'Buru buru... Buru buru...'
A noisy Den Den Mushi sound woke the sleeping Raleigh.
He casually removed his eye mask and earplugs, pulling out a sleazy-looking Den Den Mushi from his pocket.
"Yohoo~ Where has my dear brother gone? I brought you some tea from the South Blue but couldn't find you."
"I never expected you to be so dedicated to work, Raleigh. You just dealt with the Mafia on Chaniaral Island and immediately set sail with your crew—this doesn't seem like your style at all."
On the other end of the call was Borsalino, wearing his signature sleazy expression.
For some reason, he seemed both young and old at the same time.
Raleigh grumpily yawned and said.
"Since you know I'm out on a mission, you shouldn't have called me."
"What if I'm ambushing pirates right now? Your call would expose my position, and if the pirates escape, I'm holding you responsible!"
Borsalino comfortably propped his feet up on his office desk and shouted into the Den Den Mushi.h
"Kid, I know you all too well. Forget whether you actually encountered pirates—even if you did, I don't believe you'd take the initiative to fight."
"It must've been Tokikake, Gion, and Cleveland charging ahead first. Someone like you who specializes in slacking off would never take the lead."
"Now tell me, why did you go after Doflamingo?"
Borsalino might appear to be slacking, but his analytical skills had reached a considerable level.
The reason he could keep getting promoted despite his laziness wasn't just due to his overwhelming strength—his intelligence was equally formidable.
In truth, slacking isn't inherently bad; truly capable people know how to strike a balance between work and leisure.
Borsalino was one such person, and so was Raleigh.
After Raleigh set sail, Borsalino had already deduced his destination.
Raleigh never underestimated Borsalino's intellect, though he hadn't intended to hide this matter from him anyway.
"How should I put it? The Chaniaral Island situation still needs time to verify its feasibility, and currently there's nothing in the North Blue worth intervening in. So I thought I'd go out and find some entertainment."
Hearing Raleigh's explanation, Borsalino felt deeply dissatisfied.
He'd been stuck at headquarters while Raleigh went out to have fun—unacceptable!
"Heh, how could there be nothing to do? Besides the intel on Doflamingo, I remember sending bounty notices to all branch offices. If you're free, you could go catch some pirates."
Raleigh looked up at the azure sky, then down at his Den Den Mushi, asking with genuine confusion.
"Borsalino, are you feeling alright? Telling me to catch pirates—why don't you go catch them yourself?"
"Besides, isn't observing Doflamingo part of maintaining order in the North Blue? If he turns out worse than the previous Mafia, I'll need to warn him."
Borsalino didn't take Raleigh's nonsense seriously—they'd always bickered like this back in the North Blue.
In fact, Raleigh had been holding back during their earlier conversation out of courtesy.
"Take it easy now. The Celestial Dragons are terrifying beings, you know... even if he's a former one."
Borsalino held no reverence for so-called former Celestial Dragons—in truth, he didn't respect the current ones either.
Previously, it had always been Sengoku who forced him into those assignments.
Since Sengoku refused to serve as the Celestial Dragons' bodyguard, poor Borsalino got stuck with the job.
(In the original timeline, Kizaru interacted most with the Celestial Dragons for the simple reason that there was no one else to send. The other two Admirals, Akainu and Aokiji, wanted nothing to do with them.)
"Alright, I know what to do. Nothing will go wrong."
Raleigh hung up the Den Den Mushi and stretched lazily.
He'd already been at sea for two days—Borsalino only calling now probably meant he hadn't been taking this matter seriously either.
[Sleeping during patrol duty, Slacking Points +100]
Casually picking up a fresh coconut, he extended a finger and poked—easily piercing a hole through the shell.
If Zephyr saw Raleigh using Shigan just to open coconuts more conveniently, he'd probably lose his mind.
The scene was witnessed by Marine soldiers training on the deck, though they'd already grown accustomed to it.
Over these past two days, Raleigh had used more than one of the Six Styles.
Including but not limited to using Soru to speed up and snatch food, and employing Moon Walk to catch wild game in the sky.
Relatively speaking, using Shigan to open coconuts was already considered restrained.
Moreover, under the influence of this state, they actually trained more diligently, striving to master the Six Styles as soon as possible.
After all, if they didn't work hard to learn the Six Styles, they might not even be able to grab a meal.
A few of the faster learners had already mastered using Soru to rush to the dining hall and snatch food.
Not for the sake of eating faster, but to show off that they could accelerate using Soru just like Rear Admiral Raleigh.
Furthermore, Raleigh's disciple, Miles, had already learned to use Shigan to help Raleigh open coconuts.
If they didn't put in more effort, they wouldn't even be able to compete for small tasks like opening coconuts.
"I'm telling you, you all need to step it up. If you don't, even Belo Betty will learn to use Soru for acceleration."
The Marine soldiers swept by Raleigh's gaze hung their heads in shame.
It was one thing to be less skilled than Gion and Tokikake, but now they were about to be outdone by a child.
Born as humans, they felt deeply ashamed.
But the next moment, Raleigh uttered another sentence that made them clench their fists.
"If anyone still hasn't learned Soru by noon the day after tomorrow, they'll be responsible for cleaning the entire battleship."
The Marine soldiers abruptly lifted their heads.
They weren't afraid of cleaning the battleship, but they dreaded losing face in front of others.
By then, everyone else would have mastered it, and being the only one who hadn't would be utterly mortifying.
To avoid such public embarrassment, the eyes of several Marine soldiers grew resolute.
"To avoid cleaning duty!"
Chanting this peculiar slogan, they clumsily yet diligently practiced the Six Styles.
Just then, Gion walked over.
Today, she wasn't wearing her marine uniform but had changed into a white training outfit.
Her peach-blossom eyes were captivatingly alluring.
Sitting on the sun lounger next to Raleigh, she casually picked up a coconut and, imitating Raleigh, poked a hole in it using Shigan.
"If Zephyr-sensei saw you using Shigan like this, he'd probably make you do ten thousand push-ups as punishment."
Gion teased Raleigh while sipping from the coconut.
Raleigh glanced at Gion and, noticing she wasn't looking at him, let his gaze drift downward a few more times.
"How much longer until we reach that Doflamingo's guy territory?"
Raleigh waved his hand, and Belo Betty, seeing this, quickly ran into the office.
A few minutes later, she returned carrying a nautical chart almost as tall as herself and stood beside Raleigh's sun lounger.
Raleigh ruffled Belo Betty's little head, then picked up another coconut, poked a hole in it, and handed it to her.
"Ah, no wonder everyone likes raising daughters. Daughters really are warm and comforting."
Glancing at Miles, who was locked in a contest of strength with Tokikake, Raleigh shook his head.
Boys, will always be boys!