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In the Calm Belt, at Hoenn Marine Headquarters Fortress, inside the Fleet Admiral's office, the high-ranking officers of Hoenn were all gathered.
Daichi, Kuzan, Zephyr, Dragon, Fujitora, and an out-of-place new instructor—Rayleigh.
Everyone's gaze instinctively focused on Rayleigh, with doubt and scrutiny in their eyes, along with an indescribable meaning.
It was as if they were saying, "You too have this day?"
Except for Daichi and Fujitora, the others were all old acquaintances.
Dragon was the same age as Akainu, a few years older than Kuzan, and in his youth, he had also been a rising star of the Marines. In those years, they often followed Zephyr and other veterans in pursuing the Roger Pirates.
Roger's opponents were admirals, and their opponents were naturally Rayleigh and Gaban, the two right-hand men.
At that time, they were young and inexperienced, and they'd suffered a lot at the hands of this old fellow. But decades had passed, and now they were in their prime!
Stare!
Rayleigh was sweating profusely, and the tea in his hand was almost spilling out.
Since becoming a pirate, he'd encountered countless life-and-death crises over the decades, but never once had he been as nervous as he was now.
Please, he was just a part-time new instructor!
"How about I leave?"
"No need."
Daichi shook his head, amused.
These old foxes were tacitly bullying Rayleigh together in the workplace. If word got out, wouldn't it be embarrassing?
"Dragon, how are Morley and Ivankov doing?"
"The demonization has been lifted, but both of their bodies are very weak."
A shadow fell over Dragon's eyes.
After leaving Lulusia Kingdom, he'd immediately taken his commanders to the Hoenn Fortress to find a way to lift the demonization.
They found the contract marks on Ivankov and Morley and destroyed them, and the demonization was also lifted.
But both were severely weakened.
According to Ivankov's self-examination, when they'd turned into demons, while gaining immense power, they'd lost at least more than ten years of their lifespan.
It was a very evil contract.
Dragon briefly described their physical condition.
"There's also a special situation..."
"Hmm, contagious to others?"
Daichi's eyes widened in surprise.
Dragon nodded slowly.
"I also discovered it by accident."
When they were forcibly brought back, before the demonization was lifted, a medical staff member had accidentally entered their vicinity. As a result, just like dominoes falling, the medical staff member turned into a demon.
And more than one person.
Fortunately, they'd discovered it early, so it hadn't caused too much damage.
"Contagious..."
Daichi felt exhausted.
Alright, alright, let's keep stacking abilities.
He was now even a little curious about what other tricks Imu could pull off. It was almost as absurd as "Nika."
Daichi looked at the others.
"How much do you know about Imu?"
"..."
Everyone shook their heads.
Although they'd served as admirals, they'd never heard of Imu's existence, and they were very surprised when they first received the news.
Everyone looked at Rayleigh.
Rayleigh was the Pirate King's crew member and had been to Laugh Tale, so perhaps he knew something.
"Don't look at me. I don't know either."
Rayleigh waved his hands repeatedly.
He did know about the Void Century, but the historical records only mentioned the war between the Twenty Kingdoms and the Great Kingdom.
Furthermore, this was the last choice made by his captain before his death, so he would not reveal anything about Laugh Tale. That was his bottom line.
Rayleigh hesitated for a moment.
"I can tell you that in less than two years, a new Pirate King will be born, and at that time, the secrets hidden in Laugh Tale will definitely be revealed to the public."
"Less than two years!"
Everyone's hearts tightened.
Although they didn't know why Rayleigh was so confident, he must have had his reasons. If they couldn't confirm the authenticity, it was best to treat it as true and prepare in advance.
"It doesn't matter if you don't know."
Daichi said in a deep voice.
"The Knights of God have lost two members, the Marines have lost an admiral, and the Warlord system has completely collapsed. Now, the World Government will definitely try every means to expand its military strength."
"We must be prepared to respond and prevent the World Government from resorting to desperate measures!"
"But there's no need to worry too much. The World Government will not engage in a full-scale war with us unless they have absolute certainty. As long as we manage our base in the North Blue well, we'll have enough capital to confront the World Government head-on."
Currently, Hoenn had increased the number of strong individuals, but the mid-to-low-level military strength was still far too lacking compared to the Marines, requiring steady development.
After the meeting, Daichi returned to his office, and Kikara immediately came up and handed him a newspaper.
"Daichi-sama, this is today's newspaper."
"Hmm."
Daichi flipped through the newspaper, a smile playing on his lips.
"Abolition of the Warlord system."
Mihawk and Moria abandoning their titles had finally made the World Government determined to abolish the Warlord system.
In recent years, the Warlords had continuously caused problems, losing face and causing far more negative impact than benefits.
This move was quite correct.
But there was a small problem.
Without the Warlord title, Doflamingo would be hunted by the Marines, and his current situation was probably not optimistic.
He didn't want Doflamingo to go to jail because he'd entrusted Doflamingo to help him find something.
The Flame-Flame Fruit!
Leaving everything else aside, Doflamingo's ability to collect Devil Fruits was quite impressive. Almost all of his family officers were Devil Fruit users.
Daichi put down the newspaper and picked up his teacup.
"How is Doflamingo doing?"
"Daichi-sama, Doflamingo is still in Dressrosa."
Kikara took out the intelligence. "Additionally, according to intelligence from Marine Headquarters, the high-ranking Marine officers received an order from the World Government prohibiting the pursuit of the Donquixote Family."
"Prohibited?"
Daichi frowned.
What did this mean? Did the World Government, considering Doflamingo's Celestial Dragon bloodline, not intend to hunt him down?
That shouldn't be the case. The Marines had hunted Doflamingo many times before. Vice Admiral Tsuru had almost given Doflamingo a psychological shadow.
Unless the current Celestial Dragons were willing to accept Doflamingo!
"It's really possible."
Daichi snorted coldly.
Doflamingo was indeed very wary of the Beast Pirates, but he himself was involved in both the underworld and the legitimate world. His status in the underground world was second only to the Yonko, making him a highly sought-after broker.
Even in terms of individual strength, Doflamingo was not much worse than the Knights of God members. The only drawback was that the String-String Fruit's upper limit was too low, incomparable to the Knights of God's configurations.
The question was, would Doflamingo be willing to return to Mary Geoise?
Daichi stroked his chin.
He remembered that kid hated the Celestial Dragons to the bone. If he just went back like that, his ambition would be rather small.
"Daichi-sama, there's one more thing."
Kikara whispered.
"There are rumors of a suspected Flame-Flame Fruit. It's said to have appeared in the black market of Sabaody Archipelago, but the authenticity of the rumors cannot be confirmed."
"..."
Daichi's eyes brightened considerably.
If there was anything he wanted, the Flame-Flame Fruit was one of them, second only to the "Mother Flame" created by Vegapunk.
"Immediately send people to investigate!"
"Yes!"