Pirate: I was just slacking off, do you really think I'm bad?

On this so-called free sea, the same thing happened in countless corners. Looking at the photos in their newspapers, some people were indifferent, some were arrogant, and some mocked.

Some remained silent, some were envious, and some regarded Raleigh as a rival.

Regardless of how the people in the main pirate world react, one thing is certain: from this day forward, the name of the Navy's rising star, Christian Rowley, has officially entered the sights of the powerful.

After a day and a night, and a long journey, the navy finally arrived at the Kingdom of Eryokobu.

To their surprise, the kingdom, which they thought had been destroyed, seemed to remain unchanged.

The workers' uprising did not seem to have any impact on the kingdom. Sengoku set foot on the land of the Eryokobu Kingdom, looking around at his surroundings with a puzzled expression.

Raleigh sensed something was wrong as soon as he came out of the cabin.

This is the capital of the Kingdom of Eryokobu, although it is some distance from the mainland.

However, the long-accumulated dust that shrouded the Kingdom of Eryoko was not as thick as before, obscuring the sky.

In Raleigh's view, the gray fog that had enveloped the Kingdom of Eryokobu had dissipated by a third.

Are you naval officers? I am a guard from the Kingdom of Eryokobu.

Our King is very grateful for the contributions made by the naval officers during the past uprisings, and therefore specially sent me here to await your arrival.

A well-dressed young man, who looked somewhat like a butler, spoke politely. Sengoku glanced at him a few times, found nothing amiss, and nodded.

Borsalino lazily walked around behind Raleigh and asked in a low voice beside him!

"Kid, I find the Kingdom of Eryoko strange; it seems like there hasn't been any uprising at all."

"You're probably overthinking it. The rebels are already lying in wait in Wang's camp. They'll chop us into mincemeat the moment we show up, and then you'll get a bottle, and I'll get a bottle."

Raleigh gave Borsalino a curt reply because he had been tricked by Borsalino again.

Seeing this, Borsalino quickly put his arm around Raleigh's neck and comforted him gently:

"Rayle, this isn't something your brother can control. Think about it, in that kind of environment, who knew there would be a news agency's photo den Den Mushi? If I had known, I definitely would have stopped them."

Raleigh glanced at him but said nothing.

Now is not the future; the current newspapers are not as powerful as they are now.

Although they are quite audacious, the World Government can still find ways to cover up some secrets.

Otherwise, why weren't the Celestial Dragons' matches and the subsequent massacres exposed?

The thought of being watched by the entire world sent chills down Raleigh's spine.

Seeing this, Borsalino could only pat Raleigh on the shoulder and shout:

"Cheer up, Raleigh! You're destined to enter the Grand Line and become a world-renowned man. You're just getting ahead of the curve by entering their sights. I believe in your strength."

Borsalino's words of comfort were not entirely useless, but rather of little use.

Raleigh waved his hand, determined to shut Borsalino up!

He had been thinking about this all the way here, and he had come to terms with it.

There's nothing he can do; what's done is done, and what's meant to be spread has already spread. He can't control it anyway.

It can only be said that before he became powerful enough to act recklessly, he should stay in the North Sea and be a naval admiral.

"Rayle, congratulations!"

"Damn it, such a cool scene wasn't played by me!"

Two different voices came from behind, and it was obvious who they were without even having to guess.

Gion and Kakei!

Raleigh turned around and gave a listless reply.

Engaji is somewhat different:

"Rayle, why do I sense you're a little unhappy? It's something as important as becoming famous all over the world."

Gion seemed to remember something, and covered her mouth with her delicate hand and laughed.

She seemed to understand why Raleigh was unhappy!

"What's there to be happy about? I was just a nobody, I only went in to finish them off at the last minute, and now some idiot wrote that it's like I single-handedly took down Bondiwald. What are you going to do if someone challenges me later on?"

Raleigh grew angrier the more he thought about it, and decided that if he ever had the chance to meet anyone from the newspaper, he would definitely give them a good beating. "Alright, you're going to be the acting admiral of the North Sea Navy from now on. Those who challenge you won't be able to get close to you so easily."

