The first thing Lofan did upon returning to Marineford was submit his report on the voyage to East Blue.
Sengoku then kept him in his office, saying he had something to tell him.
"Mm, good. The points you focused on will indeed help improve troop deployment in East Blue.
And help us work out how to stop pirates from entering the Grand Line through Reverse Mountain."
After placing the report separately in the drawer on his right, Sengoku looked up.
"Lofan, preparations for the Reverie on May 16 next year are complete.
You need to go to Fish-Man Island and escort King Neptune of the Ryugu Kingdom to Mary Geoise."
The Reverie was a peace conference held every four years by the World Government Member States.
Its first purpose was to discuss security and order across the world.
Its second was to win support in various regions, bringing their interests into closer alignment and uniting them.
"About a year ago, Queen Otohime of the Ryugu Kingdom died, leaving the situation rather unstable.
Relations between humans and their people were already poor, so we need you to escort him as a conciliatory gesture."
Beyond that, what Sengoku had left unmentioned was the Ryugu Kingdom's past conflict with the Celestial Dragon Saint Charlos.
But it was not a good time to worsen Lofan's impression of the Celestial Dragons, lest it cause more trouble.
"Of course. That is my responsibility as an Admiral."
"Mm. Your duties have also been decided. You will take full charge of the Navy Criminal Search Bureau.
And establish the classified special unit SWORD."
Sengoku handed Lofan a document envelope, signaling that their meeting was over.
Documents in hand, Lofan skimmed through them as he walked.
He was genuinely rather bewildered by this Navy Criminal Search Bureau, which had barely made any impact.
After reading for quite a while, he finally understood the Search Bureau's functions:
1: Investigate all criminal activities involving the Navy internally.
Including, but not limited to, the safety of Navy family members, counterespionage, and the protection of Navy assets.
2: Combat and prevent corruption. Investigate internal exchanges of power for money.
Uphold fairness and justice within the Navy, and promote the principles of combating corruption and encouraging integrity.
Good grief. This authority was like a sharp blade hanging directly over every member of the Navy.
A veritable Sword of Damocles.
He checked the previous director: Sengoku. And the director answered to only one person, the commander-in-chief of all armed forces.
Clearly, Sengoku had delegated his authority as a means of maintaining stability within the Navy.
As for this classified special unit, SWORD.
The original story had revealed it to be a special squad led by X Drake.
Its members also included Koby, the king of deserters, and Helmeppo.
Now, however, it was still being established, with quite a few candidates recommended.
It likewise answered to only one person: Sengoku.
This unit had just one objective: targeting the Four Emperors.
Whether that meant investigating the activities, reach, and movements of the Four Emperors' forces, or directly assassinating their important members, and so on.
It could be described as a secret unit belonging exclusively to Marine Headquarters.
And looking through the recommended candidates, he found that almost all were the best of the best.
So this was a plan Sengoku had prepared long ago. He truly lived up to his reputation as a brilliant strategist.
It made sense. In the original story, Sengoku had been waiting for his moment until the opportunity presented by Ace suddenly appeared.
He had then decisively mobilized the Navy's entire elite force against Whitebeard, triggering the Paramount War, a dividing point between eras.
In his heart, he had always sought to put an end to the mess of the Great Pirate Era that Roger's death had unleashed.
It was also his final attempt as Fleet Admiral to wipe out evil.
But Blackbeard's betrayal and Whitebeard's final cry:
"ONE PIECE is real!" had brought all his plans to nothing.
What followed was the devastation of Impel Down and the government's cover-up of the prison break scandal.
At that point, the legend whose career had spanned several eras finally had neither the will nor the strength to lead the Navy onward.
And so a Fleet Admiral of his generation retired.
Afterward, Akainu, the embodiment of Absolute Justice, had seized the position of Fleet Admiral following his duel with Aokiji and reshaped the Navy.
No one could stop the tides of an era. Legends always had successors.
Lofan had originally planned to head straight to Paradise, the first half of the Grand Line, but now he changed his mind.
These two areas of authority complemented each other.
Although they could not compare with the roots each of the Three Admirals had put down in the military, they offered another path.
They gave Lofan an advantage in keeping the other Admirals in check.
Sengoku truly excelled at the art of checks and balances.
Now he needed to build his own power base within the Navy.
The Independent Commission Against Corruption in his previous life; the Navy Criminal Search Bureau in this one.
As for the classified special unit.
There had been the former Soviet Union's KGB, Britain's MI6, and Israel's Mossad.
America's CIA, as well as China's relevant authorities.
The goal was that, when people brought it up, they could only call it the Navy's relevant authorities.
For now, he would use the Guard Gotei 13 as a provisional replacement.
The tentative arrangement was:
First Division: Rising Sun.
The intelligence team, dedicated to collecting and analyzing intelligence from countries and regions everywhere.
Investigating pirates with bounties above one billion and assisting the Search Bureau.
Second Division: Dragon Group.
The combat operations team, responsible for fighting and support in various military operations.
Third Division: Tailwind.
The logistics team, handling weapons maintenance, the transportation of personnel and supplies, medical treatment, and so on.
The Navy Criminal Search Bureau's internal structure currently needed to be revised and reorganized.
Sengoku's current division of responsibilities provided only the beginnings of the department, nowhere near enough to serve as a deterrent.
He had to make it so that any member of the Navy would tremble at the words "invited for tea."
Lofan did not believe Sengoku was unaware of just how much authority this department held.
It could investigate anyone, including the Fleet Admiral and everyone within the Search Bureau itself. And investigative powers were not all it had.
As an internal military law enforcement department, it had the authority to execute first and report afterward.
Even if a case went through prosecution, Search Bureau personnel would ultimately conduct the trial.
The Search Bureau had not first appeared during Sengoku's tenure. It was a department of authority that had existed long before.
It was simply that its directors had always been the successive Fleet Admirals, subject only to the Fleet Admiral of all armed forces.
Thus, no problems had ever arisen, so even though Sengoku knew full well how great this authority was.
There had been no precedent of abuses, which was why he had dared to place it in Lofan's hands just like that.
But Sengoku must have kept something in reserve. A Fleet Admiral renowned as a brilliant strategist.
Could not possibly have taken no precautions.
"Then I'll use the restructuring period to find these people.
As the Fleet Admiral's people, I'll naturally let you see what you ought to see."
Unfortunately, the Search Bureau had far too few people. Its current staff numbered only a little over two hundred.
With the Navy spread across such vast waters, simply making the rounds would take a year or two.
Conducting investigations would be harder still.
He had to ask Sengoku for more personnel. Tonight, he would model the Search Bureau's structure on his previous life's Independent Commission Against Corruption.
He would draw up a feasible report, then convince that old man.
After all, once he saw the wealth of anticorruption experience from Lofan's previous life.
Along with the measures for preventing corruption within the department, he would certainly agree to allocate personnel.
Precisely defined functions, a well-designed system, and strict internal regulations.
For the Navy, which had lacked all of these to begin with, they were certain to be eye-opening new ideas.
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