New World, G-Gas-04 Sea Area
Although the storm had already passed, the sea was still filled with the lingering smell of gunpowder… and an extremely thick scent of money.
The massive golden ship Gran Tesoro was quietly anchored on the ocean.
The once-arrogant "Golden Emperor" Tesoro was now tightly bound like a dumpling and tossed into a corner of the deck, guarded by several elite G-5 soldiers, personnel Rehn had brought with him.
Meanwhile, on the top terrace of this mobile golden city, the final tally of the spoils of war was underway.
"Hehe… heheh…"
Nami was sprawled across a table made entirely of gold, rapidly punching numbers into a calculator. Her orange eyes sparkled like gold coins.
"Besides the value of the ship itself… plus the cash flow Tesoro has scraped together over the past few years… and those hidden accounts from the underground businesses…"
Clack.
The pen slipped from Nami's hand and fell onto the table.
She looked like she had been struck by lightning made of happiness. Her body went limp as she collapsed into a pile of gold bars, wearing a dreamy, foolish grin.
"This isn't just getting rich… this is nation-level wealth! Forget building Renzo a backyard, there's enough gold here to pave an entire road back to Marineford!"
Beside her, Rehn stood with his hands behind his back, belly sticking out proudly as he faced the sea breeze and inspected the giant ship that would soon become Lord Renzo's palace.
His black cloak, embroidered on the back with the golden words "Efficiency Above All", flapped loudly in the wind.
"Miss Nami."
Rehn adjusted his monocle and spoke in an extremely professional, steady tone.
"Please control your expression. Your drool is about to land on Lord Renzo's floor. This ship has now been registered as a fixed asset of the G-5 Branch, meaning it is Lord Renzo's private property. As the financial consultant, your current loss of composure is extremely… inefficient."
"Shut up, you fat idiot!"
Nami sprang up like a carp and wiped her mouth while waving her fist.
"I'm happy about Lord Renzo's wealth! Do you know how much money this is?! Do you know how long it'll take me to count it all?!"
"I don't need to know the exact number."
Rehn glanced at her calmly, a fanatical smile appearing on his face.
"I only need to know that these things can make Lord Renzo's mattress a little softer and his afternoon tea desserts a little more expensive. That's enough. As for numbers? Those are just boring scales mortals use to measure value."
"…."
Nami rolled her eyes.
There was no communicating with Renzo's die-hard cultist.
"Alright, prepare to set sail."
Rehn turned around and glanced at the unconscious Tesoro in the corner, his eyes filled with disdain.
"Package up this former landlord properly. This ship is too large, and we can't delay Lord Renzo's dinner time, so we'll use special methods to tow it back faster."
Rehn raised one finger. Blue electric arcs danced at the tip.
He planned to use the power of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit to give the golden ship an electromagnetic boost.
Just then- "Coo coo coo!"
A news bird wearing a pilot cap and carrying its signature red satchel flapped through the clouds and landed on the shining ship's railing.
"Hm? A news bird?"
Nami blinked in surprise.
"In such a remote and dangerous sea area? That's a bit too dedicated, isn't it?"
"Coo! (One newspaper, one hundred Berries!)"
The bird stretched out its wings and made a familiar gesture asking for money.
"One hundred Berries? Why don't you just rob someone!" Nami instinctively clutched her wallet.
"Pay it."
Rehn casually snapped off a small piece of gold from a decoration nearby and flicked it perfectly into the bird's satchel.
"As Lord Renzo's steward, obtaining the latest world intelligence and filtering out any noise that might disturb him is the most efficient workflow."
"Coo!!"
The news bird's eyes instantly went wide at the sight of gold. It quickly dropped an urgent extra edition of the newspaper and flew away as fast as possible, afraid Rehn might change his mind.
"What a wasteful idiot…" Nami muttered painfully while watching the gold disappear.
Rehn ignored her complaints and caught the falling newspaper with his chubby hand.
Originally, he only intended to glance at it casually, checking if some pirate crew had caused trouble or if the Revolutionary Army had stirred up some pointless noise somewhere.
However, the moment his eyes landed on the bold, black, blood-red headline on the front page…
Rehn's usually squinting eyes suddenly shot wide open.
Wide.
Even the elegant aura he usually maintained faltered slightly from extreme shock. The electric current at his fingertip crackled and accidentally scorched a nearby expensive plant.
"T-This…"
Rehn's hands began trembling.
Not from fear, from excitement.
"Hey fatty, what's wrong? Did you have a stroke?"
Nami leaned closer curiously.
"What does the newspaper say? Did someone's bounty go up or something?"
She looked over his shoulder.
The next second, "W-WHAAAAAT?!!!"
Nami's high-pitched scream pierced the sky, even louder than when she discovered the gold earlier.
On the newspaper's front page was a huge photograph.
In the picture, the man who always wore sunglasses and a yellow-and-white striped suit, usually showing that lazy, slightly sleazy smile, stood at the highest point of Marineford.
Behind him fluttered a brand-new cloak symbolizing supreme authority:
The cloak of the Fleet Admiral.
Above the image, a shocking headline blazed like thunder:
[WORLD SHOCKED! The "Light" of the New Era! Marine Admiral "Kizaru officially becomes the new Fleet Admiral of the Marines!]
