"Is Vergo safe at Headquarters?" Gion asked while eating dinner.
At this time, Finn, Saul, Hina, and Gion were eating in the restaurant reserved for the base commander.
As the base commander, it only made sense for him to have his own restaurant, right?
Anyway, it was all built by pirate labor, so it didn't cost much.
The restaurant was quite spacious and could even accommodate giants like Saul. The dishes were varied and very good.
"I've already told his identity to Admiral Sengoku and Chief of Staff Tsuru. The Fleet Admiral also knows. Don't worry," Finn responded casually.
Gion had been Finn's deputy at G-7 back then, so Finn had naturally told her about Vergo a long time ago.
Otherwise, if Gion wasn't careful, she might accidentally reveal some important secrets to Vergo.
Of course, the same applied to Doberman.
It was just that both of them had very good acting skills and hadn't revealed any flaws.
Saul was a little surprised. While stuffing a huge piece of meat into his mouth, he asked, "Commodore Vergo? What about him?"
When Saul had come to G-7, Finn hadn't yet been promoted to Admiral, so he'd had some contact with Vergo.
"Ah, didn't I tell you? Vergo is Donquixote Doflamingo's subordinate. He's an undercover agent on our side, but he doesn't know his identity has been exposed," Finn said with a smile.
Saul, who was chewing a piece of meat, was momentarily stunned and said in disbelief, "Really?"
"Really," Gion nodded seriously, then said, "I didn't believe it at first either, but after a thorough investigation of the Donquixote Family, we discovered they did have an officer named Corazon, but he rarely showed up. We believed this Vergo was the Corazon of the Donquixote Family, and later it was confirmed."
Saul's eyes flashed with regret, and he shook his head. "That's a shame. Although I've only had brief encounters with Commodore Vergo, he struck me as very upright and kind. I've also heard he's well-regarded within G-7, with many Marines admiring him. They say he's both powerful and gentle, a bit like Burning Mountain."
"So he disguised himself very well," Finn nodded.
Hina, who had just swallowed her juice, asked in surprise, "Since Commodore Vergo... No, since Vergo is an undercover pirate, then why don't we eliminate him? Leaving him at Headquarters is very dangerous, right?"
Ever since arriving at Headquarters, Vergo had still been kept by Finn, and it looked like he was one of Finn's direct subordinates.
So Hina, who was Finn's secretary, also had a good relationship with Vergo.
Or perhaps Vergo had been intentionally maintaining a good relationship with Hina, feeling this might allow him to gain access to more secrets about Finn and Marine Headquarters.
Hina had naturally accepted this kindness but had kept her mouth shut.
Although she'd threatened to complain to her "Sister Gion" several times, in the end, she'd never betrayed Finn.
Therefore, she hadn't revealed any secrets to Vergo until now.
Hearing this revelation, she was also frightened. It turned out that the gentle and slightly absent-minded Commodore Vergo, who always had food stuck on his face when eating, was actually an undercover pirate?
"Don't worry, he's still useful. The Donquixote Family, or rather, Doflamingo, is a special case. At least at this stage, he's not the enemy of the Marines," Finn said with a smile.
When Finn had met Doflamingo in the New World, he could feel that although that guy had acted very naturally, he actually carried a huge psychological trauma.
And judging from his current behavior, he indeed hadn't done anything against the Marines or caused any trouble in the past two years. Conversely, the Marines were too busy to pay attention to a troublesome guy like him.
The two sides were living in peace.
In private, there were also some shady transactions. As Doflamingo had said, the Marines also needed to buy arms from him.
In Finn's opinion, Doflamingo had always been someone worth nurturing. After all, this guy's power level was considerable yet controllable. At the same time, he was very smart and knew who he could afford to offend and who he couldn't.
Finally, he also had great conflicts and hatred toward the World Government, and it was very likely he even knew many secrets hidden by Mary Geoise.
These were all means the Marines could use to counter the World Government in the future, so it was good to keep Doflamingo around.
As for Vergo, let him stay for now. When needed, he would serve as an intermediary for the Marines to contact Doflamingo.
Hina nodded, not quite understanding. Seeing that her Admiral and Sister Gion had no objections, she didn't interfere anymore.
This kind of thing wasn't something she, a Marine Lieutenant Commander, should get involved in.
Speaking of Vergo, Finn thought of his younger brother. He wondered how Rosinante was doing now. The fact that Gion had been able to confirm Vergo's identity was actually due to intelligence Rosinante had passed on.
Before Vergo had joined the Marines, Rosinante had already received his mission to go undercover in the Donquixote Family and had returned to Doflamingo.
As for this matter, due to the special nature of his own identity and the special nature of Doflamingo's identity, his direct superior was Admiral Sengoku. Therefore, in this undercover operation, he only needed to report to Admiral Sengoku.
Finn wasn't quite sure what role Rosinante could play within the Donquixote Family.
Thinking of this, he looked down at the cutlery in his hand. It was a silver-white fork. Finn asked, "If I remember correctly, this is a set of Amber Lead cutlery, right?"
Gion nodded. "Yes, it was captured from a pirate crew. I heard the market price of this thing is more expensive than gold."
"Amber Lead. White Town. Does anyone know what's happening with Flevance now?" Finn asked.
