Dante Ashford, as a Marine Captain famed for his talent and swordsmanship, had been a prodigy from the start, graduating in just two and a half years.
Naturally, he had already noticed Kuina's subtle movements.
In an instant, he unsheathed his Sandai Kitetsu.
He had acquired this blade in Loguetown on his way to East Blue and had been using it ever since. Although it wasn't one of the 21 Great Grade Blades, just a finely crafted sword, its quality and handling were more than satisfactory.
As for why he hadn't picked up Yubashiri? Simple. He couldn't afford it back then.
At the time, his assignment had felt more like exile than a transfer. Unlike Smoker, who arrived in East Blue with a full crew and a well-equipped warship, Dante had been sent off alone with nothing but a small boat.
If he hadn't run into Robin along the way, he probably would have gotten lost.
Furthermore, unlike Smoker, who was assigned to a prosperous town, while Dante had been dumped at the remote and barely staffed 315th Branch. If it weren't for his later alliance with Captain Shawn, he might still be stuck there.
As for the so-called curse of the Sandai Kitetsu... Dante just chuckled. He had faced poverty head-on, why would he be afraid of some superstition? He'd been dirt poor back then!
With that in mind, he knew Kuina stood no chance against him.
Whatever she had learned, he had already mastered. But what he knew? She hadn't even begun to grasp.
The spar ended with Dante tapping Kuina lightly with the flat of his blade. She puffed her cheeks in frustration, clutching her head with a pout before begrudgingly admitting defeat.
Muttering under her breath, she complained about how her Senpai had hit her on the head.
After training, Dante took Nami and Robin along to welcome Kuina with a celebratory meal, officially marking her arrival as the Marine 16th Branch's new swordsmanship instructor.
---
The Next Day.
To mark the arrival of the Swordsmanship Instructor, Dante called a temporary meeting to welcome her and to discuss upcoming tasks for the Marine 16th Branch.
Of course, given that this was a branch in the weakest sea, the turnout wasn't exactly impressive.
Robin, naturally, was present. As the Petty Officer of Branch 16 and Head of Finance, Nami had to attend. The newly appointed Swordsmanship Instructor, Kuina, was also there. And Nota, Chief Petty Officer of the Marine 16th Branch, was also required to participate.
Beyond them, only a handful of the branch's senior members were present.
Looking at the sparse gathering, most of whom were inexperienced, Dante felt a pang of melancholy. If Mock wasn't away on assignment, he would have been there as well.
The only silver lining was that, despite their small numbers, the people in the room were loyal, mostly because they had been trained under him from the beginning.
After briefly introducing Kuina amidst enthusiastic applause, Kuina stood and declared that she would diligently teach swordsmanship to the Marine 16th Branch, contributing to its development.
Then came the main event.
"This morning, a message arrived from Marine Headquarters," Robin announced. Standing beside Dante, she opened the notebook in her hands. As his secretary, she had already compiled the key points of the day's agenda.
Adjusting her decorative (and non-prescription) glasses, she spoke with an confused expression, "The military funds we applied for two days ago have been approved. Headquarters will allocate the money as soon as possible. Additionally, they've increased the funds by 10%."
As soon as she finished, everyone around the conference table, except for the newly arrived Kuina and Dante who remained deep in thought, was stunned, followed by cheers.
"Not only was it approved so fast, but they increased the amount?"
"That's incredibly generous!"
"They didn't even delay it this time, Headquarters actually came through right away! Unbelievable!"
Everyone was excited, especially Nami, who had been worrying about money just moments before. Her eyes lit up. She even felt a surge of gratitude for the Marines, whom she usually cursed.
However.
"Quiet," Dante commanded, silencing the crowd before turning to Robin. "Are there any strings attached?"
"Indeed," Robin nodded, her expression still somewhat amused.
Before the others could speculate, she continued, "Headquarters wants us to intercept, preferably capture, the Mock Pirates. Under no circumstances are they to be allowed into the Grand Line."
"..."
Silence fell, and amused expressions spread across everyone's faces.
As the officers of the 16th Branch, they were well aware of the Mock Pirates situation. Was Headquarters really just giving them this money out of goodwill?
"Ahem," Dante coughed, drawing everyone's attention. He looked at Robin with an equally amused expression, then declared righteously, "Have someone respond to Headquarters. The Marine 16th Branch will do its utmost to intercept and stop the Mock Pirates, absolutely preventing this vicious pirate crew from entering the Grand Line."
Of course, Dante had never planned for the Mock Pirates to rush into the Grand Line just yet. It was far more beneficial to let them continue developing in East Blue while making occasional, strategic trips to the Grand Line for recruitment.
If they disappeared into the Grand Line too soon, how would his branch keep justifying more funding requests?
"Understood," Robin replied with a faint smile.
For someone who had been wanted by the World Government since childhood, the irony of playing them like this was almost too entertaining. Next...
Expansion of the Conomi Archipelago.
The Conomi Archipelago had been preparing to expand the town and unite all the villages. Now, with more and more refugees being recruited, it was almost time to begin.
