Raleigh opened the door of the conference hall, looking at the neatly lined-up soldiers outside with a smile.
"Soldiers, the Salisbury Family is now our loyal partner. We'll rest here tonight."
"Tomorrow morning, we'll deal with the other Mafia families."
Every soldier's eyes gleamed with excitement.
Earlier, when they cleared out the Mesfield Family, they had seized an enormous amount of wealth.
Even just twenty percent of it amounted to tens of thousands of Berries for each of them—equivalent to the salary of a marine officer at the rank of Lieutenant.
In the past, the spoils they gained after risking their lives were negligible.
But serving under this newly appointed Rear Admiral was different—he truly shared the wealth with them!
It was said that the newly appointed Vice Admiral Borsalino was his older brother, so there was no need to worry about their military merits going unrecognized.
At this moment, every soldier had only one thought in mind: Working under Rear Admiral Raleigh is truly rewarding!
Standing at the very front, Tokikake puffed out his chest even more proudly.
Back at Marines Headquarters, aside from training, his only hobby had been following Gion around.
The praise he received there felt hollow, mostly due to his background.
Now, it was different.
For the first time, Tokikake felt a sense of accomplishment.
This was his first time independently leading a team to eradicate evil—an undeniably irresistible temptation for a young man not yet twenty.
In some ways, this allure was even harder to resist than winning Gion's affection.
Earlier, inside the Mesfield Family's stronghold, his heroic performance had won over the soldiers.
Hearing their heartfelt praises, Tokikake felt that this was what a true genius should be doing.
"Raleigh, you should've seen how awesome I was earlier!"
"That old man from the Mesfield Family thought I was just an ordinary marine. Little did he know I sent him flying with one punch—his eyes nearly popped out of his head!"
The boisterous Tokikake didn't even notice that his goddess Gion's hand was being held by Raleigh.
Raleigh took the opportunity to lavish praise on Tokikake.
"Soldiers, look at the man standing at the very front! This is the hero of our operation, the genius from Headquarters—Commander Tokikake. Without a doubt, Commander Tokikake is a righteous and strikingly handsome genius."
"And our Commander Gion, powerful yet breathtakingly beautiful."
"Let's applaud Commander Gion and Commander Tokikake—justice will prevail!"
The soldiers erupted in applause, enthusiastically chanting their names.
"Commander Tokikake, your performance earlier was so manly!"
"Commander Tokikake, a true man of the seas!"
"Commander Gion is both strong and beautiful—I adore her!"
Listening to the fervent voices, even Gion felt a surge of warmth in her heart.
This was what she pursued.
To be frank, Gion wished others would recognize her strength rather than her beauty, and Raleigh's flattery hit just the right note—praising her strength first, then her appearance.
Even Gion, who usually disliked being fawned over, couldn't help but show a hint of delight.
As for Tokikake, he was already lost in the sincere praises.
Raleigh watched the impassioned soldiers and decided to let them rest.
Channeling this energy tomorrow would yield even greater results.
"Everyone, rest immediately. At dawn tomorrow, we launch a full-scale assault on the other Mafia families!"
"Rear Admiral Raleigh, we can't sleep at all right now!"
"Yeah, I feel like I have endless energy. Why don't we skip sleep tonight and finish everything off?"
"Raleigh, I can't sleep either. How about I lead the team and go again?" Tokikake also stepped forward, his rugged face filled with eagerness.
Raleigh felt a chill watching him.
'Working overtime to finish the job? Impossible! Out of the question. Why work overtime tonight when it can be done tomorrow?'
Raleigh had no intention of staying up all night.
After all, he was kind-hearted and couldn't bear to see marine soldiers suffer casualties.
The main force of the Mesfield Family had been dealt with, but the other families remained unscathed.
There were bound to be some tough opponents.
Though Raleigh preferred to take it easy, he didn't want to see his subordinates sacrificed needlessly.
"I am the Rear Admiral. Follow my orders."
At Raleigh's command, the soldiers, though inwardly dissatisfied, had no choice but to comply.
He sighed and was about to return to his room to sleep when Gion quietly approached him.
"Raleigh, I don't know what you're thinking, but I have a feeling you're doing this because you don't want to stay up late."
Raleigh replied with a straight face, "Gion, how could you think that of me? Our mission here is to deter lawbreakers, and nighttime is prone to ambushes. For the safety of the soldiers, of course, I'm choosing the cautious approach. Tomorrow, you and Tokikake will take the lead, and we won't have to worry."
"Alright, it's fine if you don't understand my plan. Time will prove everything."
Gion nodded, but she still felt something was off.
Afraid of being exposed if he stayed any longer, Raleigh quickly made an excuse to slip away.
Back in his room, Raleigh patted his chest in relief.
"Damn, Headquarters is really disgusting. Sending two inspectors to keep an eye on me—how am I supposed to bluff my way through this?"
Lying in bed, Raleigh felt somewhat melancholy, missing his carefree days in the East Blue.
....
"Boss, it seems those Marines have settled in at the Salisbury Family's place. There was no unusual activity all night."
A fat middle-aged man sat on a luxurious sofa, listening to his subordinate's report.
He was the boss of another Mafia family.
After learning last night that the Mesfield Family had been wiped out by the Marines, he had been too tense to sleep.
He had been sending people out constantly to gather intelligence, terrified that if he dozed off, the Marines would appear at his doorstep.
"Boss, I think the Marines might not make any more moves. The brothers have been up all night and are about to collapse," a Mafia executive with bloodshot eyes spoke up.
These guys were usually the type to sleep until the sun was high in the sky.
Last night, they were suddenly summoned by the boss to guard against a Marine raid.
They were barely holding on... after all, they were just thugs.
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