In other parts of the Grand Line, many things were taking place one after another as the men of the White Storm were tested once again.
In one location, on a cargo ship there was many people who had hired several bodyguards from the White Storm Mercenary group.
They were tasked with protecting the people and cargo on board while it was transported to another location to be traded.
Many people crowded around as many others had been tasked with the same job as they were not hired from the same location.
The importance of the work was shown by how many were hired to protect the contents of the ship.
The ship continued to travel without any disturbances but a change suddenly took place among the crew.
Many of the hired guards started to display suspicious movements as they had surrounded the members of the White Storm Mercenaries.
Just as those that were behind were about to attack before the victims could notice the danger they faced, the assailants removed a variety of weapons and began to attack from behind and those in the view of the White Storm Mercenaries followed up a little afterwards.
They expected to eliminate everyone and deal heavy damage to the White Storm or at least act several times in order to slowly weaken them but the next moment several knives and needles were stuck in the throats.
Those with guns went empty handed and those with smaller weapons were thrown back towards them very quickly as one among the White Storm Mercenaries started their counterattack.
Jester kept dodging many attacks while supporting the other members of the group to survive as his dance of death began.
Many people were killed by him in a short period of time as he was able to dodge every attack and steal their weapons to use against them.
As he finished cleaning up, he began restraining the remaining crew members and checked the cargo of the ship but found nothing but empty boxes in most of the rooms but he did find containers filled with various drugs and a couple of cages filled with malnourished and injured people in the lower part of the ship.
After checking everything, he began interrogating the survivors after ordering the ship to come to a halt.
Eventually those involved began to break down and admit their guilt as they told the story.
A week back a whole team went missing after taking a task, like any other task the risk of death was always there but berries could be earned and it was not like other deaths had not happened but the main issue was that the task was overly suspicious and it was not the first time that such a thing had happened during a joint task.
Normally the tasks are issued to one group or an individual to handle but others usually just pay per the amount of people and hire from all places but while they had asked for several people from the White Storm, they had also hired from other groups.
Like the other times where there was a problem, the same groups had participated which belonged to rival mercenary, assassin or security groups which had a little bit of a hostile relationship with the people belonging to the White Storm.
A lot of people in that line of work have less work thanks to the White Storm appearing and taking the jobs and even various assassinations of different groups had been stopped by members of the White Storm who were on protective missions so many held a grudge in some way.
Jester looked out at the sea before him and then spoke coldly but the smile remained on his face. "Write down everything they have said, keep those that are still breathing alive and we will return to hand over the evidence to the Marines to do with."
Alyssia had been hesitating on how to deal with her enemies in the dark that were trying to destroy what she had built up and how to deal with traitors that turned around to bite the hand that fed them so although there were various rules and punishments in place, some of her methods were not so effective in a lawless world.
Jester wiped the blood from his knives and then placed them back where they belonged. 'I think that this role suits me best.'
Jester had been playing bodyguard and protector for a long time since joining Alyssia but it was not truly suited to his abilities.
After coming to a decision, he stepped into the battlefield of the lawless where he would have to kill many who had ill intentions towards the White Storm before they could cause serious damage.
The survivors were handed over to the Marines and the case was quickly investigated due to the severity of the outcome and the crimes involved.
Many of the groups involved were part of mercenary and bounty hunter groups that were a front for assassination, human trafficking and selling of illegal goods.
Due to their legitimate jobs being taken by others within the White Storm or losing some of their prized assassins after repeated failures that were also stopped by the White Storm, they banded together to defeat the White Storm.
However the story did not end there as there were a group of people supporting them from behind that were part of some of the rival businesses or noble families that had their interests damaged after the White Storm appeared.
Many Marines were used to looking the other way for those with high status but those rival businesses were thoroughly investigated which resulted in many arrests and the closure of the businesses.
Those within the mercenary or bounty groups had been captured but some were able to escape resulting in a bounty being drawn up for them.
