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Vin laid on the sofa within Gorilla's office. Gorilla walked inside the room, eyeing vin and sitting down. "Ah, Vin. I have good news." He said. "You've been promoted to Master Chief Petty Officer. The thirteenth highest rank within the marines. Major step-up for someone who has only completed one mission."
"What's my salary now?" Vin asked.
"200,000 Beri every month."
"Awesome."
Gorilla paused for a moment, eyeing his notebook. He read something and turned back to Vin. "Also, you have been tasked with another mission. You likely shouldn't have been assigned to another mission so early, but.." Gorilla thought for a moment. "I had no authority to deny it. A Rear Admiral within this branch was pleased with your accomplishment, and decided to steal you for a mission." Vin perked up, listening intently. "You shall meet him in an hour by the docks. Be weary, however. He's quite ruthless. It's speculated his kill count is in the hundreds.."
Vin looked at Gorilla in surprise. 'That is.. a very high number." He sat up, nodded and left the marine tower, heading into the courtyard. There, he trained himself physically with pushups, situps and the sort as well as gaining new mastery over his Devil Fruit. Vin figured that due to his rank up, missions from this point onward will increase in difficulty, hence his best choice would be to train in his spare time.
Once the hour passed, he headed onto the dock, awaiting the Rear Admiral. There, he saw a young man, likely in his 20s, of more untraditional marine attire, donning a black tee with some sort of design, white trousers and a marine jacket he dangled on his shoulders like a cape. Behind the cape, though, was an incredibly large sword. It seemed to be more a rectangular hunk of metal and less a sword, but it sharp edge undisputably classed it as one. Quite intimidating, to say the least.
"Vin-chaaan!!!!" The man shouted, running towards Vin. The smaller marine backed away a bit. "Anyway, we're leaving. Let's go." Without elaborating or explaining the mission, the marine essentially picked Vin up and threw him onto the ship. The ship, however, was not a regular marine ship. In fact, it was a fairly small galleon, similar to a pirate ship. "My name is Komawara, but you can call me Koma; I am a Rear Admiral, and you will be joining me on this mission!"
Vin looked around, eyeing his surroundings. To put it simply, there was a lack of people. There were only a few sailors and they only seemed to control the helm and sails.
"You may be wondering why there are so few people.." Koma said, ridiculously accurrately. "We are going to the underworld!" He stretched his arms to his side for dramatic effect. "The Black Market, or whatever. I was ordered to go spy and acquire information on what's being traded, sold, bought, etc."
Vin nodded, but then looked at Koma in confusion. "If that is the case, then why you take me along?"
"I had to take a partner and, well you see, Vin, I was impressed by your performance on your first mission!" He told the boy. "And also, no one really likes me in this branch.." He said, visibly embarrassed.
'True, it did seem even Gorilla was a bit intimidated by him..' The boy then walked off and sat on the guardrail, watching the sea. Koma entered the ship hall, then returned to Vin with a set of neatly kept clothes. It was a black suit and a pair of black trousers.
"You have to put these on. Can't have you looking out of place in the most dangerous place in the world!" Koma said. The Rear Admiral took a set of the black uniform for himself. Once they finished changing, they returned to the ship.
"What's it like being a Rear Admiral? Better yet, what's your salary?" Vin asked him, suddenly as he turned around to face the man.
Koma looked at him in amusement. "Never ask a man his salary!" He said, loudly. "10,000,000 a month, not including mission bonuses." He whispered. Vin's eyes lit up, though his facial expression remained unchanged. "I should have already been promoted if the higher-ups stopped pestering me about 'doing my paperwork' and 'written work is also a part of the job'."
Vin eyed the man's sword again.
Koma noticed his gaze and smiled proudly. "Oh this? Heh. It's one of the 21 Great Grade blades, one forged by one of the greatest swordsmiths!" He said. "If you're impressed by this, you should see my 288.6 sword sword collection!"
The boy looked at the Rear Admiral in disbelief. ".6?'
"I broke 4.4."
"How do you break .4 swords?"
"I broke a broken one."
"How do you even measure that decimal?"
"With a measuring stick, of course. How else?"
The boy looked at the sword again. "Perhaps it wouldn't be great to have that on your back while visting the Black Market..?"
"Oh. Yeah. You're right." Koma blurted out. "I can't leave it here, though.."
"Why not?" Vin inquired.
"I have to have a sword on me on every mission! What if we get attacked?" He sassed. Vin put his hands in front of him as though he was asking for the sword. Koma, a bit confused, nonetheless gave the boy his sword. Vin then crumpled it and put it up his sleeve to guarantee he'd always be touching it. "What... MY SWORD!" Koma fumed.
"Don't stress, I can revert it if we have to battle. Take a katana or cutlass with you in case we're split up, they're less suspicious." Vin suggested in his monotone voice.
"Ooooh, this is the Devil Fruit power everyone in the branch has been discussing. Yeah, sure." Koma entered the ship hall and picked up a blue katana with silver undertone and markings. He returned. "This is another one of my favorite blades... This one is a Skillful Grade blade!"
Vin didn't quite understand what that was, though he played along, figuring it was a notorious blade.
Finally, they had arrived at the island. The air was cold and damp, and they could smell the burning of tar and incense from their boat. They parked it at the docks of the island behind the other dozen ships. 'Ah, that's why the ship looks like a pirate ship. It wouldn't be great if they knew we were marines.' In the heart of the island there was a bustling town filled with vendors and traders dealing in every sort of illicit or illegal items. The streets are narrow and twisting, and the buildings are made of rough stone. The sounds of the crowd, shouting and haggling, echo off the buildings, making it difficult for just about anybody to think straight.
At the far end of the town laid a large white marble building. It was intricately designed, with sophisticated architecture. The entrance was formed by a large arc, where two open doors allowed anybody to enter or exit. Inside the building itself, Vin could see the rough look of the people inside. No doubt, it was filled with aristocrats and nobles, all wearing exquisite clothing.
"Vin-chan, that is the building we have to inspect." Koma elucidated. "The auction hall. Our main mission is to note what's happening in there. We're not allowed to fight unless in danger, though. And even then, I was pestered about 'talking it out before fighting'." Vin noted that Koma's voice had lost some of its absurdity, instead being converted to some sort of seriousness. However, this staid trait of his soon disappeared once an ecstatic smile formed on his face.
"We go?" Vin asked, preparing to disembark the ship.
Koma hopped off the galleon and onto the island. "Yeah."