Somewhere in the North Blue, on an unnamed deserted island.
This island was not even marked on the official sea charts; it was surrounded by jagged, dense reefs and shrouded in a thick mist year-round. Aside from the occasional stray seabird, even the most desperate pirates were not willing to visit such a godforsaken place. But today, it was exceptionally bustling with activity.
"Hurry up! Move that box inside! Handle it with care, it is fragile!"
Kane stood on the sandy beach, directing a massive slide that Kuzan had constructed out of solid ice to send massive, sealed boxes sliding into a deep underground cavern. Sakazuki was standing at the entrance, using his magma to fuse the surrounding rocks together to seal the cavern shut. He even fired the stones until they achieved a granite-like texture, striving for absolute flawlessness in the concealment. Borsalino, meanwhile, used a Log Pose to carefully record the island's unique magnetic field.
Five hours later.
Treasure worth over fifty billion Berries was buried deep beneath the ground of this deserted island. As the sun began to set, it cast long, flickering shadows of the four men across the sand. Standing on the deck of the warship and watching the receding island, Kane felt his heart practically bleeding.
That was money! That was fifty billion Berries! Although it was nominally under their collective management, burying so much money in the dirt to gather dust felt worse than killing him.
Having finally dealt with the "loot," the warship set sail once again.
Back at the center of the deck, over two hundred Marine Soldiers were lined up in neat rows. Each one of them looked longingly at the small stack of boxes left behind on the deck, which contained about fifteen billion Berries. Though they did not know the exact total amount, everyone knew it was a massive fortune just from the heavy weight they had felt while moving the crates.
Kane cleared his throat and walked to the front of the ranks.
"Ahem! Comrades! Everyone worked hard on this trip to the North Blue!" Kane had a dead serious expression, his gaze sweeping across every single face in the crowd. "Facing a vicious enemy like Germa, you did not shrink back or show fear. You perfectly demonstrated the style of the Headquarters' elite! I am proud of you!"
The soldiers straightened their chests with pride; although they had not done much besides shouting cheers from the safety of the ship, being praised by a superior officer always felt good.
"However!" Kane's tone shifted, becoming heavy and somber. "This mission was extremely dangerous and involved high-level World Government secrets. I do not want any details of this mission leaked to the public, lest it cause unnecessary panic among the civilians. This is for the sake of the stability of the world!"
Kane gave a grand wave of his hand, and several nearby boxes popped open with a click.
Clatter!
Bundles of Berries were exposed to the open air, the sight stimulating everyone's optic nerves.
"There is one hundred million Berries here," Kane said calmly. "Though it is not much, this is illegal income seized from Germa. According to the strict regulations, all of this money must be turned in."
The soldiers' eyes dimmed with disappointment, and the sound of people swallowing saliva could be heard one after another in the quiet.
"But!" Kane suddenly raised his voice, "I believe that regulations are dead, but people are alive! Making brothers bleed, sweat, and then cry is not my Justice! This one hundred million Berries should be given to all the brothers here as a special allowance!"
The entire area went silent for a heartbeat. A second later, a boom of noise erupted.
"Holy crap?!"
"One hundred million? Split between two hundred of us?"
"That is five hundred thousand each?! We are rich!!"
"That is five years' worth of my salary!"
The soldiers were boiling with excitement, their eyes turning red with joy. Five hundred thousand Berries was an absolute fortune for these low-level Marine Soldiers!
"But since you have taken this money, I think everyone knows what should be said and what should not, right?" Kane asked with a knowing smile. "How much did we seize this time?"
The soldiers looked at each other and then shouted in unison: "Reporting to Warrant Officer Kane! We seized fourteen billion, nine hundred million Berries! Definitely no more!"
"The rest was all incinerated by Lord Sakazuki's magma!" a clever Sergeant shouted loudly from the back.
Sakazuki's face twitched at the mention, but he did not argue with the lie.
"Very good!" Kane nodded with satisfaction. "Distribute the money!"
