"Improving Marine pay, huh? That's actually not a bad direction… This year's budget is already triple last year's, and on top of that, Borsalino demanded another seventy percent more."
Vice Admiral Tsuru, seemingly guessing Zephyr's concern, explained with a mix of exasperation and amusement.
In past years, every Marine budget submission had been picked apart by the World Government, so the Finance Department had always adopted a conservative approach.
But this time—spurred on by Borsalino and under the very real justification of the Marines' heavy losses at Marineford—they had prepared a budget that was already bold by normal standards.
They were mentally prepared for several big items to be cut… only for Borsalino not only to get it all approved but to force the Five Elders to cough up seventy percent more.
Afterward, even the usually stern former Fleet Admiral Sengoku had cracked a rare joke: If I'd known Borsalino was this good at squeezing money out of them, I'd have handed him the Fleet Admiral's seat years ago.
"Hmph, that guy's always good at pulling off shady little tricks," Zephyr said with feigned disdain—but the pride in his voice was unmistakable.
He might not have thought much of Borsalino's future at first, but by now even Zephyr had to admit that Borsalino's achievements had far exceeded his expectations.
After all, "the world's strongest man" Whitebeard had fallen to Borsalino, and counting his earlier victories, all four Yonko had technically been defeated by him.
Under such a powerful Fleet Admiral, maybe… maybe the Great Pirate Era really could be brought to an end.
That thought sent a rush of excitement through Zephyr, enough to stir the faint urge to come out of retirement. But his aged, battle-worn body—riddled with old injuries that ached on rainy days—reminded him that "Black Arm Zephyr" was long gone.
"To think of tackling things from the pay side… Truly worthy of Fleet Admiral Borsalino. Come to think of it, the last large-scale pay raise was decades ago, wasn't it? Although, if they could approve a few more vacation days, that would be even better…"
Standing on the other side of the stage, Kuzan gave a slight nod. Compared to Sakazuki's barely concealed displeasure, Kuzan was actually pleased with Borsalino becoming Fleet Admiral.
Sure, there was some small regret over not becoming Fleet Admiral himself, but between the two… Borsalino's philosophy was far easier for him to accept.
Kuzan hadn't even lowered his voice, so Sakazuki—standing not far away—heard every word clearly.
"Billions of berries in military funds… enough to build several main fleets… wasted on this nonsense…" Sakazuki muttered darkly.
Sakazuki, long known for his hardline stance, scoffed at Kizaru's approach. In his view, since their mission was to uphold justice, as long as the pay wasn't so poor that it became unacceptable, there was no reason to waste the budget in areas that weren't strictly necessary.
For the lowest-ranked marines, ignoring all the various hidden benefits, their annual take-home salary was about 250,000 Berries. If one counted all the commissioned and non-commissioned officers as well, this wave of salary increases would cost the Navy nearly 20 billion Berries.
On top of that, there was the massive group of retired marines, whose pensions were no small sum either. If Kizaru hadn't promised them that next year's military budget would be even higher, Sakazuki would have been the very first to jump up and oppose this decision.
"Ah la la, you can't really put it that way. Kizaru hasn't cut the budget for shipbuilding… Besides, the production capacity for the new model warships still can't keep up. Even if we had the funds, it's impossible to launch them in bulk in a short period of time…"
Kuzan drawled lazily. He was already quite satisfied with the Navy's current state. If it weren't necessary to have a force capable of counterbalancing the hawkish faction, he would have even considered giving up his position as its leader.
Being just an ordinary admiral wasn't so bad. If Kizaru could bring an end to the Great Pirate Era, Kuzan could retire early, just like Teacher Zephyr.
However, Kuzan had no patience for teaching the Navy's younger generation. By then, he'd probably choose to travel around the world, wandering wherever he pleased.
"Hmph! If we don't take advantage of Whitebeard's death to press the attack and advance into the New World, when will we ever completely wipe out all the pirates?"
Sakazuki was clearly dissatisfied. Though he admitted that this opportunity was created by Kizaru, letting it go to waste like this was far too regrettable.
Kuzan scratched his head from the side. For once, he didn't oppose Sakazuki's proposal, but Kizaru rejected it, saying that the Navy also needed time to rest.
It wasn't an unreasonable explanation, but for some reason, Kuzan felt that Kizaru was hiding something from them.
As for Kizaru's idea of giving the Navy's high-ranking officers a vacation, Kuzan was, of course, all for it.
