Chapter 37: Aftermath compilation
The first thing I noticed when I opened my eyes was the ever slowly turning fan of Silver Fang's medical bay, which was followed by the stench of disinfectant that Justin loved to spray excessively.
Next was the familiar dullness of my nerves from painkillers, and the tightness of bandages around my chest and limbs; as well as the lack of much clothing aside from my undergarments under the blanket.
"Zzz…"
I glanced down and was greeted with the sight of Dva with her head lying on the edge of my bed, snoozing without a care in the world; she was even drooling onto the blanket.
Looked like I managed to survive after all, and the Silver Fang was clearly still functioning so Sen must have dealt with the Cipher Pol agent as well. That was a huge relief…
"Oh, y-you're finally up!"
Justin then made herself known as she manoeuvred around the dozing Dva and sat next to my head, "How are you feeling?"
"…alive. And numb." I noted that got her chuckling, "So, did we got back Temasek, or…"
"Yes, we took back Temasek from the pirates." The doctor assured, "We've won."
"That's a relief… if we lost after everything I had to go through, I'll be pissed…!"
"Then I'm glad we did. You were in a rough shape when that straw hat pirate brought you to us; any later, and we might have lost you."
"Mm?"
Our conversation must have woken up Dva as the young quartermaster sleepy eyes met mine, before she shot to her feet and immediately jumped on top of me in a tight hug; never have I been thankful for the numbness painkillers given me until now.
"Rein, you idiot!" She cried out, sobbing into my bandages, "Don't you dare pull that martyr thing ever again!"
"Right, right, I'm sorry…" I apologised, "But I managed to survive in the end, didn't I?"
"That's not the point, and you know it!"
"Hahaha…"
Though I didn't regret doing so; that fight had shown me a lot that I did not realised, and it helped me realised some things about myself that I didn't think before.
I then turned over to the doctor "So… how long was I out for?"
"About two to three days, give or take."
"Ah… is there anything of note that happened during that time I should know about?"
"Quite a lot actually… though you might not like some of them…
Once every pirate had been rounded up and accounted for, they were quickly thrown into the same jail cells that once housed their hostages; a sense of ironic justice as many had taken to call it.
Tentol, on the other hand, didn't get that treatment on the account that Sen's strikes had actually killed him right then on the spot; though he had admitted that he had held back alot to prevent him from dying, and it was clearly not enough.
The only pirates that weren't accounted were those under the command of the Orca Killer, as well as one of the ships the pirates had hijacked from them; but he had been classified as a non-priority, so no pursuit had been issued for him.
Once all of that was taken care of, the captains and surviving directors were called together to by Draconis who had received some intel from Sen about the true mastermind behind Tentol's actions.
"Cipher Pol!?"
Suffice to say, they weren't at all pleased with it.
"That would explain where Tentol got his Devil Fruit from." Silvia noted, bandages all over her wounded body, 'It wouldn't be hard for the World Government to get one.'
"Y-You got to be joking, right!?" Seline cried out, "All of this… all the destruction and pain the pirates has caused us… it was all the doing of the World Government…!?"
"I'm afraid not." Draconis shook his head, "They are the ones responsible for everything that has transpired."
"But… But why!?" Bronz asked, "We never have any disagreement with them for years, and we had many business contracts with their bases; so why do they…!?"
"I don't think finding the reason will do us any good." Simon stated, "If the World Government is willing to use Cipher Pol to get rid of us, then they are going to try again."
"This is bad…" Flaun noted, "We are already barely hanging by a thread after everything; we have no way to enduring another attack."
Murmurs of similar nature spread across the meeting room as everyone shared their concerns of the future of the East Traders moving forward with the world shattering information they had just now received.
There was a good chance that the World Government would sabotage any attempts for them to recruit more people for their recovered ships, which meant that they would be unable to replenish their manpower and would be unable handle the orders that had been piling up since the fight.
It was a good thing that word of them getting attacked hadn't spread, otherwise their many contracts would have cancelled on them right then and there, and they would lose many of their income.
Not that they could keep many of them for long with only seven properly manned ships that could make the trips.
