Sengoku and Rayleigh's Speculations!
Two flowers bloom, each representing a different branch.
Although Imu, the Five Elders, and others were very interested in exploring the first Star Gate World, they were also aware that the World Government's base was still the Sea Star Homeworld.
As Laskey led CP9 deeper into the New World, the State Council and the Navy were also caught up in a flurry of activity and chaos.
The adoption of the agenda for the Reverie does not mean that the matter is settled, but rather that it is just the beginning.
Dragon's defeat of the 'Slave King' and his pacification of the Sabaody Archipelago merely removed two of the world's greatest scourges of the slave trade.
But there are countless kingdoms and islands on the Four Seas and the Grand Line, where the slave trade is deeply entrenched.
To this end, the Marine Headquarters and all G departments and branches, with the intelligence support provided by CIPHER POL and local Affiliated Nation, launched the largest slave emancipation campaign in history across all sea areas.
Therefore, many naval branches no longer cared about catching One Piece; their most important task at hand was to thoroughly implement the "comprehensive ban on the slave trade and the complete liberation of slaves worldwide."
Unfortunately, until the Ministry of Police of the Judiciary is formally established, the duties of the police will remain the responsibility of the navy.
This resulted in a massive influx of documents and reports into Marineford, which was far beyond the capacity of Navy Fleet Admiral "Steel Bone" Kou to handle alone. As a result, Navy Admiral Sengoku and Chief of Staff Tsuru have also been glued to their desks for the past few days.
This is the result of an army having too much authority.
As for Garp, who knows where he's off playing? Oh, right, he went to Fish-Man Island.
"Hey, before I thought that the higher-ups were deliberately suppressing us by transferring the Bounty Research Bureau and part of the Navy to the Ministry of Police, but now it seems they're helping us."
During a hard-won break while drinking tea, 'Steel Bone' Sora sighed with deep emotion as he looked at Sengoku and Tsuru sitting on either side of him.
As the Navy Fleet Admiral, he naturally received the reform plan from the Five Elders and learned that the World Government wanted to separate the 'police' function from the Navy.
He also revealed it to Sengoku and Tsuru.
"Fleet Admiral, this busy period won't last long. Once the slave trade is mostly eradicated around the world, everything will return to normal," Sengoku said with a smile, taking a sip of his bright green matcha.
"However, I do support this reform. Although the navy's power and size have been affected, we have also become more focused, and we can concentrate on handling maritime affairs."
At this moment, Vice Admiral Tsuru revealed a gentle and beautiful smile and said, "The existence of the Ministry of Police not only affects our navy, but also means that it has taken away judicial power from the Affiliated Nation. In the future, there will be no more sheriffs, or rather, they will all have to join the police departments under the Public Security Division. In addition, the prisons within each country will also be placed under the jurisdiction of the soon-to-be-established Prison Administration Bureau according to the plan."
"Indeed, this means the World Government has increased its control over the Affiliated Nation. I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing," Sengoku said worriedly.
"Good or bad should be considered from multiple perspectives."
Vice Admiral Tsuru took a sip of the warm water in her glass. She preferred to drink plain water because it was pure enough.
"From the perspective of a unified legal system, this is certainly a good thing, as the laws of different kingdoms used to be different."
"For example, even though it's the same act of theft, and the stolen goods are of equal value, the severity of the crime varies greatly in each kingdom. If the criminal knows someone of high status, they can even be released without charge."
"But if the law itself is flawed, or the courts' rulings are unfair, then it's naturally not a good thing. In my view, what needs reform is not only adding relevant departments, but also improving the laws governing World Government themselves and raising the quality of the judiciary."
Sora and Sengoku exchanged a glance, both seeing helplessness in each other's eyes. Laws are not something to be spoken of lightly, even for high-ranking naval officers.
"I'm quite curious about who will be appointed as the Minister of Ministry of Police, especially the directly subordinate Military Police Bureau. According to the reform plan, this Military Police Bureau will be responsible for handling dangerous criminals within the territory of the Affiliated Nation, so it certainly needs to have strong combat capabilities."
Sengoku sighed, "There are two possibilities: either a hidden force of the World Government has emerged, or one has been transferred from within our navy."
