The Marine

Still sitting at his desk, Bill put the pen down and wondered what he should report about contraband that was seized from the Broker’s office.

From the papers they found there was no doubt that the Broker was operating an illegal business, and there was nothing that required him report specific line items. Technically, he only needed to report the Beli value of the contents, and that would be enough for the Science Division who didn’t have great hopes in his Department anyway.

The majority of items inside the chest were of no consequence. There were thirty already locked Eternal Pose, various golden trinkets, and 413m Beli in hard cash – mostly 5,000 paper bills.

What had been the major issue since Borodo had shown Bill the chest was the four Devil Fruit inside, two of which they were able to find out over the course of the afternoon, but the other two were unknown and Bill figured he’d have to bring them to Vegapunk to be identified.

The problem was that the two identified fruits were powerful, and even though he had no sure way of knowing, Bill felt the other two were stronger with one of the two being very powerful.

After a moment of consideration, Bill decided to only list the two known Devil Fruits and leave off the two others. He wrote:

“Animal System, Weasel Weasel Fruit, Model: Honey Badger. Estimated value, 100m Beli.”

This fruit took the shape of a strawberry without any stem, and like the name suggested imparted aspects of the Honey Badger onto its user. The honey badger was recognized by some to be a fierce animal, but due to its lack of reputation in this world, the value of the Devil Fruit was lower.

“Superhuman System, Dance-Dance Fruit. Estimated value, 250m Beli.”

This fruit took the shape of a green Hala fruit, and the reason for its staggering value was that it could spontaneously create music which would induce weak spirited people to start dancing against their will.

Looking back into the black treasure chest, Bill pulled out the other two fruits.

The weaker of the two was what Bill figured to be a flat peach, except there was no middle and the fruit was shaped like a swirling donut. Bill could only guess what it did, but he got the sensation of falling whenever he saw the fruit from the corner of his eye.

The stronger of the fruits, and the one Bill was sure he didn’t want to let go of, was a golden banana where the banana peel folded up at the top end which made it look like a crown.

Bill didn’t have extensive contact with Devil Fruits, but for all the ones he’d ever seen they carried a smell similar. The golden bananas distorted smell was stronger than any he had ever seen, including the Nature System Fruit he had given to his father.

And that led to another problem for the Marine Captain.

Would he hand out these Devil Fruits?

Bill knew that his visceral aversion to Devil Fruits was not held by anyone he had ever met. For other people it was a simple tradeoff between the fruit’s ability and the weakness to seastone and sea water.

Also, as best as he could tell the Devil Fruit entities did not replace anything that he could discern.

He had been spent most of his life around Fia and had been around his dad before and after eating the Nature System fruit. As far as Bill could tell, he had never noticed anything strange until they were using their abilities.

Leaning back, Bill put his hands behind his head and thought about the entities behind the devil fruit users.

Mostly, these were merely shadows or smoke and he could only see them as a person sees something out of the corner of their eye only for it to disappear when brought into full view.

There had been only one clear example of him being able to see a Devil Fruit entity, and that had been the one behind the Revolutionary Dragon.

Thinking this, Bill was suddenly hit with a realization that he hadn’t noticed before and fumbling to the hasty notes he had written not long again he looked at the sketch he had made.

The entity he had seen behind Dragon was similar to the one he had seen in his meditations, and the thought dumbstruck him.

Vegapunk hypothesized that Devil Fruits spirits were created by the desires, fears, and beliefs of people and then realized by those spirits wanting to manifest themselves in the real world.

‘But if that’s the case, where is the Death or Happiness Fruits?’ Bill asked himself, suddenly more interested in the phenomena of just what could be given a spirit if enough souls wished it into existence.

‘Or how about a ‘Human’ fruit?’ Bill asked himself again, blown away by the possibility of it. After all, he had the ‘Honey Badger’ fruit in his possession, could that mean the Human Fruit existed somewhere too?