"Damn it, is this really it!?" Scott growled, "After everything we have been through, is this where it all ends!?"
"…I have suggestion." The director of the Food Department, Tio spoke up, "It isn't the best solution and many of you may not like it, but it might be the only way any of us to survive through this."
Draconis looked at his fellow captains and turned to her with grim determination, "…we're all ears."
"…right. Then, here goes…" She took a deep breath before telling them her idea.
"We'll disband the East Traders."
""""WHAT!?""""
There was an outcry from everyone at the table as many objections were thrown at her about how ludicrous of an idea that was; with many even asking if she was the actual insider Tentol was working with.
That stopped immediately once Draconis slammed his hand on the table wooden surface.
"Calm yourself!" He shouted with an authority that no one could question, "Tio, please continue."
"R-Right… ahem." She cleared her throat and continued, "What the World Government wants from us is the dissolution of the East Traders, so that's what they will get. But afterwards, we will reformed under a new name and carry on with business as usual."
"But wouldn't the World Government notice that the same people are working together under a different name?" Simon asked.
"I have an idea for that. Instead of being under one banner like how we are doing now, each captain would instead form their individual bases and control their chosen routes. Each base are then allied with each other under a united front."
"Ah, like how the counties work under the World Government despite operating on their own?" Seline noted, "We each get our own contracts but share information and resources with each other?"
"Exactly, we'll be working together as individual companies instead of being united under one banner." Tio concluded, "That way, the World Government gets what it is after, and we will still be in business. So, what do you think?"
"Hm… Working together as individual companies…" Draconis thought for a moment, "The East Traders initially started up as a coalition of different trading ships working with a shared goal, so this is just a sort of return to form. I'm in. What say you all?"
"I'll be honest with ya, I don't understand everything she just said." Scott shrugged his shoulders but nodded his head afterwards, "But if it allows us to be remain in business, then so am I."
"Same here." Flaun nodded.
"Me too." Simon noted, "It would be interesting to start up my own company and run it my way."
"If they are in, then I am too." Seline nodded.
"Question, can we share a company with another?" Bronz asked, "Because anything logistics is beyond me."
"Couldn't you just get Maria to do that for you?" Silvia remarked.
One by one, they all agreed on the suggestion, and soon it was decided for all. They then worked on splitting up the contracts they have and chosen the routes and sites to set up their respective companies.
Silvia had decided to join up with Bronz to set up one together on account of their crew working well together and Lee being way better in terms of logistics than Dva,
"Say, what should we called ourselves then?" Flaun asked, " I mean, we can't call ourselves the East Traders now. We need a new name to unite under."
"Oh, oh! The Gonzales—"
"""No."""
"Eh, had to try."
"Seriously, what is your obsession with that name?"
With Seline's suggestion swiftly shut down, they all brainstormed on what new name their united front should be called; which took even longer then dividing the routes and contracts.
It was until it was deep into the night when they all magnanimously agreed upon one.
"The East Merchant Federation."
"That's right. Kind of fitting, don't you think?"
Considering what they were trying to go for, calling themselves a federation wasn't too far from the truth; I would have personally went with alliance instead, since it was multiple individual parties united with each other than together under a centralised control.
But the idea of setting up multiple companies and allying with each other would sent the World Government for a loop, since they were considered allied with each other instead of working together.
"That is definitely a huge change." I noted, "And they only announced just a couple of days ago? Must have caused quite a stir."
"It was quite the shocker to everyone." Justin nodded, "Still, if it meant we can carry on working as we are, then it is worth splitting up with the others."
"Though not with all of them." Dva noted with a grin, "We will all be working with each other soon! I'll show you all the slacking techniques I have developed!"
"Then you clearly don't know Silvia. If she catches you slacking off on the Silver Fang, she will make you regret it."
"Only if she catches me~!"
"Speaking of which, that Steve works in the medical bay too, right?"
"Yup, as an assistant to our ship doctor; honestly, he is probably better than them."
Seeing them talked about their future coworkers had me tumbling internally with guilt over what I was about to do.
After all, I had already decided then that when I came out of this alive, I would asked to leave the Silver Fang and join the Straw Hats on their journey into the Grand Line; for the sake of my dream of finding the truth of this world.
