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

Marshal Kong sat behind his enormous desk, not immediately addressing the Germa complaint, but instead staring intently at the four people in front of him with the scrutinizing gaze one might use to examine a monster.

Zephyr sat on the sofa, clutching his throbbing temples. Beside him, Admiral Sengoku was frantically wiping his glasses, seemingly trying to hide the shock in his eyes.

Garp, meanwhile, was crunching away at his senbei while glancing back and forth between Kane and Sora with an expression that suggested he was enjoying the drama.

"Two documents."

Marshal Kong extended two fingers, his rough knuckles tapping the table with a dull sound.

"The first document is the logbook. It normally takes ten days for a warship to sail at full speed from the North Sea to headquarters. You only took less than 40 hours."

Kong suddenly looked up, his gaze sharp as lightning: "Report from the port: the warship's keel is broken in several places, as if it's being propelled across the sea by some strange force. Can anyone explain this?"

"A second one!"

Kong grabbed a document stamped with the World Government's "Urgent" red seal and slammed it on the table.

Snapped!

The loud noise made Borsalino, who was trimming his nails, flinch.

"A call from the Five Elders themselves! King Judge of Germa accuses a certain naval unit of using a mission as a pretext to carry out pirate raids! Not only did they extort money, but they also blew up the foundation of the royal palace, and even... pried off the floor tiles of the vault!"

Kong's roar shook the windowpane, and his spittle almost landed on Kane's face.

"Kane! You're the commander of this operation, give me an explanation!"

Faced with the Supreme Commander's thunderous wrath, Kane remained completely calm.

He stepped forward, stood at attention, and saluted, his movements so perfect that there was not a single flaw.

"Reporting to the Marshal! I can explain the issue of the warship's speed!"

Kane smiled slightly and slowly raised his right hand, palm up.

Om-!

Without warning, a burst of blue energy suddenly erupted in the office.

The documents and books that had been quietly arranged on the surrounding bookshelves were instantly rustled and rattled by the wind. The complaint letter on Marshal Kong's desk was even swept into the air.

Although Kane deliberately controlled the power, those present were all top-tier experts in this world.

Sora, Sengoku, Zephyr, and Garp all had their pupils contract simultaneously.

They clearly sensed the terror contained within that power—it wasn't just a simple flow of air; it was a calamity-like power compressed to its limit, even carrying a hint of destructive thunder!

In the center of Kane's palm, it was as if he were holding a miniature eye of a typhoon.

"Natural science?!"

Zephyr abruptly stood up, his short purple hair whipped backward by the wind. He stared intently at Kane, his expression incredibly complex.

Just half a month ago, this same kid arrogantly declared, "Only domineering spirit can overcome everything," and rejected all the fruits of his labor.

But now... what's with this violent aura?

“Kane…” Zeff’s voice was hoarse, even tinged with a hint of gritted teeth, “You brat… did you eat a Devil Fruit? Where’s your Haki? Where’s your refusal to take shortcuts?!”

"I'm innocent, teacher."

Kane clenched his fist.

call.

The raging wind in the room dissipated instantly, and that effortless control made the big shots' hearts skip a beat once again.

"When I was using the toilet on the deserted island in the North Sea, I suddenly felt a bit hungry. I picked a green fruit from a nearby tree, but who knew that after eating it..." Kane spread his hands innocently, "In order to report Germa's 'good deed' to the Marshal as soon as possible, I had to borrow a little bit of the wind to give the warship a slight speed boost."

"Pfft, hahahahaha!" Garp burst out laughing. "Got hungry while using the toilet and ate a Devil Fruit? Only an idiot would believe that, hahahahaha!"

Marshal Kong was speechless, but as he stared at Kane, most of his pent-up anger dissipated the moment he saw that power.

As the commander-in-chief, he knew all too well what this meant.

If Kane was just a martial arts genius and a troublemaker before, now that he has a top-tier Logia-type Devil Fruit, he is truly a "reserve force for the Navy's future top combat power"!

"Good...very good." Kong took a deep breath, forcibly swallowing back the words, "Do you think I'm an idiot?" "Since it's for the sake of traveling, destroying a warship is understandable. But that doesn't explain the second document!"

Kong pointed to the complaint letter on the table, his tone rising again, his eyes sharp:

"As a member of the Navy, plundering the treasury of a member state? Kane, do you know what will happen to the reputation of justice if this gets out?! How am I supposed to explain this to the World Government?!"

"Marshal! I've been wronged!"

"This is utter slander by Judge! It's a smear on justice!"

Kane suddenly let out a mournful howl, as if he had suffered a great injustice, and his Oscar-worthy acting skills instantly came online.

