"Nami…"
The moment the girl was escorted in by the Marines, Nokjiko could no longer hold back and rushed forward immediately.
"Nokjiko… what… what's going on?"
The orange-haired girl named Nami blinked in confusion.
Earlier, she had been quietly drawing maps in the small loft at the top of Arlong Park when chaos suddenly broke out below.
Moments later, Arlong and his crew had all dived into the sea and disappeared.
At the time, she assumed they had simply gone out to attack passing ships again.
But shortly afterward, several Marine warships appeared off the coast of Cocoyasi Village.
Before she could understand what was happening, Marines stormed into Arlong Park, searching every room.
Because she had personally witnessed a Marine captain colluding with Arlong, she didn't dare reveal herself and hid in the attic.
Even so, she was eventually discovered and brought here.
Before Nokjiko could explain anything, Vice Admiral Gion walked over and got straight to the point.
"Nami. I have several questions for you. If you answer honestly, I will deal with everything that happened in Cocoyasi Village—and the Arlong Pirates—fairly."
"W-what do you want to ask?"
Nami asked cautiously.
Gion didn't waste time.
"Did the Arlong Pirates keep a pet rabbit wearing a red plaid shirt? Or… was there ever a red rabbit and a Droopy dog among them?"
"A red rabbit? A Droopy dog?"
Nami blinked blankly, then shook her head firmly.
"No. The only creature they keep is a sea beast named Momoo."
"No?"
Gion frowned slightly.
In her mind, the image of meeting Kairo at sea resurfaced.
Judging from his eyes at the time, she had been almost certain that he wasn't lying.
But Nami's reaction was equally genuine.
Which meant—
Either Kairo had lied to her…
Or Nami had.
Then suddenly a thought struck her.
Kairo's identity.
He had introduced himself as a traveler.
It was entirely possible that he had visited Cocoyasi Village before.
If he had learned about Arlong's oppression here, then perhaps he had deliberately used the red rabbit incident to lure her here.
Because once she arrived—
She would inevitably encounter Arlong's crew.
The fact that Arlong had suddenly evacuated just before the Marines arrived suggested they had received advance warning.
And the most likely person to leak that information…
Was Captain Nezumi.
If Nezumi truly had been colluding with Arlong, then of course he wouldn't want the pirates to be captured.
After running through the entire chain of reasoning in her mind, Gion arrived at a conclusion.
That traveler named Kairo had very likely intended to use her hand to eliminate the Arlong Pirates—one of the scourges of the East Blue.
Thinking of this, she shook her head with a helpless smile.
If her deduction was correct…
Then Tina, who had gone to Syrup Village, was probably encountering a similar situation right now.
Although being tricked by Kairo left her slightly annoyed, she was still a Marine who believed in justice.
And if innocent civilians were suffering, she would act.
Not only act—
She would take this opportunity to clean up the corrupt Marines scattered throughout the East Blue branches.
Evening Falls
As night slowly approached, Gion did not leave Cocoyasi Village.
Instead, she launched an open investigation into the Marines of Branch 16 right there in the village.
Every officer and soldier who had arrived with Captain Nezumi was questioned separately.
Little by little—
The truth began to surface.
Genzo's accusations hadn't been exaggerated at all.
If anything, they only represented the tip of the iceberg of Nezumi's crimes during his years commanding the branch.
As the officers who had colluded with pirates one after another confessed, Gion lost any interest in continuing the interrogation.
She immediately had Nezumi brought to the center of Cocoyasi Village, where all the villagers had gathered.
There, she publicly announced his punishment.
Captain Nezumi was stripped of his rank as commander of Marine Branch 16.
He would be escorted to the Marine base at Loguetown to await final judgment.
The moment the villagers heard the verdict, the square erupted in cheers.
The most emotional among them were Nokjiko, Nami, and Genzo.
When they learned Nezumi would be taken to Loguetown for trial, all three felt tears fill their eyes.
"Vice Admiral Gion… thank you!"
Although she was overwhelmed with emotion, Nokjiko still maintained her composure.
She walked forward and bowed deeply.
"Thank you for giving justice to the people of Cocoyasi Village. Thank you for saving everyone here."
Looking at the blue-haired girl bowing before her, Gion felt a wave of guilt.
It was the Marines' failure that had allowed the villagers here to suffer for so many years.
If not for that traveler, she would never have personally come here.
At most she might have asked local branch commanders about the situation—
And the matter would have quietly ended there.
Just as she was about to speak, the Den Den Mushi in her coat rang again.
"Gion, what's happening over there?"
The voice on the other side sounded irritated.
"There's no trace of the red rabbit in Syrup Village at all. That traveler actually dared to deceive the Marines. Tina is very angry!"
Hearing Tina's frustrated tone, Gion almost laughed.
"It's the same here. Cocoyasi Village has no connection to the red rabbit either."
Then she continued calmly,
"Let me guess… did you run into a pirate crew in Syrup Village?"
Tina sounded surprised.
"I did capture a pirate crew on the Syrup Village coast. Their captain is Kuro, a pirate with a 16 million beli bounty. How did you know? Tina is confused."
At that moment, Gion no longer had any doubts.
Kairo had deliberately sent them to Cocoyasi Village and Syrup Village so that they would capture the pirates plaguing those places.
After ending the call with Tina, Gion looked up at the darkening sky and murmured softly,
"Traveler… that was thoughtful of you."
Only then did she realize Nokjiko was still standing beside her.
She quickly refocused and said seriously,
"You don't need to thank me. Capturing pirates is the duty of the Marines."
"But if you truly want to thank someone…"
She paused slightly.
"Then thank that traveler instead."
"If it weren't for his well-intentioned lie, we might have come here eventually—but we might never have discovered everything that was happening."
"A traveler?"
The blue-haired girl blinked in confusion.
"Who is that?"
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