"Raleigh, we have obtained new information. Douglas Bullet has appeared in the Shikkearu Kingdom."
Gion had taken over Enel's duties.
Enel had recently headed to Navy Headquarters, where he would spend three years training under Zephyr's command.
Meanwhile, Miles had also traveled from the North Blue to Headquarters for special training.
"Mm, set a course for the Shikkearu Kingdom."
Raleigh maintained his usual lazy attitude, not particularly concerned with other matters at the moment.
The seeds of Marine reform had already been planted; now, it was just a matter of waiting for them to slowly grow.
These things could not be rushed.
All Raleigh could do was provide material support during their growth and offer protection when necessary.
"Douglas Bullet's strength already far exceeds the Vice-Admiral level. Based on his combat records, Headquarters has classified him as a Vice-Admiral-level pirate threat," Gion said, examining Bullet's files with unusual surprise.
Suddenly, Raleigh lifted his fishing rod.
The instantly bent pole and tightly pulled line proved he had hooked a big fish.
"Raleigh, were you even listening to me?!" Gion could not help but stomp her foot in frustration.
Raleigh smiled as he responded. "Of course I heard you. I just happened to hook a fish at the same time."
"This Douglas Bullet is quite remarkable. He is considered one of the top fighters in the Roger Pirates, supposedly about as strong as Rayleigh." Raleigh paused.
"But I suspect this information might have been leaked on purpose. Bullet is not as powerful as Rayleigh—though he definitely has Vice-Admiral-level strength."
If Bullet had not shown enough power, Raleigh would not even consider looking for him.
During times like this, wouldn't it be more enjoyable to just slack off and relax?
The problem was that Bullet had already been released into the world.
If left alone, he would inevitably cause massive harm to innocent civilians.
Raleigh knew that even though the Marines had completely crushed the pirates after the Foya Sea Battle, this absolute dominance could not last long.
To be completely honest, the Celestial Dragons would simply not allow it.
The more powerful and dominant the Navy appeared, the harder the Celestial Dragons would crack down on them to keep them under control.
The current Fleet Admiral, Kong, was a strict military hardliner.
Under his leadership, both Sengoku and Garp had achieved massive victories against pirates.
They secured brilliant successes in two major campaigns in particular: the God Valley Battle and the Foya Sea Battle.
The first campaign defeated the arrogant super-crew that controlled the New World and killed the world's strongest pirate, Rocks D. Xebec.
The second campaign killed Whitebeard, hailed as the world's strongest man, and caused massive casualties among the world's elite pirates.
Thanks to these two incredible accomplishments, Kong's position as Fleet Admiral remained unshakable.
However, the more outstanding Kong became, the more he looked like a threat to the Celestial Dragons.
By giving him a fake promotion to the empty title of "Commander-in-Chief of the World Government," they could keep a man with Admiral-level strength permanently locked away in Pangaea Castle.
Although former Admiral Zephyr had not been completely broken in spirit, he had successfully retreated from the front lines.
Sengoku would still follow the original timeline and be promoted to the new Fleet Admiral.
However, the Sengoku before taking office and the Sengoku after taking office were two completely different people.
Before his promotion, Sengoku was the absolute pillar of the aggressive Navy faction.
Wherever he appeared, all Marine soldiers would bravely charge forward.
Even Sakazuki, known for his ruthless iron-fisted methods, held great respect for the brilliant leader Sengoku.
Yet, it seemed no one had truly seen through this man known as the "Resourceful General."
For some strange reason, over the twenty years after Sengoku became Fleet Admiral, he actually led the Navy from a state of victory into a state of decline!
Although the Great Pirate Era started by Roger was a major factor, it was utterly absurd that a Fleet Admiral's methods for dealing with pirates were worse than his performance before his promotion.
Of course, after Raleigh became a Vice-Admiral, he slowly began to understand the truth: the Navy's true strength and funding were tightly controlled by the Celestial Dragons.
Even the most principled person would change their mind when they could not afford to buy food.
Not every Marine soldier was a saint.
Since they worked a job that risked their lives daily, they valued their salaries above all else.
These financial issues severely limited the Navy's growth, which was exactly why Raleigh was determined to build up his own base in the North Blue.
Currently, under the brutal assault of the Donquixote Family, the mafia bosses in the North Blue had either surrendered or been reduced to piles of bones.
The Donquixote Family profited enormously from taking over the underworld.
Naturally, Raleigh earned even more behind the scenes.
However, Raleigh did not just pocket all these funds for himself.
He had much bigger plans.
During his time in the North Blue, he had set up many secret schemes, all of which required heavy financial support.
Because of this, the money stolen by Doflamingo never actually left the North Blue before being divided up, though Doflamingo remained completely unaware of this trap.
Now, most of the soldiers in the North Blue naval bases knew that their high wages were entirely thanks to Raleigh.
Those who were born in the North Blue with clean backgrounds, firm beliefs, and good talent were secretly recruited into the underground organization founded by Raleigh.
Secret organizations like this were actually quite common within the Marines.
However, these typical groups never intended to overthrow the Celestial Dragons or forcefully steal the position of Fleet Admiral.
Their groups were relatively loose, with most members forming small circles simply because they were friends or had similar personalities.
For example, Sakazuki had never managed to break into Sengoku and Garp's inner circle.
Yet, Kuzan became part of that elite circle within just a few years of joining the Navy.
As the next aggressive leader after Sengoku, Sakazuki naturally had many followers around him, including Doberman, Jonathan, Stainless, and others.
What set Raleigh's circle apart from the rest was that everyone who joined was required to read a revolutionary theory book written by Raleigh himself.
It was a perfect fusion of the current political state of the One Piece world and the historical wisdom of various mentors from his past life on Earth.
Frankly speaking, if the Five Elders caught even a tiny hint of this book's existence, they would not hesitate to launch a Buster Call on Raleigh.
They might even activate the Celestial Dragons' secret Ancient Weapon to wipe him off the map.
This was because the Five Elders understood the terrifying, destructive power of new ideas all too well.
Unfortunately for them, anyone who read this book would naturally distance themselves from the corrupt nobles who oppressed the common people.
That was the book's greatest weapon!
Although his group was still in its early stages, it had already formed a tight circle of over a hundred elite Marine members.
Raleigh planned to have Momonga serve as a base commander in the North Blue in a few years, ensuring that Raleigh's influence there would stay strong.
Given enough time, Raleigh believed that ultimate victory would surely be in their hands.