The Marine

After reuniting with Foxy, Bill heard all of the prisoners’ sad tales but instead of feeling pity wondered if half of these people shouldn’t actually be in prison.

Foxy was a known career cheater, and to Bill it seemed like almost all of these guys were the same!

In fact, with only a couple of exceptions, what had drawn attention to these guys was that they cheated so much that the Casinos had taken notice.

Foxy at least was upfront about what had happened to him, after a night of clearing the tables, he was approached by [Baccarat] who used her Devil Fruit to steal his luck.

Foxy wasn’t sour that he had been cheated, only that he was cheated against in a such way that he could never have defended himself.

After all, who could possibly out cheat the Luck Luck Fruit?!

“The injustice of it all!” the Slow Man had sobbed.

Naturally rolling his eyes at his subordinate, Bill still noted that power of Baccarat and thought that depending on how that ability was used, the Luck Luck Fruit could possibly be the strongest Devil Fruit in existence.

‘Causality Manipulation’ was a true reality-warping ability, but unbeknownst to the beautiful woman who boasted about being a ‘Lucky Girl’ to Foxy, her luck had run out now that she wouldn’t be able to take Bill by surprise.

After hearing enough of the nearby prisoners’ stories, Bill held his hand up to quiet them, and told them simply that he couldn’t take them all out: “Wait a few more days…” he started to speak.

“… by then the situation on Gran Tesoro may have changed, but regardless, I will come for you all then.”

Of course, for predators, for those wolves in human skin, Bill would never let be set free. Though at least, he would give them trials and see that justice was served.

After seeing all he had seen, a plan for what he had to do was forming in his head, only time was short.

Bill was never one to flaunt the law, and he had not turned his back on the world like a degenerate just because he found wrongdoers in high positions.

No, he had not turned his back on the world, but like any good leader or friend, when his people were touched it demanded a response.

The response towards Gild Tesoro was easy, Bill had already decided would beat the man badly for the pain he had caused Foxy, Hamberg, Porche, and then arrest him for ordering the attack on the [Frontier Run].

[Gran Tesoro] may be a demilitarized zone, but that didn’t mean Gild was permitted to just wantonly attack the Marines of the World Government.

As for the orgies and other ‘forbidden excesses’ in the Pleasure Palace, he was disgusted, but wouldn’t automatically judge Gild for that so long as there was no one being forced.

After all, like all Americans, Bill believed that as long as there was no one being forced then what happened behind bedroom doors was none of anyone else’s business.

With all that being thought out, naturally the biggest knot to untie was [Saint Camael].

Bill hadn’t spied on them for long, but he had seen Nelson so badly hurt that it almost sent him into a rage.

But despite his rage Bill knew he needed to see and know more.

He needed to see more not to build any kind of ‘criminal case’ against the World Noble; he knew that was impossible, no, he needed to see more for himself in order to justify his own response.

If at all possible, he would try and help the World Noble like he had helped Nelson all those years ago.

But if that wasn’t possible… then… Bill shook his head as he blasted up through the pit he had come through and thought quietly: ‘Strong medicine…’

That was all he could say to himself, that if he couldn’t help the World Noble… then strong medicine was required.

With the four people in his arms it didn’t take Bill long to reach the tower that held the Heavenly Tribute.

Perhaps due to it being a residence of the Celestial Dragon there were no Surveillance Snails inside the tower at all, and using that, Bill told the others to gather their strengths for a few minutes.

The trip back to their ship would be fast, it had to be.

Taking Foxy aside, Bill asked him more and more about Gild and his Executives and told him about his meeting with the Revolutionary Army members in a way that unintentionally had Foxy crying dramatically.

“Oh kid, oh kid! *boo hoo*

Oh kid, you forsook ze Marines organization for me! *Boo hoo* but never worry, I, Foxy the Silver Fox, will help you understand that being a Pirate isn’t as bad as you think!”

Seeing Foxy so emotional, the man had suffered a lot over the last several days, Bill didn’t have the heart to cut him off and waited for the old Pirate to finish.

“Z’no no! It’s not as bad as you think, together, ve’ll make the biggest crew *Boo hoo* ze biggest crew in the world!”

Shaking his head ‘no’ Bill had the urge to slap the hysteric Foxy straight but controlled himself into a shouting-whisper: “I haven’t forsaken anything you split-headed fool! Just listen!”

Somewhat getting Foxy’s attention, Bill explained to his Officer what he needed him to do.

It was barely 5 in the afternoon at this point, and since he had so much to do, he needed Foxy to relate orders to Borodo and the other Marines on the ship. Naturally he planned to talk to Borodo and Miyagi himself, but since time was tight, while he had Foxy he would lay out more details.

Tentatively, Bills goal was to release the cities-worth of hostages from Gild Tesoro’s ability, and the best way to do that was to help the Revolutionary Army.

True enough Bill didn’t see the Revolutionary Army as anything other than a criminal organization, but for now, he could only choose the lesser of two evils.

Sabo’s plan to reroute the cities giant fountains in order to spew seawater was completely possible, and all in all, it was a good plan as far as Bill was concerned.

Once Gild was without the hostages, then naturally Justice would be served.

By the time Bill had given Foxy his orders, the split-headed man had stopped crying and was instead gawking.

