Just like putting meat in the refrigerator and the oil will get on the hands of the transporter, the Navy will bid for the two top superhuman Devil Fruits on behalf of the World Government, and in the process of handing them over to the World Government, there will naturally be reasonable "attrition" - yes, there is one less Piao Fruit.

Of course, whether it is the external announcement or the report to the five old stars, the statements of Polusalino and others are completely consistent - blame that madman Kaido! Sink our warship! Two Devil Fruits only had time to rescue one!

Under such circumstances, the original plan of the five old stars, that is, to hand over the more strategically significant soul fruit to the navy, and the fluttering fruit that is more conducive to Mary Joya's defense work to CP0, could only be forced to give up half of it.

As for whether CP0 was abandoned or the navy was abandoned - if it were not for the combination of anti-world government forces, and if it were not for the wonderful performance of the two actors, Polusalino and Vice Admiral Karp, the result would have been self-evident.

But now......

……

The time is the end of the year 1512 of the Sea Circle Calendar, the third world conference since the beginning of the era of the sea pirates, which has just ended ten days ago.

The location is the kingdom of Balaeum in the Western Sea, on the island of Ionia.

Rear Admiral Gion is on a mission here, and he is acting with the Cyclops, a third-class battleship of the fifth detachment of the "Burning Grand Fleet".

In order to appease the kings of the major world government member countries in panic, at the important meeting ten days ago, the five old stars officially announced that the Navy Headquarters would send the "Burning Fleet" that had exterminated the former four emperors BIGMOM, and went to the major alliance countries in batches to carry out pirate clean-up operations.

Although the "Burning Expedition" project to which the "Burning Fleet" belongs, the purpose of the first proposal in Polusalino was to operate in the four seas and fight the pirate group at the source. But the plan has always been unable to catch up with the changes, since its formation, the Burning Fleet has been like a little brother, fighting all the "high-end games", even if it is the "Evil Army" Jerma 66 - like the kind of pirate supernova encountered during the operation with a bounty of hundreds of millions, it is not included in the target of the Burning Fleet at all, and can only be regarded as a small task to solve.

Therefore, this also led to the arrangement of the five old stars as soon as it was proposed, and the kings of the major member countries all fell into a state of ecstasy after confirming that it was not a joke - this is like the super special forces in the world before Polusalino traveled through and only dealt with international dangerous tasks, and suddenly appeared in an ordinary residential area one day, driving a main battle tank, holding a missile pager, fully armed, and saying that they would catch thieves for the residents.

Although it is a bit "huge and useless", it makes people very confused, but in a word-no need for nothing, use it cool to home!

Of course, after all, the world government has so many member countries, and the sea is so wide after all, so in the specific clean-up process, the burning fleet is actually "broken into parts", with a single warship as an ordinary action team - only when encountering the kind of large-scale mission area jointly declared by several adjacent world government member countries, there will be two or more large forces.

This will not only ensure efficiency, but also prevent the pirates from hiding early because the navy's goals are too obvious and exaggerated.

By the way, in order to further highlight the greatness of the world government's move, the five old stars also specially arranged for the "World Economic News" to let the "big news" Morgans come to Mary Joy and personally interview the five of them - in this interview that is completely scripted, Morgans successfully played a bar, asking all kinds of tricky questions (just seemingly), while the five old stars showed the ruler's "tolerant approach" and answered his doubts very patiently.

Like what:

"Is there any difference between an operation like the Burning Fleet and the previous operations carried out by naval branches in various places? Is it necessary to be so high-profile? ”

- "The difference is great, the seamen of the burning Grand Fleet. All of them are the elite of the elite, and they can solve problems that ordinary naval branches can't solve; Problems that ordinary naval branches can solve, they can solve better in a shorter time. ”

Another example:

"The cost of such a large-scale operation must be astronomical......"

- "There is no need to think about expenses when it comes to upholding justice and protecting the citizens of the countries that are members of the World Government!" Even if it takes a billion Baileys to exterminate only one pirate group, it's worth it! ”

For example:

"Send the Burning Fleet on missions around the world if the situation in the New World changes......"

- "The world government has the confidence and ability to solve all the problems of pirates, and the so-called revolutionary army, NEW navy and other forces are doomed to failure, and they are not worth mentioning at all. ”

……

In short, take the initiative to find reporters to play the role of a good man, and take the initiative to answer seemingly tricky questions, so as to avoid more trouble, the five old stars, these old politicians, always understand marketing.

