At the strong request of the citizens of the Deul Kingdom, the Ryugu Kingdom left behind a support team to help this nation establish a new order.
A normal kingdom without slavery. As for the new king, the candidate would be chosen by the citizens themselves through a vote once the order of the Deul Kingdom had been restored.
Without a doubt, the former nobles had no voting rights in this matter.
Those who stayed behind needed to possess a certain level of strength, treat all races equally, refrain from extreme actions born of prejudice, and understand some methods of governance.
In the end, Tiger was the one left in the North Blue to assist the Deul Kingdom.
Although the Deul Kingdom was still the Deul Kingdom, anyone perceptive could see that in the future, even if it remained an independent entity, it would be intricately connected to the Ryugu Kingdom.
As for what exactly it would become, no one could say for sure.
However, the large number of slaves in the Deul Kingdom were full of hope for the future. There was no complicated reason; freedom itself was their greatest source of hope.
In their eyes, no matter how bad life might be, it was far better than a life of slavery where even survival was not guaranteed.
And in fact, the developments that followed did not betray their expectations.
Year 1513 of the Age of the Sea Circle, four years had passed since the war between the Deul Kingdom and the Ryugu Kingdom.
After the royal family of Chap, which had advocated slavery, was overthrown, and with the assistance of Fishman Island, the Deul Kingdom underwent entirely new development.
This nation held a fairly advantageous geographical position in the North Blue. Many nearby countries possessed high-quality mineral resources, and their primary means of profit was exporting these minerals.
Due to Chap's policies, the Deul Kingdom already had a large amount of unclaimed land. After many evil nobles were purged, even more land became vacant.
Taking advantage of maritime transport, the Ryugu Kingdom brought in a large amount of industrial equipment, began smelting metals, and gradually moved toward industrialization within a relatively short period of time.
The establishment of factories provided a large number of jobs for the Deul Kingdom and increased the flow of capital, forming a positive cycle of development.
As for why they were vigorously helping develop industry here, even though the Ryugu Kingdom also had its own industrial facilities, and the unique deep-sea environment even allowed for higher temperatures in forges, the environment of Fishman Island was limited. It could not support a large concentration of industry, so expansion outward was only a matter of time.
The newly reborn Deul Kingdom was one of the nations most friendly toward Fishman Island, and combined with its geographical advantages, it naturally became the chosen location.
Four years later, another session of the Levely came to an end. Perhaps because of the precedent set by the Deul Kingdom, all the participating nations displayed a completely different attitude toward the Ryugu Kingdom.
Even if they had no intention of forming friendly relations, they also had no desire to offend them. Some neighboring countries of the Ryugu Kingdom even showed exceptional enthusiasm during the meeting.
A pirate, an executor—these things they don't care about. But when a force on the same level as them, like the Deul Kingdom, underwent such a massive transformation, these people finally realized just how greatly the world had changed.
However, during this period, there were no reports across the seas of any major conflicts between Nereus and any kingdom. The seas seemed relatively peaceful, at least during the Levely, there was no sign of any tense standoffs.
Instead, due to the increasing number of pirates, many people became interested in the Ryugu Kingdom's insurance business.
After all, hiring the Marines to carry out certain operations also costs money.
If the Marines encounter pirates during their own patrols, or pursue a pirate into the territory of an affiliated nation, they naturally do not require any additional payment.
But if an affiliated nation wants the Marines to act according to their specific needs to resolve certain incidents, they must pay additional military expenses. In such cases, if there are more cost-effective mercenaries available, affiliated nations will choose others.
Compared to the harmony at the Levely, Kong, the Marine Fleet Admiral, was far from pleased. In fact, he was deeply worried.
Because of the Levely, the Marines had once again gathered their forces, with high-level combat power concentrated near Marine Headquarters. This also gave Kong the opportunity to convene a meeting.
"Crunch… crunch…"
"Gulp… gulp…"
At this moment, two tall stacks of complaint files were placed on Kong's desk.
Yet what filled his ears was the continuous sound of chewing.
In front of the desk, Sengoku sat upright, as if completely oblivious to everything happening around him.
Beside Sengoku, Zephyr and Garp behaved like a pair of unruly hooligans, eating snacks and drinking hot tea, not treating this place as the Marine Fleet Admiral's office at all.
"That's enough, you two! Look at these! These are all complaints about you!"
"Wahaha! Zephyr, you're not good enough, looks like I've got more complaints than you!"
"What's there to be happy about? I still have to train the recruits at the camp. I don't have time to cause trouble every day like you do."
Though Zephyr spoke as if criticizing Garp's behavior, his expression clearly suggested his thoughts didn't match his words.
At this time, Zephyr had not officially stepped back from active duty, but with the intention of guiding new Marines onto the right path, he had established a Marine training camp.
So far, it had already supplied the Marines with a batch of qualified soldiers, though a few recruits had quit because they couldn't endure the training, disappearing to unknown places.
Among the new recruits entering the Marines, there were also some monsters: Sakazuki, Borsalino, and Kuzan. The future three Admirals were beginning to step onto the grand stage.
"Was I praising you two?!"
"It can't be helped. That Roger runs too well. Sometimes, while chasing him, things just get out of control…"
"Those guys always get in the way during missions. Besides, some idiots are just irritating to look at. Anyway, you've already apologized on my behalf, right? Did the World Government pursue it any further?"
Kong leaned back in his chair, hands behind his head, remaining silent. He didn't know what had happened to Zephyr, this once honest man. Perhaps he had spent too much time with Garp, because the shadow behind him was starting to resemble Garp more and more.
Acting without regard for consequences or impact, often leaving many royals embarrassed, but the results…
Verbal warnings, written reprimands, "don't let it happen again," "this is the last time"…
Those were basically the punishments, at most deducting some salary. After all, they couldn't really dismiss an Admiral from duty.
If that were all, it wouldn't be too bad. The problem was that after seeing this, Garp seemed to become even more unrestrained, which gave Kong quite a headache.
As if he had already given up hope on the two of them, Kong cast an extremely earnest gaze toward Sengoku.
Though he said nothing, the meaning was clear.
[The future of the Marines… can only depend on you.]
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