Yoriichi Tsugikuni's Observation Haki covered the entire patrol vessel. At this moment, besides him and Kyros, not a single soul remained alive aboard the ship.
He gave the bridge a quick survey and briefly inspected the wounds of the fallen marines. There was no need for Kyros to explain a thing, Yoriichi could already piece together what had happened here with little effort.
"Yoriichi, I..."
Kyros opened his mouth, trying to explain, but Yoriichi raised a hand, silently stopping him. His gaze was fixed on the center of the command table in the room. On it, alongside a spread-out nautical chart and a few scattered pencils, sat a Den Den Mushi.
Its eyes were open.
Seeing this, Yoriichi stepped forward, picked up the receiver, and calmly asked:
"Is anyone listening? This is Marine Branch 133, Patrol Vessel 06."
"I'm Private Third Class Tsugikuni Yoriichi of the Santos Unit."
Barely a second after Yoriichi finished speaking, a sharp click sounded from the receiver. The Den Den Mushi that had its eyes open only moments before... had now closed them.
Yoriichi's expression cooled.
"Yoriichi, what's going on?"
"Back when the ship was hit by pirate cannon fire, I followed your suggestion and came to check the bridge," Kyros explained.
"But by the time I got here, Sergeant Santos and the rest of the bridge crew had already been gunned down."
"The culprits were members of the combat unit."
"Why... why would they do something like that?"
Kyros still couldn't make sense of it. He didn't understand why fellow marines from the combat unit would turn their guns on their own. Nor did he understand why they had attacked him too.
What baffled him even more was that in a critical moment, under fire from pirate cannons, the combat marines hadn't lifted a finger to repel the enemy. Instead, they had chosen to murder their own.
To Kyros, this made no sense at all.
"Why would they do this?" he asked again, incredulous.
"I suspect their real objective… was our lives," Yoriichi replied coldly.
"The pirates that attacked us just now weren't some random threat we stumbled upon. They were organized, well-prepared, and clearly targeting this patrol vessel specifically—with orders to wipe out everyone aboard."
"To locate a ship in the vast open sea with such precision… it means our patrol route had been leaked."
"And for information like that to be leaked, someone from within the Navy must've handed it over."
"The combat unit's attack on the bridge crew was meant to coincide with the pirates' assault, responding from within as the pirates struck from without."
"Whether it was the combat unit or those pirates, I believe both sides were working toward the same end."
"In fact, I believe even the marines who did the killing were merely pawns."
"To the real mastermind behind this… they were nothing but expendable tools."
"After all, the pirates had one clear order: eliminate everyone aboard this ship."
Kyros stood silently, his face growing graver with every word. But as he absorbed Yoriichi's analysis, something still didn't add up.
"Our lives? But why would anyone target us?" Kyros frowned. "We're just two newly assigned Privates. We haven't offended anyone. Who would want us dead?"
"If what you're saying is true… then whoever orchestrated this must hold significant power. Enough to command both marines and pirates."
"But we've only been at Branch 133 for what, a few days? We haven't even had time to step on anyone's toes!"
He scratched his head in frustration, unable to grasp what he or Yoriichi could've done to provoke a death sentence.
"I think… I might have an idea," Yoriichi said softly.
"But I'm not sure if my guess is correct yet."
His gaze shifted back to the now-sleeping Den Den Mushi on the table. After a moment of thought, he reached into his coat and retrieved another Den Den Mushi from within.
This one looked… unique.
Unmistakably humanoid in shape, and perhaps most striking of all—it had a full head of vibrant purple hair.
Brrrr brrrr brrrr...
Brrrr brrrr brrrr...
Click.
After a few rings, the purple-haired Den Den Mushi opened its eyes.
A hearty, vigorous voice boomed through the receiver:
"Oi! Yoriichi!"
"You little rascal, you finally called! So? Have you arrived at the 133rd Branch yet?"
Hearing that familiar voice, Yoriichi couldn't help but smile as he responded warmly,
"Hello, Teacher Zephyr."
"Kyros and I arrived at the Navy branch just yesterday. First thing this morning, we even went on a patrol with some of the local officers."
"Though... something came up."
There was a brief silence on the other end of the line. Then Zephyr's voice returned, colder and sharper than before.
"What happened?"
Over the call, Yoriichi gave Zephyr a concise account of what he and Kyros had encountered. He also shared his own judgment of the situation.
But Yoriichi didn't pin the suspicion solely on the so-called "leader of the Lolo Trade Association" he had heard about. No, he suspected that the upper ranks of the 133rd Branch were hiding something from Navy Headquarters. And whatever that secret was, if exposed, it could cost someone their position or even their life.
The logic was simple. Yoriichi and Kyros had only just arrived yesterday. There was no way a merchant guild could've gotten wind of that so quickly unless there was someone tipping them off from the inside.
Moreover, from a strategic standpoint, anyone who could shift between being a merchant and a pirate with ease would have nothing to gain from picking a fight with the Navy. That kind of risk would only hurt their "business."
Even if they feared discovery by the Navy, they'd be better off waiting and reacting later, not preemptively taking action.
Yoriichi figured that their arrival from Navy HQ might have made someone in the local branch nervous, nervous enough to make a move.
"Who do you think it is?" Zephyr asked on the line. He didn't seem the least bit concerned that Kyros had taken a Navy man's life. He trusted his students without question.
Kyros had been enrolled at the Naval Academy for a while now, and Zephyr had faith in his character. And when it came to Yoriichi's judgment, Zephyr trusted that even more. The moment he sensed there might be a "rat" in the branch, he asked Yoriichi for his take.
"Hard to say."
"On our journey from HQ to the branch, we didn't run into anything unusual. So Captain Cain's likelihood seems low."
"That said, we can't rule out the possibility that the enemy waited until they were back on their home turf to make a move."
"There's also a chance it's someone among the branch's staff officers."
"As for anyone lower than that, I doubt they'd have the pull to command Navy sergeants or orchestrate a pirate crew posing as a merchant guild."
Zephyr listened in silence, deep in thought, before finally speaking in a grave tone:
"Yoriichi, you wouldn't be calling me now unless you already had a plan, would you?"
"Go ahead tell me. What do you intend to do?"
The Den Den Mushi's speaker crackled softly. Hearing that, Kyros turned to look at Yoriichi, his gaze steady.
Yoriichi was silent for a moment. Then, a calm smile crept onto his face.
"My plan is simple: We detain everyone who could be involved. Then, Teacher Zephyr, you send people over to investigate."
"This whole mess might look complicated on the surface, but cleaning it up really isn't that hard. Kyros and I, we can handle it."
The other end of the line went completely quiet.
Clearly, Zephyr hadn't expected such a blunt and bold solution from Yoriichi.
After a long stop, Zephyr finally let out a sigh and said, with a tone of reluctant acceptance:
"You two… handle it as you see fit. If anything goes wrong, I'll take the heat."
"Be careful. And… try not to kill anyone unless you absolutely have to."
"I'll send a team over right away."
"Oh! and Yoriichi, one more thing."
"Try to spend less time around Garp. Idiocy is contagious."
*********
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