No matter how tempting it was to remain with them and helped out at the new company, I knew that I would regret it if I'd allowed this one-in-a-lifetime opportunity to slip past me like many in my past life.
"W-Well, back on topic…" I spoke up and got back their attention, "Justin, you said that I wouldn't like what happened when I was unconscious; what do you mean by that?"
That had the doctor cringing at the thought, "Ah, well… that's because…"
It had been as a day since the announcement for the dissolution of the East Traders and the formation of the East Merchant Federation.
The initial shock had worn down and everyone had began packing up supplies on their ships in preparation for the long journey ahead: that included all the paperwork necessary to set up a company at their assigned location.
That led to the three ports bustling with activity as every able-bodied sailor available were tasked with heaving crates and barrels filled with various goods and produce while their respective quartermasters checked the logistics of it all.
Which was why no one only noticed the Marine ships entering their waters until they started pulling up to dock.
"Well, glad to see you are doing well." The Captain-turned-Major Lewis Strongheart greeted Draconis with a firm handshake, "When I've got the call from you all about turning in all those million beri bounties, I was worried for your well-being."
"Yes, well, we are a lot tougher than you gave us credit for." The veteran captain told him, "I trust that the bounties will be collected in no time?"
"It would take some time to confirm all of them, but we will hand over to you the promised amount for them all."
"Glad to hear that, Major."
The pirates were quickly brought out of their cells and swiftly cuffed by the marine soldiers and escorted onto new ones aboard the marine battleships, at with special cuffs of Sea Prism were allocated to the ones with Devil Fruit abilities.
All the while everyone watched with glee, with one even deciding to sacrifice one tomato to throw at the pirates; that got quite the cheer from the hostages when the fruit/vegetable went splat on one of their faces.
Lewis grinned ever widely when the former marine Morgan was escorted onto his vessel with axe hand and flesh hand all chained up, "Well, well, I guess you didn't escape very far, did you Morgan?"
"Shut it, Strongheart. Don't make me repeat that beat down I gave you years ago."
"Oh, I really hope you try. Because you are going to find that things would be different now."
"I highly doubt so."
Breaking through his chains with a jerk, Morgan shoved aside his escorts as he ran towards Lewis and swung down his axe hand at his head.
But the major simply grinned as he swung his fist to met it, the large metal chopper shattering into pieces upon contact with his knuckles and throwing the former marine off balance.
That was quickly followed up with a haymaker to his face and bent his metal jaws' teeth in and sending him crashing to the ground and into the realm of the unconscious.
"Hope you are curious about Impel Down. Take him away, boys."
New chains were brought out and bounded around his hand before the disgraced marine was dragged down below deck to his cell.
"…I take it you two has some history?" Draconis asked.
"We've been in the academy together." Lewis explained, "He was as big of an arrogant prick as he was now and picked a fight with me every chance he could."
"Is that why you purposely had him cuffed in faulty chains?"
"Ah, so you noticed?"
"Noticed what?"
"…thanks."
The rest of the pirates were swiftly escorted onto the marine ships, barely any of them even attempting to escape after witnessing Morgan getting floored by Lewis.
"Right, we'll hopefully have your bounties cash in by fortnight." Lewis stated.
"I'll be holding you to that." Draconis noted.
"Now hold it, Major Lewis!"
Just as the buff marine major was about to board his vessel when another marine of the same rank descended down the ramp with a scowl.
"Don't you dare forget about the other reason we are here!" The rat faced Major shouted, "There is another criminal we have to arrest on account of severe charges! And we are not leaving without him!"
That had everyone confused at his accusation, for they wasn't sure who he was talking about; all but the exception of the crew of one ship.
Lewis let out a tired sigh before walking up to the crowd and pulling out the man in question, "Gord, for interfering with marine investigations and the assault of marine soldiers including one Major Nezumi, I hereby place you under arrest."
"W-What!?"
"Assaulting a marine? That Gord?"
"I mean, he's a former marine…"
Murmurs and whispers of doubt and suspicion rang across the port, all the while a pair of handcuffs were placed onto Gord much to the glee of one Major Nezumi.