Gion said something with a smile, which cheered Raleigh up a bit.

"That's right. If I make my subordinates extremely strong, then I can gang up on anyone who comes."

Gion's unintentional remark set Raleigh's mind racing, and he decided to stop being human.

In the North Sea, being too concerned about one's reputation can sometimes put one in a restrictive position. Although Raleigh himself doesn't value martial ethics, he rarely crosses the line.

Chatting and laughing all the way, they finally arrived at the entrance to the palace.

Only after walking this far did Raleigh and his group finally sense that the rebels had been there.

Looking at the holes in the palace gates and the bullet marks, it was clear that the rebels had extremely powerful firepower at the time.

Gion narrowed her eyes when she saw the bullet mark on the door. She quietly walked to Raleigh's side and whispered, "This bullet mark looks so familiar to me. It's like something from the Don Quixote family."

As an elite member of the navy, Gion also had access to the Don Quixote family's weapons.

Based solely on the marks left by the bullets, she could roughly guess that the weapon was made by the Don Quixote family.

Raleigh, feigning confusion, scratched his head and asked;

Doflamingo didn't mention this to me. Are you sure you haven't mistaken me for someone else?

As Gion and Raleigh spent more time together, Gion gradually became able to discern some of the subtle details that led Raleigh to lie.

Judging from Gion's assessment, Raleigh was most likely lying.

There's only one reason why Raleigh could lie: he knew about the deal from the very beginning.

This gave Gion a chill down her spine, and she was also very puzzled.

Why would a naval admiral, knowing all the details, fail to take any action to prevent a potential workers' uprising?

Gion wanted to ask something, but Raleigh grabbed her right hand.

Raleigh realized that Gion seemed to have guessed something, and blinked to reassure her.

Upon entering the palace, the decorations inside were exceptionally magnificent. Even Gion and Kake, who had seen the world, couldn't help but be amazed by these things once again. Thousand-year-old pearls from the East Sea were inlaid on the pillars.

"Is that a large, square-sized red coral from the South China Sea?"

The two of them, like country bumpkins who had never seen the world, kept praising it.

The real country bumpkins, Rory and Borsalino, didn't recognize these things at all, so they didn't realize how precious they were.

As they walked into the spacious hall, the king of the Eryoko Kingdom was already seated on his throne, waiting.

Raleigh sniffed the air; the smell of human blood still lingered on the floor tiles of the hall.

It seems that the rats did indeed clean up a lot of people here that night, which puts Raleigh at ease.

Edward III, the former king of the Kingdom of Erjuk, was present in full regalia, though he was no longer wearing the royal crown.

He was now dressed in the clothes of a high-ranking nobleman, standing in the middle of the hall, exchanging views with the Warring States.

Standing to his side was Grover, his loyal bodyguard and friend.

"Lord Edward, what's wrong? Don't be afraid, the navy is here, everything will be back to normal."

Sengoku, as always, exchanged polite words with Edward III.

Edward III didn't take it seriously. Instead, he touched his hair and said...

"It's alright, General of the Warring States. I just feel I've been on the throne for too long, and I want to pursue a freer way of life. No one is forcing me."

"Okay, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact our navy. From now on, all matters concerning the North Sea Navy will be handled by Acting Admiral Raleigh."

"You've probably seen the newspapers, right? It's about Brigadier General Raleigh, the one who killed the World Destroyer, Bondiwald."

Zhan Guo didn't take the idle chatter to heart. After exchanging a few casual words, he went to the side to eat something.

Raleigh, on the other hand, had already slipped away to the table laden with food and was enjoying his meal.

"Master, why are you only arriving now?"

As they were eating, a handsome young man sat down next to Raleigh.

He casually took a large piece of steak from Raleigh's plate and put it on his own.

Raleigh had a chicken leg in his mouth, glancing sideways at Miles sitting next to him.

It has to be said that young people grow up very fast. Miles went from being a bullied kid to a somewhat elegant young man in less than half a year.

