Grove 66, Marine Garrison Base.
Smoker stood in the dimly lit, cold morgue, his face expressionless, staring at the two white-shrouded bodies before him.
Suddenly, a creak of the door announced someone entering the morgue.
"Looks like they couldn't be saved!" Cross walked to Smoker's side, also gazing blankly at the two white-covered bodies on the steel gurneys.
"The man was shot four times, the woman three. It was too late when they were brought in; they'd almost bled out," Smoker said coldly.
Cross said nothing. He simply reached out and pulled back the white cloths from their faces.
Two pale, bloodless, terrified countenances appeared before him, as if accusing the world of its injustice.
Cross had already investigated the details. The man and woman before him were siblings. Because the deceased man was strong enough and the deceased woman beautiful enough, they were noticed by a Celestial Dragon out for leisure, who tried to forcibly seize them as slaves.
Suddenly, and for no reason, becoming slaves was naturally unacceptable to the siblings. However, they dared not resist the Celestial Dragon, so they tried to escape.
But they underestimated the soldiers of the Holy Land Guard Corps and were captured before they got far.
The rest was clear: the enraged Saint Mjosgard directly shot them in the street, venting his anger through execution and torture.
Thus, Cross and Smoker stood silently in the dim, cold morgue, as if in mourning.
"Is this what the Marines' so-called justice truly looks like? Claiming to protect innocent civilians, but in reality, protecting tyrannical Celestial Dragons? Is this kind of behavior also justice?"
After a moment, Smoker's voice, slightly hoarse, broke the silence.
Cross turned to look at him, discovering that the usually fierce Smoker's face was pale, his eyes revealing a profound confusion.
Cross understood that witnessing the Celestial Dragons' brutal actions for the first time, with Marines even guarding them, was undoubtedly a shattering blow to Smoker's belief in justice.
"Smoker, I'm not in the mood to give you any pep talks right now!" Cross said indifferently, his expression cold. "You just need to think, what would this world be like without the Marines fighting pirates and maintaining justice and order? You're not a child anymore; you should understand that in the adult world, nothing is ever purely black or white!"
"That's all I'll say. Whatever you think and decide is your own business. I just hope you don't betray the meaning of 'justice' itself!"
With that, Cross took another deep look at the siblings on the gurney, as if to imprint their images in his mind. Then he covered them with the white cloth, turned decisively, and left, leaving Smoker alone in the morgue.
Meanwhile, the sudden fainting of the Celestial Dragon, including everyone on an entire street, caused quite a stir within the Marines and the World Government.
In particular, the silver giant eagle dispatched by Cross, carrying a Celestial Dragon in the manner of capturing prey, and delivering him to Red Port in plain view, left the receiving Marine soldiers and CP agents dumbfounded.
Especially the reporters, who seemed to thrive on chaos, their visual Den Den Mushi flashed nonstop, capturing countless unflattering photos of Saint Mjosgard.
Fortunately, the CP agents reacted quickly, decisively confiscating all reporters' camera Den Den Mushis and deleting all photos of Saint Mjosgard. If this incident were exposed, it would undoubtedly severely undermine the World Government's authority.
Unfortunately, the World Government couldn't punish the 'culprit' of this incident. After all, Cross had protected Saint Mjosgard's safety, preventing the attack on the Celestial Dragon from escalating further.
One could even say that Cross was not guilty, but rather meritorious.
In fact, CP agents had already investigated and clarified the cause of the Celestial Dragon's fainting: it was caused by Conqueror's Haki.
They even suspected Cross, as the CP agents were aware of his possession of Conqueror's Haki.
However, all of this was mere speculation.
The agents in charge of the investigation had absolutely no evidence to prove that Cross was responsible.
Even Smoker, who was responsible for rescuing the victims, was investigated, but Smoker did not possess Conqueror's Haki, so the investigation was fruitless.
Although it involved a noble Celestial Dragon, Marine Headquarters wasn't an entity to be trifled with. Without evidence, even if the Five Elders demanded an arrest, the higher-ups in the Marines would likely rebuff them.
Facing such a situation, the Five Elders in Mariejois could only grit their teeth and reluctantly commend Cross.
In addition, the Five Elders also ordered CP agents to launch a massive operation, vigorously searching for the perpetrator of this incident.
As a result, the CP Chief, caught in the middle, had a terrible time. How was he supposed to investigate Conqueror's Haki, something invisible and intangible?
Thus, the CP organization investigated for several days, but found absolutely nothing.
Instead, they arrested many pirates, gang members, and other lawbreakers on the Sabaody Archipelago. Then, they simply found a few scapegoats and publicly declared the case solved.
Of course, the World Government's spokesperson did not mention the true reason for the Celestial Dragon's fainting.
Instead, they replaced Conqueror's Haki with a special tranquilizer, claiming that the scapegoats had wanted to kidnap the Celestial Dragon, which was why they used the tranquilizer to knock out everyone on the street.
After a few chaotic days, all fifty kings attending the World Summit had arrived, and this matter finally concluded, allowing the CP organization to refocus its attention on the security of Mariejois.
The World Government has approximately 170 member nations. Every four years, fifty kings gather in Mariejois for the World Summit to discuss issues concerning global security and order.
However, with fifty nations gathered, how could things simply end with promises of friendly coexistence?
Not to mention the internal problems within each country, the Great Pirate Era, ignited by Gol D. Roger, had already entered its eighth year, and its tide was still surging, showing no signs of subsiding.
Not only smaller nations, but even larger and powerful countries were suffering from constant pirate attacks.
Particularly, countries located in the second half of the Grand Line were becoming battlegrounds as powerful, monstrous pirates fought each other for supremacy, with territories, resources, and weapon technology all becoming targets. This caused many nations to become casualties of war.
Although the great pirates of the previous era, such as Ochoku, Silver Axe, and Captain John, were fading, new great pirates were rising.
Faced with the pirates' hegemonic struggles, the Marines' impotence greatly dissatisfied these nations, who demanded that the World Government and the Marines quickly quell the turbulent seas.
Thus, the proposal for the Warlords of the Sea, which had been put forward more than ten years ago, was brought up again.
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AN: At the beginning of the original story, the Warlords of the Sea, the Four Emperors, and Marine Headquarters were known as the Three Great Powers of the Grand Line. However, I speculate that before the Great Pirate Era, when the Four Emperors' power structure had not yet formed, the Warlords of the Sea were likely not given much importance, because the Marines were capable of dealing with pirates, so there was no need to complete the ranks of the Warlords of the Sea or use this strategy of "using pirates to fight pirates.
However, it was not until Roger became the Pirate King and single-handedly ignited the Great Pirate Era, causing pirate forces to rapidly expand, coupled with the later emergence of the Four Emperors, that the balance of power between the Marines and pirates became somewhat unstable. This is why it became necessary to recruit pirates and use the Warlords of the Sea to maintain balance.
My above speculation represents only my personal opinion. Please do not criticize!
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