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"Report!!"
The high-ranking civil servant was flustered, quickly offering a salute.
Akira didn't pay much attention; he had seen this sort of thing many times before.
Back when he was a Vice Admiral, soldiers on the warship often acted the same way.
He shook his head and walked toward the door.
"The rest is up to you. If you need anything, contact me through the deputy staff officer.
"Oh, right…."
Just as he was about to step out the door, he paused.
"Civilians can lie a little less, but pirates, mafia, rich brats, etc., go ahead and play tough. Try to squeeze them dry and bankrupt them.
"Use your brains and think about how to keep pulling money from them. Say you need berries to eat after being released or need a large sum to buy a boat to pick someone up."
"Also, gather and organize information on those who tried to rescue Roger.
"Wait ten days, then have the soldiers check up on them. Either they pay a fine or spend a few days in jail."
After Akira finished speaking, he continued walking.
As he walked, he complained to Kong beside him, "They still want to share the world with Roger? Sounds like potential criminals to me."
The two figures gradually drifted away.
Just before disappearing, someone quickly asked, "Should we check the water meter for those with a lot of money?"
Akira froze and waved his hands quickly.
"Ahem, forget about that. Just remember not to reveal your identity."
"If someone asks why they're depositing in the Marine Bank, make up a reason so they don't think the Marines are deceiving them through the bank."
"And don't feel guilty. Remember, what we're doing is justice."
It wasn't until the door closed again that the deputy staff officer clapped his hands.
"Alright, listen up!"
"These documents have been printed overtime, and in the next three days, pigeons will deliver them worldwide."
"At that time, soldiers and other World Government colleagues around the world will help post them."
"And your task is to stand by the Den Den Mushi. If someone calls, imitate the guards of Gold Roger and the Queen's entourage and get them to transfer money."
To avoid confusion, we'll divide into several groups.
"Rosinante…"
When his name was suddenly called, Rosinante was startled but quickly stood up: "Here!"
"Starting today, you're in charge of posing as a money-loving executioner and tricking berries out of anyone calling to save Roger."
"Yes!" Rosinante swallowed and sat back down.
"Larry."
"Here!"
"You're in charge of pretending to be the chief guard of the Queen. I assume you know the specific steps and words, right?"
"Please don't worry, sir. I've memorized everything during Master Akira's presentation. But I have one question…"
"Go ahead."
"What should I do if the other party asks to speak with Queen Alice?"
"I've already notified all the female soldiers in the headquarters to be on standby outside, ready to assist at any time."
"Then I'm all set."
"Alright, everyone, get to work! For the sake of justice, we're going to scam 1 trillion berries within half a month."
"Roar!"
"Fleet Admiral Kong, why are you looking at me like that?"
As Akira walked down the corridor toward the office, he suddenly asked.
Ever since they left the Fraud Department, Kong had been acting strange. He kept a meter of distance and occasionally glanced at Akira's chest.
"Hey! Akira, I know everything you've done is for justice."
"But I have to ask, don't you feel even a little guilty coming up with so many schemes?"
Kong had obviously been holding back this question for a while.
Guilty?
Akira paused, his eyes showing a complex expression.
"Yeah, if money's lost, you can always earn it back."
"But if you lose your conscience…"
He raised his right hand, pressing down on his chest, his tone somber.
Seeing this, Kong felt both relieved and guilty. It seemed to him that Akira was troubled by the deceit they were using to gather money. But for the sake of the Marine, justice, and providing berries for the soldiers, Akira was willing to sacrifice his conscience.
And what about himself as a Fleet Admiral? Not only did he fail to help, but he even made sarcastic comments.
It's easy to criticize when you're not the one making the hard choices.
Just as Kong was about to offer some comfort, Akira suddenly grinned and said something that made him freeze.
"Earn more!"
Kong:
What?
Lose your conscience, just earn more?
Am I hearing things?
Isn't that something villains say?
Akira ignored Kong's bewildered look, stuffed his hands into his pockets, and kept walking.
"Actually, if you think about it differently, I'm doing this for the people."
"After our deception, they'll be less likely to get scammed in the future.
"So in a way, they should thank us."