Gion shook her head. "I don't know. I haven't paid much attention to that place."
After all, Flevance was in the North Blue, so it was normal that Gion wasn't clear about it.
Hina nodded lightly. "Hina does know a little. The newspapers reported that another Amber Lead vein has been opened for extraction in Flevance. Because of that, a lot of investors and workers are flooding there again. They say Flevance will continue to hold the title of the richest country in the North Blue this year."
"Thanks to Amber Lead," Finn replied, a faint and unreadable smile on his face.
"Yes. It seems that more than a hundred years ago, Flevance was just an ordinary small kingdom," Saul commented, rubbing his chin.
Finn glanced at him. "Saul, how old are you this year?"
"Me? Dereshishishi, I am one hundred and forty-two years old!" Saul answered with his signature laugh.
"Giants really are something else," Finn muttered.
One hundred and forty-two years old was still considered the prime of life for giants, so Saul did not look old at all.
After that brief comment, Finn continued, speaking clearly now:
After his comment about Saul, Finn continued, "Yes, over a hundred years ago, Amber Lead hadn't yet been discovered, and Flevance was just an ordinary small country. But now, because of this mineral, they've been able to become the country with the largest economy in the North Blue for a century. This thing has brought them countless wealth."
"Specifically speaking, the annual output value of Amber Lead is almost more than ten trillion berries," Hina said seriously.
Finn looked at Hina with some surprise. "Are you very sensitive to economics, little girl?"
Maybe you should have been a businesswoman?
Without dwelling on it, Finn asked again, "Speaking of Amber Lead, have you heard of Amber Lead Syndrome?"
Gion simply shook her head. "No."
Saul was still eating. "Why would I care about such things? Of course I don't know."
Hina nodded slightly. "I have heard of it. There have been several cases of a similar illness in Flevance, and no cure has been found yet. Rumor has it they contracted the disease because they consumed raw Amber Lead."
As Hina finished speaking, Gion looked at the Amber Lead cutlery in her hand with alarm. "Is this thing poisonous?"
I've been eating with this for two years?! You're telling me it's poisonous now?
"It's non-toxic. Don't worry," Finn said, rolling his eyes at Gion.
Gion finally breathed a sigh of relief and said with a carefree smile, "I knew it! It's been made into tableware openly and is even sought after by wealthy nobles. How could it be poisonous?"
Finn didn't respond to Gion, nor did he continue talking about Amber Lead. He looked up at the calendar hanging on the wall.
Sea Circle Calendar, 1504.
It was now the beginning of 1504. As far as he could remember, the destruction of Flevance and the outbreak of Amber Lead Syndrome would occur four years later, in 1508. This, by far the richest nation in the North Blue, would be destroyed in an instant.
"Ah..." Finn clicked his tongue but said nothing more.
This kind of thing couldn't be prevented. Maybe if you went there with good intentions, you'd be rejected by all the Amber Lead beneficiaries of Flevance. And it just so happened that their entire country benefited from Amber Lead. You'd say you were going to save them, but they'd think you were there to cut off their source of income.
As the saying went, cutting off someone's financial resources was like killing their parents. You could imagine how your good intentions would be twisted.
In fact, when Amber Lead became a phenomenon and became the economic pillar of Flevance, the destruction of this country had become inevitable.
After dinner, G-7 didn't have much entertainment. There were some taverns in the military town, but Finn wasn't interested in going there.
So he went back to his room to rest.
That's right, even though he'd moved back to Headquarters from G-7, Gion had always kept quarters for him here.
The things inside were all Finn's own from a few years ago, so it felt natural and familiar the moment he entered.
After washing up and taking a shower, Finn was pouring himself some water with only a white towel wrapped around his waist.
Suddenly there was a knock on the door.
Finn didn't think much of it. He responded and walked over to open the door.
Then he saw Gion standing at his door, looking around furtively.
Gion was also momentarily stunned when she saw Finn. After all, Finn was shirtless, with only a towel wrapped around his lower body. His hair was still wet. His muscular abs and powerful physique were very attractive.
"Gulp..." Gion instinctively swallowed. He looked good enough to eat!
"Let me in quickly!" Gion said in a low voice, still looking around.
"Why are you here so late at night instead of sleeping?" Finn asked in surprise, while at the same time opening the door wider to let Gion in.
After all, if someone saw this, it would indeed have some impact on Gion's reputation.
Ever since Finn had gained the infamy of "punching the Fleet Admiral and making Garp jump out a window," he'd already lost all shame about such things.
"You're such an unromantic man. What else could I be doing here so late? Am I here to drink with you? Of course I'm here to spend the night with you!" After Gion came in, she sat down on the sofa and drank the water Finn had just poured.
Finn looked at Gion helplessly. "Isn't this progressing too fast? I'm not even ready yet."
"What's so fast about it?" Gion said bluntly, but if you looked closely, you could see her cheeks had begun to turn red.
And if you listened carefully, you could hear her heartbeat getting faster and faster.
But the more nervous she became, the more assertive Gion acted, as if trying to cover up her anxiety.
Gion pointed at the large bed in the bedroom. "Go to bed and wait for me. If you dare fall asleep, I'll stab you! I'm going to take a shower."
After saying that, Gion stood up and walked into the bathroom.
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