Waves crashed against the ship as it rocked slightly in the night.
Lieutenant Commander T-Bone was not out on duty with the soldiers, but stayed in his own room instead.
He stood up and took out the resting Den Den Mushi from the cabinet.
As the "Purupurupuru" sound rang out, the Den Den Mushi instantly transformed into the appearance of an iron-blooded tough guy.
A deep and steady voice came through, causing T-Bone to involuntarily stand at attention.
"Vice Admiral Sakazuki! Marine Headquarters Lieutenant Commander T-Bone reporting on recent mission and the detailed process of the Aston Kingdom incident!"
The Den Den Mushi resembling Akainu nodded slightly, then said softly.
"Go ahead. I've already cleared things with the higher-ups regarding the Aston Kingdom situation. For now, I'm in full charge of handling this matter. You don't need to worry about anything, but also absolutely do not hide anything from me."
"Yes, Vice Admiral Sakazuki! The incident in the Aston Kingdom has been cleared. The Aston Kingdom misappropriated a large amount of public funds from the national treasury to purchase a precious gem as a tribute to the Celestial Dragons, resulting in the inability to pay this year's Celestial Tribute on time. To make up for the mistakes, the Aston royal family cooperated with the Donquixote Family. They began secretly transporting people from small villages in their own country and neighboring countries for slave trading."
"The Donquixote Family received about 70% of the profits, while the Aston Kingdom received 30%. This incident was caused by a young boy who was captured to be sold as a slave."
Looking at the Den Den Mushi before him, Akainu extinguished the half-smoked cigar and said in a somewhat muffled voice.
"Doflamingo, is it? Indeed, that's something his family would do. But... orders have come down from above. The Marines cannot arbitrarily arrest Doflamingo, and all matters related to the Doflamingo Family are to be handled by Vice Admiral Tsuru. You are not to investigate this matter any further."
"But! Vice Admiral Sakazuki, are we just going to allow those damned pirates to continue kidnaping civilians, to let the darkness of the Aston Kingdom keep spreading? This clearly goes against our justice..."
However, before T-Bone could finish speaking, he was directly interrupted by Sakazuki.
The latter said somewhat impatiently.
"Before adhering to your sense of justice, Lieutenant Commander T-Bone, you are first and foremost a soldier. What is a soldier's primary duty? Tell me!"
"To obey orders, Vice Admiral Sakazuki!"
Hearing Sakazuki's words, T-Bone's body trembled slightly.
He gritted his teeth and gave the answer with extreme reluctance.
After hearing T-Bone's response, the other side fell silent for a moment, then spoke in a somewhat softer tone.
"I know what you're thinking. But T-Bone, justice is often not something that can be achieved immediately. However, I can assure you that justice will never be absent. Be it the Donquixote Family or the Aston Kingdom, one day, I will burn all that damned evil to ashes!"
Hearing Sakazuki's words, T-Bone stood at attention and responded.
"Yes, Vice Admiral Sakazuki!"
T-Bone knew better than anyone that man's pursuit of justice and his hatred for evil.
He had never doubted a single word Sakazuki said.
He knew that if anyone could carry out absolute justice, it could only be Sakazuki!
He calmed himself down, then reported to Sakazuki.
"Vice Admiral Sakazuki, please allow me to report that I have taken the liberty of recruiting two young people into the Marines. I will write up the paperwork and submit a report on this later. These two young people were the cause of the recent turmoil in the Aston Kingdom."
"You're a Marine Headquarters Lieutenant Commander. You don't need to write me a report for recruiting two people. I approve. Who are these two, and what exactly happened?"
"Report! Both are ordinary civilians. One of them, a young man named Jake, was captured as a slave shortly after swallowing a Devil Fruit. On the seventh day, it's suspected that the residual consciousness of the Zoan-type Devil Fruit in his body was triggered, giving him powerful strength for a short time. He destroyed the entire underground slave dungeon and attracted the attention of everyone with a huge light."
"While fighting the Donquixote Family, the young man named Jake snatched one of their family's Devil Fruits and gave it to his companion Monet to eat. Now both of them are on my warship and have joined the Marines!"
Hearing T-Bone's words, Sakazuki's face instantly brightened.
He relit the cigar he had just extinguished, then asked T-Bone.
"What Devil Fruit abilities do those two have? One is a Zoan-type? What about the other?"
Hearing this, T-Bone also sensed the excitement in his superior's heart.
After all, even within the Marines, Devil Fruit users were extremely rare.
And as long as someone was a Devil Fruit user, no matter how useless their ability might seem, they could become a fighting force at the level of a Commander after the Marines' systematic training.
Moreover, the Devil Fruit abilities of those two were both extremely rare types!
Thinking of this, T-Bone's voice became loud and clear as he reported.
"Report, Vice Admiral Sakazuki! One of them eat a Logia-type Devil Fruit, the Snow-Snow Fruit user Monet!"
At this point, the gloom on Akainu's face had already completely disappeared.
A Logia-type Devil Fruit user?!
That was almost certainly going to be a Headquarters Vice Admiral-level combatant!
This was enough to dispel his bad mood from the entire day!
He spoke to the Den Den Mushi.
"Lieutenant Commander T-Bone! Not only do you not need to write a report for recruiting Marines without authorization, but I will also apply for a reward for you from above! Military funds, supplies, manpower, new cannons, and..."
However, before Sakazuki could finish, T-Bone interrupted him even more excitedly.
The Den Den Mushi representing T-Bone at this moment had its mouth almost split to its ears.
"There's also Jake, According to my deduction, his Devil Fruit should be the same as Fleet Admiral Sengoku's! It belongs to the Zoan-type Devil Fruit Mythical type! I don't know exactly what Devil Fruit it is, but he possesses the healing ability of Marco the Phoenix, has characteristics of Vice Admiral Borsalino's Glint-Glint Fruit and can briefly control lightning and create transparent shields!"
Hearing T-Bone's report, Akainu was somewhat stunned.
He didn't even notice the cigarette ash falling onto the floor.
His voice lost its previous steadiness and became somewhat trembling.
"Say that again. What fruit is it?"