"After all, we're not asking for much, just 10,000 to 100,000 berries."
"If it were someone else, they wouldn't stop until they'd bled them dry."
There's no special skill needed for fraud. Anyone can do it. The real question is whether they're successful, which depends on their ability.
It's easy to foresee that when this kind of scam becomes widely known, some "smart villains" will try to exploit it, spreading to every corner of the world.
Those who haven't paid the Marine's "IQ tax" will lose as much as the scammers' conscience allows.
People learn from others, but if you teach them, they'll catch on quickly.
Those who've paid the IQ tax will not only avoid falling for scams in the future but also build resistance to various forms of deception.
And the little berries they paid? Consider it the tuition fee to the Marine, a small price for the lesson learned, right?
And that tuition? It won't be used for luxury but turned into stronger forces to kill pirates and protect civilians worldwide.
"Good guy, 1 trillion berries is small?" Kong grinned.
"It depends on the scale. We've got the full backing of the World Government, and this time we're targeting tens of millions of people worldwide."
Akira shook his head and explained, "The 1 trillion berries will be spread out among everyone who got tricked. It's really not that much."
"Alright, this is your area of expertise. I don't get it, but are you really sure you can pull in that much with these tricks?"
"Absolutely."
Akira's smile was confident as he nodded.
While these deceptions might seem simple, don't underestimate them.
Back on Blue Star, countless people became millionaires or even multi-millionaires through similar means.
And this is the world of pirates, where it's even easier to pull off such scams.
If Blue Star's average IQ is considered normal, then the average IQ in the Pirate World is practically in the negatives.
According to Bluestar Real News, a simple line like, "I am Qin Shihuang, I need money!" swindled a female boss out of 150,000 soft girl coins.
In the world of Pirates, using "I am Gold Roger, I need money!" to scam 1.5 million berries or even 15 million berries isn't too far-fetched, right?
Kong's head was filled with black lines, but he knew better than to argue.
In the current situation, no one but Akira could solve the crisis facing the Marines. If Akira hadn't proven himself with the Honey Plan before, Kong wouldn't feel comfortable letting him run wild like this.
"Huh? Where are you going?"
As they reached the end of the corridor, near the Vice Admiral's office, Kong noticed Akira turning to head inside.
Kong stopped him immediately.
"Going back to my Vice Admiral position," Akira replied.
"Aren't you staying on the top floor?"
"That's the Fleet Admiral's office. Since you, the full-time Fleet Admiral, are back, I, as an acting Fleet Admiral, shouldn't stay there any longer."
"Don't be ridiculous; we don't have time to worry about formalities."
Without hesitation, Kong grabbed Akira and pulled him back, stepping into the Vice Admiral's office to block the door.
"Right now, the headquarters needs you to manage everything. How can anyone find you if you're not in the Fleet Admiral's office?"
"They can find me in the Vice Admiral's office."
"Why make things harder? Just stay where you belong."
"Alright, I'll overstep my position, then."
Seeing that Kong was serious, Akira adjusted his glasses. At this stage, the Fleet Admiral's office was indeed the most suitable place for him to operate from. Generals carrying out missions and officers relaying orders needed to consult with him daily. Changing offices would only waste time and cause confusion.
"By the way, Akira, what's going on with your Marine Bank?"
Just as Akira was about to disappear down the corridor, Kong suddenly asked.
With his back turned, Akira's eyes glinted behind his glasses.
"To more conveniently collect all the berries earned and scammed, I modeled it after banks in other kingdoms and set up a bank belonging to the Marines."
"It's just for collecting money, right? No other purpose?"
"Not just that; it has other functions. The specific details are in the documents I handed over to the Five Elders in the Holy Land."
"Oh, alright then. But if there are any new measures not covered in those documents, make sure to report them immediately."
"Of course!"
Akira took a deep breath and continued on his way, heading back to the marshal's office.
Once seated, Akira didn't immediately review the documents. Instead, he lit a cigar, leaned back in his chair, and stared at the ceiling. Thick smoke swirled around him, obscuring his face and hiding any expression.
After a long silence, he muttered to himself, "Marine Bank… An overlooked gem."
