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

Instead of answering Raleigh's question directly, the mouse flicked the ash off its cigar.

"Look at the thick fog that hangs over the Kingdom of Eryokobu!"

"Raleigh, look there. Ever since you started orchestrating all this, the fog that has hung over this kingdom for decades has begun to thin."

But if you don't interfere in the king's affairs and allow someone else to inherit the throne, it's very possible that a thick black fog will still rise a few years later.

Branch 133 in Donghai is where you and I started. I won't feel at ease until I find a suitable successor.

Raleigh understood what the rat was saying.

Although he felt very sorry, Raleigh couldn't force his old friend on this matter.

Both sides are equally important; while the Eryo Kingdom is crucial, the 133rd branch in the East China Sea is also within his sphere of influence.

In addition, the Kingdom of Eryoko has already placed many people there, so whether or not there is a rat in charge is not very important.

So Raleigh readily agreed to the merger.

He raised his glass and gently clinked it against the mouse's.

To be honest, I originally planned to leave after finishing this, but someone stayed, so I have to stay here with him.

After swallowing the rum in his mouth, the mouse turned to Raleigh and said...

A hint of confusion flashed in Raleigh's eyes. Who could possibly be worth Rat staying here for two more days?

A gust of wind blew past him from behind, ruffling Raleigh's hair.

Raleigh felt this familiar power, and a figure suddenly appeared in his mind.

Could it be?

Raleigh's eyes were strange; he hadn't expected the protagonist of this grand drama to have stayed in the Kingdom of Eryorobu. "Raleigh, you've finally arrived."

A tall, strong figure appeared on the balcony at some point, still wearing a cloak as always, his face hidden under the hood.

Raleigh's eyes widened suddenly, then his heart relaxed.

It was impossible for Raleigh not to be nervous in front of his senior, Long, but he wasn't afraid that Long would hurt him.

He asked, his face full of confusion.

"Senior, why haven't you left yet?"

Dragon sat down on another stool without any hesitation, right next to Rat.

He took off his hood, revealing a resolute face.

It's clear that Long has been in excellent condition these past two days; he looks radiant.

Clearly, the success of the Kingdom of Eryokobu greatly inspired his spirit.

There are some questions I can't figure out on my own, so I can only come to you, my revolutionary mentor, to learn theory.

The dragon adopted a very humble attitude.

He always showed great tolerance and respect for capable people.

In his eyes, Raleigh was someone who had a very deep understanding of the revolutionary path.

I want to ask, if a revolution were to occur in this world, how should it be carried out?

Ryuichi immediately threw out a very shocking question, and it was also this senior of his who defeated him.

The Monkey family are all naturally very direct in their feelings. Not to mention that Rowley is not entirely unaware of this, even if he were aware, he wouldn't easily reveal this information to the dragon.

In this world, Raleigh doesn't trust any particular faction.

Although he relied on the navy to develop his own power, he never revealed his ambitions to the other members of his inner circle.

Each faction has its own agenda and interests. Perhaps in this incident, the two sides can cooperate if their interests align.

But never forget that when interests clash, even brothers can turn against each other. Raleigh said with a strange smile:

Senior, even if I did have that answer, it would be a price you can't afford to pay.

Looking at Raleigh's enigmatic smile, Dragon wasn't disappointed.

As soon as he asked, he knew that Raleigh would definitely not agree, and even if he did, it would be at a price he couldn't afford. But Dragon still asked half-jokingly!

"What's the price? Do you mean I have to give up my position to you?"

To everyone's surprise, Raleigh answered with a serious expression:

Senior, even if you offered me the Revolutionary Army, I wouldn't want it. The Navy's benefits are much better.

"Yes, I know the Navy offers better benefits."

Long uttered a sigh, then downed the rum in his glass in one gulp.

After storming the palace and completing the uprising, I tried to urge others to leave, but it was clear that I could only persuade a little over one-fifth of them.

After the old aristocratic system was overthrown, the revolutionary fervor of the remaining majority waned.

They began returning to their homes in the Kingdom of Eryoko, believing they would have a new life there.

