South of the Calm Belt, Tobacco Island.
This name had naturally been given by G-7 Marines because the island had been developed into a massive tobacco planting and production base.
Over 30,000 pirate prisoners were stationed on the island, working in shifts day and night to produce large quantities of "White Hunter" cigarettes. The spokesperson for this brand was Smoker, who was currently very popular within the pirate community.
It wasn't because Smoker had a good reputation. In fact, he didn't have a very good reputation in the pirate camp and was called the "running dog of the World Government." But these cigarettes were genuinely excellent. They were supposedly tobacco that had been out of production for more than two hundred years. At the same time, they were really strong when smoked!
Pirates naturally loved these things!
This island basically had no rainfall all year round, was located in the Calm Belt, and had no sea breeze. However, the island's groundwater resources were particularly abundant, so the environment here was very favorable.
The sky was clear all year round, and the tobacco on the island grew luxuriantly.
In an open-air processing plant, more than 900 pirates were busy with their respective tasks. They crushed the dried tobacco into powder, then rolled it with paper, rubbed it on their thighs, and shaped it into cigarettes. They collected them into boxes. Later, there would be pirates responsible for another process to package them up and finally send them to the dock at the port. They'd be transported and loaded by Marines and handed over to Spandine of CP-9. Spandine would quickly transport these goods to the New World to be sold by Stussy and Smoker.
At this moment, a Marine Vice Admiral was inspecting this open-air processing plant. To be honest, this was just one of many processing plants on the island and there was nothing particularly special about it.
This Vice Admiral was none other than Vice Admiral Doberman of G-7.
He held a cigar in his mouth and slowly exhaled a puff of smoke, watching the pirates rolling cigarettes on their thighs. He suddenly felt the cigar in his mouth was no longer appealing...
Fortunately, these things were sold to pirates. People on the Marine side didn't smoke these. Especially G-7 Marines, who detested the cigarettes they produced themselves.
After all, if anyone knew these cigarettes were rolled on the thighs of a group of pirate prisoners, they'd have no appetite to smoke them.
It was better to sell them to pirates and let those damned pirates taste the prisoners' "essence."
Just as Doberman was conducting his inspection, a very beautiful female Marine Captain, who looked only fifteen or sixteen years old, quickly approached and saluted. "Vice Admiral Doberman, welcome."
Doberman nodded at her. A smile appeared across his fierce face. "Captain Hancock, how are things progressing here?"
Indeed, the Marine Captain before him was none other than Boa Hancock of Amazon Lily.
She'd been at G-7 for more than three years and had just become a Captain of G-7 this year. According to G-7's hierarchy, her military rank was equivalent to Headquarters level.
In other words, it had taken Hancock three years to become a Captain at Marine Headquarters level.
This speed was already very fast.
Hancock had advanced much faster than Hina.
But this was also normal, because compared to Hina, Hancock's background was very special. She was the Crown Princess of Amazon Lily and had been selected as the next Empress.
In other words, she was the ruler of a country with a population of more than one million, and she had tens of thousands of female warriors with Haki under her command. Her background was extremely powerful.
In addition, G-7 had developed the Calm Belt and collaborated extensively with Amazon Lily. For example, many Amazon Lily soldiers were present on Tobacco Island, helping the Marines guard pirate prisoners.
And Hancock's talent was indeed very strong. She'd awakened Conqueror's Haki and eaten the Love-Love Fruit given to her by Finn. Her strength improved daily. How could she be weak if she could earn the title of Seven Warlords of the Sea when she first went to sea at age eighteen?
Therefore, because of these direct and indirect reasons, Hancock had been promoted very quickly at G-7. According to Gion's intention, after Hancock came of age, she'd officially become a Rear Admiral of Marine Headquarters, and then secretly carry out the plan to infiltrate the Seven Warlords of the Sea, becoming one of the Warlords as a Marine Rear Admiral and captain of the Kuja Pirates!
In fact, the approach was the same as when Finn had promoted Smoker from a kid in the academy to Rear Admiral in one go.
Since you wanted people to risk their lives for you, how could you not give them benefits?
Back then, when Hancock had just joined the Marines, she'd been very resistant to G-7. After all, she'd been forced to join the Marines, and her ancestors had all been pirates. It would be strange if she had any positive feelings toward them.
But now, things were completely different. Hancock could clearly sense how much her country had changed after the Marines showed goodwill to Amazon Lily and they cooperated with each other. Living standards had increased dramatically.
Their range of activities in the Calm Belt was also rapidly expanding, and they could obtain many Marine resources from all aspects. In addition, the Marines had completely lifted restrictions on Amazon Lily. Amazon Lily citizens could now participate in Marine recruitment on their own.
This year was the first year of opening, and as far as Hancock knew, quite a few Amazon Lily citizens had already applied to join G-7. She could foresee that in the near future, Amazon Lily would become even better. At the same time, with a large number of people joining the military, they'd also transform from a pirate nation to a normal country. By boarding this powerful ship, they'd maintain a relatively friendly relationship with the Marines.
These developments were all very beneficial to Amazon Lily.
Therefore, by now, Hancock had begun to take pride in her status as a Marine Captain. She'd even secretly decided that in the future, the Empress of Amazon Lily would follow the tradition of the Kuja Pirates, and each generation would have to join the military from a young age and at least reach the rank of Vice Admiral before returning to assume the throne.
