The Marine

Standing in front of [Inferno Havens] second graduating class, Bill reiterated the things that had been beaten into these people’s heads over the last four months.

That was their duty to Justice, their duty to Community, and their duty to Themselves.

Each of these ethics had been reviewed over and over again, and despite no clear superhuman recruits showing themselves from these first two classes, Bill wanted his people to be both capable of survival and capable of thinking.

And for many of these youths a sense of duty, community, and responsibility was just what they needed to become a cohesive force.

All in all, Bill thought as he looked over the faces of people who were not much younger than he was, it wasn’t surprising that their boot camp was so effective at molding these young men and women.

This was due to the fact that the Procurement Department really didn’t have any wealthy kingdoms to recruit from, and so nearly all of the people in their forces were from either small poor islands or just plain bad situations.

And this tendency was even more so now that most new recruits had come from [Goa Kingdom], a kingdom ruled by an inept aristocracy and wealth disparity rarely seen even in this chaotic world.

For these young people who had grown up in incredible poverty and who were discriminated against by the upper classes, when Ranse showed up and struck a deal with [King Sterry] to clean up the Gray Terminal, it gave them the first reasonable opportunity they ever had to leave the island.

And seeing this opportunity, a good number of youths desperately went about snapping up the chance to do so!

Of course, they weren’t stupid and the idea of joining the Marines wasn’t new, but wherever the Procurement Department went the locals would be awed by their advanced kit and healthy appearances.

If at first that ‘awe’ tended towards ‘fear’, then when they learned these impressive-looking Marines were members of the Science Division and not actively hunting for criminals, that ‘awe’ tended towards being impressed.

And once that small change was established in their minds, curiosity would naturally take over.

More than young adults, the number of poor parents looking to sign their children up as [Chore Boys] was staggering and it was something that still got to Bill.

No matter what, he could never send his kids away.

He tried not to judge those people who tried too harshly, but the heart was hard to change – even for him.

Anyways, most of those Chore Boys stayed in Goa Kingdom with their parents who were working in the development efforts around the capital.

Still, all these expenses were adding up, and as Bill finished the graduation ceremony, he made his way to his office to crunch numbers again.

It had been nearly a year and a half since the battle with Shiki.

Nearly a year and a half since the [Summit War].

Nearly a year and a half since the [Beast Wave] swept across the East Blue.

It had been nearly a year and half and he still hadn’t received the bounty owed to him.

And now, his Department which before the crisis had more money than it could spend, was on the verge of bankruptcy.

Of course, Bill had called everyone he could think of. He had gone to Marineford himself for a week to petition for the payout.

But no matter what, according to the newly promoted [Commodore Brannew], only the Fleet Admiral could authorize payouts over 500m Beli, and since the new Fleet Admiral hadn’t been decided, Bill could only wait.

Despite his urgent needs, Bill didn’t get involved in the ongoing feud between the Admirals’ Aokiji and Akainu factions.

His father supported Admiral Akainu for their shared history and friendship, but if he had to choose, he thought Aokiji would be marginally better.

He didn’t know either man privately, but for Bill, Admiral Akainu was just too extreme.

If he reckoned it to Earth, it would have been like LeMay being put in charge of Japan’s reconstruction after WW2 instead of MacArthur.

Not that Bill thought Admiral Aokiji was anything like ‘MacArthur’, but the point stood that putting a disproportionately ruthless person in charge of anything was almost never a good idea.

Shrugging his shoulders, Bill just wanted the Fleet Admiral to get chosen, in truth he thought to himself that it didn’t really affect him, after all, he was Science Division.

Looking over the books, his Department had about three months of revenue left before widescale pay freezes took place.

Even though their business in the East Blue had recovered, and their development projects had been restarted, building a new city from scratch wasn’t cheap nor was it something that could just be halted.

More than rebuilding efforts, since their factories hadn’t been rebuilt, they were currently reliant on old-style muskets and powder, which they had to purchase from outside sources.

Since their dry docks weren’t finished, they had to pay private shipwrights for expensive repairs that before they had done themselves.

Even with their Seastone Hull ships, being out at sea for months on end would require routine repairs.

And for their continuous recruiting?

Well, that wasn’t helping things financially, but Bill couldn’t see how they could stop it either.

It had to be known that he didn’t fancy having such a large operation just for the sake of it, it was almost a circular problem where they recruited because they needed the extra hands, but when they got extra hands, they could accept more work for more revenue.

And so on.

Rubbing his face while he sat at his desk, Bill couldn’t help but remember the days when he and his friends were happy when they ran into the ‘Forker Pirates’ and received their measly 5m Beli bounty.

Now, they were spending ten times that much in a month on costs alone!

To say the importance of that 1,000,000,000 Beli bounty was needless, and for now, it was just a dream.

Despite all of their bluster and demands, in this critical time Marineford was full of politicking, and it wasn’t clear who’d come out on top between the two Admirals.

Thinking about this with irritation Bill finally stood up and decided to go outside, watching the city below, he thought that he may just need to leave and collect some bounties.

During these last four months, things had gotten a lot worse.

The [Pay Back War] still raging in the New World was one thing, but even in Paradise the number of reported acts of piracy and attacks against Marine assets was skyrocketing.

And as far as anyone in his Department could gather, the reason was unknown.