The dragon's expression turned bewildered, its eyes staring blankly ahead.

Regarding the dragon's condition...!

Raleigh finally understood what was going on.

When one's plans and reality produce drastically different results, one falls into deep self-doubt.

Dragon is not, after all, the revolutionary leader who grew up under the pressure of the World Government after experiencing setbacks.

He was still far from being the wise and calm dragon he would become. Raleigh placed a cigar in front of the dragon and said to him;

"Humans are the most complex creatures in the world; different people can have different perspectives on the same thing."

What's even more perplexing is that wise people who can see the truth of the world are always in the minority; the majority are blindly obedient fools.

"Although the uprising in the Kingdom of Eryoko was large-scale and received widespread support, have you truly understood the needs of each and every individual?"

Those who follow you either see the darkness beneath the aristocratic system, or they've placed all their bets on you; they trust you, that's why they're following you.

Dragon picked up a cigar from the table, lit it like Raleigh and Mouse, and took a puff.

"Ahem, I've done my research."

Raleigh shook his head, saying seriously, "That's impossible. People are masters of disguise. Most people don't even know what they want. I've been to the mines; I know their mental state—they're in a daze, not thinking about tomorrow at all."

"What do you think these people are thinking? They're only watching you launch an uprising because they want to change their miserable lives. If they succeed, they can live a good life, and naturally they won't follow you out to try their luck again."

To be honest, people everywhere have very simple wishes.

All I want is a job that allows me to support myself, a house, and a partner.

The reason why the workers of the Kingdom of Eryoko were able to launch an uprising so easily was simply because they were proletarians and exploited people who had nothing.

In this state of mind, they are willing to pay the price to gamble on a better tomorrow.

However, once they succeed, their thinking changes, and the vast majority of them believe that they have already achieved the life they wanted and there is no need to work hard anymore.

Therefore, Raleigh didn't want to follow the path of the Revolutionary Army; that path was too tiring.

There are many reasons for choosing the navy, but the most important is that naval personnel are driven by a strong sense of faith.

Regardless of what kind of justice they choose, they are people of faith.

Such people are actually easier to change than ordinary citizens, not to mention that the quality and equipment of naval soldiers are superior to those of other forces.

Raleigh never believed that changing the pirate world could be done by one or two strong individuals.

Even a powerful pirate crew like Rocks', with countless strong members, failed, showing that a single strong individual can't change anything. (Although Rocks was outmaneuvered.)

Senior, now that you have over 20,000 revolutionary soldiers, you should train them well.

"They are the backbone of the revolutionary army and the seeds of revolution. In the days to come, it is most important for you to train their physical fitness and cultivate their understanding of the revolutionary program."

In Raleigh's view, Dragon's current base is much better than before.

Although we don't know how the dragon originally developed, at this point in the original story, the dragon should have just established the Self-Defense Army and was only engaged in small-scale operations.

The dragons now have a great general like Raven and a lieutenant like Swall.

Although these people were not as powerful as Sabo and Kuma later on, having 20,000 warriors at this time was already quite formidable.

All you need to do is completely turn this group of people into your supporters.

By taking advantage of countries like the Far North, which are not closely watched or controlled by world governments, and quietly developing for a few years, they can begin their brutal expansion.

However, these are all Raleigh's future plans for the Revolutionary Army. Dragon in the One Piece world doesn't know the truth about "accumulating resources and delaying the proclamation of kingship."

It's estimated that the dragon won't stay in the far north for long before it wants to expand its territory.

If the World Government beats him up, Raleigh doesn't intend to help his senior. That's how simple the world is. If two people make friends, it's simple; if they share the same ideals, they're friends. But it's not so simple between two factions; when their interests don't align, they leave.

Once our interests align, we can sit down together and become friends again.

"Yes, Raleigh, you're right. I do have a large base of support now."

When Long was in the navy, he had many naval soldiers under his command who obeyed his orders.

But those naval soldiers were different from the revolutionary soldiers under his command now.

