8 - Interim

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"In short... our branch cannot deal with these pirates?"
"Yes."
As he exhaled, Commander Brandnew's gleaming brow furrowed in deep horizontal lines. Twenty distinguished captains of the Marine sat in two rows facing each other. All of them wore the same grim expression as they accepted his harsh conclusion - one that offended their honour as Marine representatives. Not being able to control a squadron of pirates was an embarrassment that could quickly spread to the people. What would that do to the reputation of the greatest war power? Especially since it was a pirate crew that...

Brandnew glanced at the posters of the three so far strongest and most dangerous criminals in the East Blue. Before the meeting, he had put the papers up on a bulletin board. He turned to the people in the room and exhaled the air out of his cheeks. "Buggy the Clown, 15 million berries. Pirate Fleet Admiral Don Krieg, 17 million berries. Fisherman Pirate Arlong the Saw, 20 million berries.
Here in the East Blue, the average is three million," he explained by way of comparison. He continued: "These three pirate gangs have managed to establish themselves as the absolute leaders. Even our own captains, who each have over 10 million in bounties from the capture of criminals, have been destroyed by them!"

And of course we were talking about none other than Monkey D. Luffy, who had recently conquered the East Blue with his Straw Hat crew and was responsible for taking the three most dangerous men in the East out of business.


Only a little later...


"Those who wish to flee, I now command you to do so immediately! We, who are the only fortress of peace in the age of pirates, cannot forgive even the smallest trifle of cowardice! It is no crime for the majority to be weak, because they can trust us absolutely. Justice will shoulder it! As long as the vile evil roams the seas, it is our duty to go out and destroy it! All in the name of absolute justice!"

An appeal that was made to hundreds of captains of the Marine's units. 

An appeal to find the Straw Hat crew and punish them as harshly as they would any other criminal at sea.

Akiko heard these words often enough when she was near a Marine base or in a tavern where members of the Marine regularly came in for a drink or meal. Recently, the young woman started overhearing their drinking sessions without being in need to put in much effort: They talked brightly about their last voyage, the women of the city and, of course, the most wanted criminals in the country. The Straw Hats were out of control! They had taken down Buggy, who had been up to mischief in Orange Town and had taken an entire town hostage. After that, Don Creek fell - a dangerous pirate that you did not want to meet in the dark. And the episode on the Konomi Islands! Did you hear about that? The captain took apart the fish-man Arlong and liberated the whole group of islands that had been under this tyrant's rule!

...

As she raised her wooden tankard at the bar and took a sip of the cheap port wine in it, her face twisted into a grimace. That last thing... she had not quite realised until today.

She had never interfered in the conversations, never wanted to get  her cover blowed and remained a silent spectator, but now she would speak up. Akiko needed to clear some things, if these people were about to keep boasting and thinking, that they were quite something special. "Tell me," she addressed the broad-shouldered soldier next to her, who had just reported indignantly that 30 million berries had been put on the captain of the Straw Hats. 

He turned round in astonishment and his neighbour also leaned forward to find out who had been chatting up from the side. Their faces lit up at the sight of the pretty redhead - although they were probably finding everything beautiful and wonderful right now anyway, as drunk as they were. But hey, a woman was still welcome, right? You never knew where that could lead!

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