……

Regarding the issue of pirates on Ionian Island, Gion and his subordinates arrived here as soon as they let the "Cyclops" hide nearby, and then let Smoker start an investigation.

In a total of 18 hours, in less than a day, Smoker had already mastered the movements of the pirates here and asked the sailors to follow up - as the head of his elite naval class, Smoker was not only famous as a "problem boy" who people avoided, but also had high combat effectiveness and amazingly high work efficiency, which were also his well-known labels.

"Rear Admiral Gion, it seems that the islanders are not expecting our navy to crusade against pirates......"

"That's because the naval branch in charge of this sea area was not strong enough to effectively eradicate the pirate forces here, and after they left, the pirates came back and began to take revenge on the islanders...... I've encountered this situation before, and we just need to do a good job this time, and the islanders won't complain and choose to trust our navy in the future. ”

Smoker agrees, but it is not easy to wipe out the pirate forces that have been active in a fixed area for a long time, especially since the Cyclops battleship can stay in this area for a limited time, and they have other tasks to carry out.

"Everyone else has gone to inquire about the situation, right? I'm good to act, too. ”

Gion said suddenly.

"Major General Gion, you better not act yet, you are too conspicuous...... And if you, the monster commander, are all dispatched, it will inevitably seem that our subordinates are too incompetent. ”

- Not only is it conspicuous in appearance and rank, but as a representative of the new generation of female sailors in the navy, a monster with extraordinary strength, Gion has spoken many times in major newspapers as a spokesman for the navy. On the phone bug network, she has a large number of fans, and she can be said to be a well-known sailor all over the world.

Therefore, even in this kingdom of Balaiwu in the Western Sea, on this Ionian island, even if they wear civilian clothes for camouflage, Gion is quite easy to expose - if they take action again, it is likely to add another suspicion to the islanders who are not looking forward to crusading against the pirates, and make the pirates notice something unusual.

"Well, okay then, then I'll go practice the sword ...... for a while"

In desperation, Gion walked around to the back of the hotel and began to practice swordsmanship - not that she hoped that this random opportunity and time would make much progress, but that she needed to practice every day, and it had become a habit.

She pulled out the big fast knife "Golden Bira" from the scabbard, and after stopping the domineering appearance that had always been open, she posed with both hands, then took a deep breath, straightened her back, and swung it above her head. Then she swung it down quickly and forcefully, repeating the movement a few times, then regaining her grip on the handle of the knife and closing her eyes.

She was surrounded by a group of pirates with at least more than 100 million Baileys on offer, all armed with weapons - she imagined this as she struck her enemy in the wrist with the back of her sword, slashing him in the body, and then slammed a sword into the face of the other enemy as she turned.

"Huh?"

Gion slowly opened his eyes and found a little girl holding a bamboo knife in front of him - was it the innkeeper's daughter?

The girl didn't speak, staring straight at Gion with her face up, probably around 12 years old.

"Excuse me, what's the matter with you? Little sister? ”

"I—My name is Dusty!"

"Huh? My name is Gion, and we're meeting for the first time. ”

Gion habitually bowed her head in greeting, and the girl named Dusty nodded her head slightly—the smile on Gion's face made her seem less nervous when talking to strangers.

"Big sister...... You're from outside the island, do you know how to use a sword? ”

"It's kind of a little bit good."

Gion's words are not modest—in a place where swordsmen are everywhere in the Navy Headquarters, even if they are big swordsmen, they can only say that they know a little.

After all, you never know if you'll suddenly encounter Hawkeye, the world's No. 1 swordsman, who has come to the headquarters for a meeting, or Porusalino, who claims to be the inheritor of the sword skills of the famous reeds—if they hear someone say that they are very good at using swords, they will definitely ask for advice.

Of course, there is also a monster old man who insists that his fist is also a sword......

"Can you teach me the exercises, then?"

Dusty raised the bamboo knife in his hand and posed, staring intently at Gion, his eyes full of hope.

"I want to be stronger than the pirates!"

Gion quickly accepted Dusty's abrupt request, and the girl who also wanted to learn swordsmanship asked her for swordsmanship, and she was not bored, but rather a little happy - after all, wanting to be stronger than a pirate or something, it poked her heart as a female seaman.

