Chapter 51

Chapter 51: I'm a Marine, You Know

"For me, whether it's being a Rear Admiral or a Private, any position doesn't really matter. As long as I can protect justice, it's fine! But..."

Kadar finished the remaining half bottle of wine in one breath, and the liquid dribbled down his chin, wetting his beard and soaking into his collar. His voice became more poignant,

"Recently, the fish-man from the Sun Pirates that Fleet Admiral Borsalino captured is going to be released... That vicious fish-man who was involved in killing dozens of my subordinates is going to be released!"

Adrian knew he was talking about Arlong; his release implied Jinbe would be joining the Seven Warlords of the Sea soon.

As part of the exchange, the former Sun Pirates fish-men were to be absolved of their crimes, given a chance to become civilians again. However, this seemed cruel for the civilians and Marines who were hurt by them.

He didn't know how to console the Rear Admiral; all he could do was listen silently.

"What I used to hate the most were pirates, and now I have to add slave traders to that list! If there weren't slave traders, there wouldn't be so many slaves! My subordinates wouldn't have died in battles over the ridiculous reason of 'reclaiming slaves'! And those fish-men, I will never forgive them, no matter what!"

Kadar slammed the empty wine bottle on the table heavily as he spoke, becoming increasingly incoherent:

"Today, I killed ten slave traders, ten! Those guys were just caught half a month ago, yet seven without bounties are going to be released... I can't accept this outcome! Even if it goes against the rules, I'll uphold the justice in my heart! "

Ten slave traders, caught half a month ago, seven without bounties...

It should be that group, Adrian suddenly felt sorry for the Rear Admiral; he hadn't taken the initiative to do what a righteous Marine was doing.

He didn't know what to say, he could only listen.

It seemed like Kadar was done talking and drinking, as he stood up swaying, and handed a few bills to Adrian.

Adrian pushed the money back, shaking his head, "No need, consider it on the house."

Kadar slapped the money on the table and left, the bell on the door ringing with his departure, accompanied by a firm voice, "Do you think you can make me eat for free? Don't kid around, I'm a Marine, you know!"

Adrian watched the swinging door, gradually getting smaller, and asked, "Do you guys think I made a mistake?"

In this world, it seemed that the Marines weren't allowed to execute captured criminals on their own. Regular criminals would be imprisoned at Marine bases for a period of time, then sent to the Judicial Island for due process, and finally incarcerated at Impel Down.

Adrian looked at the bottle of invisible ink, wondering how to use it.

Artoria said, "We did our part by catching them and handing them over to the Marines. If the criminals didn't receive proper punishment, it's the fault of the judicial system. But the consequences of this negligence shouldn't be borne by a Marine with such integrity. We can't change the World Government's actions right now, but when facing such evildoers in the future, we should be more thorough."

Most wanted posters usually state "Dead or Alive," meaning it's reasonable and legal for ordinary people to take down these criminals. There wouldn't be much trouble.

"I'll try to adapt to this," Adrian started picking up the empty bottles left by Kadar, at least he didn't want this good person to pay for his actions anymore.

The three of them cleaned up the tableware together, and Adrian hung the sign that said "Closed for the Day" outside the door, locking it.

"Tomorrow's the first of the month again, let's take a day off to avoid trouble," Adrian suggested.

Artoria remembered that Adrian said the first day of the month was when the "Cateer Stabilization Center" opened. She asked, "Is it because of the Celestial Dragons?"

Adrian nodded, "Yeah, whether it's your beauty and grace or Tom's intelligence and uniqueness, they could spark their interest. If it's just a rumor, that's manageable, because there are plenty of beautiful women and intelligent animals in the world. You don't see them hunting everyone down. But if they see it for themselves, who knows what might happen."

"Uh-huh... uh-huh-huh-huh..." Tom heard Adrian praising his intelligence and gave an embarrassed smile, blinking his big eyes, seeming shy.

Adrian ruffled Tom's cat head, "I'm not complimenting you on purpose. Why are you so happy?"

Artoria looked at him, "Adrian, if the Celestial Dragons do come to Sabaody tomorrow, I'd like to see for myself what these so-called World Nobles are really like."

Adrian instinctively wanted to refuse and tentatively said, "But tomorrow, I planned to take you guys to Sabaody Park. There's a lot of food there that we haven't tried yet."

There was hardly any hesitation in Artoria' reply, "We can eat the food later."

Uh-oh, it looks like she's made up her mind.

"But if you see the Celestial Dragons doing something outrageous, you probably can't just stand by and watch, right?"

"...I'm sorry."

"You didn't do anything wrong." Adrian said, "If I had the strength to punch an Emperor and kick an Admiral, I'd definitely wipe out those scum."

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