Holy Land Mariejois:
"Sengoku, why, knowing that the Infinite Pirates possess such powerful destructive weapons, do you continue to launch attacks? Shouldn't you temporarily retreat and wait until you have a way to deal with them before launching a full-scale assault?"
"Why, knowing that the Fishmen have absolute advantages in the sea, do you still send the rear troops to support?"
"Why are there so many bombs falling from the sky, and you can't even see such obvious traces?"
"Why didn't you arrange top-tier combatants to guard the rear? If you had, could those bombs falling from the sky have caused such great losses?"
"Why, during the retreat, did you allow two top-tier combatants to die?"
"How could Li Yuan be so strong that even Garp and three top-tier combatants couldn't hold him back, and he even killed two of them?"
The five Elders and Sengoku were in a meeting. While it was called a meeting, it was actually Sengoku alone bearing the brunt of the five Elders' wrath.
What the five Elders found most unacceptable was that all five of the fallen top-tier combatants were sent by the World Government, while the Navy lost none of its top-tier combatants.
This led them to suspect that Sengoku had specifically sent the World Government's top-tier combatants to deal with the difficult characters, leaving the Navy generals to handle the weaker ones.
As a result, the losses were all among the World Government's top-tier combatants, while the Navy generals suffered no losses!
"Damn old man, why didn't you go to the battlefield to command? How can you sit here and curse at me without a care? If I had known the Infinite Pirates' movements in advance, would I have let the Navy sacrifice for nothing?"
"Wasn't it because you ordered the attack that I led everyone into close combat with the pirates? Otherwise, I would have retreated long ago; how could I have suffered such great losses!"
"You old fools are just afraid of death and dare not face Li Yuan. You should have gone to the battlefield to attract Li Yuan's attention, allowing the rest of us to eliminate the other pirates!"
After listening to the five Elders' tirade for over ten minutes, Sengoku clenched his fists, internally cursing these five old geezers.
They were afraid of death and dared not go to the battlefield, yet when they lost, they shifted all the blame onto him. Even Sengoku, who possessed the heart of a great Buddha, was on the verge of losing control of his anger.
If it weren't for the fact that these five old geezers held the Navy's economic lifeline, he would have let them know what the Buddha's wrath truly meant!
"Sengoku, do you have anything else to say?"
Perhaps tired from cursing, the five Elders noticed Sengoku's silence and asked.
"Your Excellencies, the World Government and the Navy have both suffered heavy losses this time. We should learn from this experience and strive to defeat the pirates in the next war."
"Moreover, the Navy has suffered greatly this time. I hope this year's military budget can be advanced, and since over seventy percent of the Navy's ships and soldiers have been lost, we need additional funds to rebuild the Navy and replenish our forces. Additionally, the death compensation for the fallen Navy personnel is also a significant expense."
Upon hearing this, Sengoku first spoke some official rhetoric, but then got to the point: the Navy was in dire need of money, and the only place they could get it was from the military budget in the hands of the five Elders.
"Sengoku, the World Government has also suffered heavy losses this time. With the South Sea occupied by pirates, the Celestial Tribute has decreased significantly. It is impossible to advance the Navy's military budget, but we will disburse it on time. As for increasing the military budget, we will have to see the World Government's finances this year before making a decision."
As soon as Sengoku mentioned money, Saint Nusjuro, Warrior God of Finance, immediately spoke up. He could tell with his eyes closed that the World Government's finances would shrink significantly this year. It would be a miracle if they didn't cut the Navy's budget, let alone increase it—this was simply wishful thinking!
"Your Excellency Saint Nusjuro, but the Navy's losses…"
Hearing this, Sengoku became anxious. If the Navy suffered such heavy losses and still didn't get an increased budget, how would they recover? Relying on that little military budget, it might take three to five years for the Navy to recover.
"Sengoku, the Navy has suffered heavy losses. Does the World Government not suffer as well?"
