At Marineford, Navy Headquarters held a grand ceremony for the triumphant return of its soldiers.
Raleigh and Sakazuki stood at the very center, receiving everyone's praise.
Sakazuki even tilted his head with great interest and said,
"Do you know, Raleigh? If scenes like this could keep happening at Marineford, then my ideal would be realized."
Sakazuki's ideal was to wipe out every pirate force in the world.
If the Navy could achieve such large-scale victories every time it went to war, then pirate forces would surely be destroyed by the Navy.
But Raleigh did not speak.
At a time like this, ruining Sakazuki's mood would be far too inappropriate.
Sakazuki's thinking was very simple.
As long as all the pirates in the world right now were wiped out, no more pirates would appear.
But he did not understand one thing.
Why had the Navy been fighting pirates for eight hundred years, yet pirates had always continued to exist?
Because the fundamental problem had never been solved.
As long as the World Nobles, the Celestial Dragons, still existed in this world, and as long as the heavy Heavenly Tribute was still being collected, nothing in this world would truly change.
Even if the Navy killed every pirate currently worth more than one hundred million, it would still be useless.
Because Devil Fruits would always bring pirates a slim chance of survival.
...
At the center of the plaza, on the stage, Sengoku sat quietly in the Navy Fleet Admiral uniform that symbolized authority.
His eyes were completely hidden behind his glasses.
No one knew what this strategist was thinking.
The lower-ranking Navy soldiers could only see Sengoku's smiling appearance.
They had no idea that, deep inside, Sengoku had already grown dissatisfied with Raleigh and Sakazuki.
That's right.
Although the withdrawal order had been forced upon him by the Five Elders, why had Raleigh and Sakazuki disobeyed military orders?
Even after finishing the matter, they could have informed him and avoided the current misunderstanding.
But Raleigh and Sakazuki had deliberately done exactly that.
Both sides were filled with all kinds of calculations.
After a round of false courtesy, this grand celebration welcoming the Navy's triumphant return finally ended.
That night, during the bonfire banquet, most Navy soldiers were celebrating the fact that they had survived and returned alive.
No one knew about the meeting being held inside the Fleet Admiral's office.
Inside the high-ranking officers' conference room at Navy Headquarters, this was the most complete gathering of Navy officers in recent memory.
And from where they sat, one could clearly see their factions.
Sengoku sat in the center.
On his left were Garp, Tsuru, Kuzan, and the others.
On the other side were the three admirals led by Raleigh, Sakazuki, and Borsalino, along with the recently outstanding vice admirals in the Navy.
For example, Mouse, Cleveland, Enel, and others.
Sengoku first gave a round of insincere praise for Raleigh and Sakazuki's military achievements.
Then, his tone suddenly changed. With a serious expression, he said,
"Raleigh, Sakazuki. Why did the two of you refuse to obey headquarters' military order at that time and instead insist on attacking Kaido?"
"Although the result was good, the two of you ultimately gambled with the lives of Navy soldiers."
"We had clearly already obtained a major victory. There was absolutely no need to fight them to the death."
The atmosphere instantly froze.
At that moment, the officers on both sides of Sengoku became openly opposed to one another.
Gion and Tokikake sat at the very back, feeling extremely uneasy because of the atmosphere.
They were not fools.
They could tell that something was wrong with the situation.
But because of their identities and their friendship with Raleigh, they did not know what to say.
At that moment, Raleigh suddenly laughed.
Then he began clapping his hands.
Only the sound of his applause echoed throughout the conference room.
After a long while, Raleigh finally spoke calmly.
"I originally thought I would be able to hold back my laughter, but after hearing Fleet Admiral Sengoku's words, I still couldn't help myself."
"The Navy is not children playing house. When we go to war with pirates, people will definitely die. The important thing is what result we achieved."
"If paying this price can eliminate one Emperor of the New World, then I believe it was worth it."
Sengoku slammed the table violently.
Conqueror's Haki burst from his body and pressed directly toward Raleigh.
Raleigh smiled faintly.
When it came to Conqueror's Haki, he had never feared anyone.
Boom!
Two waves of Conqueror's Haki collided in midair.
But it was clear that Sengoku's Conqueror's Haki was being suppressed by Raleigh's.
At that moment, Sengoku's face turned extremely livid.
Kuzan condensed an ice spear in his hand.
Sakazuki's right hand had already turned into magma.
Borsalino narrowed his eyes and stared at Garp across from him.
"This is simply nonsense! As a Navy admiral, how can you disregard the lives of Navy soldiers like this? I believe you should temporarily be removed from your position as admiral and calm down."
Raleigh clapped his hands again and said,
"As expected of you, Sengoku."
Raleigh stood up.
His tall figure brought an extremely strong sense of pressure.
"Unfortunately, what you say does not count."
He raised his right hand and pointed upward.
"Only those people's words count."
"They believe that you have sat in the position of Fleet Admiral for so long, yet you have not even solved the Revolutionary Army. You are truly useless."
"So they have decided to replace you with a Fleet Admiral who is better at dealing with the Revolutionary Army."
Garp's eyes widened sharply as he roared,
"You dare?!"
Raleigh suddenly slammed the table, instantly smashing the wide conference table into pieces.
"What wouldn't I dare to do?!"
"I am an admiral. The Revolutionary Army is our enemy, so they should be destroyed."
"And from what position are you saying such things to me?"
"The Navy's position, or the Revolutionary Army's?!"
Raleigh's loud questioning made the atmosphere inside the conference room even more terrifying.
Sengoku stared closely into Raleigh's eyes, as if trying to search for Raleigh's true thoughts.
"The Revolutionary Army is being handled by Kuzan. There is no need for you and Sakazuki to act."
Sakazuki sneered.
"Who? That trash who couldn't even break into the Four Seas after several months?"
Kuzan's expression grew uglier and uglier.
It was not that he lacked the ability to enter the Four Seas.
Rather, he clearly understood the connection between the Revolutionary Army and Garp.
Because of that, he had not acted with full force.
Otherwise, with Kuzan's strength, there were only a handful of people in the entire Revolutionary Army who could exchange blows with him.
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