Considering this, Bill sat at his desk thinking deeply, and as he did so he became surer of his conclusions.

Devil Fruit spirits attached themselves to the souls of the people who used them, and that disturbed reality.

Reality was not disturbed by Haki, so there must be some balance between the realm of soul and whatever mechanism kept reality separated.

Then, as he thought, he was hit by a term he hadn’t read about in many years and whispered to himself: “The logos.”

With this in his mind, it made sense. Of course, he did not know that he had a particularly powerful soul, but he could understand that what he found most repelling about devil fruits was the unbalance between the user’s spirit and logos.

When his thoughts came back around, he again wondered why it was that no one seemed disturbed by Devil Fruits like he was, and the answer hit him squarely.

‘I… I’m not of this world.’

‘Perhaps…’ Bill thought: ‘Something went wrong, is that even possible? But if my spirit is still the same as it was on Earth….’

If this was true, and the more Bill thought about it the more it seemed so, then the problem wasn’t with Devil Fruits – the problem was him.

Just as Bill felt he was about to reach a conclusion, hard knocks sounded at his door.

Looking over at the clock, Bill was stunned that it was already morning, and then wondered just how long he had meditated for. Since he had come out of it, he had been at his desk in a fervor to work and think, checking the clock hadn’t crossed his mind.

Hearing the knocks again, Bill called out: “It’s open, come in.”

In walked the Marine who had shot Gasparde, Bill recognized him and knew his name: “Pearson, is it time already?”

Pearson: “Yes Captain, some of the men are patrolling the outer beach, but Lieutenants McGrew and Cannone have organized the rest of them and got the captives ready too.”

Nodding his head, Bill thanked the man and stood up.

While he and Borodo had been in Brokers office going through documents, the responsibility of organizing the aftermath of the battle had fallen on Ranse’s shoulders.

Bill had given him general information, including the fact he wanted to give a personal address to the men, but had left the details up to him.

Ranse had kept Bill informed, and he had nearly paled when he read the casualties of the battle, 37 killed and 70 wounded to degrees that made immediate further action impossible.

It had to be understood that those wounded did not include things as simple as fractures or sprained ankles. They were made up things like burns and shrapnel wounds that would take months to fully heal.

Walking outside of his office, Bill looked across the huge deck of the M.S.S Victory and counted just under 300 men and women. Considering they started with nearly 400 Marines, this meant they had an outrageous 25% casualty rate.

Even if one was being generous and only counting ‘dead’ they had lost nearly 10% of their people in the matter of a few hours.

The people looked tired, but noticeably perked up when they saw him emerge, and Bill hoped the feast was ready.

Seeing Fia along the railing to the side, she caught his eye and nodded which gave him some assurance, and after running his eyes across the crowd once again, Bill began his address:

"Brave soldiers, you stand before me today as victors in our fight against piracy. Your bravery and skill have secured both the safety of the oppressed people and the integrity of our honor.

I am proud to stand among you and to witness the valor and determination that you have displayed in this battle. Your actions have proven that the spirit of good people unbreakable, and that we will not tolerate those who seek to do us harm.

But let us not forget, this victory did not come without sacrifice.

We have lost brave men and women, who gave their lives for our cause. Let us honor their memory, and continue to fight for the ideals they died for.

I know that some of you may be weary from the fight, but know that your efforts have not been in vain! You have helped to create a safer and more prosperous world for all of us!”

After he said this, a cheer rang out and after stopping for a second, he finished by saying: “So let us raise our heads high, and march forward. For hope! For the innocent! For all that is right!”

Hearing his speech, the crowd erupted in cheers and Bill spoke louder saying: “Now let’s get something to eat!”

Inside the Victories massive Mess Hall, the breakfast went on through the next several hours and into lunch.

After a point, people had stopped eating and started socializing with each other and Bill thought it would have been better if they had some musicians, thinking that should be a target for future recruitment.

