"What?! You've already taken down that bastard Doflamingo?!"
Once again, the Fleet Admiral's office at Marine Headquarters echoed with Sengoku's furious roar.
"You should have reported to me before doing something like this! Even if you gave me a heads-up earlier, you still should have informed me when you actually took action! You reckless brat!"
Listening to Sengoku's yelling through the Den Den Mushi, Jake helplessly held the receiver slightly farther away before replying with a sigh.
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku, the battlefield is ever-changing. The opportunity last night was one I seized suddenly—there was no time to notify you. As the saying goes, 'A general in the field is not bound by orders from the throne,' right?"
"You damn brat! Always full of excuses! Next time something like this happens, you better report to me immediately, understand?"
"Yes, Fleet Admiral Sengoku."
Hearing Jake's relatively sincere response, Sengoku's anger subsided slightly.
He then continued questioning through the Den Den Mushi.
"How's the battle situation? What are our casualties? How many enemies have we captured?"
Jake picked up the data in his hand and reported through the Den Den Mushi.
"We have zero casualties on our side. Eighteen were severely injured, but I've already treated them all. On the enemy side, about 213 were killed and 245 severely wounded. I managed to save around 64 of them. The rest are still under investigation. If they have serious criminal records, I won't offer any help—let them die.
As for prisoners, we've captured cadres led by Lao G. Among the senior cadres, we got Trebol. The other senior cadres—except Vergo who's currently undercover in the Marines—have all been killed. Diamante, Pica, and even the leader of the Donquixote Family, Doflamingo, are dead.
Of course, Rosinante is still alive and unharmed. I didn't let him participate in yesterday's battle, and in the end, I had him personally send Doflamingo off."
Hearing this, Sengoku's voice softened slightly as he said to Jake.
"Thank you, Jake. You've been very considerate in this matter. When you return, I'll personally treat you and Monet to a good meal. Additionally, the results of this battle are excellent. I'll gather opinions from other officers later and officially promote you from Commodore to Marine Headquarters Rear Admiral.
As for Monet, her contributions this time are also significant. She'll be directly promoted to Commodore. But I must tell you in advance—if one day you become a Vice Admiral and Monet becomes a Rear Admiral, you two might not be able to operate together anymore.
At that point, you'll each need to command your own battleship. After all, we're short on personnel for two Marine Headquarters flag officers."
Hearing this, Monet's expression darkened slightly.
She looked at the Den Den Mushi, about to say something, but Jake spoke first.
"Apologies, Fleet Admiral Sengoku, but I can't agree to that. The ship I'm planning to build will be five or six times larger than an ordinary battleship. With my strength alone, I definitely won't be able to command it alone, so I'll need Monet's cooperation."
Hearing this, Sengoku's face darkened as he retorted.
"You foolish brat! Bigger doesn't mean better when it comes to battleships! A large battleship requires massive expenses for fuel, compatible weapons, maintenance, and configurations. Even many port facilities would need adjustments for it!
And what about the blueprints? Personnel allocations? What do you need such a huge ship for anyway? Even if we started building it now, it would take at least a year!"
Listening to Sengoku's words, Jake laughed and replied.
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku, I haven't finished speaking. Besides bringing back large amounts of gold from Sky Island, I also obtained the long-lost blueprint for an enormous ship. After returning to Marine Headquarters, I consulted various records and finally learned the ship's name.
The Maxim—a legendary giant ship capable of flying through the skies. If we had this ship, it would be a devastating weapon against pirates in any sea, don't you agree?"
Sengoku was naturally aware of the Maxim ship.
During his training at the Marine Headquarters, aside from ranking in the top three in actual combat, his theoretical knowledge was far ahead, placing first by a wide margin.
For someone as knowledgeable as Sengoku, he was certainly familiar with the Maxim—a legendary flying vessel that often appeared in ancient texts.
"Maxim? The design blueprints for this ship are on Sky Island? And you found them? But do you know what the power source of this ship is? Let me tell you, this ship can only be piloted by one person—the possessor of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.
The operation of the Maxim requires billions of volts of electricity. So far, even Dr. Vegapunk can't manufacture a power source of that level for you in a short time. You're a Seraphim Fruit user, so don't even think about... Wait, you're not telling me your lightning abilities have already reached that level, are you?"
Halfway through his words, Sengoku suddenly froze, asking in astonishment through the Den Den Mushi.
Jake nodded honestly and replied, "Pretty much. At least during my fight with Doflamingo this time, I already released several dozen thunder dragons with 100 million volts each. The Seraphim Fruit is really quite useful—aside from not being able to elementalize, it doesn't feel much different from the Rumble-Rumble Fruit."
Jake deliberately emphasized his fruit's abilities slightly here to avoid trouble later when displaying overly powerful lightning abilities at Marine Headquarters, which might lead to endless questioning.
After hearing Jake's words, Sengoku fell silent for a moment.
"Alright, if you can truly pilot the Ark Maxim, then I believe our Marines will have our own aerial forces in the future! That would give us more means to cross the Red Line and deal with all sorts of sky-borne Pirates!
I agree to this. If you can actually build such a warship for me in the end, one capable of long-distance travel, then I'll grant you some special privileges—your ship will have multiple Marine Headquarters officers aboard!"
"Don't worry, Sengoku-san, I won't let you down on this. By the way, what about my seniors, Sakazuki and Borsalino? Do they know about this yet?"
A lecherous voice suddenly came from the other end of the Den Den Mushi.
"Im sooooooooo happy~ Little Jake, you still remember me~"