The silence in the office lasted for a full minute.
Finally, Kong let out a long breath, picked up his pen again, and signed a top-secret document. His movements were smooth and flowing, as if he had practiced them countless times.
"As for the complaint from Judge... Sengoku, you handle it."
Kong's voice was low, carrying an unquestionable authority. "Reply to the World Government: due to an irresistible storm at sea, most of the illicit funds fell into the deep sea and cannot be recovered. After enduring great hardships, the Marines recovered only five billion Berries, all of which has been handed over."
"As for Germa's losses..."
Kong looked up and gave Tatsuki a deep look. "Since it was a shipwreck, it was the will of heaven. Dismissed."
"Kyahahaha! I knew you couldn't bear to let go of that money!"
Garp finally couldn't help but laugh loudly, slapping the sofa so hard it boomed, tears coming out from laughing.
"Tatsuki kid! Well done! I've been annoyed with those people above for a long time! Since this ten billion is staying, can my donut budget also be increased?"
"Get out! Garp!"
Kong glared at Garp, then straightened his face, regaining his authority as Fleet Admiral as he looked at the four of them.
"Although you brought back important 'materials,' you ignored military discipline and used atrocious methods."
"Causing such a big commotion in the North Blue and even nearly causing a diplomatic dispute—if I don't punish you, I can't explain it to the whole army."
Kong suddenly slammed the desk. "Tatsuki, Sakazuki, Borsalino, Kuzan!"
"Present!"
"I sentence you all to half a month of solitary confinement! And six months' salary will be deducted!"
"Reflect well on what 'Justice' is in the confinement room. Especially you, Tatsuki. Write me a hundred-thousand-word self-reflection. Don't you dare come out if you're missing even a single punctuation mark!"
"Yes!"
The four of them saluted in unison and turned to leave, their steps as light as if they were going on vacation.
West Blue, Germa Kingdom.
Still lying on his sickbed, Judge tremblingly received the final verdict document sent by the World Government's CP0.
He opened it with great hope, thinking he would see news of the Marines being severely punished and the huge sum of money being recovered.
However, there was only a cold paragraph on the document:
[Upon investigation, the 'sixty billion loss' stated by your country cannot be verified due to an irresistible storm at sea. The Marines' operation complied with the 'Justice Execution Regulations,' and five billion Berries in illicit funds were recovered and handed over.]
[In view of this, these five billion Berries will be directly credited against your country's Heavenly Tribute for the next three years. All other unreasonable requests are dismissed.]
"F... Five billion?"
Judge stared at the number, his eyes glazing over.
That was sixty-five billion!
How did it end up becoming five billion credited against the Heavenly Tribute? What about the remaining sixty billion?
"Pfft—"
Judge, who had just recovered a bit from his injuries, once again sprayed a bolt of blood toward the sky, his eyes rolling back as he fainted once more.
— — —
Marineford, Third Basement Floor, Confinement Room.
The heavy alloy door slammed shut, completely isolating the noise from the outside world.
Although it was called the Confinement Room, as a place to detain high-ranking officers, the facilities were excessively luxurious, lacking only windows and freedom.
Independent bathrooms, soft beds, and even a spacious common area.
"I can finally sleep." Kuzan pulled down his eye mask, collapsed onto the bed, and instantly fell asleep.
Borsalino slowly walked over to the cabinet in the corner, skillfully retrieved a tea set, and hummed, "Yay. Fifteen days of paid vacation would be even more perfect if I had a newspaper. That terrifying Fleet Admiral Kong won't even let us read the news."
Sakazuki took off his hat and sat on the sofa, his tense body finally relaxing. He looked at his hands, seemingly still savoring the feeling of lying in front of the Fleet Admiral just moments ago.
There was no guilt, as he had imagined. Instead, there was a sense of... exhilaration after breaking free from shackles?
"Stop spacing out, Sakazuki."
Tatsuki grinned as he approached, pulling a brand new deck of playing cards from his pocket and shuffling them with a flourish.
"Since the Fleet Admiral gave us a fifteen-day paid vacation, how can we not have some fun?"
"Come on. Today I'll teach you a new game called 'Uno.' The loser has to treat everyone to a... full-service spa treatment at the Sabaody Archipelago once we get out."
Sakazuki frowned, instinctively wanting to scold this degenerate behavior. "Nonsense! This is the Confinement Room."
"Oh, don't be so serious." Tatsuki shoved the cards into his hands. "Think about it, even if we didn't achieve merit this time, we certainly put in the effort. What's wrong with relaxing a little?"
"And..."
Tatsuki suddenly leaned close to his ear, lowering his voice, his tone full of provocation, "Don't you want to win money from Borsalino? I've been annoyed with him for a long time."
Sakazuki spun his head around, just in time to see Borsalino holding a teacup, revealing a lewd, half-smiling expression through his sunglasses.
"Yay. If Sakazuki is afraid of losing money, I can let you have a handicap."
The veins on Sakazuki's forehead instantly bulged, and the power of the Mag-Mag Fruit nearly spiraled out of control, threatening to burn through the sofa.
"Deal the cards!"
...
Ten minutes later.
A non-human roar erupted from the Confinement Room.
Tatsuki laughed wildly. "Too bad, Sakazuki, my friend, you've taken the narrow path."
Sakazuki trembled with fury, black smoke even rising from his head.
"Bastard! Tatsuki! Did you peek at my cards?!"
"This is slander! This is precise control over the flow of the battle."
[Ding! The Host led the future Three Admirals in mass gambling, severely corrupting the morale of the military!]
[Acquired Violation Points: 3000!]
[Special Achievement Triggered: Marine Gambling King. Additional Reward: Violation Points +500!]
Awesome! This is awesome!
Not only was he winning money from a future Fleet Admiral, but he was also racking up points. Tatsuki looked at the exasperated Sakazuki and felt that this future iron-blooded Fleet Admiral had never been so adorable.
Outside the door, two Marine Soldiers responsible for guarding them exchanged glances, trembling as they listened to the howling coming from inside.
"Is... is this how the monster rookies at Headquarters train?"
"They're probably undergoing some kind of mental confrontation training. It's terrifying."