As Colonel Hammond walked through the base, he could feel strange and suspicious looks coming at him from all directions.
Clearly, the news had spread.
Although everyone had long suspected something, it wasn't until they read the newspaper that they realized just how many crimes Colonel Hammond had committed just to line his pockets.
Selling military ranks was the least of it!
Embezzlement, bribery, arms trafficking, racketeering, collecting protection fees...
He was worse than the mafia.
The most damning part was that there were even photos taken as evidence.
If Marine HQ didn't send anyone to investigate, that was one thing, but if they did, every single thing he'd done would be confirmed in an instant!
So now, every marine on the base had their own plans in mind.
The whole atmosphere turned extremely tense and strange.
At this point, the people most desperate for Colonel Hammond not to fall were probably the ones who had just spent a fortune buying their military ranks.
Obviously, they understood that if this blew up
Not only would Colonel Hammond go down, they'd be dragged down with him.
Not only would their money be wasted, but they'd lose everything, maybe even end up in prison!
Of course they were panicking!
Suddenly, someone stepped forward to block Colonel Hammond's path.
"Um... Sir, can I get my money back? I don't want to be a second lieutenant anymore, no, I don't want to be in the marine at all. Just give me a refund."
Colonel Hammond stopped, turned to look at the man, and snapped, "Refund? What do you think this is, huh?!"
SMACK!
A heavy slap knocked the man to the ground.
Then Hammond swept his gaze across the surrounding crowd, fierce and wolf-like, trying to intimidate everyone into silence.
He refused to back down.
Because he knew that the moment he did, he wouldn't even need HQ investigators, the marines around him would tear him to pieces themselves!
So the only thing he could rely on now was his old authority and the fear he once instilled.
"Who else wants a refund, huh? Step forward!"
"Without me, you'd all be stuck as grunts for life!"
"Did I force you to pay up? No! You were begging me to take your money! I couldn't even refuse it if I tried, got it?!"
"Damn bunch of useless cowards!"
Admittedly, his arrogance and aggressiveness did manage to intimidate many people.
Part of it was their habitual fear of him, and part was doubt, maybe Colonel Hammond still had some cards to play and could survive this.
Since nothing was decided yet, anyone eager to kick him while he was down might find themselves punished later.
But just then, Jay's plan kicked into action.
Buck, hiding among the crowd, suddenly shouted, "RNM, refund our money!"
The others, having received the cue, immediately joined in: "RNM, refund our money!"
Once someone started, more quickly followed.
"Yeah, give our money back! We don't care about being in the marine anymore!"
"What are we afraid of? He's committed so many crimes, it's all over the papers, he's done for!"
"If we don't demand our money back now, once HQ starts investigating, it'll be too late, and we'll all get dragged down with him!"
"Refund! Refund!"
With the crowd's fury fully roused, even someone as used to throwing his weight around as Colonel Hammond couldn't help but show signs of panic.
He shouted furiously to try to keep control, but this time, it barely worked.
The usual tactic of punishing one to scare the rest, had failed.
He didn't dare push them further either. If he really enraged the crowd and they rushed him, how many could he actually fend off?
So, he quickly yelled, "Fine, I'll refund the money, as long as you're sure you won't regret it."
It was clearly a stalling tactic, but most people still believed him.
"We won't regret it, just give us our money back now!"
"Fine. But all your refunds combined come to a huge sum. I'll need some time to prepare it. Come to my office in about an hour if you want your money back. But you'd better think twice, if you think a few newspapers are enough to bring me down, you're dreaming!"
With a few parting threats, Colonel Hammond shoved through the crowd and fled toward the base headquarters.
Was it just bluffing, or did he really have something up his sleeve?
This made many people hesitate again.
After all, rising in rank wasn't easy in the military. Now that they'd paid, were they really going to give it all up?
Buck immediately looked to Jay for guidance, should they keep pushing?
Jay simply shook his head.
Sure enough, relying on this group to get anything done was a lost cause.
But his goal had already been achieved.
Everyone else believed that Colonel Hammond had gone to prepare the refund money, but he didn't buy it for a second!
That greedy bastard? Willing to give the money back?
You'd have better luck believing he was a Celestial Dragon's illegitimate son.
So what was this esteemed colonel actually doing right now\...?
"These damn idiots! I earned that money fair and square, why the hell would I ever give it back?!"
Colonel Hammond rushed at top speed to his private vault and began stuffing as much money as he could into a couple of large boxes.
Well, to be honest, there wasn't much left.
That huge stash of military weapons he lost had already cost him a fortune.
If he'd known this day was coming, he never would've agreed to that deal.
What remained, combined with the money from auctioning off military ranks, added up to about eighty million Berries.
Aside from that, he had plenty of real estate and a cut from various merchant guilds.
But there was no time to deal with any of that now.
After what just happened, Colonel Hammond had made up his mind completely:
Rather than stay and gamble on the slim chance of survival, it was better to take the money and run.
As long as he could hide somewhere no one could find him, that money would be more than enough to live out the rest of his life in comfort.
And who knows, once things cooled down, he might even have a shot at making a comeback.
Either way, there was no staying at the base.
Grabbing two black cases stuffed to the brim, Colonel Hammond pressed a panel on the wall nearby.
A secret passage entrance slid open.
Maybe he'd seen this coming all along, because he'd prepared this escape tunnel a long time ago.
It led directly to Dock #2, where a ship had been docked for years, not in use, but regularly maintained.
By the time anyone in the base realized he was gone, he'd already be out of reach.
Moving quickly through the underground tunnel, Colonel Hammond cursed his misfortune while silently praising his own foresight.
Creak...
A wooden board above him was pushed open.
He tossed the two cases up first, then climbed up himself.
But just as he bent down to pick them up
A pair of hands beat him to it.
"Good afternoon, Colonel. Crawling out of a tunnel like a rat, what kind of training exercise is this?"
Jay stood there, holding the heavy cases. His expression was one of disappointment.
Clearly, he had high expectations for the colonel.
"Is this all the gold you've got, old man? That's it? Seriously?"