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In front of the camera, Akira, who had a gentle smile just moments ago, suddenly grew serious.
He frowned and firmly denied the accusations: "This is clearly a disgusting slander."
"I've seen this popular newspaper recently, but the content in it is laughable, a desperate attempt to grab attention."
"I'm a dignified Marine, funded by the taxes of millions of people worldwide. Do you think I need to scam the world for a few berries?"
"Not to mention..."
Akira gestured behind him.
The eyes of the Den Den Mushi shifted to show the vast mountain of gold in the ancient city, fully displayed for the world to see.
"My Marine controls this golden mountain, so what are tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of berries to us?"
"Anyone who believes what's written in that shameless newspaper might as well donate their brains."
Yuki nodded in agreement.
As an outsider, she couldn't help but feel that such accusations were baseless.
Many people around the world shared her sentiment. Even some watching the live broadcast, who had been deceived, were beginning to question themselves.
Yuki had considered skipping over this accusation, but she had agreed to fully clear the Marine's name, so she couldn't end things so quickly.
She picked up a newspaper, pointed to the words, and asked:
"But in this kind of newspaper, some people say that such fraudulent tactics are your typical stratigies!"
Akira sneered at this: "Can you really believe what pirates say? Does anyone think pirates would say anything good about the Marine?"
Yuki smiled sweetly, showing her dimples: "You're right, that was a foolish question."
Pirates have a terrible reputation. Even before the Great Pirate Era, they were synonymous with lies, betrayal, ugliness, and all sorts of evil...
All the derogatory terms you can think of.
Words like promises, passion, freedom, and inspiration only apply to a select few.
Would you believe a pirate?
Anyone who says they would is just asking to be laughed at.
"Then Fleet Admiral Akira, many people who were defrauded had their berries deposited in the Marine Bank or stored at Marine Bases."
"Furthermore, after you became Fleet Admiral, this kind of deceit suddenly stopped. How would you explain that?"
After Yuki asked the last question from the newspaper, she tossed it aside, as if discarding a pile of trash.
She did this openly, fully displaying her contempt for the newspaper in front of audiences worldwide.
Akira couldn't help but glance at Yuki. This wasn't her usual style, and it clearly showed her disdain for the accusations.
Yuki blinked charmingly at him, her smile blooming like a flower.
Akira's eyes narrowed slightly, but when he turned back to the live Den Den Mushi, his face grew serious again.
"First of all, regarding this matter, I want to sincerely apologize to everyone."
"At the time, in an effort to quickly protect the people's assets, I put too much pressure on my subordinates."
"To complete the task I assigned, they set up Marine branch banks all over the world overnight."
"But nothing is ever perfect. When the task was completed, the Marine Bank system was still flawed due to manpower issues."
"Unfortunately, this was exploited by criminals."
Akira shook his head, his expression full of guilt.
"Criminals took advantage of the temporary lack of rigor in Marine Bank's review process and attempted to collect money through fraudulent means. At that time, all of our headquarters' focus was on dealing with pirates who were planning to rob the ancient city of real gold."
"Because of this, we failed to notice these fraudulent activities right away, leading to some people suffering losses."
"On behalf of the Marine, I want to express my deepest apologies to everyone who was cheated out of berries."
As he finished speaking, Akira stood up, preparing to bow to the Den Den Mushi.
Yuki, unable to stay seated, quickly stood up and supported Akira, preventing him from bowing.
"Akira-sama, there's no need for you to do this."
"This was the fault of those scammers, and it's not something you should be held accountable for."
Yuki gently pressed Akira back into his seat. With a sigh, he said, "No, it is indeed our negligence as Marines that we failed to protect the people's property."
"But it's not entirely your fault. If those who were deceived could have kept their greed in check and realized that there are no shortcuts to wealth, they wouldn't have been fooled."
"I believe that people all over the world will understand. After all, at the time, the ancient city of real gold was of utmost importance."
Yuki looked into the live Den Den Mushi.
Although those far away from Marineford couldn't see it, people around the world nodded in agreement as they listened.
The ancient city of real gold was far more valuable than the tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of berries that fools were cheated out of. It justified the decision to focus all resources on it.
"Regarding the matter of berries being deposited at Marine Bases, I also had the generals conduct an investigation."
