!"
Ian: "..."