The nature of the Celestial Dragons was carved into their bones. Even a madman like Doflamingo could hardly escape it.
Lofan and Doflamingo's partnership had been born of mutual scheming from the very beginning.
So Doflamingo's covert maneuvers were also part of Lofan's plans.
With Kaido, one of the Four Emperors, temporarily out of the picture.
Lofan had paid little attention to the power vacuum that appeared on the Grand Line after Kaido's departure.
He had even deliberately allowed Doflamingo and the Big Mom Pirates to plunder the New World.
"Stussy got hit, huh."
After leaving the venue, Morgans murmured thoughtfully as the scene played through his mind.
He still could not fully understand what was going on between Lofan and Doflamingo.
By rights, someone like Lofan should never have allowed Doflamingo to use their partnership to expand his power in secret.
But for some reason, the bird on Lofan's side had been very quiet.
"Does that mean Doflamingo's actions escaped Lofan's notice?
"No, no, that shouldn't be possible. The way the world is changing is getting hard to understand!"
Morgans wrestled with whether to report Doflamingo's actions to Lofan.
Ever since Lofan had dragged him aboard his pirate ship.
Morgans had secretly marked two seagulls, one to follow Lofan and one to follow Doflamingo.
After all, his own activities did have a somewhat official, yet not quite official, background.
Surviving by not taking sides while achieving more than taking sides was the cornerstone of Morgans's survival.
So casually sending a bird to follow his business partner was perfectly normal.
At the very least, now that he had been forced to take sides, he needed to keep a few means of saving his own life.
Checking on his partners' actions was perfectly normal, too.
"A Shichibukai rebellion, huh? That looks like it should make for a very interesting story.
"I believe this story should make quite a few waves in the future."
Morgans tidied his disheveled feathers, which he had neglected out of anxiety these past days.
It looked as though his path would soon reach a crossroads.
After that dramatic meeting, Doflamingo soon fell silent again.
It would take time for him to receive all the compensation Lofan had promised him.
But he had already sunk over a billion Beli into developing Artificial Devil Fruits. He would simply count the territories he had taken first as Lofan's advance deposit.
"Fufufu, Lofan's ambitions... Let me put them to good use.
"Fufufu, your pride, your schemes-become pawns for me to use!"
Lofan was, in fact, well aware of Doflamingo and Morgans's fickleness.
Partners though they were, Lofan found their thoughts easy enough to guess without much intelligence.
Clever people were very self-directed. They would inevitably make the choices that benefited them most.
When Lofan saw Doflamingo expanding aggressively and heard nothing from Morgans.
He had already thought of Morgans secretly betraying his own side, while Morgans had chosen to turn a blind eye.
"Things need another push, Doflamingo. You should know that taking advantage of the Navy isn't that easy."
Lofan's top priority at present was establishing the Navy Investigation Bureau.
As for Doflamingo's secret activities, Lofan had not imposed too many restrictions.
Lofan knew that someone like Doflamingo would always have schemes of his own.
"It would be better if something so troublesome didn't happen."
Lofan stood quietly by the window.
That gentle air of "I am like a thousand mountains, while you are like jade" slowly seeped from the corridor into the surrounding rooms.
"Let him make trouble. I'm also looking forward to seeing what kind of world they'll leave when they're done."
Just then, Ain walked up beside Lofan. Looking at this Admiral, as gentle as jade, she felt an added melancholy she could neither explain nor define.
The indistinct shackles and burdens he bore were surely more than anyone could endure.
"Admiral, everything has been arranged for Mary. We can ensure that she can live without ever having to leave the Search Bureau building."
"Ain, you've done very well. Go check on Teacher Zephyr.
"Formal training begins tomorrow. Teacher Zephyr still has plenty to do. I'd like to stay alone a little longer."
With that, Lofan returned to his calm, untroubled manner, only he no longer murmured to himself.
Instead, he silently gazed out the window at Punk Hazard's less-than-beautiful scenery.
The future Ice and Fire Island.
It seemed that in the world before my death, Ice and Fire Island was also a favorite home of reclusive masters in books.
At the next day's training ceremony, the Search Bureau had undergone a simple round of screening.
The few remaining members of the already small Search Bureau looked rather sparse in front of its headquarters building.
Speaking on an occasion like this did not even require a Den Den Mushi.
Lofan straightened his pristine white Navy cloak and strode onto the podium with his head held high.
"Calling this new-recruit training seems somewhat inaccurate for you all.
"You're all veterans of the Search Bureau. I imagine quite a few of you would object to being put through new-recruit training again.
"So let me explain to you here what this training means.
"And, while I'm at it, why I summoned everyone back from their respective duties in such a hurry.
"The Navy Investigation Bureau-the most corrupt of the corrupt!
"I'm sure you've all heard plenty of remarks like that.
"In my homeland, there's an old saying: to resist external threats, one must first bring order within.
"Only by resolving our internal problems can we rid ourselves of that discrimination and humiliation!
"You are all brave souls. Those who chose to stay after I issued that notice are all brave souls.
"I don't care what your reasons for staying were, but remember this.
"That notice was only a beginning—the beginning of my purge of the Search Bureau and my efforts to enforce proper conduct."
"My brave souls, you may withdraw at any time. To those brave souls who remain, welcome to the pain and rebirth of Phoenix Nirvana.
"You have only one task: train, study, and make yourselves qualified Investigation Officers.
"Embrace entirely new ideas. Here, you will learn the meaning of loyalty, perseverance, and fairness.
"You will learn the means to judge them, kill them, and execute them.
"You are the scourge of evil, the natural enemy of corruption, and the reins of the Army of Justice."
Lofan's speech was extraordinarily stirring.
He received a great swell of applause, cheers, and sobs, all of which filled the venue and lingered for a long time.
Almost everyone who stayed had an obsession with justice. They stubbornly believed in it.
But the Search Bureau's previous corruption had chilled them to the core.
Now, however, Lofan's impassioned words ignited the deepest longing in their hearts.
Justice might arrive late, but it would never fail to arrive.
Even if the process was filled with pain and torment, oh, you who firmly believed in justice.
Were the arrival of justice you longed for and the efforts you made toward it not themselves the very embodiment of justice?
Before you continue