The people in the One Piece world grow up incredibly fast.

"Where is Belo Betty?"

Raleigh swallowed the chicken leg, then reached for a grilled fish, asking Miles a question as he reached for the food.

"Tick-tock, when you arrived today, the World Government officials were also there. So Belo Betty went to greet them."

Miles said as he stuffed his food into his mouth.

After placing the fish on his plate, Raleigh paused for a moment and then asked,

Has everything been taken care of? There shouldn't be any problems, right?

Miles swallowed the food in his mouth, picked up a handkerchief to wipe his mouth, and said:

There's nothing to worry about. Brother Mouse and Sister Belle-Mel have already taken care of it. Besides,

This plan doesn't need to be flawless; as long as the original king acknowledges it, that's enough.

Raleigh's plan to seize the kingdom didn't start out; he originally just wanted to gradually control the kingdom's production through pressure from the navy.

However, after encountering the dragon uprising, Raleigh did some deductions and concluded that it was highly feasible, although there would be some risks involved.

Whether Belo Betty will be recognized as the king of the Kingdom of Eryoko depends on two most important factors.

One is the approval of the king and nobles, and the other is the approval of the world government.

After learning the conditions, the king of the first point decided to agree. However, the nobles were not so lucky. To prevent the nobles from sabotaging him or secretly reporting him, Raleigh ordered the rats to kill them directly.

Anyway, the rebel army led by the dragon is the number one scapegoat.

The second point is the recognition from the world government, what a coincidence!

The people who came today were the same people who had previously sent military funds to Raleigh. They were more concerned about the situation in the Kingdom of Eryokobu than the navy.

After learning that it was the new queen and the navy who had persuaded the rebels, they automatically assumed that Belo Betty was the new king of the Kingdom of Eryoko.

Especially after they learned that the Holy Land of Mary Geoise was actually unaware of the affairs of the Kingdom of Eryoko, they decided to completely cover it up.

In their view, the struggle between the rebel army and the king's army could be easily fabricated as a contest between the nobles and the king.

The nobles led the miners in a rebellion, but after storming the palace, they were suppressed by the new king and the navy.

In the end, the rebellious miners were persuaded to lay down their weapons and return to the mining area, while all the nobles who participated in the rebellion were executed.

This plot seems so reasonable and convincing.

Even if they obtained the Holy Land Mary Geoise, those high and mighty Celestial Dragons wouldn't doubt anything after seeing it; they would only think that the former king was too stupid.

For the Celestial Dragons, the world's nobles, the Kingdom of Eryoko only needed to pay with celestial gold and abundant coal and steel resources.

As for what happens in their country, the World Government doesn't care as long as the victor continues to pay the Heavenly Gold and supply steel to Mary Geoise.

"By the way, Master, may I stay here?"

Miles looked at Raleigh with hope.

After thinking about it, Luo Li realized that there was a high probability that nothing much would happen in Beihai in the next two years, and he didn't have much to do.

Miles is fine here too, and he can keep Belo Betty company.

"Okay, I'll transfer you here as a major later."

"Oh, by the way, Brother Mouse said he's waiting for you on the balcony upstairs."

Miles slapped his forehead and suddenly remembered this.

Upon hearing this, Raleigh nodded, patted Miles on the head, and left the table.

Originally following Sengoku, Gion saw Raleigh leave the venue alone and walk towards the balcony upstairs, and inexplicably followed in Raleigh's footsteps.

The kingdom's balcony is also in the same style as the buildings below.

The main feature is a spacious and luxurious place, where all kinds of rare and exotic plants are cultivated.

The rats, who had arrived long ago, were already by the railing.

Raleigh casually sat down opposite the mouse and handed him a bottle of rum.

He then took out a cigar box from his pocket and tossed one to the mouse.

Ding.

The mouse took out a delicate lighter, lit it for Raleigh, and then lit it for itself.

The two men smiled at each other and exhaled a deep puff of smoke.

"Rat, don't go back to the East Sea. Right now, I need you to stabilize the situation in the Kingdom of Eryokobu."