After reading the news, Raleigh breathed a sigh of relief.
At last, he didn't have to worry about being chopped down by Gion.
He couldn't help but give a mental thumbs-up to Nisugi Kazuki's Mad Blade Pirates—they had handled the matter very cleanly.
In truth, Raleigh hadn't known what the newspaper would say.
He had just wanted an excuse to make Gion stop.
In situations like this, once Gion had vented her anger, any serious matter could divert her attention.
The timely arrival of the news bird made him very happy.
Smugly, he handed the newspaper to Gion, who was still simmering.
"Take a look, Gion. This counts as good news."
After her outburst, Gion had already calmed down considerably.
She took the newspaper and began reading.
Her eyes were immediately drawn to the bold headline, and she couldn't help exclaiming in surprise:
"This… isn't this about the Totteneys Kingdom? How can it be such a coincidence?"
"Who knows? Maybe the Mad Blade Pirates just happened to pass by," Raleigh said with a smug expression.
He was quite satisfied with his own arrangements.
Achieving results without lifting a finger—that was the essence of slacking off.
Gion looked suspiciously at the pleased Raleigh, feeling that this matter must be connected to him.
"Are you sure this wasn't your doing?"
Hearing this, Raleigh's mind raced as he replied with righteous indignation.
"Gion, what are you thinking? Doesn't the newspaper clearly state that this was done by the Mad Blade Pirates? I have nothing to do with them."
"Besides," he continued, "naval regulations state that colluding with pirates is a serious crime punishable by imprisonment in Impel Down. If it involves colluding with pirates to kill nobles of World Government-affiliated nations, that's a capital offense. I value my own life too much—I would never let it face even the slightest threat."
Gion snorted lightly. "As Marines, sometimes what we do isn't even as just as what pirates do. How ridiculous."
Raleigh retorted: "You can't judge this matter solely by whether someone is a Marine or a pirate. There are good people among pirates, and bad people among Marines. But overall, there are hardly any good people among pirates, while most Marines uphold justice. You can't judge someone as a good person just because they did one good deed."
"Pirates are pirates—we must remain firm in our resolve to fight them!"
'Hmph,' Raleigh thought, 'the job I arranged had to be done flawlessly. But this matter must not be discovered by the World Government. Only by firmly opposing these pirates can I clear myself of suspicion.'
"I'm sorry, Raleigh. I deeply apologize for my actions."
Gion suddenly sheathed her sword and bowed at a ninety-degree angle.
The fault had been hers from the beginning.
After venting, her sense of guilt surfaced.
"I apologize for my earlier irrational behavior. If you can forgive me, I'm willing to provide compensation."
Raleigh carefully examined the beauty before him.
Her fair face, flushed from recent exertion, resembled a ripe peach.
However, with Tokikake nearby, Raleigh didn't want to provoke another person into madness.
"Alright, considering our schoolmate relationship, I'll forgive your recklessness. But you must repair my sun lounger. Otherwise, I'll have nowhere to lie down."
"Okay." Gion breathed a sigh of relief.
When Raleigh had been examining her moments earlier, she had been worrying about how to refuse if he made unreasonable demands.
Now it appeared that Raleigh was an upright person, completely unlike Tokikake.
Gion walked over to the sun lounger that had been split in two and began studying how to restore it.
The little girl Raleigh had picked up last night had now fully regained consciousness.
She stood blankly by the deck railing, gazing toward the direction of her hometown.
Raleigh glanced at her and approached.
"I haven't asked your name yet."
The little girl tightly gripped the tattered flag, wiped the tears from her eyes, and said firmly.
"My name is Bello Betty."
Raleigh placed his large hand on her head.
"Alright, Bello Betty. I'm Christian Raleigh. You can call me Brother Raleigh. I'm giving you two choices now."
"First, join the Marines and become my subordinate. I'll teach you combat skills and how to utilize the power of the Morale-Morale Fruit."
"Second, I'll find you a place and leave you enough money to live on. It will be far away from all these filthy matters. As long as you work diligently, you can live peacefully."
Bello Betty began crying again, choking out.
"Brother Raleigh, I don't want to see relatives die before children's eyes anymore. I don't want things like what happened in Povo Village to occur again. Please help me become stronger, I beg you!"
After listening to her plea, Raleigh nodded.
Most people in the Marines had been victims of pirates, while most in the Revolutionary Army were poor souls oppressed by the World Government.
Raleigh didn't believe in destiny, nor did he think a single Nika Fruit could change everything.
Joy Boy's failure eight hundred years ago proved that.
Rather than pinning his hopes on Sakazuki, Dragon, or Luffy, he preferred to carve out a fourth path himself.
Having experienced the baptism of red, possessing knowledge of the future, and a golden finger, Raleigh didn't believe he couldn't overthrow that decaying rule.
"Alright, Betty, you've been approved to join the Marines. I believe that you can definitely achieve your goals."
For a child merely five or six years old to wield a flag until collapsing from exhaustion was remarkable.
Raleigh had no doubt about her willpower, though the cost of such growth had been immeasurably heavy.
....
After the events in the Kingdom of Totteneys, Nisugi and his crew were celebrating aboard their ship for pulling off a major incident that shook the East Blue.
"Captain, Captain! Your bounty has gone up—a full 130 million Berries!" a bearded samurai shouted excitedly, holding up a wanted poster.
Because they refrained from robbing civilians, their bounties had remained stagnant at 7 million.
But now, by openly killing nobles of a World Government-affiliated kingdom, they had challenged its authority.
Thus, the World Government raised Nisugi's bounty by 123 million Berries.
"Hahaha! Well done! This bounty of mine is unmatched in the East Blue!"
"Men, let's ride this momentum and set sail for the Grand Line!"
"Let's go!"