Raiden Ei knocked on the door of Kaiweiya's office. Hearing a "Come in" from inside, she opened the door and entered. The office was neat and simple, with bookshelves arranged orderly against the walls, and the lights illuminated the entire room brightly.
Kaiweiya was sitting at his desk reading documents. Hearing someone enter, he looked up and saw Raiden Ei. A hint of surprise appeared on his face: "Miss Raiden Ei, it's so late. Why have you come to see me? Is there something wrong?"
As he asked, he put down his documents, stood up from his chair, and poured some water for Raiden Ei.
Raiden Ei quickly stopped him: "No need, Major Kaiweiya. I have something to tell you."
Kaiweiya stopped what he was doing: "Go ahead, what is it?"
Raiden Ei explained the situation directly: "I just discovered a group of pirates on the edge of town. I've already killed them all, but they were holding many people as Slaves. I can't handle it alone. You Marines should take care of this, right?"
Kaiweiya wasn't at all surprised that there were pirates on the island: "I see. Can you lead us there to handle it?"
Raiden Ei: "I came here precisely because I want you to wrap things up. Let's go now."
Kaiweiya: "Miss Raiden Ei, can you wait a moment? I need to gather the Marines. Five minutes will be enough."
"Alright." Raiden Ei walked over to a sofa and sat down, waiting for Kaiweiya to assemble the Marines before setting out.
Seeing that Raiden Ei was willing to wait, Kaiweiya called out, and the Marine outside immediately opened the door and entered.
"Reporting, Major!"
"Immediately, right now, gather 100 Marines. Go!"
"Yes, sir!"
The Marine quickly left the office to gather the men. After giving the order, Kaiweiya continued pouring water for Raiden Ei.
Kaiweiya handed the cup to Raiden Ei: "Miss Raiden Ei, have you still not decided on joining the Marine? With talent like yours, as long as you join the Marine, I can recommend you to the Headquarters immediately."
Raiden Ei took the cup, intending to continue brushing him off: "Well, I haven't decided yet."
Kaiweiya: "Alright then! If you want to join the Marine, just tell me. A genius like you, receiving the best training at the Headquarters, will surely become a Vice Admiral in the future."
"I'm not like that; I'll probably be stationed at this Branch for the rest of my life. Never mind, you'll understand once you join the Marine. Do you know which Pirate Crew that was? Can you tell me about the situation?"
Raiden Ei let Kaiweiya's words go in one ear and out the other: "I'm not sure. I only know they called themselves Firelock Valoran with a bounty of eight million, and Shark-Slasher Chidori-jo with a bounty of twelve million. There was also one they called 'Boss' who was a Devil Fruit User, but I don't know his name."
After hearing Raiden Ei's account, Kaiweiya stood up and walked to the bookshelf: "I'll see if I can find any information on them."
Raiden Ei just slowly sipped the water in her cup and waited.
After a while, Kaiweiya found the bounty posters for the two of them and handed them to her: "Miss Raiden Ei, take a look and see if it's these two."
Raiden Ei took the bounty posters. It was indeed Valoran and Chidori-jo, but they each had their own Pirate Crew: "It's indeed them. So, who is their boss?"
Kaiweiya had a serious expression: "We'll have to go and see to find out. Let's go! Five minutes have already passed." He was the first to walk out of the room, with Raiden Ei following closely behind.
At the entrance of the Marine Branch, over 100 Marines had already gathered. They stood in neat rows, holding Flintlock Rifles, waiting for their officer to arrive.
Kaiweiya and Raiden Ei walked unhurriedly to the entrance of the Marine Branch.
Kaiweiya looked at his Marines standing in neat formation, their ready-to-act momentum satisfying him. He couldn't help but start persuading Raiden Ei to join the Marine again: "Miss Raiden Ei, how is it? This is the justice our Marine upholds. We welcome your joining at any time."
Raiden Ei looked at the Marines before her. They had more spirit than anyone else she had seen in this world. She saw no hesitation in them, as if their only goal was to hunt pirates.
Faced with Kaiweiya's persistent invitations, she found it hard to keep brushing him off: "They are better than anyone I've seen, but I still don't want to join the Marine."
Kaiweiya's expression darkened, and the surrounding atmosphere became much more oppressive: "Oh? May I know why?"
Raiden Ei didn't care at all about Kaiweiya's change in mood: "Because you are the World Government's Marine."
Kaiweiya was silent for a moment; he also knew a bit about the World Government's affairs: "Alright. Let's keep moving. I won't mention this again in the future."
Raiden Ei felt that the goodwill she and Kaiweiya had built over the past two days was mostly gone. From now on, she would just say whatever she wanted. Look at the mess things were in now.
She had thought that joining the Marine held no future for her. Without strength, she wouldn't get resources; without resources, her system wouldn't level up. Without strength, she would have to keep working while being suppressed by a mountain of superiors.
Being a Marine meant having superiors. An Admiral is managed by the Fleet Admiral, and above the Fleet Admiral is the Commander-in-Chief of the Three Armies, Kong. And that's just the Marine structure; above the Marine is the World Government ruled by the Gorosei, and even above the Gorosei, there's a big boss.
Do you call being a Marine a promising future? Before transmigrating, she was just a shut-in. To struggle in the Marine for a lifetime? Fighting and killing on the high seas suited her better. Earning enough to eat each day, she wouldn't let herself go hungry.
Raiden Ei's thoughts only lasted a few breaths. Having made up her mind, she stopped worrying about Kaiweiya and walked towards the house: "Let's go! This way..."
Kaiweiya, expressionless, shouted, "Follow me!"
This time, Raiden Ei didn't move as fast as she did when going to the Marine Branch. It took half an hour to reach the house. She stood at the door and looked at Kaiweiya: "Those people are in this house. You can just go in. There's nothing more for me to do here, so I'll head back to the inn first."
Kaiweiya had been thinking about many things on the way. Hearing Raiden Ei's words, he said, "Fine. You can go back first. We can handle this."
Raiden Ei didn't linger and turned to leave. She didn't plan on taking the twenty million bounty, considering it a return for Kaiweiya's care over the past two days. She planned to set sail tomorrow, heading for Loguetown first. She had already bought everything she needed and could leave at any time.
As her thoughts turned, her pace didn't falter. She hurried back to the inn. The darkness posed no obstacle to her; she navigated through the alleys just as she did in the daytime.
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