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

"Oh dear... this is troublesome."

Kuzan scratched his fluffy curly hair, looking at the massive ice field he had created with his own hands, his face full of distress.

"Yay~ Now there's not even a place to drink tea anymore. Our wages will probably be deducted until the next century, right?"

Borsalino pushed up his sunglasses and sighed in his uniquely lewd tone.

Only Sakazuki's face was as black as the bottom of a pot.

The base is gone, the warships are gone.

How can he then uphold his absolute justice on this sea of ​​evil?

The G-5 soldiers, like a group of abandoned orphans, stood blankly on the boundless ice, looking at each other in bewilderment.

Their home is gone.

More important than losing your home...

The tollbooth that used to pay them and let them live like human beings in the new world is gone!

"You bastard!!!"

A deafening roar shook the entire icy plain.

Kane's eyes were bloodshot, and his entire body exuded a terrifying aura of savagery.

That's not fighting spirit.

It wasn't murderous intent.

It was a deep, heartfelt ache that came from the very depths of my soul!

That's the "new world's number one tollbooth" he painstakingly built! It's his maritime money-printing machine! It's his future treasury!

It's gone just like that?!

What's the difference between this and burning money in front of him?!

"Kane, calm down, it's just a base..." Kuzan was about to step forward and say a few words of advice.

"Shut up!"

"This is not a base!"

"This is money! It's my money! It's all of our money!"

Kane pointed to the ruins and roared in anguish:

"Do you know how much 'justice-upholding tax' we've missed out on during these two days and one night of fighting?!"

"One hundred million?! Or one billion?!"

Sakazuki: "..."

Kuzan: "..."

Borsalino: "..."

Seeing Kane descend into a state of frenzy, the three wisely chose to remain silent.

After venting for a while, Kane's breathing gradually calmed down, but the fierce light in his eyes became even more intense.

"Looks like it's time for a new home."

Kane had a huge New World sea chart brought to him and laid it directly on the ice.

"Where to?" Sakazuki walked over with a stern face. "The New World has long been divided up by those great pirates. Stepping into it will only trigger a full-scale war."

"war?"

Kane chuckled, his long, slender fingers slowly tracing the cold sea chart.

“Sakazuki, you need to understand one thing.”

"We are war."

His finger finally stopped at a point.

That was a desolate island, not even named on any nautical chart, located a hundred nautical miles from the original site of the G-5 branch in the depths of the New World.

“Right here.” Kane pressed his fingertip down firmly.

The three of them leaned closer.

“Punk Hazard?” Kuzan raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t that a deserted island with no magnetism? There’s nothing there except a bunch of primeval jungle.”

"Just because it's not there now doesn't mean it won't be in the future."

A glint of ambition gleamed in Kane's eyes.

Only he knew how vital a strategic heart this desolate, godforsaken island would be in the future.

It guards several key shipping routes to the entrance to the new world, serves as the future research base for the world government, and most importantly…

It has no magnetic properties, is naturally hidden, and is far enough away from the Holy Land of Mary Geoise and the Marine Headquarters!

"Build a base here?" Borsalino stroked his chin, his eyes narrowing slightly behind his glasses. "Sounds like it'll cost a fortune."

When it comes to money...

The atmosphere, which had been so spirited just moments before, instantly collapsed.

Kane's expression froze.

He remembered the 50 billion Berries he had taken from the Germa treasury.

He originally intended to use this money as secret funds to purchase Devil Fruits from the black market to arm his elite troops.

But if you were to build a skyscraper out of thin air in a godforsaken place like Punk Hazard, and make it such a fortress that even Roger would have to knock out a couple of his teeth...

Five hundred billion?

That's just a drop in the ocean!

The annual maintenance cost of the Navy Headquarters alone is over a million Berries, not to mention building a super fortress from scratch that can accommodate tens of thousands of elite troops.

We also need to buy equipment, conduct research, recruit Vegapunk (but that's another story), and maintain a private army...

money.

money!

It's still all that damn money!

Kane stared at the nautical chart, his mind racing with calculations.

If he's going to do it, he'll do it to the extreme. He's not building a branch, but a "second headquarters" for himself, Kane! An independent kingdom separate from the World Government system!

"500 billion is not enough."

Kane raised his head, his eyes fierce like those of a thug just released from Level 6 of Impel Down.

"This amount of money isn't even enough to fix a toilet!"

He grabbed the nautical chart, roughly stuffed it into his clothes, and turned to face the vast and bountiful sea.

A smile, wide enough to terrify any merchant ship or pirate vessel, spread across his lips.

"Where am I? This is the new world!"

"What the New World has in abundance is not just those incredibly wealthy pirates, but also those nobles from its member states who only know how to exploit and plunder!"

His gaze landed precisely on Redfield, who was resting with his eyes closed to the side.

"Old Red, stop pretending to be dead." Kane kicked him.

Redfield suddenly opened his eyes, a flash of murderous intent appearing in his crimson pupils, but he forcibly suppressed it, his voice icy: "What brings you here, Commander?"

"Go and show your loyalty as part of the onboarding assessment."

Kane pointed towards the sea, his tone leaving no room for argument.

"Who's the richest in these waters? Whose treasury is the fullest? I don't care if he's a great pirate, an underground emperor, or the king of some country."

"Give me their complete list!"

"I'm going to let the whole new world know that from today onwards, the G-5 Demolition Team is officially open for business!"

"If you don't want your house to be demolished, hand over every penny of your money!"

Redfield's lips twitched violently.

He'd seen arrogant people in his life, but never anyone this arrogant.

Having just fought a life-or-death battle, and still not fully recovered from his injuries, all he could think about was robbing the whole world?

“I will give you the list.” Count Red closed his eyes again and snorted coldly, “as long as you… don’t stuff yourself to death.”

"You don't need to worry about that. I always have a good appetite."

Kane grinned, then suddenly turned around.

The facial expression changed in a fraction of a second.

One second he was a notorious villain preparing to rob the whole world.

The next second, his handsome face was instantly filled with grief, grievance, helplessness and despair.

His eyes reddened rapidly, and his lips trembled slightly, as if he might burst into tears at any moment.

The speed at which this Sichuan opera-style face-changing occurred left Gion, who was standing nearby, dumbfounded.

Gion!

Kane's voice, with a perfectly timed sob, was hoarse and sorrowful, enough to break the heart and bring tears to the eyes of anyone who heard it.

"Yes! Yes! Brother Kane!" Gion jumped up and instinctively stood at attention and saluted.

"Immediately! Right now! As fast as possible!"

"Dial the Den Den Mushi for me!"

"Yes!"

Despite not understanding what Kane was trying to do, Gion quickly and tremblingly took out the golden Den Den Mushi, which represented the highest communication authority, and dialed the Navy Headquarters' dedicated line.

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