Pirate: I'm an admiral now, what's wrong with taking a little extra money?

Only Sakazuki.

He sat alone in the shadows, his hat pulled low, clutching the ledger recording the amounts tightly in his hand, emanating an unsettling aura.

"Has the inventory been taken out?" Sakazuki's voice was hoarse. "These... criminal funds."

"I've finished ordering."

Kane closed the ledger in his hand, his playful smile vanished, and his expression became serious and solemn.

"Gold is equivalent to about 42 billion Berries, cash is 18 billion, and there are some jewelry and antiques... In total, it is about 65 billion Berries."

The air fell silent instantly.

Even Kuzan, who was sleeping, suddenly opened his eyes and sat up: "How...how much?!"

Sixty-five billion!

"So much money..." Sakazuki took a deep breath, lava dripping from his fist. "Just how many people's blood has Germa sucked? We must report this to headquarters immediately!"

He stood up to get the Den Den Mushi.

"Wait!"

Kane stepped forward, blocking Sakazuki's path, and stopped the Den Den Mushi he was about to pick up with one hand.

Sakazuki frowned, his eyes sharp as he looked at Kane: "What are you going to do? Kane, if you dare to betray justice and embezzle this money, I will never forgive you!"

"Foolish!!"

Kane suddenly roared, his expression even angrier than Sakazuki's.

"This is ill-gotten gains! I, Kane, may seem carefree and irresponsible at times, but I am still a naval officer! How could I possibly keep it for myself?!"

This roar stunned Sakazuki.

"Then why..."

“Use your brain and think about it!” Kane took a deep breath, his tone becoming sorrowful and pained. “If we report the truth about this 65 billion now, where will this money ultimately go?”

Sakazuki paused, then said, "Of course it's naval funding..."

"Naive! So naive!" Kane shook his head. "Such a huge sum of money, once it's in the account, do you think the World Government officials won't see it? Do you think the Celestial Dragons won't see it?"

Upon hearing these three words, the expressions of the three people present changed.

Kane struck while the iron was hot:

"According to the amendment to the World Government Membership Law, at least 80% of this 'windfall income' must be handed over to the Holy Land Mary Geoise as a supplement to the 'heavenly gold'!"

"In other words! Of these 65 billion, more than 50 billion will become funds for the Celestial Dragons to buy slaves! They will become new necklaces around their necks! They will become bricks and tiles for them to build luxurious palaces!"

"Sakazuki! Look me in the eyes!"

Kane gripped Sakazuki's shoulders tightly with both hands, roaring with great emotion:

"The navy is currently facing a tight budget, and many brothers in remote branches are not even able to afford meat."

"This money should be used where it is needed most! Improve the food for the entire navy, upgrade the equipment of the warships, and provide compensation to the families of fallen comrades!"

"If you make this call now, you're essentially handing over this 'profit of justice' to those Celestial Dragons to squander! Is this the absolute justice you seek?!"

boom!

These words struck Sakazuki like a bolt from the blue.

He froze.

As someone born in the North Blue, his deep-seated hatred for the Celestial Dragons was no less than his hatred for pirates.

He believes in "absolute justice," but in reality, the Navy often has no choice but to become the Celestial Dragons' bodyguards, which is the deepest thorn in his heart.

The thought that this money would eventually become slave auction proceeds in the hands of the Celestial Dragons...

Sakazuki felt worse than if he had swallowed a lump of something.

"Then...then what do you suggest we do?" Sakazuki's voice was hoarse and wavering, and the anger in his eyes turned into confusion.

Borsalino, standing nearby, adjusted his sunglasses and stopped fiddling with the diamond. Kuzan also dropped his languid expression and looked at Kane thoughtfully.

Kane's lips curled into a barely perceptible smile, but it vanished in an instant, replaced by a righteous and awe-inspiring expression.

"It's very simple."

Kane held up one finger.

“We reported to headquarters that we had seized… 15 billion Berries.”

"One-sixth?" Borsalino pushed up his sunglasses. "Wow~ Isn't that a bit too much~"

Kane glared at him. "15 billion is enough for headquarters to give us a huge bonus, and it'll also give Marshal Kong an explanation. The remaining 50 billion..."

