Chapter 48: [BONUS 2] Intelligence Source
Kenji left Vegapunk and went outside the building to answer a call privately.
It was from Spandine, a member of the World Government's CP intelligence organization.
"Admiral Shirojishi, regarding the… things you requested, I have organized them and placed them in Zone 5."
"Hmm, well done."
Kenji responded calmly, not directly exchanging intelligence over the Den Den Mushi communication to prevent eavesdropping.
"Hehe, you really helped me a lot last time… I hope we can continue to have such pleasant transactions next time!" Amidst Spandine's thanks, Kenji hung up the phone.
He had encountered Spandine by chance a few years ago, and since then, they had occasionally exchanged intelligence.
Spandine would provide the intelligence Kenji wanted, and Kenji would, in turn, share a bit of the credit when capturing pirate criminals.
However, the Marine and the World Government belong to two different systems, so their merits are naturally calculated separately.
Because Spandine, as a CP intelligence officer, possessed many confidential pieces of intelligence, Kenji obtained the intelligence he wanted at a very small cost.
Over the years of exchanges, it was neither a gain nor a loss, just a series of transactions. And from beginning to end, Kenji never truly trusted Spandine.
He had long seen through that kid's character. Selfish and self-serving, resorting to any means to gain promotion and power.
He maintained this connection with Spandine only to have an additional intelligence channel.
This transaction was also for intelligence. Information on the recent movements of the World Government and the CP organization.
After putting away the Den Den Mushi, Kenji did not immediately go to the agreed location to retrieve the intelligence files. He planned to have his subordinates pick them up when passing through that area later.
At this moment, he took out another Den Den Mushi, and his eyes softened.
Plu Plu!
The Den Den Mushi connected, and a young man's voice came through.
"Kenji, we have prepared the items you requested."
"Good, I will send Anna over in three days."
"Alright, Kenji! Also, regarding Spandine, we've found that he has been meeting with high-ranking members of the organization multiple times in private recently, and he might be planning something… We will continue to investigate the specific situation!"
"Is that so… You all need to be careful!"
After the brief communication, the call ended, and Kenji did not rush to put away the Den Den Mushi, suddenly looking emotional.
"I never thought that the wandering youths from back then would come this far…"
For many years, whenever his finances allowed, Kenji would always help some of the homeless people who had lost their homes on certain islands.
What he hadn't expected was that some of these wanderers would leave the desolate islands, and a very small number of them even successfully joined the World Government's CP intelligence organization.
The CP organization, fully known as CIPHER POL (CP0 - CP9), is a secret spy agency directly under the World Government.
The entire organization consists of roughly dozens of members, possibly exceeding a hundred at its peak.
The selection criteria for CP members are very strict, and only a few of the wandering youths who left were successfully selected.
However, being a spy is a very dangerous job, and over these years, five of the former wandering youths died. Now, only three remain in the CP organization.
Initially, Kenji didn't know about this. The CP spy organization and the Marine belong to two different systems, and their personnel identities are confidential. Even as an Admiral, Kenji couldn't obtain such intelligence.
It was those three who proactively found an opportunity to contact Kenji, which made him realize that among the youths who cheered for supplies on the deserted island back then, some had entered the CP organization.
However, Kenji knew the dangers of spy work, so he didn't communicate much with the three normally, preferring to conduct transactions with Spandine when he needed intelligence.
He would only contact the three when he needed particularly important intelligence.
For instance, this time, the intelligence Kenji needed was exceptionally important, concerning his arrangements for the training camp over the next few years.
"The camp in East Blue will serve as the basic 'novice village'!"
"Next, I also need to build an advanced camp."
Kenji surveyed the sea outside Science Island, intending to find a suitable island nearby to establish a training camp in the New World.
There were two benefits to doing this. First, being located in the New World allowed for practical combat drills at any time. Second, its proximity to Science Island meant immediate access to the latest technological products.
In fact, if the trainees who had left the 'novice village' were directly sent to Marine School, it would undoubtedly be more convenient and worry-free.
However, Kenji's purpose in establishing training camps and recruiting trainees was to build his own core group.
If they were to be placed into the Marine, or even Marine School, before their strength had fully formed, they would easily integrate into the Marine system.
At that point, the training camp Kenji had painstakingly set up would be equivalent to doing the World Government's bidding.
"Hmm, there's no rush for the site selection." Kenji didn't immediately set off, planning to tour Science Island first.
After all, he was still on 'paid leave,' so he had plenty of time.
Just as he was about to lead Anna and some soldiers to tour Science Island, a glowing text in his vision temporarily halted his actions.
"Huh? Has it arrived? Calculating the time, it should indeed be here." Kenji's eyes showed a smile as he scanned the system prompt in his vision.
The past week, you successfully maintained the peace of Loguetown, and the public order level reached above standard.
[Mission (Main - Long-term): Protect Loguetown, capture pirates! — Completed!]
[Reward: For meeting Loguetown's public order standard this week, you will receive a reward - 1 upgrade to a random owned trait (Basic Reward)!]
[Last week's public order score - 7, full score 10!]
[Mission Reward Boosted!]
[Reward changed to: 3 random upgrades to owned Traits!]
[Reward Issue...]
[Your Superspeed Regeneration (Light Blue) has been upgraded to Superspeed Regeneration (Super Blue)!
...
[Name: Kenji]
[Traits: Armament Haki (Super Gold), Observation Haki (Light Gold), Conqueror's Haki (Super Blue), Physique (Gold), Hand-to-Hand Combat (Light Gold), Swordsmanship (Super Blue), Sea Beast Power (Light Blue), Superspeed Regeneration (Super Blue), Iron Body (Light White), Future Vision (Blue), Berserk (Light White)]
"The Superspeed Regeneration trait has been upgraded… that works too." Kenji glanced at the status of his current Traits.
"Speaking of which, this Superspeed Regeneration, after advancing to blue rarity, has made the body rejuvenation effect even more apparent."
When the Superspeed Regeneration trait first evolved and was generated, Kenji gradually transformed from a white-haired old man back to his mid-forties state.
And when the Superspeed Regeneration trait advanced to blue rarity, Kenji's body had already returned to his mid-thirties state.
It's just that he had trained martial arts for many years, so the difference in appearance between his thirties and forties wasn't very significant.
In reality, most strong individuals in this world are like this, such as Garp, Sengoku, Roger, and others.
"It seems I don't need to worry about the main mission for now. I should be able to claim a reward every week from now on."