Reform

Sengoku approved Lofan's proposal to establish the Search Bureau's headquarters on Punk Hazard.

He planned to submit it to the government for a decision along with the funding request.

But both men had their own considerations.

Under Lofan's proposal, the Search Bureau could investigate anyone, and it also had the ability to investigate itself.

But as its sole head, who would investigate Lofan?

Sengoku did not raise this question, because all the original Search Bureau personnel

had been taken in by Lofan and given assignments.

And that was Lofan's answer.

There was currently no better way to establish a perfect system, so he would let Sengoku oversee him.

It would serve as a check on his power.

After all, Lofan certainly could not give up his current position as an Admiral

and move entirely into the Search Bureau's structure, or the Navy's painstaking publicity efforts would become a joke.

An Admiral whom the government had given a new code name: Yun'ou.

An Admiral who had defeated Kaido single-handedly, only to disappear from public view just like that.

It would inevitably strike people as some kind of conspiracy.

Whether to the Navy's image or the World Government's, it would be a tremendous blow.

So the two tacitly reached this agreement.

And now, he also had a reason to roam far and wide, seeking out and promoting talent.

The Navy Investigation Bureau was located within headquarters.

Unlike the other rooms full of tatami mats, its decor was quite simple and straightforward, predominantly white and blue.

It occupied two floors in the southwestern corner of headquarters.

Usually, more than fifty people worked there, while the rest were scattered outside gathering intelligence or arresting Navy criminals.

"Boss, is the newly appointed Admiral coming today or not?"

Laiyin was the Search Bureau's deputy director, holding the rank of Commodore. He was forty, but his face looked as old as a sixty-year-old's.

Though his hair was still jet-black, his pale scalp was already faintly visible.

As for investigating crimes committed by fellow officers, he had been doing that since he was a Captain.

He had the second-longest tenure in the bureau.

The Search Bureau was quite notorious within the Navy.

Without a particularly sound system, quite a few corrupt individuals had emerged within its own ranks as well.

As a result, every disciplinary operation drew sneers from many Navy personnel.

"They can't even wipe their own asses clean, yet they dare go around digging through everyone else's shit."

The Search Bureau ran into obstacles everywhere it tried to work. It was disliked and commanded no respect.

Many of its original ideals of cleaning up official corruption had been buried in the paperwork that went on day after day.

"I reckon he doesn't even want to take over our mess. He'll probably just send someone over to get familiar with things and call it a day."

Geluusi, a Rear Admiral, was the director of the Search Bureau.

At forty-eight, he was one of the few investigators who still remained upright and incorruptible.

He held a bright red pipe in his left hand, and beneath the swirling smoke, his eyes

still occasionally revealed a sharp glint.

Perhaps it was his frequent contact with Sengoku and his submission of annual reports to Kong

that allowed him to retain a faint passion for his work.

Both men had always been calm and meticulous in their work.

Coupled with the demands of the job, they outwardly appeared to be cold, ruthless men who acted strictly by the rules.

Only in private could they share their pent-up complaints and helplessness with each other.

"Exactly. He's the hot new Admiral, after all. Yun'ou—who doesn't know what seagulls symbolize to the Navy?"

To the two of them, this new Admiral had a brilliant future ahead of him. Why would he take on such a thankless job?

On the surface, arresting Navy personnel and protecting their families seemed like work that offered both power and prestige.

But in reality, when you arrested someone, whether they had done anything wrong or not,

they were still genuinely Navy personnel who had fought pirates with their lives on the line.

The people around them had forged ironclad bonds through life and death.

If you investigated and got it right, people still resented you. If you got it wrong,

you left with your tail between your legs under a barrage of abuse from Navy personnel.

Not to mention the bonds between comrades and the widespread practice of shielding one another.

As for protecting Navy families, most relatives of important Navy personnel lived in Marineford and had no need of them.

And those far away were beyond their reach, leaving them helpless.

The two were each airing their feelings when they heard high heels striking the floor.

Click, click, click.

"There we go. Looks like things are pretty much as we expected."

It was not merely that no one visited on an ordinary day; no one came by for months and years on end.

Now, only a day after the notification had arrived, someone was already here. It could only be that Admiral's doing.

The door was pushed open with a clatter.

Ain's bright eyes swept across the room, and everyone looked up with strange expressions at this rare sight.

Someone actually came to the Navy Investigation Bureau of their own accord? Tomorrow, I'll have to check whether another of the Four Emperors got beaten up.

Laiyin and Geluusi hurried down from the upstairs office. Ain turned toward them and saluted.

"Deputy Director Laiyin, Director Geluusi. I'm Captain Ain, the Cloud Gull Admiral's adjutant. I've brought the Admiral's orders today. Please accept them."

Handing over the documents she held against her chest, Ain did not leave immediately, but waited for the two to finish reading the orders.

"Colonel Ain, recalling everyone in the Search Bureau would mean suspending all investigations. I'm afraid that's a little..."

Geluusi frowned as he spoke, clearly finding himself in a difficult position.

In many investigations, once the opportunity was missed, it took several times the effort and time.

Even if you, the Cloud Gull Admiral, have absolute authority and think little of this tiny Search Bureau, you can't treat our work so frivolously.

"Director Geluusi, the Admiral knew this would concern you, so he asked me to explain to you both."

Handing the two another report on reforming the Navy Investigation Bureau, Ain said:

"The Admiral takes the Navy Investigation Bureau extremely seriously.

On the very day he received his appointment, he worked through the night until dawn to produce this preliminary proposal.

Even now, he's still refining it in the Fleet Admiral's Office."

Having spent so much time with Lofan, Ain had come to understand his thinking more deeply.

Naturally, she knew how to uphold his image.

"But the Navy Investigation Bureau's existing shortcomings have made it difficult to carry out its normal duties.

To achieve the ideals behind the Navy Investigation Bureau's founding, we must tear down the old before building anew!"

Laiyin and Geluusi had spent practically their entire lives doing this wretched work.

With only a quick read, they could already discern the forward-thinking ideas behind this plan named "integrity reform."

"We need to reestablish a precise role, a reasonable system, and strict procedures.

Only then can we ensure the best possible resolution of crime within the Navy.

And allow every investigator to sincerely feel the call of justice in their work."

Geluusi's hands gradually began to tremble. He had waited more than twenty years, nearly the greater part of his life.

At last, he saw hope. His eyes brimmed with hot tears, but even through the blur, they remained fixed on a single line:

Arrest every corrupt offender! Punish severely and sentence harshly! Give the Navy a new face for the first time in eight hundred years!