Of course you don't, I thought. This disease was an artificial plague—a masterpiece created by Dr. Indigo using Kestia from Little Garden, Daft Green from Merveille, and several other "special" ingredients I'd provided.
It has an incubation period of anywhere from a day to a month. Once it manifests, the victim endures a hell of a high fever and inflammation, eventually dying from exhaustion within a month.
Of course, it only triggers if the drug is directly injected; it isn't contagious, so it won't spread to anyone other than the Celestial Dragons I "treated."
Its name: "Gift Green."
My very special gift to the World Nobles. I hope they're enjoying it.
"Well, I'm of the same mind," I replied. "I've been told to find a cure at any cost, but the best I can do is round up some doctors."
"Exactly. Anyway, enough talk. I came to get you. Admiral Sengoku is calling for you, so get moving."
Hmm? Did something happen?
I parted ways with Sakazuki and headed to Admiral Sengoku's office.
"Ah, sorry for calling you on such short notice," Sengoku said as I entered. "Good work cleaning up after the Mary Geoise raid. I called you here to discuss our future policy and that proposal you made some time ago."
He took a breath and continued. "Admiral Big J and Neral have resigned to take responsibility for the raid.
Fleet Admiral Kong is being promoted to Commander-in-Chief of the World Government, and I am stepping up as Fleet Admiral.
Consequently, Kuzan, Sakazuki, and Borsalino are being promoted to fill the vacant Admiral seats. In light of this, there's a proposal for your promotion to Vice Admiral. What say you?"
Vice Admiral... The authority would be great, but I had a mountain of work already.
"Sir! I am still far too inexperienced and lack the confidence to shoulder the responsibilities of a Vice Admiral! Therefore, with all due respect, I must decline this promotion!!"
"I see... Very well. Then, regarding your 'Conquest of the Four Seas' plan—it has been officially adopted to coincide with the new administration. I'd like you to brief the candidates."
I honestly thought that proposal had been buried in a desk somewhere...
"Conquest of the Four Seas" (Shikai Seiha). This was a personnel and structural reform plan I'd proposed years ago. Its goal was to correct the massive power gap between the Grand Line Headquarters and the Four Blue branches, and to alleviate the extreme concentration of work at HQ.
I went back to my room to grab my documents and headed to the Flag Officer Conference Room.
"Thank you all for gathering. As the Commander-in-Chief of the 'Navy Independent Vanguard Unit,' I will be explaining the reorganization."
I looked over the four men in the room.
"Currently, the Navy is a top-heavy structure consisting of HQ and individual branches scattered across the Four Blues.
Our reform, 'Conquest of the Four Seas,' will first involve the eventual relocation of Headquarters.
Secondly, we are reorganizing Branches 1 through 213 into four distinct sectors: the Eastern, Western, Southern, and Northern Regional Armies. Each will have its own Regional Command Headquarters."
I gestured to the four officers.
"The four of you will be the top commanders of these regions. As you know, the highest rank at a branch used to be Commodore.
We are lifting that restriction. The rank for a Regional Commander will be Rear Admiral, and you will oversee all branches within your respective sea. Any questions? ...None? Good."
I continued the briefing.
"Furthermore, we are reviving the Navy Dojo on Asuka Island. It will fall under the 'Education Bureau' as a training facility.
Every Regional Army will be required to send personnel there for periodic training. This aims to fix the power disparity.
It's often said a Grand Line Marine is three ranks stronger than a Branch Marine of the same rank; we are going to end that disrespect from pirates."
"Finally, the relocation of HQ. We plan to move it to the Red Ports on both sides of the Red Line. This hasn't been fully authorized yet, but the goal is to allow HQ to deploy rapidly to either side of the Grand Line."
I concluded the meeting by handing out the provisional assignments.
Rear Admiral Maynard: Assigned to the Eastern Regional Army (E1–E50). Since he's relatively new to the rank, he'll handle the East Blue, which has the lowest average bounties.
Rear Admiral Mozambique: A serious, diligent worker. He'll take the Southern Regional Army (S1–S50), which is relatively peaceful compared to the North or West.
Rear Admiral Bastille: Known as a powerhouse. He's headed to the Western Regional Army (W1–W50) to deal with the Five Families that rule the West Blue underworld.
Rear Admiral Stainless: A veteran with high combat capability. He's taking the toughest post: the Northern Regional Army (N1–N50).
With these four regional commands established, my "Independent Vanguard Unit" would be free to move between them as a specialized troubleshooting force.
Because of the chaos following the raid on Mary Geoise, my departure for Faus Island—originally scheduled for the next day—was delayed. I was finally able to set sail.
In addition, I received instructions from the newly inaugurated Fleet Admiral Sengoku... or rather, from the World Government.
I was to deliver a letter to the Kingdom of Lvneel. It seems they are gathering doctors from all over the world to deal with the disease spreading among the Celestial Dragons.
I'll head to Sabaody first to pick up Dr. Indigo, go to Lvneel, and then finally hit Faus Island.
Upon arriving at Sabaody, I went to give Tesoro a quick heads-up. I knocked on the door of Stella Production.
"Yes? Who is it...?"
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