User blog comment:AYET/The worth of the Shichibukai to the Marines/@comment-4493594-20130530091937

Nice blog, Ay-chan. Not sure what else to add.

Considering they are still "employing" Shichibukai I don't think the Marines managed to bolster their own ranks enough to survive without them. And I don't have much faith in the Admirals tbh.

Further, I am fairly sure the Marines are ALWAYS prepared to get betrayed by the Shichibukai. It's why they are trying so hard to place them in a situation in which betrayal is unlikely, be it by threatening something important to them, like they did with Hancock and Jinbe, or by granting them certain privileges, as it was the case with Doflamingo and Crocodile.