Almost as strange as these crimes were the fact that there hadn’t been a bevy of new Bounties posted.

Sure, over the last year there had been postings for large new Bounties, but those seemed to stem from pirates coming out of the Blues, not from inside Paradise.

Even though none of these pirates had stumbled across New Haven, Bill still thought about it from time to time, but perhaps not as worried as he may have been if he wasn’t dealing with his own crisis.

Standing on the edge of the highest level of New Haven, Bill looked at the city growing beneath him and out as the vast new islands in the distance.

He stood that way for a long time, only to finally be interrupted by a familiar.

“Aye, Bill there you are. You have a Snail waiting for you and you ought to answer it.”

Raising his eyebrow, he turned to see Nelson breathing heavy with his swirly red cheeks, and replied: “What’s the matter?”

“Dr. Vegapunk himself called for you…” then after a quick pause added: “He didn’t mention why, only that he didn’t have much time and needed you personally.”

It had been months since Vegapunk had snubbed him on the topic of Pacifista and Cloning, and since then there had only been a couple communications with Sentomaru about various minor topics.

Even though Bill had somewhat changed his views on Vegapunk, being that he could never support something like the Pacifista, he still admired the man’s mind and had to admit that the research given had been very helpful to them.

With Dr. Indigo working on the [Organoid Machine], it wouldn’t be long at all before none of Bill’s Marines would ever need to fear losing limbs again.

Even though the insane doctor said that replacing something like the Heart or Eyeballs was a challenge, he confidently stated that soon they would be able to regrow half a person’s body and seamlessly reattach whatever had been lost.

The research on Battle Suits had likewise been a boon for Henzo who despite being restricted by New Havens current situation had nevertheless drawn up numerous designs for future testing.

Some of those designs were as big as heavy construction machines, but some were more like power armor used by the fictional heroes in Bills last life.

If [Germa 66] had their [Raid Suits], then maybe in the future the Science Division would have ‘Iron Man’ Suits supported by [Iron Wardens] and [Minds].

With all of this in mind, Bill nodded his head to Nelson and began making his way to his office, once there he picked up the snail and said: “Commodore William Ox speaking, am I addressing Doctor Vegapunk at this time?”

Of course, he knew it was likely to be Vegapunk on the other side given the Snail had morphed a greying afro, but still asked to be sure.

And when the Snail began speaking, his suspicions were confirmed.

“Z’at ist korrect” the snail started to say, then without taking a breath continued.

“William, Issen have need for you to head into the South Blue. When will you be able to accomplish this?”

Confused for a moment, and thinking that Vegapunk sounded off, Bill answered: “What’s happened in the South Blue? I don’t understand what you’re asking me to do, Sir.”

Now it was Vegapunks turn to pause for a moment, and in a voice that still sounded weird, he replied: “Have I not described to you the client?”

“No, Sir.” Bill answered quickly after which Vegapunk huffed and said: “Sorry my boy, my mind’s been split into seven, you know how it goes, but enough of that.

I have need for you to go and perform maintenance on a vessel belonging to a new client.”

Now understanding what Vegapunk meant, Bill still thought the old man sounded weird, but responding appropriately he said: “Sir, this maintenance needs me to go personally? I’m sorry to say but I have my hands more than full enough. Didn’t Sentomaru give you my report?”

Naturally Bill had reported to Sentomaru the incident regarding Shiki.

“Veports veports, my boy, Issen don’t have the time to read those things. Tell me now, what happened?”

Shaking his head, Bill didn’t say what he was thinking and only replied: “Sir, our Department defeated Shiki, but the Flying Pirate destroyed our home island before it was over. Our efforts continue in the East Blue, and we’re rebuilding the island, but Marineford still hasn’t paid out the bounty.

Now, we’re flat broke. I told Sentomaru not to expect a single Beli from us until the bounty is paid out.”

Giving anything huff, Vegapunk said: “I zee…” then continued: “Ist more the reason you must go to the South Blue. That client is offering a huge reward and even I can’t hypothesize when Marine Headquarters will settle down.”

“Again…” Bill started to say: “I would go if I could, but I really can’t afford to leave here. Sir, if you read the report that I sent to Sentomaru you will understand why.”

“Nien Nien, you must go. Exactly because you need the currency.”

Before Bill could answer, Vegapunk continued: “You will go, and Egghead will lend you the operating fees in the meantime. When you successfully complete the work, the Science Division will be rewarded immensely, and you will not have to repay the loan.

How does this sound?

This projekt requires an expert who understands zee metals and alloys and so, you must go.”

“How much is this job paying?” Bill asked, and as he spoke, he knew he was jumping the gun – currently he didn’t even know what kind of job it was.

“Ist paying the Division very well, but for you? It’s paying the loan until your bounty is processed.

And so you zee, you must go.”

Sitting there in silence for a few seconds, if Vegapunk was willing to pay for his operating costs until the bounty came in, then Bill knew he really had no choice.

He really ‘must go’!

Still, never one to just agree to anything, he asked: “Where do I need to go, Sir?”

Answering immediately, Vegapunk stated: “My boy, for this commission that has come to us, you must go to make repairs on a very unique vessel which is also a floating city, that vessel is in the South Blue and is called…”

Vegapunk paused for a moment, Bill didn’t know why, but the sentence was completed soon enough when Vegapunk said.

“You must go to Gran Tesoro.”