Internal Strife in the Navy

"Are there any outstanding young Marines in the Navy right now?" Black asked Kong.

He had a great deal to handle, most of it outside the Navy.

Kong had taken over a few matters, giving him a chance to prove himself.

Once Black stepped down, Kong would certainly succeed him. Kong was already no weaker than Black and might even have surpassed him.

This also gave Kong the authority to cultivate a loyal circle of his own.

Black pinned his hopes on the Navy's younger generation.

After all, the Navy had lost an entire tier of High-End Combatants in its effort to defeat Jaeger. It had only recently begun to recover.

If no exceptional young Marines stepped forward, how could the Navy keep the seas in check?

"There are a few promising ones." Three young Marines came to Kong's mind. He had noticed them some time ago.

The Navy had no Elite Training Camp at present, where graduates could immediately receive high ranks.

After graduation, everyone had to start at the bottom and work their way up through merit. Without connections or the attention of a superior, promotion was slow.

Being held back was also common within the Navy.

With everyone starting from the same point, talent often emerged unexpectedly.

Those three young Marines had risen quickly and consistently completed their missions. Kong had taken notice.

Another young Marine, Zephyr, was still quietly finding his feet in the lower ranks. He would not begin his rise until he became a petty officer at twenty-eight and learned the Six Powers.

"Keep an eye out, Kong. As the Rocks Pirates grow stronger, the pressure on the Navy will only increase."

"If necessary, you can draw on the resources in the secret vault."

Fleet Admiral Black spoke with complete seriousness.

"Yes, I understand." Kong knew what Black meant. The Navy's secret vault held plenty of valuable things.

It contained precious Devil Fruits, including rare Logia and Mythical Zoan fruits.

Black wanted to use them to nurture outstanding young Marines and help them grow stronger as quickly as possible.

The merit required to obtain such precious Devil Fruits was enormous. At present, only Kong and Black had earned enough.

Black was willing to spend his own merit to let Kong obtain treasures from the vault. He was over seventy and had devoted his life to the Navy. Keeping that merit would do him no good.

Things were not going well inside the Navy. Rivalry between factions was fierce.

The two newly appointed Marine Admirals, in particular, kept expanding their influence and promoting their own loyalists.

That was bad for the Navy. Many talented young Marines could not advance because of it.

The rise of the Four Seas Faction over the past few years had become a real headache for Black.

The Four Seas Faction had deep roots in the Navy and had always been a power unto itself. It held broad influence across the Four Seas, and many at Marine Headquarters belonged to it as well.

The Four Seas were the foundation of the Navy and the World Government. With their vast waters and population, they could continually supply the Navy with new talent.

And the first faction those recruits joined was usually the Four Seas Faction.

The Four Seas Navy of this era was nowhere near as weak as it would be in the future.

Every Four Seas Governor was among the strongest of the Vice Admirals. Each governed a Sea Area, commanded all its naval forces, and wielded authority comparable to a Marine Admiral's.

The Governor's Headquarters alone were lavish: each was a fortress-grade structure with a permanent garrison of ten thousand Marines.

Each Sea Area also had a Marine Fortress in each of its four quarters, guarded by a Marine Vice Admiral and permanently staffed by five thousand Marines.

Indeed, the strength of the Four Seas Navy at this time would be unimaginable in the future.

Each Sea Area had five Marine Vice Admirals. Its Governor wielded authority comparable to a Marine Admiral's and could even appoint Marine Vice Admirals.

Each Governor was effectively the Fleet Admiral of his own Sea Area, holding a share of Black's authority as Fleet Admiral.

Still, the Four Seas were weaker than the Grand Line. Despite their comparable authority, the Governors did not possess the strength of Marine Admirals.

Nor did the Four Seas' Marine Vice Admirals possess the strength expected of that rank.

At best, they barely reached Vice Admiral level, or ranked among its ordinary members.

That was more than enough to keep a Sea Area under control.

Black was dissatisfied, but he harbored no particular prejudice against them. After all, he had come from the Four Seas himself.

But he answered to no faction from his homeland. He had risen step by step to become the leader of the Dove Faction.

The Navy had always been like this. But its war with the Rocks Pirates and the campaign against Jaeger had changed things.

Marine Headquarters had lost a great many High-End Combatants in a short time, leaving a temporary vacuum in its upper ranks.

The Four Seas Faction, previously kept down despite its strength, had seized the chance to rise within Marine Headquarters and claim a place for itself.

Black could do little about it. Marine Headquarters truly lacked strength and needed to replenish its ranks quickly.

Even if their strength fell short, members of the Four Seas Faction could improve it through Devil Fruits.

One of the two new Marine Admirals was Puyol, the representative of the West Blue Faction and a member of the Neutral Faction.

The other was Davis, the representative of the South Blue Faction and a member of the Hawk Faction.

Together with Kong, also of the Hawk Faction, they made up the current Three Admirals.

On the surface, the balance was uneven. The Neutral Faction was under heavy pressure, and two Hawk Faction Admirals clearly reflected Marine Headquarters' hard-line stance against Pirates.

But the influence of the Four Seas was now too deeply stamped on Marine Headquarters.

Both new Marine Admirals had close ties to the Governors of their home Sea Areas. They drew in members from the same regions and factions to expand their own power.

This was damaging the Navy's internal unity and could even upset the long-standing balance among the three factions at Marine Headquarters.

If that balance was ever replaced by the Four Seas Faction's dominance, who knew what consequences would follow?

The Four Seas lay far from central oversight, with the Governors shielding those beneath them. Corruption was rampant and had only worsened in recent years, as officials colluded with local powers to reap illicit profits.

As the Four Seas Faction grew within Marine Headquarters, that culture threatened to spread with it.

Black was determined to stop it.