Cheers shook the very sky, even scaring away the fish in the surrounding sea.
"Long live Warrant Officer Kane!"
"Long live Justice!"
What Germa? What vault? They only knew that following Officer Kane meant there was meat to eat! Was this money too hot to handle? No! This was a reward for Justice! Looking at this group of accomplices beaming with money, the ache in Kane's heart eased slightly. Spending a hundred million to buy the silence of two hundred loyal men was not a bad deal at all.
Night fell.
The warship sailed smoothly through the waves. The soldiers were partying in the lower deck, the sound of counting money echoing through the halls. Kane hid alone in the toilet of the Captain's cabin, locked the door, and sat on the toilet. He felt very empty right now. The sense of loss from having tens of billions pass through his hands only to become penniless again in the blink of an eye made him desperately need a bit of excitement to fill the void.
"System, open the panel."
A light blue screen unfolded on his retina.
[Host: Kane]
[Disciplinary Violation points: 90,000]
Looking at that figure approaching six digits, Kane's breathing became rapid. Excluding the original forty-odd thousand, this trip to Germa—whether it was the extortion, the vandalism, or finally setting up a private slush fund, corrupting colleagues, and bribing subordinates—every single act had brought him a massive amount of points.
"Almost a hundred thousand points..."
"As long as I pull one top-tier ability, I will have the capital to truly protect myself in this world!" Kane grit his teeth, his eyes turning frantic. "System! Give me a big one! Open the Lucky Gacha Wheel! Invest 50,000 Disciplinary Violation points!!"
[Ding! Warning: This is a high-risk, high-reward gamble. Confirm spending 50,000 Disciplinary Violation points for one wheel spin?]
"Confirm! Spin it! It is all or nothing tonight!"
Kane felt his palms sweating. Fifty thousand points! How long had he been saving that up? If he pulled some garbage, he would jump straight into the sea and end it all. Following Kane's thought, a massive wheel that only he could see appeared on his retina. The wheel emitted an ancient and mysterious aura, densely packed with various rewards.
The pointer began to spin. Vroom—
The pointer flew past.
[Zanpakuto: Ryujin Jakka]... passed.
[Super Saiyan Bloodline]... slid past.
[Doraemon's Spare Pocket]... also passed.
Kane's heart was in his throat as he stared fixedly at the red pointer.
"Stop! Stop! Oh crap, don't pass that one!"
The pointer swept past a causality-based skill called [100 percent Probability of Being Caught by Bare Hands], and Kane broke into a cold sweat. This thing was strong, but it was too humiliating; it did not fit his heroic and upright persona. The wheel's speed slowed down more and more. Bizarre prizes flickered before his eyes.
[Marine Rokushiki: Esoteric Book]... Garbage, don't want it.
[Top-tier Observation Haki]... Somewhat useful, but not exciting enough.
[I Don't Want to Get Hurt, so I will Max Out My Defense]... What kind of ghost talent is this? Get lost!
[Thank You for Playing]... The pointer wobbled dangerously toward this black slot.
"No! Bro! System Daddy! Don't mess with me!" Kane clasped his hands together, frantically praying to the air, "I am willing to trade Sakazuki's luck with women for a lifetime for one grand prize!!"
It seemed some mysterious sacrifice had taken effect. As if it had exhausted its last bit of strength, the pointer slowly and laboriously scraped past the edge of the black slot and stopped in the center of a slot emitting a pure cyan light. At this moment, golden light filled the toilet!
[Ding! Congratulations to the Host! You have been possessed by the Emperor of Luck!]
[Obtained Logia: Top-tier Devil Fruit!]
[Issuing reward...]
A strangely shaped fruit appeared out of thin air in Kane's hand. It was deep cyan all over, its skin covered in white spiral patterns that looked like flowing gas. It felt light as a feather in his hand. Kane took a deep breath and clicked on the item description.
His pupils dilated instantly.
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