Their flesh was shriveled, their bodies thin, their skin cracked and dried by the sun... they hung midair like mummified corpses.
If not for their occasional twitching, Arthur would have thought they were dead.
Arthur's mouth twitched slightly as he turned his gaze away in discomfort and whispered,
"I'm afraid they won't last much longer. Some have already lost consciousness."
Daren, resting with his legs crossed on the desk, slowly opened his eyes, glanced once at the bizarre scene outside the window, and nodded.
"All right, let them down... Give them some water first."
Arthur's face lit up with relief, and he quickly turned and jogged out.
Daren stood up from his seat, lit a cigar, and stepped out of the office.
In front of the crumbling military fortress gate, Borsalino was sprawled out comfortably on a beach chair, sunbathing.
"Could it be that this guy's Devil Fruit ability gets stronger from sunbathing?"
An absurd thought suddenly popped into Daren's mind, and his face twitched with speechlessness.
He shook his head, ignored Borsalino, and headed straight for the harbor.
By now, Arthur and the others had already lowered the G5 branch's group of thugs from where they were hanging.
They lay sprawled across the ground, weakly sipping at water, groaning softly in exhaustion.
When they saw Daren approaching with a cigar in his mouth, the group instantly looked as if they had seen the devil, their faces pale with terror as they tried to scramble backward.
Their "boss" was too terrifying.
First, he effortlessly subdued them, then tied their hands and dragged them from the stern of the warship all the way back to the G5 base.
And that wasn't even the worst of it.
After enduring being soaked in seawater and attacked by sea beasts along the way, they thought they would finally catch a break upon reaching the G5 branch.
But no, that was only the beginning.
Suspended... and baked under the sun!
Two full days and nights without any food or water!
They had seen true hell firsthand from this man.
Compared to this devil, how could G5's men even be called "thugs," "trash," or "scum"?
Looking at their pathetic expressions and movements, Daren squatted down with a smile and exhaled a dragon-like puff of smoke.
"All right, let's talk about the situation now, otherwise, it would be quite embarrassing if word got out... that I, Rogers Daren, was robbed by my own direct subordinates."
"Honestly, I'm very angry."
The bearded leader nervously swallowed but eventually summoned his courage, gritted his teeth, and said,
"This... this is just how G5 survives!"
"Military aid and funding from headquarters are extremely limited, and G5 is stuck in the heart of the New World, surrounded by pirate forces... If we aren't brutal and ruthless enough, there's no way we could survive."
"The death rate here is sky-high... The hardships here are beyond anything you headquarters people can imagine!"
As he spoke, he shot a resentful glare at Arthur and the other Marines from headquarters.
"You all sit comfortably in fortified offices, living the good life... while we're out here fighting pirates to the death!"
"When we ask for funds, we're told the budget is tight. When we ask for reinforcements, we're told it's too far!"
"If headquarters won't give us what we need, then we have no choice but to take it! What's wrong with that?"
The more he spoke, the more worked up he became, as if he were venting years' worth of anger and resentment.
"This is the New World, not some playground back in paradise!"
"Only through brutality and cruelty can we intimidate the pirates! Only then can we hold this rotten excuse for a Marine base!"
"Do you know what the death rate in G5 is!?"
"Forty percent!! After one year, almost half the new recruits are dead!"
"All to hold this worthless place!"
The bearded man spat a mouthful of bloody saliva and sneered contemptuously.
"And what do we get?"
"High-ranking positions and fat salaries? They have nothing to do with us. You bastards sitting in your offices smoking cigars... still dare to call us G5 'scum,' 'trash,' and 'thugs'!!"
The other G5 soldiers glared fiercely alongside him.
Arthur and the other Marines from headquarters remained silent, lips pressed into tight lines.
They wanted to argue.
They had plenty of reasons to argue.
"No matter what, you are Marines, not pirates!"
"How can Marines commit acts of plundering!?"
"How are you any different from pirates!?"
"..."
But they couldn't bring themselves to speak.
Because everything the bearded man said was true.
A cruel, undeniable truth laid bare before their eyes.
The decaying fortress, the broken artillery, the rusted cannons, the ships covered in spiderwebs and beyond repair...
Even during the earlier "raid," the weapons used by the G5 soldiers were rusted, their guns missing, and they wielded chipped blades while wearing filthy, tattered uniforms.
The only seaworthy ship they had was falling apart, and even the cannons were loaded not with explosives... but the cheapest smoke bombs.
In the face of such shortages and the overwhelming presence of pirates, talking about noble justice and Marine pride seemed like nothing but a distant luxury.
Seeing everyone fall silent, the bearded man sneered again.
"Nothing to say now, huh?"
He looked at Arthur and the others with contempt.
"You guys who only know how to talk big—what do you know about how hard it is for us—"
Bang!
A military boot suddenly slammed into his face, sending him flying several meters away.
The bearded man tumbled across the ground several times, his face visibly swelling as he stared blankly at the Vice Admiral who calmly withdrew his foot.
Wait, weren't we just talking... Why did he suddenly start hitting?
"I didn't ask you for that crap. I'm sick of hearing it. You think as the new G5 Base Commander, I don't know exactly what your situation is?"
Daren said coldly, his expression completely indifferent.
The bearded man shrank back in fear and stammered,
"Then... what do you want to hear?"
"Weren't you mad about getting robbed by your own subordinates—by us G5?"
Daren gave him a look like he was an idiot and asked back,
"Who said I was mad about that?"
The bearded man froze, confused.
"Then what are you angry about?"
Daren's tone was full of dissatisfaction.
"Since you picked your target, you should have been more ruthless and decisive. You should've sunk my warship straight away... Judging by your water skills, you would've handled it fine, right?"
"Sinking the ship, waiting for us to fall into the sea, and then finishing the job... wouldn't that have been safer?"
"Even if you lost a bit of treasure, at least it would've been clean. If you were fast enough, we wouldn't even have had time to send a distress signal."
He stared at the bearded man and the other G5 Marines with pure contempt, his voice full of disappointment.
"With your level of skill, you dare call it plundering?"
"How embarrassing."
The bearded man and the others looked like they had been struck by lightning.
Their minds went blank.
That's right!!
Daren's words exploded in their minds like a thunderclap.
It would have been a far more efficient, faster, and safer plan!
Brilliant!
No...
The bearded man and the others suddenly came to their senses and stared dumbfounded at the Vice Admiral before them.
Wait, why are you so professional about this!?
You're supposed to be a real Marine!