"Oh?" Marshal Kong sneered, "Then where did this 15 billion come from? Did it fall from the sky?"

"Reporting to the Marshal!"

Kane, with an air of righteous indignation, said, "Back then, when we recounted the numerous bloody crimes committed by Germa 66 in the North Sea, King Judge wept bitterly! He said he was blinded by greed and cried out that he would donate all this ill-gotten wealth to the navy to atone for his sins!"

"We initially refused! But King Judge was too enthusiastic. He said that if we didn't accept it, we would be disrespecting him! In order to save face for the World Government member states, we had no choice but to become porters with tears in our eyes!"

After saying that, Kane turned his head and looked intently at Sakazuki beside him.

“Lieutenant Sacas, you were there at the time. You are the most principled. Tell the Marshal, is that right?”

Swish!

All eyes were on Sakazuki.

Sakazuki froze.

He had never lied in his life, and now he was so angry that his face turned red and his neck bulged. The buried 50 billion "reserve fund for justice" flashed through his mind, and he looked at Marshal Kong's cannibalistic face.

a long time.

Sakazuki took a deep breath, a resolute glint flashing in his eyes beneath the brim of his hat.

"……Yes."

Sakazuki's voice was hoarse, but unusually firm: "That money... was indeed a voluntary donation from Judge. He... cried very hard at the time. I believe that rejecting a heart that wants to do good is not a just act."

puff--!

Sengoku, who was drinking tea, spat it out and stared at him in disbelief.

Even you, Sakazuki with your thick eyebrows and big eyes, have betrayed us?!

Kane was overjoyed and immediately pressed his advantage, looking at the other two.

"Borsalino?"

"Wow~ That's quite a touching scene~" Kizaru pushed up his sunglasses, his voice brimming with excitement, "King Judge insisted that we empty the place, and we couldn't stop him. Such terrifying enthusiasm~"

"Kuzan?"

"Ah... well..." Aokiji scratched his fluffy hair and yawned, "Anyway, we've already brought the money back, we can't just send it back, can we? That would be too much trouble."

Marshal Kong looked at the four “future pillars” in front of him who were now completely inseparable, and his forehead veins throbbed with anger.

But he's not stupid.

This substantial sum of 15 billion in funds, placed at the port, is an irresistible prize for the Navy Headquarters, which has long suffered from a shortage of military spending.

"What about the 65 billion?" Kong took a deep breath, his tone softening slightly. "Judge said in his report that he lost 65 billion. But you only brought back 15 billion. What about the remaining 50 billion?"

Here comes the key point.

Kane's lips curled into a barely perceptible smile.

"Reporting to the Marshal, the remaining money was lost due to the 'shipwreck'."

Kane said in a serious tone, "Moreover, in order to save face for Germa as a member state of the World Government, and also to quell the anger of the Five Elders, I have an immature suggestion."

"explain."

"The amount of spoils we reported to the World Government was set at five billion berries."

The office fell into a deathly silence.

Only the wall clock ticked away.

Even Garp stopped chewing and leaned over with great interest.

Kane's expression was calm, his voice not loud, but every word was piercing, each sentence challenging the bottom line of the Navy's rules:

"This five billion will be handed over to Mary Geoise as 'heavenly gold' or 'special tax' for Germa to make up for. I think the Five Elders will not care too much about Judge's complaints once they see the money."

"As for the remaining approximately ten billion..."

Kane paused, his gaze sweeping over all the bigwigs present, finally settling on Marshal Kong's somewhat worn-out desk.

"This 10 billion does not need to go into the World Government's accounts."

"These will be transferred directly to the Logistics Department as 'non-public losses' of the headquarters. They will be used to upgrade the navy's dilapidated warships, increase the compensation for fallen soldiers, and... improve the food for the officers and soldiers of the headquarters."

"Marshal, our justice is priceless, but the soldiers who uphold justice need to eat."

These words were a decisive blow.

Marshal Kong remained silent.

Zefa remained silent.

Sengoku looked at Kane, his admiration almost impossible to conceal.

too dark.

This kid is really dark-skinned.

Not only did they dare to rob, but they also dared to teach the marshal to falsify accounts, and even wanted to share the spoils with the entire naval leadership!

But I have to admit... those words sounded really good!

If reported truthfully, at least half of this 15 billion would be embezzled by the greedy officials of the World Government and the Celestial Dragons, with very little ending up in the hands of the Navy.

But according to Kane, five billion was used to silence those above, and ten billion was left for the navy.

Who could refuse?

Anyone who refuses is going against the stomachs of hundreds of thousands of soldiers in the entire army!

The silence in the office lasted for a full minute.