"After several days of thorough investigation, we finally uncovered the truth."
"These scammers were well-organized, with gang members stationed outside Marine Bases. Whenever someone dropped off a package, they would quickly retrieve it. Even if soldiers picked it up, the scammers would claim it as theirs."
"The unsuspecting soldiers, seeing no reason to doubt them, would simply hand over the package."
Yuki covered her mouth in surprise, then remarked, almost jokingly, "These scammers are so well-coordinated and trained."
"Indeed, but rest assured, everyone. Since I became Fleet Admiral, Marine Bank's system has been fully perfected."
"This kind of deposit scam will not happen again. We have completely blocked and canceled the abnormal accounts that frequently withdrew funds across islands and seas."
"The headquarters has also issued strict orders to all Marine Bases that they are no longer to receive any packages."
Akira's eyes were firm, and his tone was solemn as he explained to the entire world.
The people around the world immediately understood.
"So those scammers took advantage of the new, immature banks because they knew the Marine was busy dealing with the pirates."
"That makes sense. Any new department is bound to have some internal issues at the start."
"I knew it was impossible for the Marine to be behind such actions. They were clearly framed."
"Those damn scammers, they deserve to be caught."
Everyone believed Akira's explanation.
The main reason was that his answers were well-founded and convincing.
Marine Bank had just been established and was rapidly expanding, so it wasn't surprising that its auditing processes were imperfect.
And those capable of successfully pulling off such large-scale fraud must have been exceptionally clever.
It made sense that they would exploit this loophole while Marine's attention was focused on defending the ancient city of real gold.
But once Akira took office as Fleet Admiral, everything settled down.
Marine Bank became more robust, allowing all manpower and focus to shift to the bank. At that point, the scammers could no longer operate without being caught, so they had to stop.
"You've all heard it—Fleet Admiral Akira himself gave the explanation, and as a representative of the World Government, I also believe that this is not something the Marine would do."
"Please, don't spread rumors or believe them!"
"Marine's justice isn't just maintained by our officers and soldiers. It requires the cooperation of tens of millions of people worldwide."
Yuki picked up the microphone and addressed the entire world with her warm and pleasant voice.
The Five Elders, watching in the background, couldn't help but frown slightly.
Something felt off to the Five Elders.
But they couldn't quite put their finger on what was wrong.
After exchanging uncertain glances, they found no answers from each other and continued watching the live broadcast, their doubts lingering.
"Unfair, unfair!"
"This isn't right! Why aren't they pushing harder, asking more questions?"
"Why aren't they showing the evidence I painstakingly collected, along with the real-name accusations from those big pirates, to the whole world?"
Morgans was in a frenzy, shouting wildly in his office.
He realized that his carefully crafted plan was unraveling before his eyes.
As a reporter for the World Government, Yuki had completely abandoned her professional ethics and sided with Akira from the start.
Not only did she vouch for him personally, but she also threw away Morgans' newspapers like trash in front of the entire world.
Gaining popularity now seemed impossible; he'd be lucky to maintain his current reputation.
The One Piece world also had its version of the star effect, and Yuki's actions were clearly using her influence to undermine him.
His secretary cowered in the corner, trembling with fear.
"If they won't say it, then I will!"
"I'm going to draft a big news story right now, put all the evidence out there, and see how the Marine will respond."
Morgans pulled himself together and walked over to his desk.
But just as he picked up his pen, Akira's voice echoed like a devil's whisper.
"Regarding this farce, I want to make a final statement!"
"A newspaper office is not above the law. As journalists, you should be responsible for the authenticity of your news, not fabricating stories just to boost sales."
"In response to the blatant slander by the World Economy News against Marine and myself, I declare...
"We will immediately offer a bounty on the unscrupulous newspaper owner, Morgans, and propose to the World Government that his newspaper be considered a hostile target."
"I urge everyone around the world to stop wasting their berries on the false content of this newspaper."
"When purchasing newspapers, please look for the official ones produced by the Marine News Department."
Bang.
The pen in Morgans' hand dropped to the floor.
"Fleet Admiral Akira, what you said almost makes sense—I nearly believed it."
"Why 'almost'? It's absolutely true. Marine has never defrauded the world."
"Yes, indeed. There's never been any fraud within our ranks."