"This defeat has caused the World Government significant losses, leading to a sharp decline in its finances. Therefore, both the Navy and the World Government are facing common difficulties."
Before Sengoku could finish speaking, he was directly interrupted by Saint Nusjuro. In any case, they could not increase the Navy's budget, especially since none of the Navy's top-tier combatants had been lost while the World Government had lost five.
If they continued to allow the Navy to grow stronger while the World Government became weaker, it was possible that the Navy would develop a rebellious spirit.
This was also one of the reasons why Saint Nusjuro was unwilling to increase the Navy's budget.
"Sengoku, you bear the greatest responsibility for this war's failure!"
"Moreover, during this war, the Revolutionary Army instigated wars among many kingdoms on the Red Line, attempting to attack Mary Geoise, but we ultimately crushed and suppressed them."
"However, the Revolutionary Army still has many forces in the Four Seas and the Grand Line. Your Navy's next task is to comprehensively strike against the Revolutionary Army and eliminate all of them in the Four Seas, except for the South Sea!"
"As for the pirates, you can set that aside for now. Exterminating the Revolutionary Army is your Navy's most urgent task!"
Saint Saturn, Warrior God of Science and Defense, stated.
"Yes, Your Excellency Saint Saturn!"
Hearing the five Elders say this, Sengoku knew that his plan to secure funding had failed.
Infinite Pirates: A few days later, instead of continuing to deal with the South Sea, he left it to his subordinates to manage. He then took Baccarat back to the Limitless Sea Area.
Li Yuan brought Baccarat to the Infinite Pirates' great prison, where members of pirate crews that had been eliminated by the Infinite Pirates, as well as spies from the World Government, were held.
Upon Li Yuan's arrival, he directly used Conqueror's Haki to knock all these people unconscious.
Then, Li Yuan called his subordinates to gather all the thousands of prisoners together.
"Baccarat, come try to absorb the luck from these people."
Li Yuan softly said to Baccarat, who was hiding behind him and feeling a bit scared.
"Okay, big brother."
Hearing Li Yuan's words, Baccarat immediately felt less afraid. She timidly walked over to the fallen prisoners, took off her gloves, and began to touch their bodies one by one, absorbing their luck.
"Big brother, I feel like I've reached my limit for absorbing luck. I can't take any more."
However, just after absorbing from eight hundred of them, Baccarat said a bit dejectedly.
This was the first time she realized that her ability had a limit; she had never absorbed so much luck at once before.
"It's okay, as long as you've absorbed enough, let's go."
"When you grow up in the future, and your ability develops further, you'll naturally be able to absorb the luck of more people. By then, if you want to absorb as much luck as you want, big brother will find people for you!"
Li Yuan patted Baccarat's little head.
Having a limit is normal; no Devil Fruit is invincible, especially since Baccarat could only use a small part of her Luck-Luck Fruit ability right now.
"Really, big brother?"
Baccarat blinked her big eyes and asked curiously.
"Of course! Big brother would never lie to Baccarat!"
"Come on, big brother will take you to meet some very smart scientists. When the time comes, if you want something, they can help you invent it."
Li Yuan took Baccarat's little hand and walked out of the prison, leaving the luck-absorbed individuals locked up.
As long as they didn't die, their luck would gradually recover in the future.
When that time comes, it would be their turn to contribute their luck again.
It was because of Baccarat's arrival that Li Yuan decided to comprehensively upgrade the Infinite Pirates' great prison.
Currently, there were only a little over three thousand prisoners in this prison, not even enough for ten thousand.
So Li Yuan decided to give those who were eyeing the Infinite Pirates and opposing them a chance to live.
Like the Navy, they would capture all the prisoners they could alive and lock them up in the prison, making them pay for their mistakes with their luck.
Otherwise, when Baccarat's Luck-Luck Fruit ability limit increased in the future and there weren't enough prisoners to provide luck, that would be quite awkward.
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