Valentine thought for a moment and replied, "They are still unwilling to join us in collecting the 'taxes' from the residents. But after several discussions, we have reached a compromise: they will not report our operations to Headquarters, and we will not provoke them."
Upon hearing this, Dyer Webb snorted coldly, continuing to tear into his roasted pork knuckle as he spoke.
"Hmph, they know what is good for them. After all, they are just here to gild their resumes with a remote deployment. They will be transferred back to the Grand Line or Headquarters soon enough anyway. Let us just pretend we do not see each other."
Dyer Webb was a smart, calculating man; there was a very specific reason he had successfully controlled this island for so long.
He knew how to perfectly balance the greed of every faction involved.
Speaking solely of the extorted money, the tax collection was carried out by the town mayor, with the local mafia physically enforcing the payments.
The Marine soldiers merely stood in the background to serve as intimidating, official support.
The collected funds were strictly divided to keep everyone quiet:
The Mayor: 10%
The Mafia: 10%
The Local Marine Soldiers: 20%
Headquarters Bribes (Networking): 20%
Captain Dyer Webb: 40%
Every single power holder on the island was deeply entangled in the web of illegal interests woven by Dyer Webb, so he naturally had no fear of any local opposition.
As for the newly arrived Marine recruits, since they neither intended to participate in the extortion nor report the activities, he simply let them be.
...
Hidden high on the back mountain of Tei Island, six Marine soldiers were fiercely and silently training.
They were the elite operatives secretly assigned to this post by Momonga.
The reason they trained up here in the wilderness was that the 102nd Branch had absolutely no proper training facilities left.
Constantly treated like circus monkeys by the lazy, corrupt locals, Richard's team had found their own covert spot to exercise and keep their lethal skills sharp.
At noon, they paused their sparring, casually drinking from their canteens while gazing down at the bustling town below.
Their eyes were filled with absolute disgust.
Having been stationed here for half a year, they had witnessed every single atrocity committed by the local Marines on the island.
One could honestly say the Navy soldiers here had become completely indistinguishable from the pirates they were supposed to be hunting.
Under Dyer Webb's leadership, all the other Marines spent their days indulging in heavy drinking, illegal gambling, and stirring up trouble with the civilians.
There had once been upright, honest Marine soldiers in this branch, but through Webb's dark manipulations, they had either been corrupted to his side or permanently silenced.
The only reason Richard's six-man team remained unharmed was entirely due to their formidable combat skills and constant, unwavering vigilance.
A young Marine soldier nibbled on a steamed bun and looked over.
"Richard, how much longer until we finally make our move?"
The soldier called Richard, who was slightly older and heavily scarred, checked his pocket watch.
"According to Commodore Momonga's secret orders, a pirate crew should arrive around noon or tomorrow afternoon. They will launch an all-out attack on the branch at night."
"Hmph, it would be better if all those corrupt scum just died in the raid," the young soldier muttered, curling his lip in disgust.
"Trash like Webb and his cronies did not deserve to wear the justice coat."
Richard smiled faintly but said nothing more.
He saw much further than the younger recruits.
Why was this specific location chosen for the plan? How could Momonga possibly know a pirate crew's exact movements in advance? Everything pointed to the terrifying, powerful Vice-Admiral pulling the strings from behind the scenes.
But knowing the truth changed nothing.
Being selected for this covert mission proved Richard was deeply trusted by both Vice-Admiral Raleigh and Momonga.
Of course, to prevent the temptation of corruption, they were never allowed to operate alone.
...
Meanwhile, far from the peaceful shores of Tei Island, a battered pirate galleon was racing across the waves.
"Listen up, crew! I know of an island that has not been plundered by a single pirate crew in nearly ten years! Do you know what that means?!"
A tall, red-bearded pirate captain with a flushed face and bulging veins roared at his men.
The pirates, who had previously been eating and drinking loudly on the deck, instantly froze.
Their greedy eyes gleamed as they stared at their captain.
They could hardly believe their ears. An island untouched by pillage for a whole decade—how wealthy it must be!
Just think about it: those popular, wealthy villages that get robbed all the time are practically drained dry.
An isolated island like this must be absolutely loaded with hoarded supplies and gold!
Gulp—
A pirate swallowed his eager saliva loudly.
With that single sound, the entire crew instantly erupted into a collective, bloodthirsty frenzy.
"The Boss is mighty! Long live the Boss!"
"Kill, kill, kill! We will grab all the money and women!"
"I'll offer the prettiest girl to the Boss!"
The pirates' knowledge of the world was extremely limited, and they did not have many complex phrases to go around.
In their violent world, only women, booze, and shiny treasures mattered—nothing else was important.
The pirate captain watched his men descend into wild excitement, a twisted, greedy grin spreading across his face.
"My intel says there is a Marine branch stationed here," the captain yelled, raising his cutlass. "But their Captain is a fat pig who weighs over four hundred pounds! The Marine soldiers in the base are absolute weaklings who haven't trained in years! They are no match for us!"
Just then, a lean, drunk pirate suddenly stood up, holding a sloshing wine glass and stammering loudly.
"B-Boss! D-Dont worry! The Marines are no match for us at all! I-I can take on ten of those dogs by myself!!!"
The pirate boss glanced at him but did not bother refuting the arrogant claim.
He needed hot-headed idiots like Alsordi to boost morale and keep the rest of the crew in a state of mindless euphoria.
"That's right! What Alsordi said is spot on! How could those lazy Marine dogs ever be a match for the Lone Wolf Pirates?! The moment we draw our blades, they will be on their knees surrendering!"
The captain's words immediately sparked a wave of arrogant cheers.
The crew began heatedly discussing exactly how many Marine soldiers they could kill and what brutal moves they would use to do it.
The pirate boss had no intention of stopping them; he was more than happy to see his crew erupt in wave after wave of intense, violent debate, their shouts easily drowning out the sound of the crashing ocean waves.
It was not until deep into the night that these pirates, having finally burned off their chaotic energy, fell into a drunken, deep sleep, leaving only the helmsman to guide the ship silently toward Tei Island.
Late at night, the Lone Wolf Pirates' vessel approached Tei Island under the heavy cover of darkness, docking at a remote, rocky cove to go ashore.
They truly did not attract any attention from the Marines inside the 102nd Branch—because the corrupt Marine base did not even have a single guard posted on night watch to observe the surrounding waters.
A decade of comfortable, lazy living had long stripped them of any respect for tedious military discipline.
They simply did not care about standing guard.
But every single movement of the Lone Wolf Pirate Crew was currently under the watchful, calculating eyes of Richard's covert six-man team.
"Big bro, they have started moving. Should we blend in and strike?" The young Marine soldier made a quick, decisive throat-slitting gesture.
Richard did not respond immediately, instead keeping his binoculars trained carefully on the pirates creeping through the treeline.
"It is too early to strike right now. Wait a bit longer," Richard whispered coldly.
"Someone will naturally lead them straight to Dyer Webb's manor. We let the pirates do the heavy lifting first."
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