Yes, Val wants to eliminate all the evidence.
If it were merely a matter of greed and lust, the Five Elders wouldn't care. In fact, they'd probably find someone like him useful—easily controlled.
But that only holds true as long as his actions don't cause any real trouble.
This time, however, things are different—because the matter wasn't discovered internally. It was exposed by a third party.
And now, even the most crucial witness—Nezumi—
Is in their hands.
What if they pass that evidence on to someone else?
Someone like…
Morgans.
If the World Economy News prints this, it won't just be a minor issue anymore. It would become a scandal that severely damages the Navy's—and even the World Government's—reputation.
So, tell me: under such circumstances, would the Five Elders still protect Val?
Obviously not.
And the other major figures who are part of this corrupt web of interests?
They'll throw him under the bus the moment the tide turns.
His end would be tragic. Utterly miserable.
So to prevent that worst-case scenario, Val has only one option left:
Eliminate every witness before that mysterious organization can act.
As long as he pulls it off, then even if the opposition reveals so-called "evidence," there would be no living witnesses to back it up.
Nezumi? He'd just be dismissed as the main culprit—making up stories to save himself.
Yes, that's right. His words wouldn't be worth a damn.
Of course, wiping out all the witnesses won't be easy. We're talking about seven pirate crews and over a hundred villages.
All those pirates…
All those villagers…
They're all witnesses!
Killing them all? That's easier said than done.
But not impossible.
And that's exactly why Val is so desperate to push through a Buster Call.
Only a Buster Call can ensure there are no survivors!
Say what you want—he really is ruthless. And frighteningly decisive.
---
"You're insane, Val! Do you think you can just use a Buster Call whenever you like?!"
"No, I'm not insane!" Val roared, his face grim. "I strongly suspect this is the work of the Revolutionary Army! Their goal? To completely destroy the Navy's credibility—and the World Government's!"
The room went quiet.
The Revolutionary Army?
"Yes! Do you think pirates would do something like this?"
"No, they wouldn't. But the Revolutionary Army? That's another story. If our reputation is shattered, they could seize this opportunity to rise."
"Tell me—isn't that exactly what they've always wanted?"
…It does kind of make sense.
Several vice admirals sat back down, deep in thought.
After all, why would pirates bother exposing corruption inside the Navy? What would they gain?
Especially considering Nezumi was working with pirates in the first place.
So… was it really the Revolutionary Army?
"But if that's true, then why did they leave the evidence behind instead of publishing it for the whole world to see?" someone asked sharply.
That question caught Val off guard.
But he recovered quickly. His mind worked fast.
"Simple," he said. "If they made everything public right away, yes, it would hurt us. But that damage would be limited. All we'd have to do is brand Nezumi a pirate and issue a wanted poster—damage control."
"But if they hand the evidence over to us instead, and we choose to cover it up?"
"I've been listening to all of you just now. Sure, you've been shouting about how this must be dealt with seriously—but none of you said anything about going public with it. Am I wrong?"
"And when we 'deal' with it, if the Revolutionary Army suddenly announces that they gave us the evidence earlier, and we hid it..."
"Can you imagine the public backlash?"
Val was practically spitting as he spoke, his logic flowing rapidly.
In the end, he kept hammering home the same message:
The only solution is the Buster Call.
Destroy the pirate crews.
Destroy the implicated villages.
Erase them all.
What are a few hundred lives compared to the reputation of the World Government?
Of course, even though Var's reasoning did sway some of the people present, especially those leaning toward a hawkish stance...
A Buster Call?
Even the more hardline vice admirals couldn't accept that.
You're telling us that because of one corrupt officer, we need to wipe out hundreds of villages?
That's insane.
They couldn't stomach it.
But Val didn't care. He never expected these people to approve.
It's fine.
He'll go straight to the Five Elders. If they agree, Sengoku will have no choice but to carry it out.
---
An hour later, the meeting finally ended.
Unsurprisingly, no one supported Val's proposal.
Sengoku decided to conduct a full investigation before making any decisions.
There were still too many unanswered questions.
Like…
Who attacked Branch 16 and took Nezumi and the others?
Why did they leave behind all the evidence?
Even if some of Val's reasoning made sense, Sengoku, Tsuru, Garp, and the other top brass—
None of them bought it.
There were too many logical holes.
Meanwhile, at Naval Branch 157…
Two days had passed since Luo Lan and his team returned.
While the captured Marines were handed over to intelligence and transferred via other ships, Nezumi…
Luo Lan personally brought him back—hidden in a submarine.
Six hundred meters beneath the sea, hundreds of meters off the coast…
A sprawling complex of modular buildings connected by tunnels:
System-Class A Installation—Branch 157's Undersea Prison.
After two days of interrogation—and with the aid of a powerful memory-recovery technique—
Nezumi confessed everything.
Not just his crimes, but even blurry memories from when he was still in the womb.
"So, it really was that guy…"
Luo Lan nodded as she finished reading the report.
In the Navy, he had always been the most suspicious. In charge of all affairs across the four seas—greedy and depraved to the extreme.
The only shame?
Nezumi wasn't high-ranking enough to know who the real powers behind Val were—those shadowy figures deep within the World Government.
But that's fine.
I'll give it a push.
Looking at the series of account numbers and bribes recorded in the confession, Luo Lan smirked.
"Will the Five Elders truly punish these people to set an example?"
"Or will they reach into their bottomless pockets—spending billions of Beli to protect them?"
"I'm really curious to find out."