20demayo Chapter 100: Power
Chapter 100: Power
Chapter 101: Power
Stussy stood before the table, looking at the small mountain of paper before him, and for the first time began to doubt his choice.
She reached out and pulled out the top document.
It was a request for delayed delivery from Water Seven, citing the World Government's conscription of a large number of shipwrights, resulting in insufficient production capacity. The attachment also included a long list of people who had been taken away.
She picked up the next document, an emergency contact letter from the Drum Island Medical Association, stating that the King and the entire royal family had been taken away by the Navy, the island's administration was now paralyzed, and previously signed drug procurement contracts could not be fulfilled.
The next report was a loss report from the Sabaody Archipelago Merchant Guild, which listed hundreds of shops that had been seized and estimated that more than 20,000 people were missing.
One after another, an hour passed, two hours passed —
The mountain of documents on Stuart's desk didn't decrease; instead, it piled up higher and higher as new documents kept arriving.
The person delivering the documents was in a hurry; he dropped them off and left without even saying a word.
Stussy looked up, wanting to call out to someone to ask what was going on, but after her gaze swept across the entire office area, she fell silent.
Behind the tallest mountain of paper in the office area was Taylor, the poor mermaid completely submerged in documents.
Stussy couldn't see her, but could occasionally hear her talking on the phone, her voice so fast it sounded like chanting.
In the center of the office, Gails stood before a huge nautical chart and two rows of dozens of Den Den Mushi (snail phone devices). The chart was marked with a dense array of routes and symbols in red and blue, and the Den Den Mushi never stopped running.
Further away, other secretaries were either on the phone, writing, or having quick, hushed conversations.
Everyone's desk was piled high with documents, and everyone's face showed exhaustion, but no one stopped.
Stussy glanced at it for a few seconds, then silently lowered his head and buried himself back into the pile of documents in front of him.
I'm so stupid, really.
Is there anything wrong with being a vase?
She could lie on the golden bed all day, only needing to think about how to dress herself up and how to please that man.
Wouldn't that be better? Why create this kind of trouble for yourself?
If she could go back in time, she would definitely make the same choice, but at this moment, she truly regrets it.
However, the regret only lasted a short time, because as he processed more and more documents, Stussy actually started to feel a sense of satisfaction.
Perhaps because of her special status, the documents she was in charge of were not ordinary official documents.
They come from various islands in the first half of the Grand Line, and their content covers trade, shipping, resource allocation, population movement, and even the mediation of local conflicts.
Almost all of the documents have one thing in common: they are either requesting help from the United Kingdom or reporting their situation to the United Kingdom.
There is a request for food aid from Long Ring Island, because the World Government's sudden maritime blockade and the naval withdrawal of some of the island's administrators have caused chaos, and their food reserves are now insufficient.
There are applications for short-term, low-interest loans from Carnival City, which say that due to a sharp drop in tourists and the loss of many performers, they can only borrow money from the United Kingdom to keep operating.
There was also a distress letter from a small island whose name she had never even heard of, saying that a plague had broken out on the island, medical resources were scarce, and one-third of the islanders had already died.
One stroke after another.
Stussy's pen hardly stopped; every word she wrote and every signature she made could determine whether an island could survive the month, whether tens of thousands of people could have food, or whether they would die of disease.
This feeling is hard to describe.
It wasn't excitement or joy, but a deeper, more primal feeling.
It was as if she was holding not a pen, but a lever that could influence the fates of countless people.
With a simple swipe, she can make resources flow, extend life, and maintain order amidst chaos.
The pleasure derived from this power is more intense than any jewelry or fine clothes, or any physical pleasure.
Just as Stussy had hoped, Oro could offer her more than just sex.
He gave her something more important: a position that could influence the world.
The sustained high-intensity work left her drenched in sweat, and Stusi was slightly damp.
"Huh? The Celestial Dragons attacked Beehive Island, but they didn't kill anyone; instead, they took all the pirates with them?"
Looking at the intelligence report signed by Oro that had just been transmitted via an encrypted line, Stussy thought for a moment, then turned around and quickly searched through the files that had already been processed.
She moved quickly, her fingers sliding between the pages, her eyes scanning the titles and abstracts.