Time is money.
When the powers of the sea act with full force, the impact is immense.
Not to mention, all departments under the World Government were fully cooperating.
In a short time, the Ministry of Information had produced mountains of pamphlets detailing various scams.
None of the news pigeons were kept; they all flew off to distribute the leaflets worldwide. They scattered them over islands and towns, ensuring no place was missed.
And every small town and island under Marine and World Government influence established a "Marine Bank Branch" on the same day.
The branches were mostly empty shells, staffed by only a few people. But that was enough—Akira had set them up solely to better manage the influx of fraudulent money.
Back at Marineford, the "Fraud Department" was overwhelmed. The Den Den Mushi were all worn out from constant use, some even breaking down completely, unable to recover for several days.
Staff members worked in three shifts, on call 24 hours a day, dealing with an endless stream of callers.
Rosinante was utterly exhausted.
Pere~Pere~Pere~Pere~
Another call came in.
He answered it mechanically, listened to the caller's demands, and finally repeated, in a dull tone:
"One hundred thousand berries, standard rate."
"There are two ways to send the money."
"One, deposit it at the nearest Marine Bank branch, and name the recipient as the execution officer."
"The other, take your 100,000 berries to a Marine Base, put it in a package, and label it for the executioner."
"You want to confirm if it's really Roger? Send the money first, and I'll make sure you get to talk to him."
Click.
After saying the final words, Rosinante hung up without hesitation.
Although his approach was rough and his tone harsh, countless examples had shown that the person on the other end would undoubtedly gather the money and deliver it to the designated location.
To be honest, after over 20 years of life, Rosinante realized something for the first time—
Making money is absurdly easy.
He glanced around discreetly.
The entire space he could see was packed. Colleagues were all holding their Den Den Mushi, engaged in seemingly endless conversations. The expressions on their faces were a mix of numbness and excitement.
This was normal.
Anyone repeating the same task daily would feel numb. But with every call bringing in large amounts of berries, it was only natural to be excited.
The odd thing, however, was that although the civil servants were clearly talking to their Den Den Mushi, the entire office was eerily quiet—no sound was coming out.
"Phew."
The deputy staff officer, inspecting the area while smoking a cigarette, approached Rosinante's desk and patted him on the shoulder appreciatively.
"Your silencing ability is really something special. It's been a huge help."
"It keeps the callers from wondering why it's so noisy on our end."
"And it ensures no one can gather evidence that our staff is involved in any scams."
"From today, you're officially the technical director of our fraud department."
Rosinante: "..."
Is this really how my ability is supposed to be used?
---
New World
"Boss Kaido, Boss Kaido! Roger isn't dead!"
A pirate minion rushed forward, waving a leaflet excitedly.
"Roger's not dead? Seriously? Worororo"
The massive figure of Kaido, sitting cross-legged and heavily drunk, hiccuped as he heard the news.
"Bring it to me."
Kaido snatched the leaflet from the minion and examined it closely.
[Hello, I am Gold Roger. I wasn't executed in Loguetown.]
[…]
The more he read, the more Kaido's drunken eyes widened.
"Alright, give him 100000 berries."
"I want to see if Roger is really still alive."
"If he's been freed, this world's about to get a lot more interesting. Worororo…"
In a large, dark room, a sliver of light suddenly poured in from the open door.
A tall, slender figure entered, holding a leaflet in hand, speaking in a deep voice.
"Mama, there's news circulating, but I'm not sure if it's true."
"Take a look."
As the words were spoken, the massive figure on the bed shifted.
"Katakuri, you better hope this makes up for the huge mistake of interrupting my sweet dreams."
Two red eyes opened, and a large hand reached out to grab the flyer.
When the familiar bearded face appeared before her eyes, a powerful surge of Haki erupted from the bed.
"Roger, that filthy thief!"
"He only became the Pirate King because he stole my Poneglyph!"
"Go! Transfer as much money as needed to that so-called executioner and bring Roger to me, no matter the cost!"
Big Mom got up, glaring at the flyer, her teeth grinding in fury.
Rip.
The flyer was torn apart, scattering its pieces into the air.