To her, the reason she could act so bravely was because of her own strength; she knew in her heart that no matter what happened, she would be fine.
But what about those Marines? Facing enemies far stronger than themselves, they still followed orders from their superiors to fight against those monster-like pirates.
If she didn't have her power, would she still be so brave? Hera didn't know the answer.
Although they lacked great power, they possessed strong convictions; they, too, were heroes of the Marines.
The people in the square erupted in cheers, and the Marines were moved to tears by Hera's words. In this world where the strong are respected, Hera's phrase, 'You are the true heroes of the Marines,'...
...made them feel her recognition and respect, a feeling no one else had ever given them before.
In the crowd, Akainu scoffed at these words. In his view, as long as the objective was achieved, any sacrifice was worth it.
"I'll be watching you, Hera. I want to see what kind of changes you can bring to the Marine after taking my place."
The one-armed Akainu silently left Marineford. He had already applied to Sengoku to go to a Marine branch in the New World; he needed combat against pirates to soothe his own pain.
Not just his arm, which still throbbed with a faint pain, but also his shaken heart.
Seeing the Marines maintaining their cohesion, the Gorosei's expressions turned somewhat grim. The warrior god of finance slammed the table and stood up:
"She actually wants to expand the scale of the Marine? This is outrageous! The Marine's strength is already too great; the balance of the sea is tipping directly toward the Marine."
The Warrior God of Agriculture said, "Don't be in such a hurry. If she wants to expand the military, won't she have to consider financial matters? We can just cut a portion of the Marine's budget next year."
The warrior god of finance nodded and said, "Fine, that's the only way then. Are there any instructions from that lord?"
The warrior god of science said, "That lord has already taken notice of her. Let the CP organization contact her first to see if she has any intention of joining the God's Knights."
The warrior god of environment nodded, agreeing with the warrior god of science's suggestion: "Even if she is deeply influenced by Garp, she is still young after all. We have enough time to make her change her mind."
The warrior god of justice proposed a new perspective: "The Argo is filled with powerful women. We could also try to see if we can find someone to infiltrate them."
The warrior god of science thought of someone in CP0: "How about Stussy? She can approach Hera under the pretext of providing funds for the Marine."
The Warrior God of Agriculture also made a decision: "Then let her find a way to get close to Hera. If we can win her over, her prestige in the Marine can be used for our benefit."
The warrior god of environment continued, "The Shichibukai policy we decided on before is a bit outdated; they haven't even managed to fill all the seats. This group of pirates is simply wasting the conditions we gave them."
The warrior god of justice restrained the agitated warrior god of environment: "Alright, if there are any more changes, we'll just abolish the Shichibukai policy. It'll be a good way to find more opponents for the Marine."
At this moment on the podium, Hera didn't know that the Gorosei, in order to win her over, would go as far as letting one of the current Four Emperors of the Underworld contact her.
However, if she did know, she would probably laugh out loud. She just happened to want to unify the Underworld, and now someone was delivering themselves to her door, exactly as she wished.
Currently, she was waving to the excited Marines. Bursts of special energy entered Zafkiel without Hera noticing.
This made the golden patterns of Zafkiel seem a bit brighter.
Next, Sengoku issued a series of military ranks. The Argo had now directly become a terrifying team starting at the level of Vice Admiral, and their legend spread throughout the entire Marine.
As the protagonist, Hera had already boarded the Argo after the award ceremony and was heading back towards Amazon Lily. After all, she had left Nami's sister there, and it was time to return.
Hancock sat on the Argo. After being in contact with Hera for so long, she had finally recovered from her 'love sickness.' Her mind as the Empress finally replaced part of her love-struck brain, and she began to worry about her own country.
Hera smoothed over the Empress's worried expression and said, "Don't worry, I'm here. From now on, Amazon Lily won't have to live as pirates. Just join my New Navy, and I'll pay you a salary."
Hancock felt Hera stroking her small hand, and a blush appeared on her face. Her recently calmed love-struck brain occupied the high ground once again:
"Since Hera says so, I will tell my people about this when we return. But, if you pay them a salary, can your finances still handle it?"
Hera thought about the gold she had squandered, which was now almost gone, but she still said, "Don't worry, I have plenty of Berries."
At this moment, Hera remembered the Gold Emperor she had sent out a long time ago. She wondered how he was doing now. Currently, the New Navy in the four seas was being funded by Fish-Man Island.
Smoker had also been pulled by Hera to Alabasta to establish the first branch of the New Navy in the Grand Line. Of course, Sabo, who had held back Dragon single-handedly during the Marineford War, had also gone along.
Hera also left them a letter of introduction, believing that with the friendship from previously resisting Sir Crocodile together, the New Navy's development there should be a bit smoother.
Then, Hera calculated and realized that the places where she would need money in the future would only increase, and she couldn't help but lament, "Truly, you only realize how little money you have when you need to use it."
Then, her hand unconsciously moved to the transponder snail used to contact the Gold Emperor. It had been so long, and he hadn't contacted her; she didn't know how his development was going.
On the other side, the Gold Emperor sat on his golden throne, also touching the transponder snail for contacting Hera. At this moment, he was thinking, "Should I contact the boss to report on my work?"
Then he shook his head and rejected his own idea: "No, the boss definitely knows my situation. Since she hasn't contacted me proactively, she must be dissatisfied with my work. I need to earn even more."
Then, he put down the transponder snail and began the next step of his money-making plan. He had been wondering if there would be any risk in contacting that mysterious singer, but now he made up his mind.
"Being indecisive is not my style. The boss has even subdued Capone Bege. I must also achieve results. I need to control at least 15%, no, 30% of the world's Berries to live up to the boss's trust."
With that, the Gold City set off toward the island where the mysterious diva was located.
At this time, Hera also secretly made up her mind: "Alright, after going to Amazon Lily to see how Nojiko is doing, I'll go find Uta, and then I'll rest for a while."
The Argo headed toward Amazon Lily, and soon, the coastline of Amazon Lily came into view.
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