The South Calm Belt, Tobacco Island.
This name, of course, was given by the Marines of G-7 because the island had been developed into a massive tobacco cultivation and production base. The entire island had over 30,000 pirate prisoners working in shifts, day and night, to produce large quantities of "White Hunter Brand Cigarettes." The spokesperson for these cigarettes was "White Hunter" Smoker himself, and they were extremely popular among pirates.
It wasn't because Smoker had a good reputation; in fact, he was notorious among pirates and was called a "World Government dog." But the cigarettes themselves were great! They were made from tobacco that supposedly went extinct over 200 years ago, and they were genuinely strong. Pirates, of course, loved that kind of thing.
The island had no rain for most of the year, was located in the Calm Belt with no sea winds, and yet the underground water resources were incredibly abundant, making the environment quite good. It was sunny all year round, and the tobacco on the island grew lush and strong.
In an open-air processing plant, over two thousand pirates were busy with their tasks, crushing dried tobacco into powder, then rolling it in paper with their thighs to create cigarettes. These were collected in boxes, and later, other pirates responsible for the next step would package them. The finished products would then be sent to the port and loaded onto Marine ships to be transported by Spandine of CP-9. Spandine would quickly ship these goods to the New World, where Stussy and Smoker would sell them.
At this moment, a Marine Vice Admiral was inspecting the open-air processing plant. It was just one of many such factories on the island, nothing special about it. This Marine Vice Admiral was Vice Admiral Doberman of G-7. He had a cigar in his mouth and slowly exhaled a puff of smoke. As he watched the burly pirates constantly rolling cigarettes on their thighs, he suddenly felt that his cigar wasn't so appealing anymore.
Luckily, these cigarettes were all sold to pirates, and the Marines didn't smoke them. The G-7 Marines, especially, detested the cigarettes they produced. After all, anyone who knew that these cigarettes were rolled on the thighs of pirate prisoners wouldn't have the stomach to try them. It was better to sell them to pirates, letting these scumbags get a taste of their predecessors' 'body odor.'
As Doberman was making his rounds, a beautiful female Marine Captain who looked to be only fifteen or sixteen years old quickly approached and saluted. "Vice Admiral Doberman, welcome."
Doberman nodded to her, and a hint of a smile appeared on his fierce face. "Captain Hancock, how are things here?"
That's right. The Marine Captain in front of him was Boa Hancock of Amazon Lily. She had been with G-7 for over three years and had just become a Captain this year. Following the G-7 hierarchy, her rank was considered to be at Headquarters level. In other words, Hancock had become a Marine Headquarters Captain in just three years.
This was an incredibly fast promotion. The valedictorian of her class, Hina, had only just become a Marine Captain this year, having held the rank of Commander before. Hancock's promotion was much faster than Hina's.
However, this was to be expected. Compared to Hina, Hancock had a very special background. She was the heir to the throne of Amazon Lily and had already been chosen as the next empress. In other words, she was the ruler of a nation with over a million people and had tens of thousands of female warriors who possessed Haki. Her background was extremely powerful.
In addition, G-7 had a lot of cooperation with Amazon Lily in developing the Calm Belt. For example, on this Tobacco Island, there were many warriors from Amazon Lily who were helping the Marines guard the pirate prisoners.
Her talent was also genuinely strong. She had awakened Conqueror's Haki and had eaten the Love-Love Fruit that Diarmuid had given her, causing her strength to change by the day. How could someone who earned the title of Warlord of the Sea the first time she went to sea at eighteen be weak?
Thus, because of these direct and indirect reasons, Hancock was promoted very quickly in G-7. According to Gion's plan, after Hancock came of age, she would officially be appointed as a Rear Admiral of Marine Headquarters and then secretly execute the Warlord of the Sea undercover plan, becoming a Warlord of the Sea with the dual identity of a Marine Rear Admiral and the captain of the Kuja Pirates.
In essence, it was the same logic as when Diarmuid promoted Smoker from a kid in military school to a Rear Admiral. If you're going to ask someone to risk their life, how can you not give them a reward?
When Hancock first joined the Marines, she was very resistant to G-7. After all, she had been forced to join, and her ancestors were all pirates. There was no reason for her to have any goodwill toward the Marines.
But now, things were completely different. Hancock could clearly feel how much her country had changed after the Marines showed goodwill to Amazon Lily and they started cooperating. Their standard of living had skyrocketed. Their range of activity in the Calm Belt was also expanding rapidly. They were able to get a lot of resources from the Marines in various ways, and the Marines had fully lifted their restrictions on Amazon Lily. The citizens of Amazon Lily could now voluntarily join the Marine draft.
This year was the first time it was open, and as far as Hancock knew, many Amazon Lily citizens had already applied to join G-7. She could see that in the near future, Amazon Lily would become an even better country. At the same time, due to the large number of people joining the military, they would transform from a pirate nation into a regular country and board the fast train of a relatively friendly relationship with the Marines.
These things were all of great benefit to Amazon Lily. Therefore, by now, Hancock had also started to take pride in her identity as a Marine Captain. She even secretly decided that in the future, the Emperor of Amazon Lily, just like the current tradition of the Kuja Pirates, would have to join the military from a young age and at least reach the rank of Vice Admiral before returning to inherit the throne.
