Chapter 64: Ideas on Military Expenditures

[A/N] - Support & Read 40 Advanced Chapters on Patreon!

[A/N] - Link Below!

.....

The Celestial Dragons lingered for a few more days to train their new slaves.

Smoker spent most of his time either wandering around in front of the Celestial Dragons or chatting with Gernika.

On the fourth day, under the watchful eyes of the entire Navy, the Celestial Dragon's ship slowly departed Primisoma Island.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Even for the Marines, dealing with the erratic moods of the Celestial Dragons was incredibly stressful.

Serving a ruler is like living with a tiger, they say.

But serving an unpredictable and irrational ruler? That's even more dangerous.

Meanwhile, the women and children who had hidden in the mountains finally began returning home.

Since Smoker wasn't sure if the World Government had left spies behind, he didn't release the injured captives.

He figured they couldn't stay on Primisoma Island anymore. Better to take them somewhere else.

Word was that Zephyr had recently taken over a non-affiliated nation with a population shortage—sending them there seemed like the best option.

It'd be tough starting over, but at least they'd be alive.

The townsfolk gathered at the warship, bowing deeply in gratitude to Zephyr and the Marines.

But their gazes toward Smoker were more complicated.

While he was their savior, sparing them from slavery, he had also executed hundreds of injured captives without hesitation.

Gratitude mingled with fear and anger in their hearts.

Smoker, however, didn't bother explaining himself.

With the sound of the ship's horn, the warship departed the port.

After organizing everything, Smoker returned to the command room, where Zephyr was already waiting for him.

"Brat, hand over those fine cigars you snagged!" Zephyr demanded.

Smoker paused for a moment, caught off guard. They'd just witnessed a tragedy, with even some recruits lost, and yet Zephyr was already thinking about cigars and liquor?

Then again, it made sense.

Zephyr had fought pirates his whole life and had likely seen places far worse than Primisoma Island—countless times.

And as for fallen comrades? He'd probably filled entire ships with their memories by now.

Perhaps he'd just become numb to it all.

"Don't tell me you're planning to keep it all for yourself!" Zephyr snapped.

Smoker shook his head, snapping out of his thoughts. "I don't know what you're talking about..."

"You think I don't know? You took the Fang Pirates' treasure chest! I don't care about most of it—it'd just end up with the Celestial Dragons anyway. But the cigars and liquor? Those, you're not keeping for yourself!"

Scratching his head awkwardly, Smoker relented. "Alright, alright..."

He'd thought he'd been discreet, but Zephyr had still figured it out.

Smoker handed over a gilded box, which Zephyr eagerly opened, revealing dozens of premium cigars. The rich scent of tobacco wafted out immediately.

Zephyr took a deep inhale, a look of satisfaction spreading across his face.

"Ah... This is my one true indulgence in life!"

Without wasting a moment, he cut one open and lit it, exhaling plumes of smoke.

"So, Smoker, why did you get that agent's contact info? What are you scheming?" Zephyr asked through the haze of smoke.

Smoker didn't answer directly. Instead, he changed the subject.

"Zephyr-sensei, isn't it time for us to graduate?"

Zephyr blinked, then nodded.

"Yeah, five years sure flew by... But don't worry, with your and Hina's skills, graduation will be a breeze."

Smoker's abilities had long surpassed those of the other trainees.

In fact, he was stronger than most instructors, rivaled only by swordsmanship prodigy Gion and Haki genius Gaji.

With talent like his, he was on par with legends like Sakazuki, Borsalino, Kuzan... and even Monkey D. Dragon.

Not only that, Smoker had turned the elite Marine expansion class into something resembling another Base 161.

The other trainees had been pushed to keep up, drastically exceeding expectations.

Smoker reached for one of the premium cigars, but Zephyr quickly snatched the box away, clearly intending to keep them all for himself.

Sighing, Smoker pulled out a regular cigar, lit it, and exhaled a puff of smoke.

"I'm not worried about graduation. It's what comes after that concerns me."

Zephyr frowned. "What do you mean?"

Smoker sighed again.

"After we graduate, we'll be assigned to various branches, right? As someone who grew up in a base, I know how underfunded most of them are. And the smaller bases? They're even worse..."

Zephyr's expression darkened as he nodded grimly.

Marine Headquarters had no shortage of resources—manpower, ships, weapons, whatever they needed.

In theory, with the disappearance of Shiki, they should have been able to swiftly eliminate any major pirate threats with their full force.

But the reality was far more complicated.

The World Government constantly restrained Marine operations.

To protect Mariejois, Marine HQ had been forced to construct countless fortresses, turrets, and stockpile ammunition.

On top of that, the government demanded that Headquarters always keep at least half its forces stationed for defense.

Mariejois was secure, sure.

But most of the Headquarters' strength was effectively useless.

This left the Marines hesitant and underpowered when facing major pirates on the open seas.