One portion, two portions, ten portions, twenty portions —
Drum Island, Water Seven, Long Circle Island, Carnival City, Sabaody Archipelago —
She pulled out all the documents, spread them out on the table, and compared them one by one, looking at the dates, locations, and event descriptions.
All of these reports mention that people were taken away.
Some were royalty, some were boatmen, some were merchants, and some were ordinary residents.
Some of those who took them away were from the Navy, and some were from the CP. Their reasons varied, but the result was the same: once they were taken away, their whereabouts became unknown.
If it's just an isolated case, it can be explained as a normal arrest during the ten-day trial.
But so many, so densely packed, and involving different social classes, different professions, and different islands—
Moreover, when Stussy first arrived, Taylor and Gails mentioned that two council mascots representing the high-ranking officials of the United Kingdom had also been taken away by CP.
That's really not right.
Stussy stood up and walked to the filing cabinet on one side of the office area.
It contains the navigation logs and daily reports of all the trade fleets, transport fleets, and even patrol fleets under the United Kingdom.
She opened the drawer labeled "This Month," which contained neatly arranged folders, each representing a fleet and filled with a thick stack of daily itinerary records.
Stussy began to go through the records one by one. She didn't know how long she had been looking at them; time lost its meaning in this focused state.
The third, the fourth, the tenth —
Stussy found all the eyewitness reports about naval vessels and laid them out.
She found a blank nautical chart, picked up a red pen, and began marking it.
For each eyewitness report, she would draw a dot. Next to the dot, she would mark the time, fleet number, number of ships sighted, and course.
The number of points is increasing.
Initially, they were scattered across various sea areas in the first half of the Grand Line.
But gradually, these points begin to converge in the same direction, like rivers flowing into the sea.
All routes ultimately point to the same area—
About 500 nautical miles east of Judicial Island lies an uninhabited area near the doldrums.
Stussy stared at the area surrounded by red dots on the nautical chart, his mind racing with calculations.
Judging from the time span of these reports, the transportation operation has lasted for at least four days.
Based on the crew capacity of large naval transport ships, at least 100,000 people have already gathered on that island.
Hundreds of thousands? Or even more?
Why did the Navy send so many people to such a remote, uninhabited area?
Stussy walked back to her office area, picked up the encrypted Den Den Mushi that connected directly to Oro, and dialed the number.
"Brub ————"
"What is it?"
The call connected, and Oro's voice came through the Den Den Mushi, brief and direct.
"I've found out where the World Government took all those people!"
Stussy got straight to the point, speaking very quickly: "About 500 nautical miles east of Judiciary Island, near the doldrums, it's marked as an uninhabited island on the nautical chart!"
"I located their positions from thousands of documents! Pretty impressive, right?"
Stussy's tone was smug; she could even picture the expression on her face right now, like a proud little female cat waiting to be rewarded by her owner.
"It has to be amazing!"
Auro answered without hesitation and lavishly praised, "My woman is of course the best in the world."
"Hmph! You got off easy."
Stussy gave a haughty snort, but he couldn't suppress the smile on his lips: "Alright, that's enough. I still have a ton of documents to work on."
"Okay, thank you for your hard work."
Auro's voice was very gentle: "I'll give you a reward when I get back."
"Then I'll look forward to it!"
After Stussy finished speaking, he hung up the phone.
On the artificial island, Oro put down a Den Den Mushi. The World Government had descended into a state of reckless madness after the bombing of Mary Geoise.
Decisions made in this state are often more dangerous, both for others and for themselves.
Oro picked up another encrypted Den Den Mushi and dialed Zepha's number.
"Brub ———— Brub ————"
The Den Den Mushi's imitation voice was somewhat muffled, suggesting the signal was unstable.
"it's me."
Oro said directly: "There are coordinates, 500 nautical miles east of Jusei Island, an uninhabited island near the doldrums."
"The Navy has transported at least hundreds of thousands of people there in the past four days, including the recently captured Beehive Island pirates."
The Den Den Mushi remained silent for a few seconds.
"You want me to go see it?"
Zefa's voice came through, very low, with the sounds of whistling wind and waves in the background.
"right."
Oro didn't beat around the bush: "Take Garp with you. If my intelligence is correct, that island—I need you and Garp to see it for yourselves."
"----Understood."
Zefa's voice was deep: "I will take him."