One month later, East Blue Branch 160.
"These guys really have no fear of death! They've turned into local tyrants one by one..."
Rowen stood at the port, watching the 160 branch officers being escorted onto the Qilin ship, sighing.
It seemed that due to excessive peace and lack of external pressure, the corruption within the East Blue branches was truly shocking.
In the past month, passing through seventeen branches, only five of them were clean and clear. The remaining twelve had more or less engaged in shady activities, accounting for a staggering 70%!
If it were just embezzlement, the Department of Justice would handle the trials once the culprits were caught.
But in these corrupt branches, almost every senior official treated the nearby sea as their own domain to exploit. They not only embezzled and engaged in shady dealings with pirates but also exploited and oppressed ordinary people, holding the power of life and death.
It's worth noting that, in terms of their duties, Marines have no jurisdiction over civilians. This is a principle set by the World Government to reassure the Allied Kingdom Members.
But in these branches, this principle had been completely violated.
Take Branch 160, which had just been exposed today, for example.
Countless young men were forcibly conscripted, working day and night in the dangerous underground mines. The branch's senior officials were reluctant to allocate funds for maintenance, resulting in frequent accidents.
When someone died, they'd just toss the body into the sea to feed the fish, preventing the corpses from causing a plague due to decomposition.
As a result, the town near Branch 160 was in a pitiful state, with nearly every house empty and the scene too distressing to behold.
"I've already had East Blue's highest Dictate, Commodore Pudding-Pudding, restrained. East Blue needs a major overhaul!" Vice Admiral Momonga's face was gloomy as he spoke. Ever since Shells Town, he hadn't shown a smile.
As the highest Dictate in East Blue, if the branches under him had become so corrupt, even if Commodore Pudding-Pudding hadn't taken any kickbacks, he still couldn't wash away the grave dereliction of duty.
It was likely that every senior official in the various branches of East Blue was losing sleep over the arrival of the Headquarter's prosecutor. The person most relieved right now was probably Commodore Pudding-Pudding, because Vice Admiral Momonga had already made his judgment on this matter.
Rowen shrugged, not offering any objections.
Because he had also discerned another layer of intent behind Sengoku's directive for them to conduct this major investigation.
It was well-known that due to the advent of the Thunder-Lightning Stimulation Device, the strength of both the new and old generations of Marines had skyrocketed. As long as they didn't foolishly endure electrical shocks far beyond their limits, advancing further became a breeze.
A large number of outstanding individuals, in terms of character, ideals, and strength, emerged among the new generation. Compared to a few years ago, the overall combat power of the Marines had more than doubled.
However, these new-generation Marines rarely had the opportunity to take on significant responsibilities. After all, there were only so many positions available, and it wasn't possible to simply push out the old officers who had worked diligently in the past.
But now, things were different. In this major investigation, just the 17 branches that Rowen had cleared out had freed up more than thirty positions ranging from Ensign to Colonel.
In addition to the convicted soldiers who had aided and abetted, and other branches awaiting investigation, the vacancies were enormous!
East Blue urgently needed an infusion of new blood to rebuild its various branches.
The detailed information about each branch in East Blue that Sengoku tasked him with organizing also served this purpose. This was a move to pull out the roots, and he wouldn't give anyone time to react. He would swiftly reevaluate the entire Marine framework from top to bottom!
This operation, which affected all branches in East Blue, West Blue, South Blue, North Blue, and even the Grand Line, was undoubtedly a monumental blood transfusion for the entire world. The difficulty behind it was beyond imagination.
How many sleepless nights and how much courage was needed to face corruption head-on...
Just thinking about it was awe-inspiring!
Sengoku truly lived up to his title as the "Resourceful General" of the Marines. With just this cleansing operation, he would be among the top Fleet Admirals in Marine history, admired by future generations.
Because of this, Rowen found himself having to put in an exceedingly high level of effort into the prosecutor's work.
As the "executioner" in Sengoku's plan, everything that followed depended on his judgments. His role was second in importance only to Sengoku, the architect of the plan. Rowen's work was crucial.
By the way, since this was an anti-corruption wave that affected the entire world, Rowen and his group of "prosecutors" would destroy a corrupt nest wherever they went, unstoppable like a hurricane passing through. As a result, bored individuals in the sea had given this Marine operation a codename.
Its name was...
Anti-Corruption Storm!
...
East Blue, Goa Kingdom.
It's been over a month since they set sail, but Koby hasn't grown tired of it.
He still gets up early every day, rushing ahead of other Soldiers to clean the deck and corridors. He seizes the time he gains to engage in basic physical training.
During the day, he greets people warmly, and at night, he reads the training notes left behind by some senior, courtesy of Rowen's retrieval from the warehouse. This routine repeats day after day.
However, the high degree of repetition doesn't bore Koby. He's very content with his current life and feels that each day is fulfilling.
In fact, Koby has aspired to become a Marine since he was a child.
But when he was young, he was frail and frequently ill, with a timid and introverted personality. In the face of danger, he lost all sense of direction.
For someone like Koby, who was aiming to join the high-risk profession of the Marines, no branch would accept him due to concerns for his comrades and his own well-being.
After numerous disappointments, Koby was on the verge of giving up. He understood the reservations others had about him, but he simply felt that he wasn't strong enough.
So, being able to truly become a Marine, even if it was just as a Valueless Soldier, brought him great joy. He cherished everything he had now.
"Is that Windmill Village, the hometown of the old man?" On the deck, while doing push-ups amidst a crowd of soldiers, Koby suddenly heard that man's voice.
Vice Admiral Momonga!
He was the one who rescued Shells Town and brought him into the Marines. At the same time, he was an incredibly powerful Marine. During the time on the ship, every soldier could tell stories about Vice Admiral Momonga for hours without repeating.
"Senior official!"
Hastily standing up, Koby found his target, feet together, standing at attention.
"Senior official!!"
The soldiers around, who had been betting on how many push-ups Koby could do today, also noticed Rowen and they hurriedly stood up and saluted.
Rowen glanced at Koby, subtly furrowing his brow.
At just 14 years old this year, Koby's foundation was quite weak. Even with the Marine mess providing him with nutritious meals, along with Rowen occasionally giving him some special attention, after over a month, Koby had only progressed from a combat power of 5 to a combat power of 6, still at the bottom of the barrel.
Thinking about how in the original story, Koby reached a level where he could use the "Soru" technique after only a few months with Garp, Rowen's face darkened.
"If you don't finish a thousand push-ups today, you won't get to eat. Understood?!"
Gū lū...
A...a thousand?!
Koby didn't know how he had gotten on Rowen's bad side, but he didn't dare to argue, nor did he want to.
"Understood!"
Seeing Koby's loud and resolute answer, Rowen nodded in satisfaction and turned to Vice Admiral Momonga.
"Don't you worry that those folks will come looking for revenge? You know, I'm the one who annihilated the Spade Pirate Crew!"
"...,"
Vice Admiral Momonga felt a bit of a headache. He thought that agreeing to Garp's request to visit his grandson was a completely wrong decision.
He wasn't afraid of the other side causing trouble, but he was afraid that Rowen would cause trouble!
(End of this chapter)