Yet when those same pirates attacked Headquarters directly, the result was a devastating one-sided battle.

The best examples were Shiki and Whitebeard.

Seven years ago, Shiki had stormed Marine HQ alone...

Shiki was eventually captured alive and thrown into Impel Down.

For Marine Headquarters, the losses amounted to just a few hundred soldiers, a handful of warships, and some property damage.

Years later, Whitebeard's crew launched a full-scale attack on Marineford.

Sengoku, Garp, Aokiji, and Kizaru fought with everything they had.

The Seven Warlords either defected or stood by passively.

To make matters worse, Blackbeard complicated things even further.

Despite all this, the Whitebeard Pirates failed to achieve their goals.

If it weren't for Shanks' intervention, they might have been wiped out entirely.

Marine Headquarters, however, had become imbalanced—a fortress with high defense and low agility.

Despite its reputation as the ruler of the seas, it posed no real threat to the powerful pirates of the New World.

The World Government allocates funds based on the Navy's overall needs.

However, a large portion is wasted on unnecessary defenses for Headquarters, leaving the branches and bases severely underfunded.

The stronger bases manage to maintain some semblance of order within their territories, while the weaker ones are constantly overwhelmed, barely able to respond to emergencies. Sometimes, they're even annihilated.

It's impossible to keep up. Simply impossible.

Smoker's gaze was resolute.

"Justice isn't some lofty ideal; it requires resources—real, tangible funding!"

"I want to try something new: making the Navy self-sufficient."

"What?!"

Zephyr slammed the table and stood up. "No! Absolutely not!"

As a former admiral, Zephyr knew exactly what could happen if the Navy started raising its own funds. They could become bloated and corrupt, exploiting allies by suppressing rebellions, hunting down pirate treasures, or even extorting protection fees.

In no time, the Navy could amass a fortune.

But the problem was that the World Government would never allow it.

Their control over Navy funding was a leash, ensuring the Navy never gained independence.

Zephyr himself had been an admiral at the time. Confronting the government directly would have embarrassed them.

Instead, they targeted his family.

If Smoker tried something similar, the government wouldn't hesitate to strike back.

Zephyr couldn't allow his protégé to follow the same path!

Smoker waved his hand dismissively.

"Zephyr-sensei, I understand your concerns. Don't worry; I won't act recklessly!"

"I know the government won't allow us to fund ourselves. But what if the money came from the Celestial Dragons instead?"

Zephyr blinked. "The Celestial Dragons?"

"Exactly," Smoker nodded. "Bancroft has been complaining about how weak his slaves are—they embarrass him in public."

"So I was thinking: when we capture pirates, why not sell them as slaves to him?"

"Normally, the Navy can't claim bounties for captured pirates. But if we sell them to the Celestial Dragons, we can negotiate a higher price."

"I've heard pirate slaves are stronger and more sought after. More importantly, for every pirate slave, at least ten commoners might be spared."

Zephyr pondered this and eventually nodded.

"I see. By targeting bounties and having the Celestial Dragons pay, the government couldn't object."

The World Government allocates funds to the Navy in two stages.

At the beginning of the year, they provide a fixed budget for basic expenses like food, housing, ship maintenance, and equipment development.

At the end of the year, they reimburse the Navy for bounty expenses.

The bounty system is tricky. Although the Navy advances the payouts, it isn't allowed to collect bounties itself. This leads to billions in wasted potential every year.

Smoker's plan was to change that.

By selling captured pirates as slaves to the Celestial Dragons, the Navy could earn significant funds.

Once enslaved, pirates wouldn't live long anyway. When they died, the Celestial Dragons would simply dispose of the bodies.

Such waste was intolerable to Smoker.

He'd already made arrangements with Gernika, who would collect the bodies of the pirate slaves and hand them over to Smoker.

Since bounty claims only disappear when pirates are killed or imprisoned, Smoker planned to resell these bodies to bounty hunters at a discounted price, earning a second round of income.

As for Gernika, he wasn't doing this for free.

Bringing high-quality slaves to the Celestial Dragons would be a major accomplishment for him.

Smoker smiled faintly.

"Eventually, the other Celestial Dragons will catch wind of this. When that happens, Bancroft won't be the only one working with us."

"At that point, even if the government objects, the Celestial Dragons themselves will defend the arrangement."

Zephyr nodded. "What you're suggesting might work. But having the Navy directly involved..."

Smoker interjected, "We could create proxies or even establish an underground Navy to handle it."

Zephyr was silent for a moment, lost in thought.

"I'll think about it..."

"Oh, by the way," he added, "since you're about to graduate, which base would you like to be assigned to?"

Smoker grinned. "Sabaody Archipelago."

.....

Support and Read 40 Advanced Chapters. Ahead of the Rest!

https://p@treon.com/Void36

[Replace '@' with 'A' to access Patreon normally]

There is 5 more exciting Fanfics already available on my Patreon page!