"Celestial Dragons?"
"So what?"
"This is New Marineford!"
Raleigh did not care whether they were Celestial Dragons or Earth Dragons.
This was no longer the time when he had to bow his head and keep a low profile.
His plan had basically been completed, and the so-called World Government could no longer press down on him from above.
"You… you actually dare say something like that?!"
Saint Rosward stared at Marine Fleet Admiral Christian Raleigh in utter shock.
He did not know how to face what would happen next.
His son, Saint Charlos, however, was fearlessly courting death.
"You are finished! How dare you say that to a noble Celestial Dragon!"
"But if you offer up your wife and become my slave, I will forgive you."
Crack!
The wooden floor of the restaurant was crushed under Cleveland's foot.
Every officer present could not help clenching their fists, wanting to step forward and teach this reckless Celestial Dragon a lesson.
"Idiot, what nonsense are you saying?!"
"Apologize to Mr. Raleigh right now!"
Saint Rosward punched Saint Charlos, but long years of indulgent living had already hollowed out his body.
Even with a punch thrown in anger, he could not knock Saint Charlos down.
Instead, Charlos looked at his father with an aggrieved expression.
"Father, we are descendants of the gods. Were they not our slaves to begin with?"
Shing!
Cleveland could no longer tolerate Saint Charlos' idiotic words and drew the saber at his waist.
"Cleveland, deal with these eyesore guards first."
Facts proved that when a person was speechless enough, they really could laugh from anger.
Raleigh knew there were many idiots among the Celestial Dragons, but he had rarely come into contact with those idiots before.
He had not expected them to be capable of saying something like this.
As expected of the Celestial Dragon who had still tried to abduct Princess Shirahoshi during the Reverie.
Raleigh was not actually angry because of those words, because he felt that getting angry at an idiot was an idiotic thing to do.
"Enough. Cut off both of his hands!"
"Understood!"
A Marine Rear Admiral who had long since been unable to hold himself back drew his saber and cut twice, slicing through the Celestial Dragon's outfit along with both of his arms.
"Ahhhhhh!"
"Father! Save me! Save me!"
Saint Charlos had never suffered such a serious injury before. The intense pain made him roll all over the ground.
Before long, he passed out from the pain.
"Raleigh-sama, please stop my son's bleeding, or he will really die here."
Saint Rosward stared at Raleigh with an ugly expression.
He still had some brains and knew he could not completely fall out with Raleigh here.
His daughter, however, became furious after seeing her younger brother's miserable state.
She pulled a pistol from her pocket and aimed it at Raleigh's head.
"You bastard! Pay with your life for my brother's arms!"
Bang! Bang, bang!
Saint Shalria fired several shots in anger.
This shocked Saint Rosward beside her.
However, the other Marine officers present were not surprised by this scene.
If such a pistol could kill Fleet Admiral Raleigh, the Marines would have been wiped out by pirates long ago.
One meter in front of Raleigh, several round bullets floated in the air, as if an invisible wall stood before him that they could not pass through.
"Haa. Originally, I only planned to give you a small punishment, but now it seems you will not be leaving here alive."
Raleigh shook his head.
His right hand reached out, pushing away the air in front of him along with the bullets suspended in it.
The bullets flew back even faster than when Saint Shalria had fired them.
Bang, bang, bang!
Several bullet holes appeared on Saint Shalria's body.
Raleigh let her experience the same pain Saint Charlos had felt just now.
The intense agony made her collapse to the ground unconscious, just like Saint Charlos.
Saint Rosward nervously opened his mouth, but he did not know what to say.
Raleigh waved a hand.
"Take the three of them away and lock them up. Call a military doctor over and make sure those two do not die."
Several officers lifted the Rosward Family and easily walked out of Bazel Restaurant.
Raleigh looked at the bloodstains on the floor and said apologetically to Old Man Bazel, "Sorry, old man. I dirtied your restaurant."
Bazel looked at Raleigh with worry and said anxiously, "Raleigh, I know you are the Fleet Admiral now, but was injuring Celestial Dragons not too reckless?"
"You should'nt have done something like this."
"At this point, the only thing to do is hand this old man over. Arrest me and send me to Mary Geoise."
Back when Bazel was still a Marine, he had also dealt with Celestial Dragons, so naturally he knew their nature.