"This Ministry of Police is destined to bleed the navy dry!"
To be honest, even though I understand that this is necessary for the greater good, as a lifelong naval officer, I still feel heartache and sadness.
At that moment, a flash of inspiration struck the strategist. He gazed intently at the matcha in his hand and murmured, "I think I have a guess as to who it was that was transferred."
Sabaody Archipelago.
Since Liberation Day on September 15th, the kings who attended the Reverie have gradually returned home, and most of the tourists have left, which has brought the flow of people on the island back to normal levels.
But ultimately, things still change.
At this time, strange Fish-Man and beautiful mermaids floating around with bubble swimming rings around their waists can be seen everywhere in each area, and squads of the Neptune Army soldiers patrol back and forth.
The human inhabitants had long been accustomed to these things; no one was shocked or frightened by the appearance of the Fish-Man anymore, and no one screamed or gasped when they saw the mermaids from fairy tales.
With the complete disappearance of slave companies, slave auction houses, and slave markets, residents no longer had to look at the pitiful slaves with pity, nor did they have to watch over themselves and their children in fear.
There's another important thing.
For some reason, they hadn't seen any Celestial Dragons for a long time, which made them kneel on the ground with their heads bowed in fear for quite some time.
People suddenly found their lives had become much more comfortable.
However, with change comes joy for some and sorrow for others, because the navy led by Dragon has tightened its control over the coating and hotel industries, which has directly deprived them of their biggest source of income.
One Piece!
In the present-day Sabaody Archipelago, any ship wishing to enter the dock must first stop and be inspected by the stationed warships. If any One Piece ship or illegal vessel attempts to escape, the Marine warship do not need to rush to pursue them; the Fish-Man Unit in the sea are responsible for drilling through the bottom of the ship, turning it into a gradually sinking sea prison.
Since Dragon took over as the base commander here, he has effectively blocked 90% of One Piece from entering the Sabaody Archipelago.
Grove 13.
This area was originally Lawless Zone, but in recent years, a notorious bar has sprung up in this dangerous area.
It's called the Rip-Off Bar.
"Look, this is the newspaper that just arrived."
The bartender, Shakky, held a slender cigarette between her fingers and placed a newspaper next to Rayleigh's glass with the other. Rayleigh didn't pick it up, but merely glanced at the headline.
[The World Noble have decided to liberate the slaves of the Holy Land; this will be broadcast live worldwide in Empress!!!]
Rayleigh, still the handsome blond man, frowned slightly, adjusted his round glasses, and said in a deep voice, "Something must have happened within the World Government. The events of the past year have been full of sudden and abnormal occurrences, and it seems the source is most likely in Mary Geoise."
"Hmm--So?" Shakky asked, exhaling a puff of white smoke.
"I want to know what exactly caused such a big change in the World Government, and what erased the era Roger created."
Rayleigh's eyes sharpened without him even realizing it, revealing the sharp aura of Great Swordsman.
"Are you out of your mind?!"
A huge thank you to the Jie Geng De Gu Du for another 20,000 Qidian Coin! This reader has already donated 122,460 Qidian Coin to this book. Although I've already thanked them in the group, I'm still incredibly excited. Thank you for your kindness and support!
Also, this chapter was very comfortable for me to write, while the previous chapter was difficult because I'm more used to conveying information and driving the plot through dialogue. However, this definitely requires detailed writing, but some readers have always felt it's too slow. As a result, I had to shorten some of the parts I wanted to describe in detail into a few paragraphs. To be honest, this gave me the feeling of rewriting an outline, which was very uncomfortable.
So I've decided to stick to my original pace. As for the slow burn, so be it. The last chapter was just too painful; it was practically a one-man show by the protagonist.
To be honest, I've been quite agitated lately due to the many reader comments I've received.
The readers who have gotten this far were clearly drawn in by the preceding plot, which followed my own style and pace. This shows that they are accepting of it.
I don't believe that you'll enjoy reading the chapters I write that are difficult to read. So from now on, I've decided to continue writing in my own style, no longer worrying about the pace of the plot. I'll focus on writing the stories I want. To those readers who want a faster pace, I apologize.