Kong issued an order that even he found exasperating, but there was no other way.
In the face of overwhelming disparity in strength, numbers can scarcely make a difference, though they're not completely useless.
During the Summit War, many of the wounds on Whitebeard's body were left by the soldiers who fought there.
Those soldiers were elites in their respective branches, but against Whitebeard it made no real difference.
The prerequisite for all of that, however, was having someone strong enough up front to pin him down.
Given the current situation at Marine Headquarters, Kong himself couldn't leave his post. Garp wouldn't follow orders. And sending a few ordinary troops would be pointless.
If this were some political infighting plot, the opponent would immediately impeach him and use the chance to purge dissidents.
And over these past few months, Kong had also noticed changes in Garp.
Before God Valley, Garp wasn't very invested in many things, but overall he still obeyed orders.
After that incident, the upper echelons of the World Government hailed him as a Marine hero, and Garp continued serving in the Marines.
When it came to truly hunting certain pirates, Garp would still act.
But a lot of the time, Garp would show a "whatever, I'm done" attitude. Like right now.
"Boss Kong, I did warn you back then that Nereus didn't die over there."
"Garp, use titles while on duty."
The messenger was standing right there. Kong did have a decent personal relationship with Garp, but Garp's behavior just now had irritated him, so he corrected the form of address instead.
"Yes, yes, Admiral Kong. Knowing that guy would return to Fishman Island sooner or later, yet you didn't warn the Marines over at Sabaody Archipelago to be on alert. This is negligence of your duty."
"..."
Back then, the World Government's goal had been to cover up everything related to the God Valley Incident as much as possible, including the very name "Rocks."
So as long as those people didn't make any major moves again, the papers mentioned none of it, and the rumor that Nereus was dead spread widely.
Kong wanted to say something, but he saw Garp stroll over to his desk on his own, casually reach into a hidden compartment, and pull out a bag of senbei.
"Crunch... crunch..."
The crisp chewing sounded in his ears, and Kong couldn't help clenching his fist.
"What are you still standing here for? Go deliver the order!"
"Yes, sir!"
Apparently, the messenger hadn't expected the legendary Vice Admiral and Admiral to be like this.
He carefully left the office, and thoughtfully closed the door behind him. Just as Kong was about to "communicate" with Garp physically, Garp suddenly raised another question.
"This incident at Sabaody Archipelago, you're going to keep it under wraps again, aren't you?"
"Yeah... there's no way we can publicize it. At most we'll mention that the auction house was attacked..."
A notorious pirate attacks a slave auction house, and the Marines not only don't stop him but let him leave. Broadcasting that would be like grinding their own face into the dirt.
Besides, compared to so many major incidents in the past, this was too insignificant to even raise Nereus's bounty. It was utterly trivial.
"Justice... really is funny."
Meanwhile, at the Marine base on Sabaody Archipelago, the base commander received two orders.
One was from Marine Headquarters: ignore Nereus and let him leave at once.
The other was from Mariejois: deploy troops immediately and bring back all the escaped slaves.
Although the Marines are, to a large extent, a self-governing organization and the World Government's oversight is fairly loose—
Appointments for Admirals and the Fleet Admiral must be approved by the World Government, and Vice Admiral–level officers are also vetted by the World Government. But for ranks below that—Rear Admiral and the like—the Marines can appoint freely and simply file a report afterward.
Even so, there's no denying that, in legal terms, the Marines have always been a subordinate institution under the World Government, and in theory, World Government officials can command the Marines as well.
"Mr. Colston, this situation is different. The person who attacked the auction house is—"
"I don't care who it was! I want my merchandise! If you can't recover my losses... Rear Admiral Collier, don't forget how you became a Rear Admiral."
Branch commanders on the Grand Line are usually Vice Admirals. Sabaody Archipelago is an exception; because it's so close to Marine Headquarters, it doesn't even count as a branch, just a garrison post.
The commander's job is usually just coordinating with the World Government, so the rank is lower.
Those who run slave auctions in Sabaody Archipelago all have their own networks of connections; they are inextricably linked to the World Government and serve as the "black gloves" for many officials within the Underworld. [TN: It means a disposable or shadowy intermediary who does the dirty work—much like a glove shielding the hand from filth—allowing officials to maintain plausible deniability.]
In truth, most of the "cakes" in the Underworld had long since been divided up. If you wanted a slice, you had to snatch it from someone else.
Human trafficking was an exception. There were always vacant spots here, because anyone who stayed in this line of work for too long would end up killed by Nereus.
These officials didn't care how those vacancies came to be. The moment they saw profit, they naturally reached in with greedy hands, and this time was no different.
Colston's threat gave Collier a massive headache. The post of base commander at Sabaody Archipelago was extremely lucrative, and the way he had obtained it was indeed far from honorable.
But Kong had already told him who was behind this incident. Collier had no desire to fight a monster like that, and he couldn't afford to defy headquarters' orders either.
"No choice… this is the only way."
Collier's decision was to send soldiers to their deaths. He still dispatched a considerable number of the remaining garrison to hunt down the slaves.
When headquarters ask later, he could just say that by the time the order arrived, the troops had already been sent out.
As for Colston…
He had already taken action anyway. If he truly couldn't win, there were more than one official behind the scenes. Colston was at most a messenger. Among those people, someone would eventually accept reality.
One squad after another of soldiers, shouting slogans of justice, formed ranks and advanced toward the shoreline and the slave auction house.
By the time Nereus's ship began to dive with the slaves aboard, there were no Marines left on the shore attempting to pursue them.
Deceived by their commander, these soldiers turned into corpses scattered across the ground in the span of moments. Many of them died without ever knowing who their enemy was.
"What a terrible world…"
Kuma looked at the bodies on the shore, his feelings deeply conflicted. Those Marines all shouted about justice, yet their goal was to strip innocent people of their freedom.
"It's precisely because the world is terrible that it must be changed, and the road to change is destined to be filled with thorns. If the enemy doesn't bleed, then our own people will.
But the garrison commander here seems to have a problem. Knowing full well that the enemy was me, he still sent out troops of this level to die…"
Because of its location, an incident like this at Sabaody Archipelago was sure to be reported to headquarters. Marine Headquarters was well aware of his capabilities, so this is surprising.
In the space of a moment, a thought flashed through Nereus's mind, and he appeared within the space of the River of Death.
"Xebec, how about I find you something to do?"
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