After around midday, the first patrol swaps happened and Bill went to the pirates they had tied up on the beach.

There had been so many prisoners captured that Bill had considered contacting the nearby Marine fortress at Navarone for just for transportation.

The Marines had suffered, but the pirates had suffered more. Although this had been due mostly due to the numbers that he personally subdued in the pirate cove, there had been over 700 captured pirates in all.

Handling this many pirates would have been impossible for Bill’s struggling Marines but they had support in the form of two groups.

The first group was the same pirates who had surrendered to him in the cove, and he could tell that they still feared what he may do. The second group was about sixty Fish-men and their Captain who had an appointment with him later.

Between the resources that Bill had now and the extra hands, these prisoners hadn’t been treated too badly. The wounded pirates had even been seen to, though perhaps not as thoroughly as the wounded Marines.

Walking up on a platform that overlooked the camp, Bill heard the bustling city behind him and saw merchant ships out in the harbor.

It took a while for the pirates to take notice of him, but once they did, he began his next statement:

“Your actions on the high seas have caused great harm to innocent merchants and sailors and now you stand before me as captured pirates.

You have been led astray by the lure of easy wealth and the thrill of adventure. But now, it is time for you to face the consequences of your actions.

I understand that you may be feeling afraid, but know that you will be treated fairly and with justice. You will be given the opportunity to stand trial, and to plead your case before a court of law.

Understand that this opportunity for justice is not without its own responsibilities. You will be held accountable for your actions, and we expect you to abide by the laws of the World Government.

But let me be clear, you are not beyond redemption. I urge you to take this chance to make amends for your past actions, and to start anew. Together, we can create a safer and more prosperous world for all of us."

Bill had no obligation to address these criminals, in this world there was no such thing as Miranda Rights, and Ranse had looked at him like he was crazy when he gave the order to assemble the platform.

But Bill was tired of death and destruction, and he felt that in such a large arrest that he needed he speak to the criminals or there would definitely be more of it.

After his statement to these people there was no outburst as there had been with his Marines, and there certainly wasn’t feast waiting. It was the middle of the day and the sun beat down hard on the sandy beach. So, the most Bill received was stares.

However, despite that, for the next week there wasn’t a single issue with the prisoners.

During that week Bill had organized the clean up effort and had done most of the heavy lifting himself.

The government structure on Hannabal Island was simply not something he could fix, and so he didn’t try. He knew that meant this island would remain a hotbed for piracy, but in the end he could only report it to local authorities while he moved on with his own duties.

His internal affairs were better.

Bill tried not to think of it in this way, but despite their losses, the Hannabal Island raid had been enormously profitable.

Even if he didn’t sell the Devil Fruits, his Department would be coming away from 700m Beli depending on the prices he could get for the seized ships.

Spurred by the gigantic windfall of Beli, he recruited all the pirates who had surrendered to him in the cove and came to an agreement with the Fish-men where they would enlist for 10 years and after a period of time, they would be allowed to settle at New Haven and build their homes in the island’s reefs.

Everything seemed to be going smooth, until on the eighth day Bill got a whirlwind of information.

The first call he had received was from Sasha and Ricky, they were coming back from the East Blue and said that they had business in the New World.

There had been an attack on a ship carrying recruits from Marineford Academy and the former Admiral Zephyr had left the navy. This was shocking, and surprised Bill that Sasha or Ricky even cared given their experience. However, Nelson spoke in favor of the old Admiral and in light of that Bill told them that they would go together.

After all, he needed to go to Egghead Island to get the Devil Fruits checked anyway.

The second call had been a general notice to Marines in the area to be on the lookout for the Straw Hat Pirates, and additionally, that Captain Smoker had arrested the former Warlord Crocodile for plotting against the King of Alabasta.

Then finally, late into the evening, Bill received a communication about something that he had nearly forgotten.

The date for his Court Martial was set, and he’d need to leave Hannabal immediately in order to make it.

He was headed back to Marineford.