From the podium, Kizaru could naturally hear the conversation between Kuzan and Sakazuki. But as for why he wouldn't seize the chance to advance into the New World, he really had no way of explaining it to them.
He couldn't exactly tell them that before long, a spiky-haired, one-eyed weirdo claiming to be the Pirate King would pop up in the New World.
If the Navy advanced into the New World at this time and ran into Boros directly, even as Fleet Admiral, Kizaru wasn't confident he could avoid a head-on clash between the Navy and Boros.
Rather than rack his brains later on figuring out how to keep the two sides from colliding, it was better to make sure they avoided each other from the very start.
"…For the sake of upholding justice, for the sake of protecting the peace of the seas, from this day forward—aside from the existing bounties—a new merit system will be implemented within the Navy…"
Kizaru's speech continued. Compared to Fleet Admiral Sengoku's purely formal resignation address, Kizaru's speech was more like a detailed action plan—making sure every marine knew exactly what he intended to do next.
The new merit system looked a bit complicated at first glance, but in essence, it was a sort of "bounty" aimed internally at the Navy.
In other words, from now on, capturing pirates would not only earn the pirate's bounty, but also merit points.
Depending on the pirate's strength and threat level, they would be assigned "bounties" of First-Class Merit, Second-Class Merit, or Third-Class Merit. Naturally, for major pirates such as the Four Emperors or the Seven Warlords, it wouldn't be unusual for capturing one to be worth dozens or even hundreds of First-Class Merits.
Ten Third-Class Merits could be exchanged for one Second-Class Merit, and likewise, ten Second-Class Merits could be exchanged for one First-Class Merit.
For officers below the rank of ensign, earning a Third-Class Merit meant an unconditional promotion by one rank. For those below field officer rank, promotion required a Second-Class Merit. For those below flag officer rank, promotion required a First-Class Merit.
This system was designed not only to encourage the Navy to eliminate pirates, but also to break the ingrained habit of relying solely on seniority for promotion.
As soon as Kizaru announced the new merit system from the podium, marines in the plaza couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, many of them beaming with joy.
Compared to a pay raise, the new merit system was an even greater source of excitement for them.
In the past, no matter how much credit they earned, if they didn't curry favor with their direct superiors, they could forget about getting promoted.
This was one of the main reasons Navy factions were so rampant. Joining a faction meant you might be targeted by rival groups, but it was still better than being stuck at the bottom forever with no one to pull you up.
Now, with the new merit system, even if superiors wanted to suppress them, they couldn't stop someone from earning merits and getting promoted directly.
Such a system clearly favored the Navy's strongest elites. Barring any surprises, the Navy's strength would see an unprecedented boost in the coming years.
"…Truly unexpected… No, I should say, truly impressive…"
Kuzan couldn't help glancing at Kizaru. If increasing Navy benefits was still within his expectations, then this merit system was, in his eyes, a stroke of genius.
At first glance, it seemed like nothing more than opening a new path of promotion for mid- and low-level officers, but in reality, it was a powerful step toward ending the Navy's factional disputes.
As long as there was enough room for promotion, the divide between the hawks and doves in the Navy would be reduced to a pure difference in ideology.
"…At least it's not bad news…"
Sakazuki first furrowed his brows, then slowly relaxed them.
He didn't care about the Navy's factional disputes—or rather, in his view, factions were a good thing. Only competition could keep the Navy vibrant.
And in that sense, the new merit system could effectively motivate the mid- and lower-level marines, encouraging them to take the initiative in eliminating pirates.
Any system that could wipe out pirates was a good system!
Having just dropped such a major announcement, Kizaru didn't rush to move further. At the end of the day, the Navy—like the World Government—was an ancient institution that had existed for eight hundred years.
It was impossible to completely rejuvenate the Navy in a single step. Even with full control over the situation, reform had to be carried out gradually.
Increasing benefits and creating new promotion pathways were just steps Kizaru used to win hearts.
As his speech gradually moved into its conclusion, the marines in the plaza could barely contain their excitement.
Although the content of Kizaru's address only directly mentioned improving benefits and the new merit system, it was already enough to convey a strong, forward-driving momentum.
Meanwhile, the members of the chat group who had watched Kizaru's speech via live broadcast finally got to see what kind of presence the often somewhat unserious Kizaru in the group chat actually had in real life.
°°°
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