[Sub-headline: "Absolute Justice" Akainu fails to secure the position? Will "Lazy Justice" become the new mainstream? Where will the world order head next?!]
"K-Kizaru… Fleet Admiral?!"
Nami covered her mouth, eyes nearly popping out.
"That slow-talking old guy who looks even less serious than Renzo… actually became the Fleet Admiral?!"
"You're kidding! Didn't everyone say the terrifying Akainu was guaranteed to win?!"
This completely overturned everyone's expectations.
Across the world, people believed the next Fleet Admiral would definitely be the iron-fisted Akainu.
Who could have imagined that the final winner would be the man who clocked in and out of work every day while constantly saying "how scary~"?
"Haha… hahahaha…"
A low chuckle erupted from Rehn's throat, then exploded into wild laughter.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!!"
Rehn laughed toward the sky, his fat shaking wildly and tears streaming down his face.
"We won! I knew it! I knew it!!"
He raised the newspaper high like a victory banner and shouted excitedly to Nami.
"Miss Nami! Do you see this?! This is Lord Renzo's power! This is the ultimate victory of efficiency!!"
"Huh? What does this have to do with Renzo?" Nami looked confused. "Isn't this just a Marine Headquarters election?"
"Foolish! Too shallow!"
Rehn had already entered a state of fanatical over-analysis.
Pointing at Kizaru's smiling face in the newspaper, he passionately explained like a detective who had uncovered the truth of the world.
"Think about it! In this world, who hates trouble the most? Who hates overtime the most? Who hates Akainu's insane habit of turning the entire sea upside down?"
"It's Lord Renzo!!"
"And who is Admiral Kizaru? He's Lord Renzo's perfect vacation partner! The soulmate who soaked in hot springs and drank afternoon tea with him on Fish-Man Island!"
Rehn's eyes sharpened dramatically.
"I heard about it back when we were in G-5! Lord Renzo intended to support Kizaru for Fleet Admiral!"
"And now the result is here!"
"Akainu lost! Kizaru took the throne!"
"What does that mean?!"
Rehn slapped his thigh loudly.
"It means Lord Renzo's will has already surpassed Marine Headquarters itself!!"
"This must have been Lord Renzo strategizing behind the scenes! Using his unmatched wisdom to kick that noisy troublemaker Akainu out and personally push the efficiency-loving Admiral Kizaru onto the throne!"
"Oh heavens…"
Rehn's eyes filled with emotional tears as he clasped his hands and bowed toward the direction of G-5.
"Why did Lord Renzo do all this? For power? For status?"
"No!!"
"He did it simply so he can sleep peacefully in the future! So he won't be disturbed by forced overtime orders! So the paid vacation system of the G-5 Branch can remain permanently legal!!"
"What foresight! What moving… laziness!!"
Nami: "…"
She stared at the completely deranged fat man in front of her, her lips twitching.
It sounded ridiculous…
But thinking about Renzo's personality…
Interfering with the Fleet Admiral election just to avoid overtime actually sounded like something he might do.
"And besides…"
Rehn suddenly stopped laughing and showed an extremely sly, ahem, wise smile.
He pointed to a small line of text in the corner of the newspaper.
[Rumor: Former Admirals Akainu and Aokiji nearly fought due to ideological conflict, but under the suggestion of a mysterious big figure, the duel was ultimately canceled…]
"See that? A mysterious big figure!"
Rehn adjusted his glasses; the lenses flashed.
"Besides Lord Renzo, who else could be called a mysterious big figure? Who else could stop those two lunatic Logia users?"
"This proves that not only the result, but even the process was under Lord Renzo's control!"
"If Kizaru becomes Fleet Admiral, the Marines' future style…"
Rehn closed his eyes, already envisioning the wonderful future.
No endless emergency summons.
No hysterical justice speeches.
Only the sound of the end-of-work bell and relaxed afternoon tea.
"That will be such a quiet, peaceful, efficient new era!"
"I can't wait!"
Rehn suddenly grabbed the still-dazed Nami, stuffed her into the ship's cabin, and dashed toward the control room.
"We must immediately, right now, bring this gold and this good news back to Lord Renzo!"
"This is a double celebration!"
"Lord Renzo will surely be so happy that he… rolls over and goes back to sleep!!"
"Full speed ahead!!"
Crackle!!
Rehn transformed into a human power generator again, pouring hundreds of millions of volts into the ship's propulsion system after his violent modifications.
ROOOAR!!
Terrifying blue electric arcs blasted from the back of the golden ship.
The entire vessel shot forward across the sea like a beast that had been kicked, leaving an exaggerated golden trail behind it as it sped toward the G-5 Branch!
"HEY!! Slow down, you fat idiot!! My gold is going to spill out!!"
Nami's screams were left behind in the wind.
.....
Meanwhile, far away at Marine Headquarters.
Inside the office of the new Fleet Admiral.
Kizaru sat lifelessly behind the desk that once belonged to Sengoku, staring at the mountain of paperwork piled before him, wearing an expression of pure suffering.
"Ahh, this really is, being completely tricked by Renzo-kun…"
"I want to go back to G-5 and soak in the hot springs…"
....
[email protected]/DaoistJinzu