"Wait just a minute here!" Silvia stomped up to them, "You can't arrest him, Lewis!"
"I'm sorry, but there are plenty of witnesses and testimony from the victims about his crimes." Lewis told her, "There's nothing I can do against that."
"But you should at least know the whole story behind it! There is a reason why he attacked the marines!"
"Hah! Reason?" Major Nezumi scoffed, "Reasons do not hold up in court, especially when he had assault marine soldiers during an investigation!"
"Investigation, my foot!"
An outburst rang out from behind the crowd, as Nami and the Straw Hat pirates all came forward with their navigator glaring at Nezumi.
"What that rat bastard was doing vandalising private property in an attempt to steal my money!" She shouted, "Not only that, he even had his men fire their guns on unarmed civilians! What that man did was simply stopping a burglary!"
"Your money? You meant the money you stole?" He huffed, "All I did taking back stolen property from a thief; in fact, we should also arrest you for stealing! Major Lewis, arrest that thief for stealing public property and interfering with—Puah!?"
The rat-faced marine had his face smashed in by a rubbery fist that Luffy had thrown out that knocked him off his feet and into the ground.
The soldiers accompaning them immediately raised their arms against him and his crew, with Roronoa Zoro and Sanji stepping forward and ready to fight back if needed.
"Damn it, Luffy; I deserved first dibs on that rat asshole." Sanji stated, "No one speaks of our beloved Nami like that and gets away with it."
"As much as I hate to admit it, but I agree with the shitty cook here." Zoro stated, his sword already partway out of its sheath, "Only we get to badmouth our navigator."
"Wha—don't you dare badmouth Nami, mosshead!"
"I am not, curlybrow!"
"Grr…!" Nezumi clutched his broken nose as he was helped up by the soldiers accompanying him before pointing Luffy, "Arrest them, Major Lewis! They dare interfere with an arrest and assaulting an officer of the Marines!"
"Men, guns down."
"What the…!? Major Lewis, did you not hear me! Arrest these hooligans! They assaulted a marine officer—!"
"Major Nezumi, all I see was you tripping over yourself." Lewis noted, "Why would you arrest some random civilians for something you did to yourself?"
"Wha—don't you dare play coy with me! I have you know that I have connections with—!?"
"Men, please escort Major Nezumi to the medical bay; he appears to have suffered a major concussion and can't tell the difference between reality and fantasy."
"Sir!"
"Concuss—unhand me! Don't you dare do this, Lewis! I'll have your badge for this! Do you hear me! You can forget about…!"
His cries were quickly muted out as Nezumi was 'escorted' aboard the marine vessel kicking and screaming; the soldiers not even caring about his threats as they brought below deck and closed the hatch behind them.
Lewis turned to Luffy, "I'll overlook your actions today; but there will not be a second time."
"Yeah, whatever." The pirate captain dug his nose before pulling out and flicking away a booger, "Still gonna kick his ass if he insults Nami one more time."
"…that's good enough…" He then turned to Silvia, "And yes, I am painfully aware how corrupt that son of a bitch really is; I was actually hoping to slip out of here before he notice."
"Then Gord is…!"
"Unfortunately, an arrest warrant for him had already been issued out, so I can't do anything about it; and it is true that he assaulted marine officers, so he's not exactly innocent."
"That's just…!"
"Silvia, it's okay. I've long made peace with it." Gord assured his captain, "It is true that I've broken the laws, so it is only fair that I'll get arrested for it."
"Gord…"
"Don't worry; I have my own connections that can counter Nezumi." Lewis assured her, "And hey, if the courts are merciful, he will probably just have to stay in a cell for a couple of weeks."
"…if you are sure." Silvia noted.
"Sorry for just leaving like this, Captain."
"Don't worry, your position on the crew will still be here for you when you get back."
"…thank you."
"And you all just let them take him!?"
"Woah, calm down, Rein! Or else your wounds will open up!"
I didn't care about that; all I cared about was that Gord gotten taken away just for defending against that bastard Nezumi. I had a feeling that bastard would survive getting set adrift, but never thought he would dare take revenge like this…!
