Kong tossed the cigar into the trash can and looked at Sengoku with a somewhat helpless expression.
Sengoku was fine in every respect, except that his powers of observation were a little too sharp.
Kong's gloom, which came in regular cycles, quickly lifted again, and that familiar, belt-wrapped confidence returned as he laughed loudly.
"Hahahaha, Sengoku, what are you thinking? This old man hasn't lost his fighting spirit over something like this.
No matter how strong the pirates get, we marines are the executors of justice. It's our mission and duty to carry that justice through to the end.
So tell me: when it comes to Doflamingo, how should we deal with him?"
"As long as he doesn't take the initiative to attack World Government member nations, we just need to keep someone watching him, the same way we keep people watching the Whitebeard Pirates, the Big Mom Pirates, and the other big crews."
Tsuru was direct and did not bother beating around the bush.
"Mhm, that's a good proposal."
Kong nodded. Besides that, there really wasn't much more they could do.
But picking someone to handle the surveillance was another headache. Having someone from the very top personally tail Doflamingo was unrealistic. He was too strong. Other than Garp, no one in the marines was suitable, and Garp was far too free-spirited and obsessed with chasing Roger, obviously not the right man to shadow Doflamingo.
So who should they pick?
Noticing Kong's dilemma, Sengoku opened his mouth at just the right time.
"Kong-nii, at the end of the day, we still have people above us.
When a problem goes beyond what we can handle, why not let those at a higher level deal with it?"
Kong's eyes lit up.
Of course.
He had been stuck inside the situation, thinking only about how to use the personnel he currently had on hand, and had momentarily forgotten there were even higher-ranking officers above him.
Kong brought the matter to a close with one decisive statement.
"Good. I'll report directly to the Gorosei and let them make the call.
As for Doflamingo's bounty… heh. Let those pirate trash bite each other for us. Just set it straight to the top tier: 5 billion Berries."
"5 billion Berries? Isn't that a bit too high?" Sengoku was visibly shocked.
"It's not high. If anything, it's low," Tsuru said with a nod of agreement.
"Leaving strength aside, just looking at Doflamingo's influence in the New World and the North Blue, and the many acts he's already committed that endanger the world…
Even though raising a bounty too fast might damage the prestige of the marines, the results may turn out better than we expect.
Kong-nii probably wants to use that record-high bounty on Doflamingo to stir up other pirates' dissatisfaction, so they keep challenging him over and over.
Given enough time, even if it doesn't get rid of Doflamingo, it'll at least leave him exhausted from constantly dealing with them.
Also, I suggest we multiply the bounties of all Donquixote Family officers several times over. There's never been a shortage of 'adventurers' among pirates. As long as the bounty is high enough, they'll naturally come into our line of sight."
Kong nodded in approval. After thinking it over for a moment, he made his decision.
"Alright. Douglas Barrett: 2.05 billion Berries.
Pica: 1.61 billion Berries.
Trebol: 600 million Berries…"
While the Fleet Admiral's office at Marine Headquarters was in heated discussion, the newly established North Blue headquarters of the Donquixote Family, on the central island of the Fesia Archipelago, was hosting a grand banquet.
Strictly speaking, the Fesia Archipelago had been Trebol's recommendation. Initially, Doflamingo had not planned on setting up a headquarters in the North Blue at all.
But as their numbers continued to grow, it was obvious they couldn't go on without a proper screening system for talent and a central base of operations. They needed an internal hierarchy for the crew.
Those who joined from the various bases scattered across the North Blue were classed as first-tier family members.
Those who joined from the North Blue headquarters were second-tier members.
Those who joined from the New World were third-tier members.
Beyond that, unless you became an officer, all you could do was keep climbing step by step until you reached ninth-tier family member status, after which came the ranks of family officer.
The principles for promotion through the tiers and the criteria for dividing up the officer ranks were all rooted in strength.
For officers, Doflamingo laid out very clear categories: fringe officers, regular (mid-level) officers, and high-level officers.
He had no desire to carve the structure into too many layers. There was no need. Once you were promoted to an officer, you were family. There was no point in creating a jungle of little class distinctions.
The threefold division was purely for the sake of managing the family more effectively.
With that, the need for a headquarters was something that naturally emerged. The North Blue covered a massive area, had countless islands, and thus an enormous population. A single island could not possibly serve as the only headquarters, which was why Trebol had recommended the Fesia Archipelago.
The Fesia Archipelago consisted of a total of five islands.
There was the central island, and the East Fesia, West Fesia, South Fesia, and North Fesia Islands connected around it.
The ideal plan would be to one day have a Sea Train line running across all the North Blue bases.
Reality, however, was that Tom hadn't even conceived of the Sea Train yet, so that would have to wait for the future.
For this banquet, Doflamingo had summoned all the leaders from every base. With the North Blue now firmly in his grip, and the continuous growth in both the number of recruits and the number of bases, he had no choice but to personally appoint a group of people absolutely loyal to him and dispatch them to each base.
Facing the ever-expanding scale of the family, Doflamingo had to draft a fair and functional system for promotion, rewards, and punishments.
Fortunately, with the tempering of a memory from an age of information overload, he quickly drew up a complete system and explained it on the spot to the base leaders.
On one point, Doflamingo placed special emphasis: strength stood above everything else.
As long as you were confident that your strength had reached officer level, you could seek out Pra to apply for an officer challenge.
Anyone who could injure Pra, or even defeat her outright, would be promoted to officer.
After the banquet, another nearly full month of busyness went by before Doflamingo finally迎 came to his fifteenth birthday.
There were no flowers, no blessings. Doflamingo didn't like the feeling of "being granted" a birthday celebration, so no one knew what day his birthday fell on, and no one dared to ask.
When Doflamingo finally found a bit of time to return to Sky Island and share a quiet night with Toki, he rushed back to the North Blue the very next morning.
Even though the underground world of the North Blue was already under the Donquixote Family's control, the forces on the surface were still dominated by the kingdoms.
If he wanted to fully secure his foothold, Doflamingo couldn't just walk away for long. He had to keep waging war outward, keep opening up new lines of business.
And so, in the midst of that constant busyness and those snatched trips back to Sky Island, another two years slipped by without anyone noticing.
Doflamingo迎 came to his sixteenth birthday, and the Donquixote Family's hold over the North Blue was now completely solid.
Even the Vinsmoke Family had to think twice and detour if they came across a Donquixote Family base.
As for exactly how many Donquixote Family bases there were in the North Blue…
Doflamingo had never bothered to count. Trebol had once bragged to him in a wildly exaggerated report, "As long as there's an island in the North Blue, we've got people there."
What an insanely arrogant statement. And yet, somehow, it did not seem entirely like a lie.
To make it easier to govern each base, Doflamingo capped the number of family members per base at no more than one thousand.
Honestly, one thousand was already the upper limit after he had done everything he could to keep the numbers down. Otherwise, there would have been even more.
He had no interest in bloating the family with useless people. Each base would conduct its own screening.
Any boys and girls of suitable age could head to Sky Island or Amazon Lily to train. Those who could not meet the standards would never be taken fully into the family and could only remain as external personnel.
(End of Chapter)
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