The Great Voyage: The Props Master on the Straw Hat Ship

"I said, do you have money?"

"They're treating."

Henzo took the food and pointed to Usopp next to him as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Usopp: "??? Who said I was going to treat everyone?!"

"I'll tell you the secret of the Seven-Colored Mist, so of course you have to treat me!"

"I don't want to hear it!!"

Amidst this noisy conversation, the secret of the island was revealed: the seven-colored mist.

The so-called "Seven-Colored Mist" is said to be the entrance to the Golden Kingdom of Edrad, the garden where the gods reside.

This is also the topic and goal that Henzo is currently researching, although he has not yet achieved any results.

And then the townspeople treated him like a dog kept by the mayor, a lazy, charlatan scientist who lived off research grants every day?

Henzo did not refute the criticisms from the diners around him; he simply ate his meal quietly by himself.

Until~

Thump! Thump~ Thump!

Suddenly, a loud, rapid sound of musical instruments filled the air outside the restaurant.

"not good!!"

The diners who were eating all changed their expressions and hurriedly stuffed the food from their plates into their mouths.

"The expropriation team is here!!!"

Before they had finished eating, the restaurant door opened.

"Hello everyone, did you enjoy your meal?"

A middle-aged man dressed in purple, with his hands behind his back, wearing black-rimmed glasses, and sporting purplish-red hair, looking like an ape, led a group of oddly dressed people.

Soldiers appeared.

"Your wine looks delicious, but did you know that you have to pay a drinking tax?"

He walked over to a diner, looked at the unfinished drink in his glass, and said this.

As soon as he finished speaking, two soldiers stepped forward, grabbed the diner who hadn't finished his drink, and snatched his wallet!

"Wait! The money in that wallet is my wife's and kids' living expenses!!"

The diner immediately became anxious.

The officers of those orangutan collection teams, meanwhile, nonchalantly accepted the wallets from their subordinates.

"Paying taxes is a citizen's obligation, and those who fail to fulfill this obligation are not qualified to live in this city!"

After saying that, he gripped his wallet tightly, showing his firm stance on money!

"scare?"

At the nearby dining table, Link couldn't help but burst out laughing when he saw this scene.

"It's really...so ironic!!"

He looked at the man who appeared to be a gentleman and polite, but whose behavior and actions were unusually arrogant and domineering.

The striking similarities in every aspect made Link think deeply; it was practically identical to a certain country on Earth.

Link was deeply suspicious; was the animation team subtly mocking or ridiculing something?

They were all, as always, bandits who made their fortunes through plunder.

Then he transformed himself into the leader of a certain region—a country.

Then came the massive taxation within the country, claiming that the people of this country had been paying taxes since birth and would continue to do so even after death.

There's even a joke that within this country, even if the Bureau of Investigation and Secret Service can't find you, the tax authorities will definitely be able to find you!

The island of Lulujia today is practically a replica of a certain country, or rather, an island created based on that country.

The animation team's ability to subtly stir up trouble and deliver satire is truly (cafj) exceptional.

As Link was thinking this, he saw the middle-aged red-haired ape-man looking in his direction.

"You guys ate the big plate of macaroni and pasta, right?"

He first glanced at Link, then looked at Luffy, who was there, slurping noodles with gusto.

"A large quantity of macaroni and pasta requires a large-scale tax!"

The middle-aged ape-like man reached out his hand towards Luffy and beckoned him up and down, clearly intending to take money from Luffy.

"He's treating!!"

Luffy, his expression unchanged, pointed to Usopp, who was next to him asking the boss about the red-haired man.

"Huh?! It's me again?!"

Usopp immediately raised his fangs and rolled his eyes, indicating he wouldn't do it!

"You clearly have a stash of three million Berries, why should I, a penniless person, have to pay for it?!"

"Food tastes better when someone else treats you."

Luffy said confidently.

Usopp: "...@#￥%*!!"

"Three million Berries..."

The red-haired ape next to him immediately narrowed his eyes, watching Luffy and Usopp playfully fighting, and began to make plans in his mind.

Who would have thought these seemingly poor guys in front of me actually had so much money?!

"Cough cough!!"

Immediately, he made a fist and coughed lightly twice in front of his mouth:

"Besides the general tax, you all look unfamiliar, so you must have arrived on this island recently, right?!"

"Yes, Luffy didn't hide anything and said frankly."

"That's it!"

The red-haired middle-aged man's lips curled into a smile, and he immediately began to speak eloquently:

"Now that you've come to our Lulujia Island, you must abide by our island's rules!!"

As he spoke, he reached out his hand to Luffy again: "The island's purchase tax, consumption tax, meal tax, stay tax, rest tax... we have to pay them all!!"

The red-haired man was giving a long, rambling speech, and with each tax he mentioned, Usopp's face darkened a little more.