Even if there was a good chance that Lewis could get him acquired from the assault and possibly oust Nezumi as the corrupt money-grubber that he was, I was miffed that this was all they could do to help him…
"I should have woken up earlier…!" I growled, "Then at least I can help them tear that bastard apart…!"
"And I'm glad you didn't." Justin sighed, "Lewis will have a tougher time otherwise."
"My heart, like, stopped when I saw that punch." Dva noted.
"Wait a minute… they only issued an arrest warrant for Gord?" I asked, "But I was as much involved with it all as him. Why only him?"
"Ah, yes; Silvia did ask about that." Justin stated, "Apparently, there has been a push from high up on the ranks not to issue out a warrant for you."
Huh? Who on earth would do that? I mean, I have acquaintances within the Marines but they only got as high as Major, and that includes Lewis himself. While there was Garp, we weren't exactly close to begin with.
The fact this mystery someone that was at least as high of a rank as the legendary Fist did this was kind of worrying.
"Well, that's all the more important stuff that happened these past couple of days." Justin noted, "Ah, there was that interview Gin underwent."
"Interview?"
My mind immediately conjured the image of Gin wearing a full business suit while sitting in front of a board of interviewers, and I held back from laughing my head off at the absurdness of it all.
"W-Who's conducting it?"
"Who else?"
Gin could feel a bead of sweat dripping from the back of his neck, already feeling the pressure being pressed upon him. Sitting opposite him at the lone table in the Silver Fang's captain's quarters was the one that had asked for his presence to begin with.
The captain of said vessel was projecting a sense of presence that shouldn't be possible for someone covered from head to toe in bandages; Don Krieg could never command the room quite well as she had.
He wasn't sure what things he was expecting when Silvia called him to her quarters, but asking him to sit down in front of her as she looked through some papers wasn't any of it.
"So, Gin."
"Y-Yes!?"
His name getting spoken of had him straightened his back in fright, his eyes glancing all over the room except for the lady in front of him; Silvia finished organising the stack of papers in her hands and placed it to the side before propping both arms on the table.
"From what I've heard, you wish to join our crew; is that right?"
"Y-Yes, ma'am!"
"And you were recommended by Rein?"
"T-That's right!"
"Hm… I see… tell me then, 'Demon' Gin."
She picked up a paper from the stack and placed it in front of her, revealing it to be his wanted poster, "Why should I allow a notorious and wanted pirate like yourself aboard the Silver Fang? Why shouldn't I just have you chained up and handed over to the Marines?"
Gin could felt his throat constrict at her question, her eyes staring into his as a sense of danger shot through his spine; it took all he could not to pull out his weapons hidden under his clothes and take a fight stance.
What the captain had asked was a reasonable question, especially what she and her fellow colleagues had endured in the past several days.
Allowing someone as dangerous and well-known as him to join after all of that would bound to lead to all sorts of issues with both the World Government and the other captains down the road.
It would for the best for everyone if he just leave and sail away from all of this.
But then… if he just backed off now…
"Strength doesn't have to mean being a cold ruthless killer. Sometimes it can be as simple as just protecting a single ship."
Her words rang true in his mind as his conviction steadied in his heart; the one other person that was willing to reach out for a monster like him and give him another chance in life.
"You are right… …I have done a lot of terrible things in my life…" Gin told Silvia, "Plundered countless villlages, killed a lot of people… all at the beck and call of the man I'd called my benefactor… …all because I was too blind to see that he was using me for his own ends…"
"So you wish to claim your actions wasn't yours but of your former captain's?" She asked, "That he was the reason behind your horrible deeds and not you?"
"No, my actions were mine to decide, so were the many evil deeds I had chosen to do; I was the Demon, a ruthless killer that slaughters innocent without any hesitation and without remorse."
"…is there a point to this seance?"
"Because that monster of a man Krieg had turned me into was not who I am, not who I wanted to be any longer; if you can give me a chance, I promise you that I will do whatever it takes to prove it to you, to everyone that I can change for the better."
"And if you can't? If you slip back to your old ways?"
"Then you can hand me over to the Marines; anything is better than living a lie."
