"What you heard was only an event. What you do not know is that it was precisely the collision of ideas between Raleigh and me in the Eryoku Kingdom of the North Blue that gave birth to the Revolutionary Army's guiding principle. However, Raleigh and I had some differences in opinion at the time."
"I believed that if we wanted the people of the world to live happily, we had to overthrow the rule of the Celestial Dragons. And if we wanted to overthrow the rule of the Celestial Dragons, we needed power that belonged to us. Although the Marines were powerful, they were controlled by the World Government, so I left the Marines."
"Raleigh's view was different from mine. He believed that as long as pirates were eliminated, the people of the world would become happy."
"At the time, I could not understand Raleigh's thinking at all. I thought he had taken the wrong path. But looking at it now, he was deceiving me back then. I have clearly watched him concentrate authority into his own hands step by step within the Marines, while the foundation of the World Government's control over the Marines is being pulled out by him."
Dragon sighed with emotion.
"If Raleigh had been born on this sea twenty years earlier, perhaps we would never have needed to establish the Revolutionary Army at all, because the world would have been changed by Raleigh into the direction we desired."
Only recently had Dragon once again gone over the path of Raleigh's rise, especially his progression from Vice Admiral to Admiral.
Then he discovered a terrifying fact.
Raleigh was the Marine Fleet Admiral with the greatest power in history, and the one least controlled by the World Government.
Moreover, the World Government could no longer restrict Raleigh's authority.
At present, almost all mid- and high-ranking Marine officers leaned toward Raleigh, and the lower-ranking soldiers were even more devoted to him.
The existence of the Revolutionary Army also forced the World Government to swallow its anger and acknowledge Raleigh's consolidation of power as he fought both the Revolutionary Army and the pirates.
After Sabo left, the more Dragon thought about it, the more excited he became. Sweat even appeared on his back.
"As expected of you, to play this game of chess to such a degree."
After understanding everything, Dragon understood Raleigh's arrangement, and he also understood how dangerous it truly was.
"If you lose even one step, this entire game will shatter completely."
Dragon could not help sighing at Raleigh's sheer audacity.
The Revolutionary Army, the pirates, the World Government, the Celestial Dragons, and even the civilians were all moving according to the plan inside Raleigh's heart.
If even one side of this plan went wrong, it would never succeed.
If the Revolutionary Army did not grow strong, the World Government would not loosen its grip on authority.
If the pirates were still powerful, the Marines would not be able to spare the strength to suppress them, and the public support within Marine-controlled territories would not have reached such a height.
"But what exactly is your goal? To overthrow the old government and establish a new one?"
In the thick night, no one answered Dragon's question.
...
In the New World, inside the Fleet Admiral's office at New Marineford.
At that moment, Raleigh was standing with Gion, looking at the scenery beyond the window.
It had been a long time since they had enjoyed such a peaceful moment.
Gion gently leaned into Raleigh's arms.
"Raleigh, I truly wish days like this could last a little longer."
After transferring Marine Headquarters, Raleigh and Gion had held an unremarkable wedding. Not many people had attended.
It had been a small ceremony attended only by Borsalino, Sengoku, Tsuru, Nezumi, Cleveland, and a few others.
Gion knew that she could not occupy more of Raleigh's time.
She was not some decorative vase.
She knew how vast the ambition in Raleigh's heart truly was.
Raleigh tightly held Gion's hand and said warmly, "I'm sorry, Gion. I was unable to give you a grand wedding. But I promise you that when everything is over, I will give you a magnificent one."
Knock, knock.
The sound of knocking interrupted the warmth between them.
Gion separated from Raleigh, and Raleigh said softly, "Come in."
Momonga walked in from outside with a pile of documents in his arms.
Looking at Raleigh and Gion inside the office, his face showed no embarrassment at all.
"Fleet Admiral, I have finished gathering the information on the newly discovered Devil Fruit users."
Raleigh sat down in the office chair and flipped through the files in his hand.
Only after a long while did he raise his head and say, "Can the locations of these ability users all be confirmed? I see quite a few special Devil Fruit users here."
Momonga smiled.
"I already arranged for people to secretly monitor them. Unless something unusual happens, they will not notice."
"Recently, many rare Devil Fruit users who have not appeared in the encyclopedias for decades or even centuries have shown up, so our manpower is somewhat insufficient."
"My suggestion is to recover a batch of Devil Fruits first so our people can be freed up."
Raleigh nodded.
Momonga and Cleveland had now become very mature officers.
Their thinking was also highly aligned with Raleigh's.
Many times, they only needed to inform Raleigh of their suggestions before carrying them out directly.
"At this stage, our main strength should be focused on recovering Paramecia-type Devil Fruits. If there are Zoan-type Devil Fruits capable of improving combat strength, pay attention and collect those as well."
The Devil Fruits collected by the Marines could be directly given to officers who had made contributions, strengthening the Marines' overall combat power.
As for those worthless Zoan-type Devil Fruits and Logia-type Devil Fruits, there was no need to rush for the time being.
Take Momonga's Mist-Mist Fruit, for example.
After being developed to this point, reaching the level of elite Vice Admiral was already its limit.
Improving beyond that would not be easy.
"Also, have Cleveland make a trip to the Castro Kingdom. There are some matters there that need to be handled."
"Yes."
Momonga nodded, then quickly left.
...
In the New World, the Castro Kingdom was far from peaceful in the depths of the night.
The reason was that recently, a strange serial killer had appeared there.
According to rumors, the murderer was extremely swift and could complete his killings when no one could see him.
Whenever night fell, this murderer would appear in various parts of the royal capital and kill people at random, without distinction.
Whether they were high-ranking officials or wealthy merchants, he would strike.
Even several high nobles in the capital had been assassinated.
At first, the king of the Castro Kingdom wanted to rely on his own strength to resolve the matter.
Only after losing several hundred people in succession did fear finally drive him to request aid from Marine Headquarters.
As a kingdom within New Marineford's sphere of influence, Raleigh would not allow such a situation to continue.
Therefore, he sent Cleveland to the Castro Kingdom to see exactly what kind of murderer this was.
Inside the royal capital of Castro, within an ancient castle decorated in a magnificent style, a young man with golden hair and a white cloak, looking as if he had stepped straight out of a fairy tale, toyed lightly with the rose in his hand.
Cavendish.
A prince born in the Bourgeois Kingdom.
Because his appearance was far too beautiful, the young women of his homeland had become unwilling to marry anyone else. In the end, the king had no choice but to send him away.
When he traveled to the Castro Kingdom, he awakened a second personality.
The emotions he had suppressed for so long were finally released, and that feeling intoxicated him.
Tonight, as usual, he planned to go to bed early and release his second personality.
As the beautiful Cavendish fell asleep, the evil smile on his face grew wider and wider.
Finally, when Cavendish opened his eyes on the bed, the room was empty in the very next instant.