It had been one full week since Raleigh had taken "actual power" in the Eryoku Kingdom.
One week. Seven days.
Gion, who had been patiently waiting, training, and stewing, finally couldn't hold back anymore.
THUD!
The office door was pushed open, not slammed, but opened with a pointed, angry force that rattled the hinges.
"Raleigh. Are we here on vacation, or are we here to get things done?"
Gion stood in the doorway, her arms crossed, her eyes flashing.
After Raleigh had dealt with that pathetic fool Zakri, an entire week had passed without him even stepping outside the base.
He spent all day, every day, in this comfortable, stolen office, reading dusty old books about the kingdom's history.
He never once suggested they go out, investigate the mines, or actually do the job they were sent here for.
Gion had originally thought Raleigh was joking when he acted like this was a vacation.
It turned out he really meant it.
"Oh, it's you, Gion. Perfect timing," Raleigh said, not even looking up from his book.
He lazily pushed a steaming, fragrant cup of tea across his desk toward her.
"Here, have some tea. It's a newly arrived black tea from the South Sea. Absolutely top-notch."
Gion stared at the cup.
"Aren't we here to investigate the uprising?" she said, her voice tight with indignation.
Despite her anger, she automatically stepped forward and accepted the tea. It did smell good.
Raleigh finally looked up, his expression one of perfect, serious reason.
"Investigate? Gion, the World Government and its 'elite' CP agents investigated for so long without finding a single thing. How could we possibly discover it so easily just by running around right after arriving? That's not smart. That's just... work."
He waved the thick, leather-bound book in his hand.
"History proves that the truth of some matters is often hidden in past historical events. This," he said, tapping the cover, "is where the answer is."
"This," Raleigh continued, "records the list of all previous uprisings in the Eryoku Kingdom. The most detailed record, the one I've been reading, is about the largest uprising in the kingdom's history. The one ten years ago. Why is it so detailed? Because, as we learned, our Marines intervened in that battle."
Gion listened, her anger simmering down into curiosity.
A flicker of inspiration flashed through her mind, but it vanished just as quickly.
"This... what have you discovered from it?"
Raleigh took a slow, appreciative sip of his own hot tea.
"That uprising ten years ago... it swept through almost all the workers. 150,000 people. But here's the most interesting part." He leaned forward, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial, almost giddy, tone.
"After the battle ended, the leader of this great uprising was nowhere to be found. He wasn't among the living, and he wasn't confirmed among the dead. The Marines personnel responsible for recording the actual battle results," he tapped the old, filed-away report on his desk, "used terms like 'presumed dead.'"
"The report says the Marines deployed over a hundred cannons to bombard the rebels' final stronghold. Half a day later, the position fell. The ground was littered with mangled, unrecognizable corpses. They only found one body that 'resembled the leader in build.' Presumed. That's the key word."
Gion took the document from Raleigh's hand and carefully flipped through it.
The pages were old, the ink faded, but the language was clear.
She nodded as she read, seeing his point.
However, she soon grew puzzled again.
"If we can tell this from a base document, why doesn't the World Government know about it? Why are their CP agents so lost?"
Raleigh's lazy smile turned into a wide, mischievous grin.
He pulled another report from a different drawer—this one looked newer, cleaner, with an official World Government seal.
He gestured for Gion to take it.
Gion didn't understand but took it and began reading.
After just a moment, she looked up, confused.
"Isn't this... exactly the same as the previous one?"
"Keep reading, Gion," Raleigh said, his grin widening. "Get to the end."
Following his words, Gion continued further down.
Most of the content was identical, a word-for-word copy of the Marine report... except for the final line.
The part about the rebel leader.
This one stated, with absolute certainty, that the rebel leader had been killed, his body identified, and that the World Government and Marines had achieved a great, total victory.
"What... is this?" Gion couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.
Raleigh leaned back, rubbing his forehead in mock exasperation.
"It's those fools in the World Government. To exaggerate their 'flawless' achievements, they chose to conceal the one inconvenient fact that the rebel leader disappeared. They couldn't have an 'unknown' variable. So, they lied. They treated that one mangled corpse as the leader himself and closed the case."
"I called Borsalino just to be sure," Raleigh added. "The government officials who 'handled' this matter back then, the ones who signed off on this falsified report? They've all long been promoted. They're probably sitting in comfortable offices in Mary Geoise right now."
'No wonder the CP organization members were so incompetent', Raleigh thought to himself,' they never expected to be sabotaged by their own people's filing system'.
Ten years had passed.
Everyone who survived and signed that report had been promoted several ranks.
They had long forgotten, or chosen to forget, about this one tiny lie.