“Commodore…” he said, no longer using the endearing term ‘kid’ “…I understand what you’z want to do, very much, but won’t you be caught if you work with *them*?”

Shrugging his shoulders, Bill just replied that they would “cross that bridge if it came” but then, suddenly noticing a change in the air, disappeared from Foxy’s eyes.

He had sensed a presence entering the Heavenly Tribute tower.

Moving up the stairs like a ghost, Bill could readily tell it was only one person. Not knowing exactly what to expect, he was ready for anything when suddenly he saw her.

It was a blue haired woman who was normal height.

Bill thought she was pretty, and after thinking for a minute remembered her name.

‘Carina…’

What he didn’t know was what she was doing as she moved like a stealthy fox from one floor to the next and checked off one tribute crate after another.

To him it almost seemed like she was looking for something.

He didn’t know what, nor did he care, he just thought it was time to leave before more people came.

And so, after telling Hamberg to grab the others in his long arms, Bill flew out of a window and blasted upwards like a silent rocket.

Using his Observation Haki to watch the Surveillance Snails the group made it back to the ship, where Bill quickly found that Oliver and a few other Revolutionary Army members had embedded themselves in the crew.

This was not what he wanted.

Bill knew the risks of working with the R.A. and wanted there to be an arm’s length of separation between his crew and those revolutionaries working under Sabo.

The fact that Bill knew exactly where his current crew had mostly come from – that terrible Goa Kingdom in the East Blue – made it all the more important to keep them separated.

All good propagandists and liars were professionals at exploiting sensitivities, and Bill knew full well that even if the R.A. didn’t physically force people to join, they would absolutely emotionally manipulate whoever they could.

Landing down on the deck of the Frontier Run the group was immediately surrounded by smiling men and women at the return of Foxy, and much to Bill’s surprise the tiny man, Raise Max, was a subordinate of Oliver and received much the same welcome.

Ignoring them for now, Bill quickly found the Marines he had sent with Miyagi and just as he began to have his Lieutenants gather in his office, he was given two letters Borodo.

Wearing a serious face, the former thief told Bill that there was a serious problem with Nelson to which Bill just nodded and said lowly: “I know, I’ve found him.”

Moving into his office before reading the two letters, Bill grimaced and wondered why he hadn’t found Miyagi earlier – after all, he had been through most of Gild’s palace.

“Don’t worry, we’re bound to find him…” Bill started talking as he headed to the seastone lock box in his office: “… I’ve found Nelson with the Celestial Dragon and intend to head up there.”

Saying this, Bill pulled out a small object that was wrapped in cloth, before tucking it away inside his Coat of Justice and then asked Borodo if Oliver had told him the situation.

“Yeah, I’ve already had the men wash off and they’re buckets of seawater on the dock as you’ve seen… but Bill, is it smart to work with them, is Gild Tesoro even a threat to you?”

Standing up straight and slightly shrugging, Bill just responded that it wasn’t as simple as dealing with the Master of the city.

“I estimate the Heavenly Tribute to be at least 3 billion Beli, I may could get Tesoro in the sea before he executed all the people in the city, but I surely can not go against him and the Noble at the same time… and its just as well because it seems like our confidants want the Noble as much as I want Tesoro.”

Of course, Bill didn’t fully buy the ‘freeing the slaves’ story told by Sabo and Oliver.

Not that he thought that they were totally lying, but he wasn’t so foolish as not to notice that they planned on striking before the [Saint Camaels] Marine escort arrived.

But he didn’t hold it against them, not really, because he also planned to act before the escort arrived.

The reason for this was simple, Bill knew that the escort either held 5 Vice Admirals – and one of those Vice Admirals would be a Marine of legitimately high standing – or an active [Marine Admiral].

Well, given the situation at New Marineford he was relatively sure that an Admiral wouldn’t turn up, but that didn’t make the situation much better.

Because he didn’t want to simply throw caution to the wind and fight them, they represented a level of trouble that he didn’t want to deal with.

Breathing heavily, Bill looked at his two Lieutenants and finally gave them their orders.

After thinking about what to do for the better part of the day, and after nearly a week of contemplation after Borodo’s first warning, Bill had chosen.

“Tonight there’s going to be a special gala, hosted by Gild himself in celebration for the Saint Camael…”

Seeing Borodo nod his head, Bill didn’t care that Foxy looked lost and continued to talk while taking out the schematics provided for him by Vegapunk: “During the gala is when we’re going to make our move.

Take everyone off the ship. Olga, Acier, Hollandaise, everyone… just make sure the Olga is close to you.

At the same time, you will go and secure the city’s main control room and bridge. No matter who stands in your way, you must secure those rooms, understood?”

Pointing out the routes they would take, Foxy asked the obvious: “What’s going to happen zen, what do ze plan to do?”

Looking at his two officers, Bill answered clearly: “Tonight I will take Gild Tesoro down…

… but first, I will get Nelson back.”

Hearing Bill say this, neither Foxy nor Borodo protested but both men looked wide eyed, and then back down at the schematic.

They knew that they had to do their part, no matter what.

Walking off the ship, Bill told Oliver to speak to Borodo, he didn’t need to give minor details – he trusted the former thief enough to do that on his own.

Just before Bill Moon Stepped his way to the pleasure palace, with a flick of his wrist he threw a tiny object into the harbor.

The die had been cast.