Gion first let her try to swing the sword up and down, although the posture is very standard, the tip of the sword is not stable, and the center of gravity of the lower body is also offset.

"Instead of hitting the ground when swinging your sword, imagine swinging the tip of your sword far away, and then swing your sword – use more wrist strength."

Gion earnestly suggested, and Dusty was a little better at first, but after two or three swings, he returned to his original state.

Inadvertently asked when the girl started learning swords, Gion learns that she only started learning about half a year ago.

"I used to be taught swordsmanship by my uncle, the owner of the blacksmith shop, and although my uncle is a blacksmith, he is also very good at swordsmanship, and he is the most powerful person on this island...... Although this was before he injured his leg. ”

After Uncle Blacksmith can't teach her swordsmanship, Dusty is looking for a new master, just as Gion appears.

"Uncle Blacksmith is really pitiful...... Obviously, he didn't do anything bad, and the navy rarely came to such a rural town. Sister Gion, your ship also came here for supplies, right? ”

“…… Well, yes, you're right. ”

Gion Hanhu responded for a moment - the disguised identity of their group was that of ordinary Chamber of Commerce members. Moreover, although it is to crusade against the pirates here, I don't think that a little girl Dusty will leak information, but for the sake of security and secrecy, Gion can't tell little Dusty the truth.

"Ever since the pirates came to this island, it's all been unreasonable. And the adults all said that they had to endure it, and it would be no good to resist them...... It's definitely not going to be nothing good, sister said right?

"Of course! If you can't accept something, you should rebel! Sometimes you can't give up even if you try your best! ”

Although there are many things that cannot be changed despite all efforts, or it will be meaningless, after all, it is facing a little girl who is still growing, and Gion does not talk to her about these complicated situations.

"That's how it should be!

Dusty grinned, nodded heavily, and waved the bamboo knife in his hand vigorously, his tone firm: "I want to practice a lot of swordsmanship to drive away all those pirates who hurt everyone!" ”

The tip of the bamboo knife slashed through the air with a "rest".

"The posture of swinging the sword is good now, but the center of gravity is still too high."

Gion grabbed Dusty's waist from behind and corrected her posture, "You want to become stronger and take back justice for this village." ”

The revenge that ignited in Dusty's heart was naturally completely understandable to Gion. Unlike naval bastards like Porusalino, the idea of protecting the common people from pirates is the belief of Gion, who has been in the navy since he was a child and has been influenced by various elders.

Although she also encountered many things that shook her concept of justice when she was growing up, she never changed her concept of protecting the weak - which is why she very much approved of the big plan that Polusalino wanted to carry out, and she believed that only then could the navy better implement "justice".

Of course, in addition to the Navy's initiative, Gion believes that civilians themselves must have an unyielding heart, which in the words of Porusalino is, "God helps those who save themselves."

Therefore, Gion carefully guided Dusty's practice, wanting to plant a seed in this little girl's heart.

However, although Dusty was energetic at first, after an hour, she was starting to show fatigue. The posture began to become more and more messy, and finally he couldn't even hold the bamboo knife and slipped out of his hand.

"Let's take a break."

"It's okay, I'm okay!"

There's no point in training all the time if you don't care about fatigue – it takes experience to notice that.

Gion didn't stop Dusty for the time being, just drew his own knife beside her. The tip of the knife sinks suddenly, and it falls heavily with a "rest".

Seeing Gion start practicing sword swinging, Dusty's eyes widened in surprise: "Does Sister Gion also want to practice?" You're an adult? ”

"Even the strongest swordsman will insist on practicing every day~ This has nothing to do with age."

Gion replied with a smile - of course she wasn't very familiar with the world's strongest swordsman, Hawkeye, but Polusalino knew her well, so she often heard stories about Hawkeye from Polusalino.

Of course, with the exception of chicken soup that motivates young people, most of them are bad things that Polusalino made up when his bad taste came up.

For example, don't look at Hawkeye's handsome appearance when he goes to sea alone on a coffin boat, once he encounters someone who is in a hurry, the scene can't bear to look at directly - it is said that there were once pirates who accidentally witnessed Hawkeye's famous scene, and then he was chased and killed for hundreds of nautical miles.

Naturally, Gion won't tell such a story to Dusty, and for this little swordsmanship learner, he should talk more about chicken soup:

"I'll tell you a story while practicing swords, Dusty, the hero of this story is the world's number one swordsman, Hawkeye, who ...... when he was a child."