"Sengoku, I'll need to tell Tsuru later to inform everyone who was involved from the beginning."
"Absolutely, Akira!"
After listening to Akira's explanation, Sengoku and the other generals were momentarily stunned.
But they quickly regained their composure and echoed his words, fully supporting his statement as the only official account.
"Thank you, Miss Yuki!" Akira turned to her with a light smile.
"Verbal thanks don't show much sincerity, Fleet Admiral," Yuki replied with a playful smile.
"Hehehe, stay here tonight, and I'll treat you to dinner as a proper thank you."
"Then I'll hold you to that!"
After some lighthearted banter, the two fell silent.
It was still a live broadcast to the world, and they knew better than to chat too much and risk giving the impression of collusion.
But the interview was wrapping up.
Yuki raised the Den Den Mushi to her mouth and asked the final question of the interview, one that everyone was eager to hear.
"Akira-sa,a, as the new Fleet Admiral, the whole world is looking forward to you leading the Marine to end this era of great pirates."
"Do you have any plans or strategies for the future?"
"If it's convenient, could you share a hint with the world eagerly awaiting Marine's next move?"
Here it comes—the moment everyone's been waiting for.
Akira narrowed his eyes slightly, raising his left hand to adjust his glasses.
"Of course, I do! And I have great confidence that this plan will completely end the era of great pirates."
"Oh, can you elaborate on that?"
"Of course!" Akira nodded, and under Yuki's curious gaze, the palm of his left hand began to glow with energy.
A deformed leaf materialized out of thin air.
"I'm sure everyone is familiar with my ability. The Transformation Leaf of the Dog-Dog Fruit, Model: Monster Racoon can replicate extremely powerful individuals based on my memory," Akira explained.
"Yes, but isn't it said that there are significant limitations?" Yuki asked, pointing to the deformed leaf with a look of skepticism. "The number of leaves you can produce each day is limited, and the process of copying takes a considerable toll on your stamina, doesn't it?"
Yuki had done her homework before the interview, fully aware of both the strengths and weaknesses of Akira's abilities. Backed by the World Government, she also had access to information beyond the reach of ordinary people.
"That used to be true, but everyone grows and becomes stronger, don't they?" Akira replied with a confident smile, his mouth curling up slightly. He then clapped his hands.
Slap.
The clap echoed loudly, reverberating throughout Marineford, as if signaling the start of something.
Suddenly, a series of loud bangs followed in quick succession.
Yuki and everyone else watching looked around in confusion.
The ground began to tremble, and the surrounding temperature surged, making the air twist and fluctuate visibly.
Bang, bang, bang!
The sound of synchronized footsteps approached, growing louder with each step.
The once-crowded road suddenly cleared as the soldiers maintaining order vanished.
Then, the fiery red glow filled everyone's vision.
Dozens of Sakazuki clones, lined up in several rows, marched forward with unwavering determination.
These were not the weak replicas of the past.
They were brimming with power and energy, their presence as overwhelming as ancient beasts, radiating a sense of intense oppression.
To create the maximum visual impact, each clone's right hand was fully elementalized.
Molten magma dripped onto the ground, leaving trails of corrosive, burning rock.
The acrid smell of poisonous acid filled the air, rising into the sky.
Yuki stared in disbelief, her face turning pale as the gravity of the scene hit her.
Even the staff managing the Den Den Mushi were so terrified that they collapsed to the ground.
Yet, the live Den Den Mushi dutifully transmitted the scene to the world.
At that moment, the entire world fell into a stunned silence.
"Let me introduce them to you..."
Akira stood up, picked up the receiver, and pointed at the Sakazuki clones.
"Approaching us from the left is the Akainu phalanx!"
Then, Akira gestured to the right.
The ground had suddenly turned into a sheet of ice, and a line of Kuzan clones was slowly emerging from the frozen earth.
Each breath they exhaled turned the air around them into a wintery chill.
The impact of this sight was no less astonishing than that of the Sakazuki clones.
"And to the right, we have the Aokiji phalanx."
Finally, Akira looked up to the sky.
Yuki and the viewers followed his gaze.
Massive, dazzling beams of light filled the sky, blocking out the sun.
"And above us," Akira continued, "is our Kizaru phalanx."