Hearing Doberman's question, Hancock smiled and said, "Everything is normal. Our output is also increasing, and our shipments are constantly growing. However, it seems the demand from the other side is even greater, and our production capacity can't quite keep up. I've already submitted a request to expand our workforce. I hope we can get more pirate prisoners to develop the undeveloped wasteland on the island into more plantations…"
"Is that so?" Doberman nodded. "That's good. But as the Calm Belt's resources are being exported, the production capacity on every island can't keep up with demand. We have already expanded our pirate prisoner workforce to 300,000 people, distributed across various islands to engage in different development projects, but we're still stretched thin. Most of the prisoners from Impel Down have already been brought in by us... Your request might have to wait a while before it can be fulfilled."
Magellan was now the Warden of Impel Down. Maxcas had retired to a life of luxury, having made who knows how much money. Magellan had inherited Maxcas's political legacy and had established an even closer partnership with G-7. The old situation where Impel Down was so overcrowded they had to secretly kill many prisoners to make space was long gone. Now, Magellan desperately hoped that the Marines everywhere would become more formidable and quickly send a steady stream of pirate prisoners to Impel Down. These weren't just prisoners; they were shining, golden Berries!
Now, most of the ordinary prisoners in Impel Down, with the exception of those with bounties over 100 million who were difficult to control, had been sent to the Calm Belt for hard labor. The first, second, and third levels of Impel Down were basically empty. As the resources from the Calm Belt were sold, more and more labor was needed. Magellan even wished he could go out and capture pirates himself!
"Ah? Is there no other way?" Hancock asked, surprised.
Doberman nodded. "Gion is currently thinking of a solution. Headquarters also has some proposals. The world situation is still not stable enough. Many pirates are causing chaos, and the Revolutionary Army is often starting uprisings, which has led to a large number of displaced people. Headquarters is considering conscripting these displaced people, sending them to the Calm Belt to serve as a workforce, giving them a certain amount of pay, and letting them settle down in the Calm Belt. After all, with this development, ten, twenty years from now, many mature industrial chains will be formed here, and their formation will inevitably attract a large number of permanent residents… We can't rely entirely on pirates to accomplish all this."
"Isn't that a good idea?" Hancock's eyes lit up.
"But it's a little difficult to execute. After all, the Calm Belt needs to remain secretive for now, and it's not suitable for outside scrutiny. If we Marines organize the immigration, it would be too conspicuous…" Doberman shook his head.
Hancock thought about it for a bit, but she didn't have a good solution either. It was best to leave this problem for the big shots at Headquarters to solve. So she stopped discussing the issue and smiled. "Vice Admiral Doberman, I heard you're going to be the Commander of G-7?"
"Hahahaha, you little girl, you're very well-informed," Doberman laughed heartily.
"Of course. I'm in regular contact with Vice Admiral Gion," Hancock said with a cheerful laugh.
"That's right. Headquarters has plans to transfer Gion to a position at Headquarters. I hear she'll get the title of an Admiral candidate. And after she goes to Headquarters, G-7 will be handed over to me. I will naturally become the Commander of G-7," Doberman said with a laugh.
"Then congratulations!" Hancock said with feeling.
Doberman smiled and said, "It's all thanks to the Admiral's care."
There was nothing special about Doberman being a Vice Admiral; there were plenty of them in the Marines. But how many of them could become a Base Commander with real power, especially at a critical base like G-7? This was undoubtedly a form of cultivation for Doberman. If he performed well here for a few years, his credentials would be golden. When he returned to Headquarters, he would stand out among the other Vice Admirals and become a formidable, high-ranking Vice Admiral!
Just then, a Marine Major came running from a distance and saluted Doberman. "Vice Admiral Doberman, the Warlord of the Sea, 'White Hunter' Smoker, has arrived at the port."
"Oh? Is that so? I understand." Doberman nodded, then looked at Hancock. "Let's go. Time to meet your future colleague."
Hancock was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "Yes, Vice Admiral."
As Diarmuid's direct subordinate, Doberman naturally knew Smoker's identity. And Hancock, being another prospective member of the Warlord of the Sea project, also had the right to know. Soon, they both arrived at the port, just as Smoker was stepping off his ship, curiously observing the situation on the island.
"Smoker!" Doberman waved to him.
Smoker turned his gaze and walked over to Doberman, smiling. "Vice Admiral Doberman."
"Hehehe, you've worked hard," Doberman said, patting Smoker on the shoulder.
Smoker shook his head with a bit of emotion. "It's all for justice." Then, he looked at Hancock with curiosity and asked, "Who is this?"
He already had a vague answer in his mind.
Doberman smiled. "Let me introduce you. This is the new talent the Admiral has his eye on. She'll be your colleague in the future. Her name is Boa Hancock, a Marine Headquarters Captain and the heir to Amazon Lily. She will also inherit the Kuja Pirates…"
Smoker's eyes lit up. He then spoke, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Captain Hancock. Welcome to hell."
Hancock: ???
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