Although there were those that escaped from their crimes, their lives were over once they had their bounty appear all around their homeland and other islands,
Jester was not the only person to have their resolve and loyalty towards the White Storm tested as several other incidents happened which involved many other rival groups with different kinds of plots.
Liushi uncovered a traitor who planned to set off an explosive timed bomb within the storage room where many goods were being kept to be transported by ship.
Liushi killed him before he could trigger the immediate detonation and tossed him and the bomb overboard.
As he brought back his report, it helped tighten security on the other ships to avoid additional things being brought on board and more strict management of the employees working for the White Storm to avoid additional plots of sabotage or terrorism.
The dead man had a family and were lightly compensated due to his death at sea and going missing, although he was a traitor and a terrorist to the White Storm, he was still seen as an employee in the eyes of others so the White Storm needed to keep up their image to the public and the other workers.
Archie and Clifford occasionally faced some assassins during their own tasks and dealt with each one without mercy.
Within Baldimore, there was a small disturbance that happened as the result of traitors that coveted Alyssia's and the founders research and creations.
Some people that had been within Creation since the beginning or had recently joined had been obedient as they were able to improve quickly but during the time that Alyssia was away many times, they had started to form their own group within based on their own jealousy or greed towards those at the very top.
They attempted to break into the main lab which was restricted when Ashwin and Dr Tsukimi were busy and claim everything for themselves as they expected to get away afterwards and start a new life full of riches.
However several Automata were left to protect the lab and the overall security so they were unable to get in and were quickly defeated as Ashwin and Dr Tsukimi were notified of the end result.
The laboratory started undergoing more strict recruitment and management, those within could only stay inside the laboratory during certain work times unless they were key members of the group and those involved were turned into the Marine base while Dr Tsukimi wrote a complaint to the elders of Baldimore who he believed to be partly involved in the event.
The elders of Baldimore and those of the inner council had been deeply involved in their own politics and they would not take kindly to the growth of the Creation Union that had established its own means of trade while they had not.
The most obvious results of a theft of scientific research and their results was to either use them themselves or pass them onto others for a price.
Too many had betrayed and risked the chance to raise themselves higher with enough efforts so it was suspicious considering the odds of being successful and taking into account Alyssia's strength and fame in the world after her victory in Karate Island.
Their plan to betray and what to do after would have already been prepared so they would either leave Baldimore and begin anew or they would trade the research for protection from the elders and those with power in Baldimore.
White Storm has not ever shown open hostility to those in power and had been cooperative with many of them in charge of various islands including those in Baldimore so many believed that even if they had betrayed, the White Storm would not risk coming after them if they had the protection of someone influential.
Dr Tsukimi knew the inner politics of Baldimore much more than others so he was aware what many of the old people within the council had on their minds and what they were capable of to achieve their means.
When Alfred returned to his work, he continued to catch up on what he had missed and occasionally attended to some meetings but without major protection by his side, he became an easy target in their eyes.
Unfortunately for them, when negotiations failed and they became aggressive and threatening, Alfred remained unfazed.
Even when being faced with many people with weapons, he did not even show any unease as he sat there rejecting those people who were pressuring him into an unfair deal that could be considered as theft in the eyes of many.
He looked at the papers before him and tossed them aside and stood up to leave.
Several weapons were pulled out which he ignored and as his hands touched the door handle, he was attacked resulting in a brawl with him as the winner.
His body released many shocking attacks upon grappling and punching those that came close and the grip of his hands was strong enough to hold onto a sword and damage it but that was not all.
His body could take many hits from bullets and many types of weapons so he quickly subdued everyone and thought for a moment before retrieving the documents and handing it over as evidence to the Marines resulting in another investigation into various extortion schemes and unfair contracts on various business deals or loans.
Some of the events resulted in saving people from harm or from the life of a slave but most of all, they each helped to either grow each of the members confidence or resolve which would affect their future choices and the growth of each of them.