"This is blatant robbery!!!"

He was frantically retorting, even wanting to pull out his [Adhesive Gun] from his waist and give this brat a couple of bullets, letting him experience the power of the [King of Snipers]!

"So much tax..."

Even Robin next to him shook her head slightly, and then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Link take out a peculiar little gadget.

"What's this?!"

Robin blinked, looking at the creature in Link's hand—an orange-bodied creature with red wings, a purple, eyeless head, a square, box-like body, and a plastic-like neck.

"They do look quite cute."

Link, who took out the item, thought: "...???"

He looked at the prop in his hand, which had a wild and abstract style, and his forehead was full of question marks.

Where do you see it as cute?!

"Hey Robin, your taste always seems to be on a different level from everyone else's?"

Link grumbled to himself, "Yeah, I also remembered back in the original story on Zou Island, Robin actually thought Kanjuro's abstract creatures were cute, and even..."

It has to be said, Robin's aesthetic sense is quite a mystery...

"What's this? Another new gadget of yours, Link?"

Luffy, who was slurping noodles nearby, noticed what Link was holding and looked over curiously.

"Hmm, this item is called the [Tax Bird]."

"【Tax Bird】? Is it a bird? It doesn't look like one at all."

Yes, that's the normal reaction, right?

If Link hadn't already known, he probably wouldn't have been sure that this thing was a model of a bird.

Item: [Tax Bird].

Description: It takes the form of a robotic bird that collects taxes from its members as required, and can also talk and communicate with them. Its tax collection method uses a progressive tax rate; the higher the base amount, the higher the tax amount. Furthermore, it taxes not only members' income but also their existing assets, and even acts such as concealing other money will be considered malicious tax evasion.

Nobita was standing in the bookstore reading comics for free when the owner kicked him out. But when he saw Suneo go into the bookstore and buy ten comics and then show them off to him, he suddenly felt that the world was very unfair.

After returning home, he complained to Doraemon, who then took out the Tax Bird and suggested that by collecting taxes, everyone's money should be pooled together for a greater purpose.

Specific tax rules, for example, charge 150 yuan for every 500 yuan of pocket money, 30% for over 1,000 yuan, and 70% for over 10,000 yuan.

After proposing the idea to everyone at the open space, they were initially reluctant, thinking that they could control their own money.

The result was that only the typical "I'm poor, so I'm right" attitude was met with enthusiastic support from Gian, who was penniless. He practically forced everyone to accept it, even saying that the tax money could be used for Gian's team uniforms and a dedicated stadium.

Subsequently, [Tax Bird] began its exploitative process of collecting taxes from its members.

"I said, didn't you all hear what I just said?"

The middle-aged red-haired ape, who was also the mayor of the island's city, Witton's son, Philip, frowned immediately when he saw that his request had been ignored.

No, we heard everything.

Link opened the [Tax Bird] while laughing and saying:

"We have heard it, but we are not very familiar with it yet, so we need this officer to give us a demonstration."

"demonstration?!"

Philip was taken aback, and then, to his bewilderment, he saw the [Tax Bird] in Link's hand flap its wings and take flight.

130 Lights were seized!! A seven-colored mist appeared! Three generations of a family, not a single one was missed!!

"What is this?!"

Philip stared at the thing that had suddenly taken to the air, somewhat bewildered.

Because of the scientist Henzo on the island, he had seen a lot of scientific products. Even his conscripted son, who was also a fool, had a set of high-tech power-generating combat suits.

So he wasn't really afraid of the flying [Tax Bird], just a little curious.

Then he saw the [Tax-Gold Bird] in the sky, after searching for a while, set its sights on him.

"Philip, you currently possess 500,000 Berries. Please pay 70% tax, which is 350,000 Berries!"

As he spoke, the Tax Bird flew to Philip's side.

"What are you talking about? Taxes?! Seventy percent?!?"

Philip is incredibly sensitive when it comes to taxes. He might be clueless about other things, but when it comes to taxes, he's an absolute expert.

Therefore, when the tax bird asked him for money, he immediately understood.

"Make me pay? Make me, the son of the chieftain, the second most important person on this island, pay taxes?!"

He looked at the "Tax Bird" that was sticking its head out in front of him, begging for money, and couldn't help but burst into laughter:

"This is absolutely a huge joke!!!"

In his eyes, this was a joke; he was always the one asking people for money, and no one had ever dared to ask him for money before!

No one understood better than him that the various taxes and levies were nothing more than legitimate and legal robbery.

It simply legalized previous acts of robbery, but that doesn't mean it's no longer robbery in its essence.

What were they before? They were pirates!

When it comes to plundering, is there anyone more skilled than these sea pirates?

Therefore, they've always been the ones robbing others' money; no one has ever had the chance to rob them!