Back then, as a naval admiral, Long was not responsible for the salaries of naval soldiers, nor for their basic needs like food, drink, and sanitation.

The naval soldiers obeyed his orders, a few out of admiration, but most because of his status.

The situation is different with the Revolutionary Army under his command now. No one knows Dragon's true identity, but everyone chooses to follow him because they admire him.

Senior, the Revolutionary Army hasn't achieved final victory yet. At least for now, the Revolutionary Army in the far north still has a lot to do.

The thought of having to worry about the food, clothing, shelter, and transportation of more than 20,000 people made Raleigh feel like his head was about to explode.

So troublesome! So troublesome! So troublesome!

The dragon, on the other hand, was extremely excited about what was about to happen. He shed his identity, his perception of the world, and for the first time, immersed himself in his ideals.

Cheers to the future of the three of us!

The rat, sitting to the side, raised his glass, and Dragon and Raleigh also raised their glasses and clinked them together heavily.

Belonging to two different factions, they might face each other in life-or-death struggles when they meet again, and may never have the chance to drink together again in their lives.

So even Long, who doesn't drink much, raised his glass.

Raleigh, the rat. Hopefully, we'll never meet on the battlefield.

The dragon gave Raleigh a deep look, then vanished in a flash, a gust of green wind blowing past as it disappeared from the balcony. Raleigh glanced deeply in the direction the dragon had gone, then called out to a hidden corner behind him:

Gion, how much longer are you going to stay there?

Gion, who had been hiding for half a day and turned pale after overhearing Raleigh's conversation with the dragon, was suddenly exposed by Raleigh.

"I—I didn't mean to."

Gion emerged from the corner, her face pale as she looked at Raleigh and the mouse on the balcony.

The two figures grew taller and taller in Gion's eyes, seemingly emanating black energy and glowing red. Raleigh and the mouse stared at the dumbfounded Gion with wide eyes!

"What's wrong with this guy?"

How would I know if you startled Gion by suddenly calling her name?

I get it. This guy is definitely overthinking things. He thinks he overheard our secret and is afraid we'll kill her.

Raleigh was speechless for a moment.

Gion must have watched too many police dramas; he's forgotten that he's also a powerful naval officer.

Although she was completely powerless against him.

However, there is a great general inside the main hall, although it is unknown whether the Warring States period is still in the hall.

"Rayle, are you going to attack me?"

Gion suddenly raised her head, her big, cute eyes fixed on Raleigh, as if afraid he would say something she didn't want to hear.

Raleigh suddenly felt a mischievous urge, remaining silent with a wicked smile playing on his lips.

Seeing the lewd expression on Raleigh's face, Rat knew that Raleigh was no good either.

To avoid being fed dog food and suffering unexpected area-of-effect damage, the rat activated its Devil Fruit ability and floated away from the balcony.

"Hehehe, if you want to blame something, blame it on the bad weather."

Gion.

Raleigh suddenly stood up from his seat, flashing through the air at a speed invisible to the naked eye.

The next second, a large hand reached out and enveloped Gion's face.

A gift!

Tears welled in Gion's eyes, but the golden dagger in her right hand had already been pulled out.

The gold cloak, covered in Armament Haki, appeared extremely sharp and made a popping sound in the air.

However, Gion stopped the blade less than a finger's width away from Raleigh's waist.

If Gion's blade were to strike, Raleigh would be cut in half at the waist.

But Gion didn't strike; instead, she stared at Raleigh and said:

"You can leave now. Just pretend I never saw you, and I won't tell the Sengoku general."

The wicked smile on Raleigh's face faded, replaced by a pitying smile.

As if by magic, another hand pulled out a bouquet of flowers from behind.

Judging from its appearance, it's obvious that the flowers on the balcony were broken off and pieced together.

"But where can I go? I'm the Admiral of the North Sea!"

"But if it's in the direction of your house, then I'm willing to go."

Gion then realized that Raleigh's earlier appearance was meant to scare her, which angered Kinkunro so much that he emitted a buzzing sound that cut through the air once again.

However, just like this time, Jin Kunlu did not make any progress.