บท 54: My Uncle is an Admiral

"Messenger, bring Kuro to me!"

"Yes, sir!"

Soon, Kuro appeared in Hailan's office.

"Reporting in, sir! Petty Officer Kuro, reporting for duty!"

Kuro was an intelligent man. Although he had only joined the navy a few days ago, he already looked more like a soldier than most others, just slightly lacking the aura of Second Lieutenant Wagner.

Hailan nodded in satisfaction. "First of all, as the top contributor in this battle, I hereby promote Petty Officer Kuro to the rank of Ensign!"

"Keep up the good work."

"Thank you for your trust, sir!" Kuro saluted, his face showing no sign of joy. It was unclear whether he had a deep sense of composure or simply did not care about his rank in the Navy.

"This... this promotion is too fast, isn't it?" Bellemere couldn't help but be surprised. "From Petty Officer to Ensign, you skipped four ranks!"

"As a Major from the headquarters, appointing an Ensign is well within my authority, right?" Hailan looked at Bellemere. "Don't worry, you can get promoted too."

"Uh... that's not what I meant!"

Ignoring the awkward Bellemere, Hailan continued questioning Kuro. "How is the interrogation of those treasure hunters captured by Wagner going?"

"There are still a few left."

"And what about Roy's assets?"

"They've all been confiscated."

Hailan looked at Bellemere. "Lieutenant, did you hear that?"

"We've got money now!"

Bellemere was incredulous. "This money... aren't you supposed to submit it to the headquarters?"

"Why would I do that?"

Bellemere tested the waters. "But... justice??"

"Oh, my uncle is an admiral. He said I'm fully in charge of this operation in the East Blue."

"Do you have any more questions?"

Bellemere shook her head. "No... no more."

"Then go with Kuro to get the money."

"Uh... yes, sir!"

Bellemere and Kuro saluted and left Hailan's office.

Hailan straightened his clothes, took the navy's Justice Coat from the coat rack, and left the office.

...

"Let me out!"

"I've already contributed twice for your boss."

"I need to see Major Hailan!"

In the cell, the clownishly dressed Buggy clung to the bars, wailing like a ghost. The Seastone handcuffs on his wrists ultimately restrained his Bara Bara no Mi powers.

"Quiet down!" Wagner knocked on the bars with a small bamboo stick, making Buggy quickly retract his hands.

Buggy had already calculated in his mind.

As long as he didn't have the Seastone handcuffs, he wouldn't be afraid of just one Navy lieutenant. Even if that female lieutenant came over...

He still wouldn't win.

"Buggy?"

"Yes!"

Hailan called Buggy's name in a clear voice, and Buggy reflexively responded. Then he realized, "Wait, who is mimicking me?!"

Then his face turned pale. "Uh... Major... Major Hailan?"

"Everyone, leave."

Hailan dismissed the guards and pulled a chair to sit across from Buggy.

"Speak, what do you want?"

"Uh... well..." Buggy rubbed his hands together, his face showing a flattering smile, looking very much like a clown trying to amuse an audience. "For the sake of the contributions I've made, could you let me go?"

"But you're a pirate."

"I, Buggy the Clown, swear to the heavens, I've never robbed a single civilian!"

This time, Buggy wasn't lying.

A pirate crew wanting to increase its bounty quickly would challenge big pirates if they had the strength or constantly massacre civilians if they didn't. However, challenging other pirate crews was the only option if the goal was just fame. Even among pirates, those who frequently killed civilians were despised.

It wasn't about having a moral bottom line, but rather, achieving fame by killing defenseless civilians was disgraceful!

Back in the East Blue, Buggy had just begun to establish his loyal crew by bragging. He had just defeated a pirate crew whose captain had a bounty of less than five million Berries when Hailan captured him.

He hadn't had time to rob civilians.

Who could he complain to?

"Hmm..."

"I did look into that."

"You're not lying."

Hailan had delayed meeting Buggy because he was investigating Buggy's actions in the East Blue.

Hearing this, Buggy was elated. "Hehe, so you'll let me go, right?"

"Let you go?"

"No, no, no!"

"Buggy, you're a lucky charm for me!"

"Just like you said, I've been able to defeat my enemies quickly twice because of your help!"

During the first mission with Rear Admiral Garp, Buggy revealed Anderson's weakness to Hailan.

In the second mission, Hailan had just started suspecting Hoffman when Buggy immediately exposed Hoffman.

"And you've even invented these 'Buggy Balls'..."

"A real talent!"

For some reason, Buggy suddenly felt uneasy. "So... what do you want?"

Hailan's gaze turned serious. "Buggy, join the navy!"

"What?!" Buggy leaped back, his expression exaggerated.

"That's not funny!"

Buggy's mind was in turmoil. It wasn't just about his past as a notorious pirate under Gol D. Roger. If he joined the navy, Shanks would never let him live it down!

"No way, no way, no way!"

Buggy shook his head frantically.

Hailan's expression softened. "Alright, if you don't want to be in the navy, I won't force you."

"Huh?"

"Really?"

Buggy's nose twitched. Something felt off.

"You know Vegapunk, right?"

"The genius scientist of the World Government!"

"I see you as a genius too, for inventing the Buggy Balls. How about you go work as his assistant?"

Buggy stretched his neck. "And... what else?"

"Well, since you have the Bara Bara no Mi powers, if I hand you over to the World Government's research department, I'm sure their human biology research will make great strides!"