Kane took a deep breath and said solemnly:

"We'll hide it and establish a 'Justice Reserve Fund'."

"The four of us will jointly oversee the fund, and every penny spent requires the unanimous approval of all four of us."

Kane surveyed the three men, his gaze intense:

"Think about it, when the Air Marshal is unable to send troops due to insufficient military funds, we can provide them."

"When a comrade is discharged due to injury but cannot receive a pension, we can contribute."

"We can use them when we need to purchase powerful Devil Fruits to arm trustworthy righteous people!"

“We’re not embezzling,” Kane said, patting the box full of cash. “We’re safeguarding this spark of the future for the Navy, for justice!”

"If one day, the world government investigates..."

Kane took a deep breath and straightened his back.

"Just say it was me, Kane, who did it all! I coerced you! I was blinded by greed! I'll take all the blame!"

The sea breeze howled.

The deck was deathly silent.

Kuzan watched Kane's retreating figure, a flicker of shock crossing his eyes beneath his eyepatch. Although reason told him something was amiss, Kane's words had undeniably stirred his blood.

Borsalino dropped his lewd smile and fell into a rare serious silence.

And Sakazuki...

He raised his head, the confusion in his eyes dissipating, replaced by a resolute determination to find his way.

"Don't joke around, Kane."

Sakaschi stood up, walked to Kane's side, and placed his large, burning hand on Kane's shoulder.

"Since it is the spark of justice, then we should protect it together."

“I agree to withhold these 50 billion,” Sakazuki said firmly. “For justice, what does it matter if I bear the blame!”

“If headquarters investigates…” Sakazuki raised his head, a ruthless glint in his eyes, “just say I burned it!”

"Oh dear, since Sakazuki said so..." Kuzan lay back down in the pile of money, grabbed a handful of gold coins and scattered them into the air, "Count me in, anyway, I've been annoyed with those Celestial Dragons for a long time."

"Yay~ Since everyone agrees, I won't stand on ceremony~ I've had my eye on that golden teacup for a long time~" Borsalino laughed like a 300-pound child.

Looking at these three future top combatants of the Navy who had completely "gone into the water," Kane's lips curled into a smile.

Hooked.

Once you've touched this money, you can forget about ever getting off my pirate ship.

[Ding! The host has corrupted three future admirals of the Navy to establish an illegal slush fund!]

[Judgment: Deceiving superiors and subordinates, forming cliques for personal gain—an extremely egregious offense!]

[Disruptiveness: Extremely high! Completely disruptive!]

[Congratulations, host! You have gained a huge amount of disciplinary points: 10000!]

Hearing the pleasant notification sound in his mind, Kane smiled broadly.

"Comrades! For justice! Let's divide the spoils... oh no, let's go to the bank!"

Chapter 28 Sacrificing Sakazuki? A Miracle Happened with a Single Pull!

Somewhere in Beihai, on an unnamed deserted island.

The island wasn't even marked on nautical charts, and it was surrounded by reefs and shrouded in mist year-round.

Aside from the occasional seabird that stops there, even pirates don't want to visit this godforsaken place.

But today, the place is bustling with activity.

"Hurry up! Move that box inside! Handle it gently, it's fragile!"

Kane stood on the beach, directing Kuzan to use ice slides to send huge sealed boxes into the underground cavern.

Sakassky is using magma to fuse the rocks together to seal the cave entrance, and has even fired the rocks to achieve a granite-like texture, striving for perfection.

Borsalino used a recording pointer to record the island's magnetic field.

Five hours later.

The treasure worth over 50 billion pegories was buried deep underground on this deserted island.

As the sun set, it cast long shadows of the four people.

Standing on the deck of the warship, watching the deserted island gradually recede into the distance, Kane felt as if his heart was bleeding.

That's money!

That's 50 billion!

Although it's nominally a joint management arrangement, having so much money buried in the ground gathering dust is worse than killing him.

After disposing of the "stolen goods," the warship set sail again.

Back to the center of the deck.

More than two hundred naval soldiers were lined up in neat rows, each staring longingly at the pile of boxes left behind, containing about 15 billion Berries.

Although they didn't know the exact amount, the heavy feel of the bag when it was being moved made everyone know it must be a huge sum of money.