Simultaneously, there was the expansion and training of the Marine 16th Branch...
Although Marine Headquarters had regulations regarding the number of personnel and warships for Marine branches and wouldn't approve or provide salaries for numbers exceeding the limit, their 16th Branch didn't follow those rules. Therefore, they needed to cover these funds themselves.
As for training materials, Dante planned to use the Rokushiki taught by Marine Headquarters as the curriculum. As a systematic training method, Rokushiki was quite useful, he could just add some extra material later.
There was also...
Water Breathing Style.
One of the five basic breathing styles from a demon-slaying corps from Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, this was a benefit he received upon becoming a formal employee of Transmigrantor Performance Clearing System.
Although Water Breathing, apart from being unique, wasn't particularly powerful in this sea, it was enough for him to dominate the weakest sea back then. If combined with the powers belonging to this sea, it still held considerable potential.
However, perhaps because the power levels were different, apart from him learning it through employee benefits, it seemed difficult for others to learn. After all these years, only Kuina had barely grasped the edges of it. Because of this, it wouldn't be so simple for Zoro to defeat Kuina either.
Maybe it needs modification? To fit the methods here.
Dante looked at his [Career Performance Record]...
---
[Name: Dante Ashford]
[Position: Level-4 Senior Staff Member]
[Indicator Points: 5500, Note: When points reach 10,000, promotion to Level-3 Senior Staff Member is possible, granting one employee benefit.]
---
After the inspection team left, the indicator points jumped from 1500 by 4000, reaching upto 5500. He wasn't far from another promotion.
'But why such a large increase? Could it be because of the newly arrived refugees? But how much could that small number of refugees increase the points? 100? Or 200? So, why was the increase so large this time, almost catching up to the performance points from recruiting Robin and defeating Arlong?'
Could it be...
That he had unknowingly changed someone else's fate again?
Garp?
Smoker? Or perhaps Tashigi? Unable to figure it out, Dante didn't dwell on it.
Finally, after setting the future development goals, summarized as: Strengthen defenses, accumulate resources, and bide our time, he adjourned the meeting.
Except for Robin, Nami, and Kuina, Nota and the others left their seats, preparing to carry out the upcoming tasks.
Robin stayed because she was always by his side and wouldn't leave unless necessary. Kuina had questions. As for Nami...
"No money!"
After Robin listed expenses after expenses, hearing about projects that required large sums of money again, Nami's face grew darker. But there were too many people just now, making it inappropriate to speak out. Now...
"Don't you already know the situation?" Nami showed Dante no courtesy, walking right up to him and clutching her head. "Come on, Headquarters gave us a 10% increase, not ten times the amount! Where are we going to get that much money?"
"You've worked hard, Nami," Dante said as he patted Nami's head.
"Don't think I'll fall for that again, it's useless now." Although she said that, hearing Dante's comforting words, the anger in Nami's heart subsided slightly but she still smacked away his hand.
She crossed her arms, staring directly into Dante's eyes, and said poutily, "Unless you have some hidden gold mine somehwere, don't even think about it. I can't conjure money out of thin air."
"Relax, I have a plan."
"You have a gold mine?"
"It's not time to use the reserve funds yet." Dante waved his hand, signaling Nami, whose eyes were sparkling with gold, to calm down. He pulled out the new bounty poster he received that morning. "It's time for Mock to make a move."
On it was Mock's New Bounty Poster, worth a staggering Fifty million Berries.
"Mock?" Nami glanced at the poster, frowning. "You're not planning to sell Mock out, are you! Fifty million isn't enough either!"
'What on earth is this girl thinking?' Dante's face darkened. Ignoring Nami, he turned to Robin. "Tell Mock it's time to act."
---
A few days later, a new bounty poster was issued. Of a new rising power in East Blue.
A new bounty of 50 million berries instantly spread throughout East Blue. Except for a certain old geezer in a village slapping his thigh and laughing heartily, everyone in East Blue... anyone who received this bounty poster, was utterly shocked.
Remember, this is the weakest sea-East Blue!
What did Fifty million Berries mean to the largely inexperienced pirates of East Blue? It was practically akin to the Pirate King appearing again!
The most towns in East Blue were struck in disbelief and fear.
Keep in mind even the so-called "ruler" of East Blue, the captain of the Krieg Pirates, Pirate "Fleet Admiral" Krieg, only had a bounty of 17 million Berries. And the Mock Pirates... they hadn't even left East Blue for the Grand Line yet! Yet their bounty was already almost three times that! If they entered the Grand Line... it was unimaginable.
What heinous, vicious, dastardly crimes had the Mock Pirates committed to warrant such a high bounty from the Marines before even entering the Grand Line?
Pirates everywhere were in awe, wanting to see this new rising legend of East Blue for themselves. But just as the seas buzzed with speculation...
A declaration shook the region.
The Mock Pirates had issued an open Pirate Challenge Letter to the East Blue, summoning nearby pirate crews to join them in a war against the Marine 16th Branch.
Their goal? To bathe the branch in blood and establish themselves as the True ruler of East Blue.
And just like that...
The entire East Blue was thrown into chaos.
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