He also knew very well what kind of punishment would befall anyone who harmed a Celestial Dragon.
In order not to affect Raleigh's position, Bazel hoped to sacrifice himself and clear Raleigh of responsibility.
After hearing this, Raleigh shook his head in exasperation.
"Old Man Bazel, allow me to call you 'Father'."
"I am still young. You do not need to carry something like this for me."
"As long as you are in New Marineford, I can guarantee your safety. The Marines have a duty to protect the safety of every civilian within our jurisdiction. Even Celestial Dragons must obey that rule."
Bazel still wanted to say something, but Gion stopped him.
After Gion explained a few things, Bazel could only swallow back the words he had wanted to say.
"All right, Father Bazel, we are leaving."
"I will be busy soon."
...
After saying goodbye to Bazel, Raleigh brought Gion back to the office building.
He sat alone in his Fleet Admiral's office, waiting for the call from the Five Elders.
Blu blu… blu blu…
Just as Raleigh had predicted, less than ten minutes later, the Den Den Mushi on the desk rang.
Raleigh leisurely drank the hot tea in his hand. Only after the Den Den Mushi had rung for quite a while did he answer the call.
From the other side came the furious questioning of the Five Elders.
"Raleigh, what are you doing?!"
"The descendants of the gods, the Celestial Dragons, Saint Rosward and his family, had an incident at New Marineford. Do you know that?"
Raleigh took a nail clipper from his pocket and leisurely trimmed his nails, completely ignoring the Five Elders' anger.
Only after several minutes did Raleigh slowly speak.
"I know about it. What of it?"
"They did not die in New Marineford. They merely violated Marine regulations, so they will be studying here for a while."
In Mary Geoise, the Five Elders surrounded a Den Den Mushi and roared in anger.
"What else do you intend to do? Are you planning to kill them?"
"Do you know that the purpose of the Marines' establishment was to protect the safety of Celestial Dragons around the world?"
Raleigh put on an impatient expression and shouted at the Den Den Mushi.
"Then remove me from my position!"
"Wouldn't it be fine to replace me with an obedient Fleet Admiral?"
"Since I am in this position right now, my rules are the Marines' rules, and the Marines' rules are New Marineford's rules. Whoever violates the rules must bear the price of violating them!"
On the other side of the call, the Five Elders were so angry that they could not help standing up, about to curse him out.
The bald Elder's eyes even revealed killing intent as he drew the cursed blade he had always held in his arms.
"Calm down. We cannot touch him for now."
The short, stout Elder reached out and temporarily muted the Den Den Mushi, then spoke to the others.
"Christian Raleigh's prestige within the Marines is too high. With the World Government's current influence over the Marines, we cannot remove Raleigh at all."
"There may be Admirals within the Marines who want to become Fleet Admiral, but right now, all of them must submit at Raleigh's feet."
The Five Elders were also helpless.
They had watched Christian Raleigh rise step by step.
Before this, Raleigh had always been able to lead the Marines to victory, making the World Government very pleased. They had thought they had found a treasure.
Only when Raleigh's prestige within the Marines grew higher and higher did they realize that Raleigh was actually a threat.
Unfortunately, by then it was already too late.
The Marines had already been managed by Raleigh until they were watertight. Everyone in every important position was one of his own people.
As for the spies the World Government had inserted, or the neutrals the World Government had won over, Raleigh had kicked them out of the center of power one by one.
"The Marines are already out of control. It is time to inform Lord Imu."
The long-bearded Elder frowned as he spoke.
He was helpless now as well.
Originally, they had thought the few of them could resolve the Marines' issue, but the more they delayed, the worse it became.
Now, it had reached a point where they could no longer handle it.
With the World Government's scale, it could have fought the Marines.
But with the Revolutionary Army watching hungrily from the side, the Five Elders felt extremely conflicted.
So they could only support the pirates led by Red-Hair in the New World and try to change the situation that way.
"What should we do now? Saint Rosward's family is being detained in New Marineford. If we want to rescue them, we can only send out the Shield of the Celestial Dragons."
The short, stout Elder said helplessly.
The Shield of the Celestial Dragons had too few people. All combined, they had only two Admiral-level fighters.
Originally, the Marines had only four Admiral-level fighters, which had formed a balance with the pirates of the New World.