"So," Gion concluded, her eyes wide with understanding, "the CP members' investigation... their entire direction... was flawed from the very start. They're chasing a ghost that their own government told them was already dead."
"Exactly," Raleigh said, snapping the book shut. "If we're conducting the investigation, we should start by questioning those who actually participated in the uprising ten years ago. After all, they weren't all executed. Most were just thrown back into the mines for harder labor. They'd be the old-timers now."
Raleigh already had a plan.
He'd seek clues from a few veteran rebels.
'If this mysterious leader truly exists, and is still hiding,' he thought, 'perfect. He'll become the scapegoat for the CP agents' "unfortunate" demise. And if no such leader exists... well, I'll just have to fabricate one. I'll make up a boogeyman, pin the CP deaths on him, and then "fail" to catch him. The World Government needs a villain for their report? Fine. I'll give them one.'
"So... what should we do? Should we... go ask some veterans?" Gion asked, still trying to process the layers of deception.
She looked a little blank.
Dark lines seemed to appear over Raleigh's head in frustration.
'Ah. In the end, one must rely on oneself for everything.'
"You," he said, standing up, "stay at the base and focus on training. You said you felt like I was improving and you weren't. Here's your chance."
He walked over to his wardrobe, taking out a set of simple, casual civilian clothes to replace his conspicuous white Marine uniform.
"I'll take Cleveland. We'll go investigate leads in the city first. We need to look like locals, not... this." He didn't want to draw every eye in the city the moment he entered.
"Messenger!" he called out while changing, addressing the guard outside his room.
"Inform Captain Cleveland to change into civilian clothes and wait for me at the base's military port. Immediately."
"Yes, sir!"
Gion watched Raleigh change, a strange look on her face.
As he finished buttoning the plain, dark shirt, she, almost involuntarily, walked over to him.
She stood behind him and reached up to adjust his collar, smoothing it down.
"Hmm? Gion?" Sensing the subtle fragrance of cherry blossoms near his neck, Raleigh knew it was her.
"Raleigh..." Gion said, her voice soft, her hands still on his collar. "If this leader from ten years ago... if he really exists... he must be very powerful to have hidden for so long. Please... be careful."
Raleigh turned around, his hands gently seizing Gion's small, strong ones.
He gazed at the girl's delicate, earnest face.
Then, in one smooth motion, he pulled her into an embrace.
"Don't worry," he said, his voice a low rumble by her ear. "In this world, no one can take me down."
It was a boast.
Probably all men tend to boast in front of their women, never admitting any weakness.
But Raleigh... he said it with such casual confidence, it was hard to doubt.
Even if he encountered an overwhelmingly powerful enemy, with his new Devil Fruit, he was confident he could make his escape.
Gion struggled briefly, her hands pushing against his chest, but she was held fast.
Unable to break free, and perhaps not wanting to, she eventually relaxed, her head resting in the crook of his shoulder for just a second.
"Reporting, sir!"
An ill-timed, formal shout from the doorway shattered the moment.
"Captain Cleveland has made all necessary arrangements! We can depart at any time!"
Raleigh sighed.
Perfect timing.
He had no choice but to release the beauty in his arms.
"I'll head out now," he said, his professional voice returning. "You focus on training at the base. Wait for my return."
Gion, her face blushing, stepped back and smoothed her own uniform.
But her eyes were still locked on his.
"I'll train hard," she said. "But you must promise to come back. And... if there's danger, remember to call for me. Don't... don't handle everything alone."
...
After bidding farewell to Gion, Raleigh quickly made his way to the military port.
Aboard a small, unremarkable ship, Raleigh saw Cleveland, already dressed in drab, dark civilian clothes.
He was, however, standing at a perfect, ramrod-straight position of attention.
"Cleveland," Raleigh said, stepping onto the deck.
"Sir!" Cleveland responded reflexively, his hand flying up in a salute.
Raleigh's eyebrow twitched.
"Kid," he sighed, "you'd better not make that mistake again. We're supposed to be undercover. Anyone within a mile would recognize us as Marines with behavior like that."
He waved a hand.
"Try... try to imitate my usual demeanor. Just relax."
Cleveland thought about how Rear Admiral Raleigh typically carried himself.
He processed the order.
His shoulders slumped. His spine curved.
His entire body seemed to lose all its bones, and he slouched lazily against the railing, a look of profound, world-weary boredom on his face.
Raleigh's other eyebrow twitched.
'Damn. So this is how you see me in your heart. You little brat... just you wait. I'll make sure to have some fun with you for that'.
With mixed feelings, Raleigh and his perfectly-slacking subordinate set off on the road to the Kingdom of Eryoku.
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