The sea breeze howled.
The deck was dead silent.
Kuzan looked at Tatsuki's back, a flash of shock in his eyes under his sleep mask. Although his reason told him something was wrong, Tatsuki's words indeed made his blood boil.
Borsalino put away the lewd smile on his face and fell into a rare, serious silence.
As for Sakazuki... he raised his head, the confusion in his eyes dissipating, replaced by a determination from finding a path.
"Stop joking, Tatsuki."
Sakazuki stood up, walked to Tatsuki's side, and placed his hot, large hand on Tatsuki's shoulder.
"Since it is the fire of justice, then it should be guarded by all of us together. I agree to withhold these fifty billion."
Sakazuki's voice was powerful and resonant. "For justice, what does it matter even if we bear the blame?"
"If Headquarters investigates..." Sakazuki raised his head, a flash of ruthlessness in his eyes. "Just say I burned it."
"Ara ara, since even Sakazuki has said so..." Kuzan lay back down in the pile of money, grabbed a handful of gold coins, and tossed them into the air.
"Count me in. Anyway, I've been annoyed with those Celestial Dragons for a long time."
"Since everyone has no objection, then I won't be polite. I've had my eye on that gold teacup for a long time." Borsalino laughed.
Looking at these three future highest combat powers of the Marines who had 'gotten their hands dirty,' the corners of Tatsuki's lips curled up.
They're hooked.
As long as your hands are stained with this money, don't even think about leaving my thief's ship for the rest of your lives.
[Ding! Host has corrupted the future Three Admirals of the Marines and established an illegal slush fund!]
[Judgment: Deceiving superiors and subordinates, forming a clique for private gain. The nature is extremely bad!]
[Subversion level: Extremely high! Subversion level is off the charts!]
[Congratulations to the Host! Obtained a massive amount of Violation Points: 10,000!]
Hearing the wonderful prompt in his mind, Tatsuki smiled brilliantly.
"Comrades! For justice! Let's divide the loot... oh no, make a deposit!"
—
Somewhere in the North Blue, an unnamed deserted island.
This island wasn't even marked on the sea charts, it was surrounded by dense reefs and shrouded in mist year-round. Aside from the occasional seabird, even pirates weren't willing to visit such a godforsaken place. But today, it was exceptionally bustling.
"Hurry up! Move that box inside! Handle it with care, it's fragile!"
Tatsuki stood on the beach, directing a slide Kuzan had made of ice to send massive sealed boxes into an underground cavern.
Sakazuki was using his magma to fuse rocks together to seal the cavern entrance, even firing the stones to a granite-like texture, striving for flawlessness.
Borsalino, meanwhile, used a Log Pose to record the island's magnetic field.
Five hours later.
Treasure worth over fifty billion Berries was buried deep beneath the ground of this deserted island.
As the sun set, it cast long shadows of the four men.
Standing on the deck of the warship and watching the receding island, Tatsuki felt his heart bleeding.
That was money!
That was fifty billion!
Although it was nominally under collective management, burying so much money in the dirt to gather dust felt worse than killing him.
Having 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 looking longingly at the stack of boxes left behind, which contained about fifteen billion Berries.
Though they didn't know the exact amount, everyone knew it was a fortune from the heavy weight they felt while moving them.
Tatsuki cleared his throat and walked to the front of the ranks.
"Ahem! Comrades! Everyone worked hard on this trip to the North Blue!"
Tatsuki had a serious expression, his gaze sweeping across every face.
"Facing a vicious enemy like Germa, you did not shrink back or fear, perfectly demonstrating the style of the Headquarters' elite! I am proud of you!"
The soldiers straightened their chests. Although they hadn't done much besides shouting cheers on the ship, being praised always felt good.
"However!"
Tatsuki's tone shifted, becoming heavy. "This mission was extremely dangerous and involved World Government secrets. I do not want any details of this mission leaked, lest it cause panic among civilians. This is for the stability of the world."
Tatsuki gave a grand wave of his hand, and several nearby boxes popped open.
Clatter!
Bundles of Berries were exposed to the air, stimulating everyone's optic nerves.
"There is one hundred million Berries here."
Tatsuki said calmly, "Though it's not much, this is illegal income seized from Germa. According to regulations, all of this money must be turned in."
The soldiers' eyes dimmed, and the sound of people swallowing saliva could be heard one after another.
"But!"
Tatsuki 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.
A second later.
"Holy crap?!"
"One hundred million? Split between two hundred of us?"
"Five hundred thousand each?! We're rich!"
"That's five years' worth of my salary!"
The soldiers were boiling with excitement, their eyes turning red. Five hundred thousand Berries was an absolute fortune for these low-level Marine Soldiers.
"But since you've taken this money, I think everyone knows what should be said and what shouldn't, right?" Tatsuki asked with a smile. "How much did we seize this time?"
The soldiers looked at each other and then shouted in unison, "Reporting to Warrant Officer Tatsuki! We seized fourteen billion, nine hundred million Berries! Definitely no more!"
"The rest was all incinerated by Sakazuki-san's magma!" A clever sergeant shouted loudly.
Sakazuki's face twitched, but he didn't argue.
"Very good!" Tatsuki nodded with satisfaction. "Distribute the money!"
Cheers shook the sky, even scaring away the fish in the sea.
"Long live Tatsuki!"
"Long live Justice!"
What Germa? What vault?
They only knew that following Tatsuki 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 Tatsuki's heart eased slightly. Spending a hundred million to buy the silence of two hundred loyal men wasn't a bad deal.
(End of Chapter)
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