"…Is that right…? In that case…"
Silvia reached over and handed Gin a series of papers from the same stack; these ones were forms of some kind along with one page detailing many things regarding the employee guidelines of the Silver Fang.
"These are the paperwork required to formally and legally join my crew. I suggest you take a good long through read at the guidelines before signing it, otherwise you might end up violating them without knowing; god knows how many times that have happened with Rein…"
"T-Then…!"
The captain smiled, "From what I could see, you are genuine in your desire to change your life; so I'll decided to put my trust in you and in Rein's judge of character. I hope you will live up to our expectations?"
Gin shot to his feet and gave a sloppy but sincere salute, "Yes! I will not let you down!"
"Good. Ah, but you don't have to salute."
"R-Right! Of course…!"
"So, we can't exactly use your actual name, so we would need an alias. Any good ones came to mind?"
"I can go by Ghim."
"That's… okay, I guess."
"There are still more complications, but he now officially one of us!"
"Oh, that's good to hear."
"Though many are a little skeptical about him."
"Give him some time; he'll win them over in no time."
I couldn't be more happy for the ex-pirate; his fate in Canon was just too sad, so it was great that I had been able to give him a new lease in life.
Still, I did not expect him to use that dumb name I came up on the spot as his alias; not sure if I should be flattered by it or a bit concerned for his naming sense.
"Aaaand I think that's about all that I could think of." Justin noted, "The rest is mostly logistic work, so…"
"Wait, wait, you never told her about the pirates you guys hired!" Dva cut in, "You know, the whole bargaining debacle?"
"Bar…gaining…?" I looked at Justin as a sense of worry crept in, "…What does Dva meant by that…?"
"Ah, it's nothing, really. Just that before the marines came…"
"What do you mean this much! That's underpaying everything we have to deal with them throughout it all!"
"Look, according to all the calculations we had done of your crew's contribution, this is what it is all worth!"
"Well, clearly your calculations is faulty, because like hell we're only getting such petty sum for a job well-done! We should be paid more than that!"
"Then how much you want to be paid?"
"This much! At the bare minimum!"
"This—Are your calculations faulty!? There is no way in all of the four seas your work is worth this much!"
"Hey, hey; less you forget, it is thanks to us that you managed to get back your friends from their clutches to begin with."
"That will not sum it up to that many zeroes! It has to be half that many!"
"Well, we're not leaving until you give us that much! I wonder how much trouble our captain can get into before then…?"
"Then I'll have you know that you will be forced to pay us each time he get into trouble!"
"What!? That's coercion!"
"Hey, you played it first!"
"All I ask that you pay us our due!"
"And all I ask is that you accept how much we can give you!"
I felt my eyebrow twitched, "…what…the…fuck…"
"Yup; you can hear them from on the other side of the island." Dva nodded, "There were even threats about making that rubber pirate devour all our food and then some."
"They didn't stop until the Silvia comprised by giving them funds in terms of supplies." Justin sighed, "And giving their ship an upgrade for free; the captain was fuming when they were done."
Nami, you money-obsessed little… Was it her life work to get as much money as she was allowed to…?
"Is…Is that all…?"
"Uh…yeah, that's all of them. Nothing else comes to mind."
"Oh, okay then…" I sighed, "To think that I've missed out on so much…"
"It is quite insane that all those even happened." Dva noted, "I mean, not including what was planned tonight."
"Oh, right." Justin snapped her fingers in realization, "That was tonight, wasn't it?"
"Tonight?" I asked, "What's happening tonight?"
They both turned to me with a wide grin before cheering out.
""The celebration party!""
…
To be continued…
Hey, hey! Long time no see!
Sorry for not updating so long, the manga just got to the Kuma flashback and I did not want to add in things that might contradict whatever Oda has put out lore wise so I choose to wait until the the flashback wrapped up.
And boy did it wrapped up, and we now have a new GOAT of OP, and probably the most tragic character Oda has put out.
But enough gushing about the manga and let's talk about this chapter!
Though it was less a chapter than a compilation of a bunch of smaller events, as I wasn't sure how else to write the aftermath for the arc.
Still, next chapter would be a bridge chapter to the next arc of Rein's story, so keep a look out!
With that, I thank you all for reading this!