But with Raleigh's rise, the powerful pirates had either died or been injured. Now, only Red-Haired Shanks remained as the last lone pillar.
After hesitating for a moment, the long-bearded Elder's eyes suddenly became firm. He spoke decisively.
"The Rosward Family violated the regulations of the Celestial Dragons by leaving Mary Geoise privately without reporting it."
"By decision of the highest council of the Celestial Dragons, the Celestial Dragon status of the Rosward Family is hereby revoked!"
As the long-bearded Elder's words fell, the other four fell into rare silence together.
At this point, for the sake of the Celestial Dragons' dignity, they could only make such a decision.
After stripping the Rosward Family of their Celestial Dragon status, they would no longer belong to the Celestial Dragons.
That way, even if they were executed by the Marines, it would not bring shame upon the Celestial Dragons.
Even so, such a decision was far too humiliating.
"Let us go request an audience with Lord Imu together."
After thinking for a moment, the Five Elders could only agree to this proposal.
At present, this method of handling the matter was actually the best one.
Thus, the Five Elders did not call Raleigh again.
Instead, they quickly announced this decision to the entire world through newspapers and media.
...
Raleigh, who had waited in his Fleet Admiral's office for quite some time, did not get the Five Elders' final desperate struggle.
Instead, he received an official notice released by the Five Elders.
The proof that the Rosward Family had been stripped of their Celestial Dragon status.
Looking at the newspaper Momonga and Cleveland handed over, the corner of Raleigh's mouth curved into a wicked smile.
Momonga and Cleveland burst into loud laughter.
"Raleigh, now even the Celestial Dragons have no choice but to bow beneath our fists."
The two of them were extremely excited.
After Raleigh had told them about his goal, the two of them had always worked hard for that goal.
Now, they had finally taken the first step and launched their first test against the clan of gods.
They believed that when gods were forced to retreat, that would be the moment the divine throne began to collapse.
Raleigh, however, was not that optimistic.
Because that madman Imu would not care about Marine casualties.
If Imu truly agreed to use Uranus to strike New Marineford, it would cause far too many casualties.
"By the way, is Sakazuki almost finished on his side?"
Raleigh glanced at the documents that had been submitted and asked.
"Yes, Fleet Admiral Raleigh."
"Admiral Sakazuki said that the Four Blues have basically calmed down. Occasionally, small pirates and small-scale stubborn Revolutionary remnants appear, but as soon as they are discovered, they are immediately suppressed by the Marines of the Four Blues."
"He wants to come to the New World and participate in the war against the pirates."
Raleigh nodded and said, "Momonga, prepare a transfer order. I want to transfer Sakazuki back."
"As for Aramaki, have him handle the cleanup in the Four Blues."
Even now, Raleigh still could not determine whether Aramaki was one of the World Government's people.
Perhaps he was not someone from the World Government, but Raleigh could feel that Aramaki was not someone who truly wanted to join the Marines.
The Marines were merely a platform for him to display himself.
If someone could offer better conditions, it was not impossible for Aramaki to switch sides.
"Fleet Admiral Raleigh, should we get rid of him?"
Momonga made a throat-slitting gesture.
Raleigh shook his head.
"There is no reason."
"So far, his performance has not crossed any lines. Although I have adjusted some people within the Marines, before they are confirmed to have betrayed us, everything will continue as before."
There were many problems left behind within the Marines, including many officers from Kong and Sengoku's era.
Raleigh had never carried out a great purge against these officers.
Instead, through constant transfers, he slowly moved them away from the Marines' center of power.
Those who could see this clearly, such as Sengoku, Garp, and Tsuru, were slowly handing the power in their hands down to those below them.
Only those who could not see the situation clearly were still constantly trying to challenge Raleigh's authority.
But before they formally broke with Raleigh, Raleigh still intended to pretend not to know about their actions.
Of course, not preparing to purge them did not mean Raleigh had not guarded against them.
Among their adjutants and soldiers under their command, many were diehard Raleigh loyalists personally trained by Cleveland and possessed absolute loyalty.
Moreover, in order to prevent even diehard loyalists from betraying him, Cleveland had not arranged only one undercover agent under each of them.
So far, they still did not know that every move they made was under Raleigh's control.