Hearing Doberman's question, Hancock smiled. "Everything is normal. Our production is increasing, and our shipments are growing. However, it seems demand there is even greater, and our production capacity is still somewhat insufficient. I've submitted an application to expand the labor force. I hope to receive more pirate prisoners to develop the undeveloped wasteland on the island into plantations..."
"Really?" Doberman nodded, then said, "That's excellent, but with the Calm Belt's resources now being exported, production capacity on the various islands can't keep up with demand. We've already expanded the pirate prisoner workforce to 300,000, stationed across various islands, engaged in various development projects, but it's still somewhat stretched. We've already transferred most of the prisoners from Impel Down... Perhaps your application will have to wait a while before it's implemented."
Now Magellan was the Director of Impel Down, and Mescas had retired to enjoy his life, having made considerable money and feeling very satisfied.
Magellan had also inherited Mescas's partnership and started even closer cooperation with G-7. The situation from the past, where Impel Down had to secretly execute many prisoners every year to make room due to overcrowding, had long since disappeared.
Now Magellan hoped the Marines from various locations could become more aggressive and send pirate prisoners from all over the world to Impel Down in a steady stream.
These weren't prisoners at all. These were simply golden Berries!
Nowadays, except for those pirates with bounties exceeding 100 million and who were difficult to control, most of the ordinary prisoners in Impel Down had been taken to the Calm Belt for hard labor. The first, second, and third levels of Impel Down were basically empty...
As Calm Belt resources were exported, more and more labor was needed. Magellan almost wished he, the Director of the prison, could go out and catch pirates himself!
"Ah? Is there no solution?" Hancock asked in surprise.
Doberman nodded. "Lady Gion is currently considering countermeasures. Headquarters has also made some suggestions. The current world situation is still unstable. Many pirates are wreaking havoc everywhere, and the Revolutionary Army is frequently revolting, resulting in large numbers of refugees. Headquarters intends to recruit these refugees and send them to the Calm Belt to serve as laborers, providing them with certain compensation and allowing them to settle directly in the Calm Belt. After all, with this development pace, in ten or twenty years, many mature industrial chains will inevitably form here. The formation of industrial chains will inevitably attract large numbers of permanent residents... We can't rely entirely on pirates to accomplish this."
"Isn't that excellent?" Hancock said, her eyes brightening.
"But it's somewhat troublesome to implement. After all, the Calm Belt needs to remain hidden for now and shouldn't be detected by the outside world. If our Marines organize the immigration, it'll be too conspicuous..." Doberman shook his head.
Hancock thought about it for a while after hearing this, but she didn't have any good solution. It was better to leave this problem to the bosses at Headquarters to resolve.
Deciding to stop discussing the issue, Hancock smiled. "Vice Admiral Doberman, I heard you'll be the next base commander for G-7?"
"Hahaha, you little girl are quite well-informed," Doberman suddenly laughed.
"Of course. I keep in contact with Lady Gion frequently," Hancock said with a smile.
"That's right. At Headquarters, the Admiral is planning to transfer Lady Gion to Headquarters. I heard she'll be given the title of Admiral candidate. After Lady Gion goes to Headquarters, G-7 will be handed over to me for management, and I'll naturally become the base commander of G-7," Doberman said with a smile.
"Congratulations," Hancock said with emotion.
Doberman smiled, then said, "It's all thanks to the Admiral's care."
There was nothing remarkable about Doberman sitting in the position of Vice Admiral. There were many Vice Admirals in the Marines.
But how many Vice Admirals could become actual base commanders?
Especially of a very important base like G-7?
This was undoubtedly a kind of training for Doberman. If he worked hard here for a few years, his qualifications would be solidified.
After returning to Headquarters, he could stand out among the Vice Admirals and become an elite Vice Admiral with real power!
At this moment, a Lieutenant Commander ran over from a distance, saluted Doberman, and said, "Vice Admiral Doberman, Warlord of the Sea White Hunter Smoker has arrived at the port."
"Oh? Really? I see," Doberman nodded, then looked at Hancock. "Let's go meet your future colleague."
Hancock was stunned for a moment, then smiled. "Yes, Vice Admiral Doberman."
As Finn's direct subordinate, Doberman naturally knew Smoker's identity, and Hancock, as another member of the Seven Warlords of the Sea plan, certainly had the right to know.
Soon, both of them arrived at the port. Smoker had just disembarked and was observing the situation on the island with curious eyes.
"Smoker!" Doberman waved at Smoker.
Smoker then withdrew his gaze, walked several steps to Doberman, and said with a smile, "Senior Doberman."
"Haha, thank you for your hard work," Doberman patted Smoker on the shoulder.
Smoker shook his head with a hint of emotion. "It's all for Justice."
Then, he looked at Hancock with some curiosity. "Who is this?"
He already had some idea in his mind.
Doberman smiled. "Let me introduce you. This is the new talent the Admiral has selected. She'll be your colleague in the future. Her name is Boa Hancock. She's a Captain of Marine Headquarters and the Crown Princess of Amazon Lily. She'll inherit the Kuja Pirates in the future..."
Smoker's eyes lit up. Then he said, "Nice to meet you, Captain Hancock. Welcome to Hell."
Hancock: ???
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