One Piece Shadow Army - Chapter 47
Time passed.
Six months had gone by.
At the Charlotte family’s villa.
The breakfast prepared early by four chefs was already laid out on the long rectangular dining table.
Curls woke up on time, washed up, and started eating.
Before long, his sister Vilsia, drawn by the smell, also sat at the table and began devouring her meal.
As for his father, he was likely still struggling to decide which pair of boots to wear today.
This was the trouble of having wealth.
When he was poor, his father Ronald never had this problem of indecision.
As Curls was finishing his meal, Ronald finally came downstairs from his room, wearing a pair of brand-new blue boots.
“One of the servants took a long leave recently, and now I have to go to the job market to find a replacement. What a bother!”
Curls slowly got up, gesturing for a servant to bring his Marine coat.
“Why don’t you just have the butler find someone?”
“Oh right, why didn’t I think of that?” Ronald realized, finding the idea quite good.
Curls turned to leave.
“I’m heading to the Marine base now.”
“Okay, goodbye, brother,” Vilsia said, having a day off from school.
“Be careful on duty,” Ronald reminded.
“Don’t worry.” Curls put on the Marine coat handed by the servant, waved lightly, and walked out of the villa with a relaxed expression.
Once he left the villa.
His expression became more serious.
It had been six months since his recruit training ended, plus the three months of training, and the time to go to Marine Headquarters was approaching.
……
Loguetown, Marine Base.
Upon entering the base, Curls was immediately notified by a Marine soldier that Captain Smoker wanted to see him.
Marine building, sixth-floor office.
Curls knocked on the office door, saluting, “Captain Smoker.”
Inside the room.
Smoker was smoking a cigar, sitting behind his desk.
“You’re here, take a seat.”
Curls sat in a nearby chair without hesitation.
Then he asked, “Captain Smoker, do you need me to go out to sea to hunt pirates?”
Smoker shook his head slowly, taking the cigar out of his mouth, and spoke seriously:
“A new order has come from above. According to reports from civilians, there are corrupt officers in the 16th Branch of the East Blue Marines colluding with pirates. After discussion, it has been decided to send you on this mission. You will go to the 16th Branch as an inspector from Headquarters.”
“The 16th Branch of East Blue?” Curls vaguely felt the name was familiar.
“It’s under Captain Nezumi’s command,” Smoker confirmed.
Captain Nezumi!
The disgraceful Marine colluding with the Arlong Pirates and oppressing civilians.
Hearing this name.
Curls immediately understood why it felt familiar—it was a character from the original storyline.
In the past six months, he had been so immersed in training that he rarely thought about the original plot.
Now, due to Smoker’s mention of this mission, it clicked in his mind.
Based on his memory, the Arlong Pirates should have been ruling over twenty villages and oppressing the villagers for five years by now.
For five years, the higher-ups in the Marines had no news, showing how terrifying Arlong’s control over the nearby villages was.
Similarly.
For five years, the 16th Branch had done nothing, blatantly watching pirates oppress civilians, indicating how deeply corrupt they had become.
“So, any problems?” Smoker asked.
Curls stood up, his expression solemn: “No problems. I will complete the mission.”
……
Loguetown Port.
A patrol ship was quietly docked at the shore.
Smoker did not provide much support for this mission, only allowing Curls to take his fifty Marine soldiers.
Curls didn’t request additional support either.
After all, Captain Nezumi wasn’t a strong opponent; he could easily handle him.
The Arlong Pirates, tied to Captain Nezumi, were East Blue’s dominant force. Ordinary Marine soldiers wouldn’t be of much use against them.
“All aboard.”
After confirming the number of soldiers, Curls, dressed in his white Marine uniform and justice coat, boarded the patrol ship first.
The fifty former recruits.
They had experienced various pirate battles in the past six months and quickly matured, now qualified Marines.
Once on board.
The Marines set sail, following the established course.
Curls stood on the bow deck, feeling the sea breeze, assessing wind direction and weather.
Among these fifty Marine soldiers, there was no navigator, and Curls hadn’t requested one from Smoker because he himself was a navigator.
And in Loguetown’s Marines.
No one knew more about navigation than him.
Since the patrol ship carried minimal supplies, it moved swiftly across the sea.
What was originally a three-day journey to the 16th Branch would now take only two days and a night.
After confirming there were no immediate issues, Curls returned to the cabin.
By the end of the first day.
The patrol ship had left Loguetown’s waters, heading towards the 16th Branch.
Gradually.
Raindrops began falling from the sky, and the wind grew stronger, with a faint howling sound.
Curls quickly emerged from the cabin, carefully observing the weather, and concluded.
A storm was coming!
As evening approached, dark clouds rapidly gathered in the sky, obscuring the stars.
The rough sea saw waves rising, and the wind growing stronger, creating a stormy turmoil on the water.
Marines hurried out of the cabin, ready to adjust the ship’s course to avoid being swept into the sea by the storm.
Curls was already outside the cabin, staying vigilant about the weather.
Being a Devil Fruit user, if he fell into the sea, he would lose strength and drown.
Howling winds!
Stormy seas!
This was the theme of the night.
No one let their guard down, knowing that any lapse could mean death at sea.
Lightning and thunder in the sky added danger to the scene.
Suddenly, torrential rain poured down!
“Reef the sails!”
If the sails weren’t taken down in such conditions.
A patrol ship of this size would undoubtedly capsize in the storm, so Curls urgently ordered the Marines around him.
“Yes, Ensign.” The Marines, aware of the seriousness, quickly began taking down the sails.
In an instant.
Everyone on the deck was soaked.
The storm’s strength was too intense even with the sails taken down. The patrol ship, built for speed, lacked the weight to stabilize it.
The ship swayed unpredictably.
Like a leaf in a stormy sea, it could capsize at any moment.
Faced with this situation, the Marines couldn’t maintain the ship’s balance against the wind and rain.
“All into the cabin.” Curls ordered the Marines.
He then had his shadow soldiers go out to stabilize the ship.
Being non-physical entities, the shadow soldiers weren’t affected by the storm.
The storm raged on, and the patrol ship continued to sway violently until 3 AM when the storm finally began to subside.
The Marines came out, hoisted the sails again, and set off towards their destination.
The journey continued smoothly.
By noon on the third day since leaving Loguetown, the patrol ship arrived at Cocoyasi Village.
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