Chapter 27: The Mysterious Disappearance of an Island

After the conversation that day, Shanks and the other two indeed became much more diligent.

Every day, they would complete the tasks set for them without needing supervision, and Bear would even exceed the requirements.

"Captain, you're finally here!"

When Hitsugaya saw Renji walk into the office, he almost burst into tears.

These past few days had been a living hell for him. He was either working overtime or on his way to work overtime. He had been working from dawn to dusk, and the dark circles under his eyes were proof of his exhaustion.

"Ah, Hitsugaya. Are you settling in well here? Has Kuzan been showing you the ropes and helping you get familiar with things?" Renji asked, noticing the dark circles under Hitsugaya's eyes. He felt a twinge of guilt.

But soon, his conscience was eaten by the dog.

"Captain, these are the documents that have piled up over the past few days and require your signature. Please take a look." Hitsugaya stepped aside, revealing the scene behind him.

In the office, documents were piled up like a small mountain. Standing in front of it, one could only feel insignificant.

"All of these... are for me?" Renji's voice trembled as he rubbed his eyes, afraid he was hallucinating.

Then, Hitsugaya's words dragged him back to reality and threw him straight into hell.

"Reporting to the Captain, this is only a portion of them," Hitsugaya said, secretly enjoying the moment. "There are more in my office and Kuzan's."

Renji's vision went dark, and he nearly fainted.

Hitsugaya, as if anticipating Renji's reaction, instantly pulled out a chair from behind him.

Renji landed smoothly on the chair without a single misstep.

Then, Hitsugaya pushed the chair, moving Renji to the desk.

"Are you guys devils?" Renji's trembling finger hovered over the documents. "When will I ever finish all of these?"

Hitsugaya remained unmoved. "The documents in this room are all urgent and need to be approved within the next two days. Please hurry, Captain."

"Once you're done, we still need to distribute them and send them to various parts of the South Blue. So, please complete them as soon as possible."

With that, Hitsugaya hurriedly left the room, even thoughtfully closing the door behind him.

"What have I done to deserve this?!"

Even through the door, Kuzan could hear Renji's heart-wrenching scream.

"Senior Kuzan..." Hitsugaya saluted. "The mission is complete."

"Go ahead and laugh if you want to..."

Kuzan looked at Hitsugaya's face, which was clearly struggling to hold back laughter, and shook his head with a smile.

"Reporting! I've undergone strict training. No matter what happens, I will not laugh!"

Hitsugaya tried to control the muscles in his face, but instead, they started twitching uncontrollably.

"Seriously, let's see if he dares to slack off now," Kuzan, the overworked employee, finally vented all the resentment he had accumulated, paying it back with interest.

Those documents were the result of a message he had sent to all the islands in the South Blue: the new South Blue Governor has taken office, and all major issues should be reported directly to him for handling.

As soon as this message went out, the naval forces on the islands with problems were overjoyed, eager to report every major and minor issue they had.

"Are we going too far with this...?"

Hitsugaya still felt a bit uneasy. Would the Captain hold a grudge and make things difficult for him later?

Kuzan reassured him, "Don't worry. Our Captain isn't a petty person. He won't take it to heart."

As for whether it would be recorded in a little black book, he couldn't guarantee that.

"Let's go. We still have a mountain of work waiting for us." To achieve the justice in his heart, Kuzan didn't mind how much he had to suffer.

...

The South Blue was as calm as ever, with no major incidents occurring.

Warm sunlight filtered through the leaves and onto the desk. Renji bit down on a pen, furrowing his brow as he looked at the documents in his hand and on the desk. It was as if he could see three words written on them—scapegoat.

Renji took the pen out of his mouth. "Why are all these people asking me for money? Am I a bank? Where am I supposed to get that much money?"

"Isn't distributing funds the responsibility of headquarters? What went wrong?"

Unable to figure it out, Renji could only write a note on the funding requests: No money, but you can have my life if you want. If they had the guts, they could come to Sorbert Kingdom to discuss it in person.

Then he outright rejected all such documents.

"Always causing trouble for me... There are pirates causing trouble on Mamori Island again! Didn't we just clear them out not long ago?" Renji's head was about to explode.

Mamori Island was somewhat famous in the South Blue for its dairy cows. Renji had even visited once to sample the local delicacies.

He couldn't help but feel that the pirates in this world were like weeds—cut them down, and they'd grow back immediately.

"It looks like we need to station some capable marines on that island."

Relying solely on reinforcements would eventually lead to disaster for the island.

But overall, the South Blue had been relatively stable recently, and the pirate threat had been effectively curbed.

With the South Blue in such good shape, Renji could finally take a break, improve his strength, and wait for the moment to face the world's strongest.

Knock knock knock!

"Captain Renji!" A marine pushed open the door, holding a stack of materials and looking anxious as he entered the office. "I have something strange to report."

Can't I catch a break? My rare good mood is about to be ruined...

Renji said irritably, "What is it? Let's hear it."

The marine didn't notice the tone in his superior's voice and immediately spoke up. "I'm a member of the newly formed research team. Recently, we discovered something strange in the central region of the South Blue."

"An island we've been monitoring has mysteriously disappeared."

"That island had a massive deposit of crystal minerals, and it was previously occupied by many pirates."

Hearing that the island was only inhabited by pirates, Renji visibly relaxed. "Did you notice anything unusual before the island disappeared?"

The marine thought carefully but came up with nothing. "I'm very sorry, Captain. We didn't notice anything out of the ordinary."

"The island just vanished into thin air. We saw it the afternoon before it disappeared, and by the next morning, it was gone when we passed by again."

"Alright, I'll go to the site to investigate later. You can go back now." This was the first time Renji had received such a report, and he was slightly intrigued.

The disappearance of islands was not uncommon in naval records.

Some were sunk due to battles between powerful individuals, some due to natural disasters, and others destroyed by giant sea kings.

"I wonder what caused it this time?" Renji propped his chin on his hand, looking forward to the investigation.

...