At the same time, the 16th Naval Branch was also expanding and conducting training...
Although the number of personnel and warships in a Navy branch was supposed to follow regulations set by Marine Headquarters, and anything beyond that wouldn't be officially recognized—nor funded—by them... unfortunately for the Headquarters, the 16th Branch didn't care about those rules.
So, they had to cover the extra costs themselves.
As for training materials, Chacher planned to directly use the Navy's Six Powers taught by Marine Headquarters as their textbook.
As a systematic training method, the Six Powers were still quite effective—just needed a bit of tweaking here and there.
At the same time, there was also…
Water Breathing.
One of the five basic breathing techniques from a certain Demon Slayer Corps. It was a benefit he received when he officially became an employee.
Although Water Breathing wasn't all that powerful in this vast ocean—aside from being unique—for him at that time, it was more than enough to dominate the weakest of seas.
And if combined with the powers of this sea, its future potential was still promising.
It was just… perhaps because of the difference in power systems, apart from him—who learned it through employee benefits—others found it quite difficult to master.
All these years, only Kuina had managed to grasp just a tiny fragment of it. Because of that, it wasn't so easy for Zoro to surpass her.
Maybe it needs to be modified a bit?
To better suit the ways of this world.
Chacher looked at his [Promotion Performance Record]...
[Name: Dande Chacher]
[Occupation: Level 4 Staff Member]
[Performance Points: 5500. Note: When an employee reaches 10,000 points, they can be promoted to Level 3 Staff Member and receive a staff benefit.]
After the inspection team left, his points suddenly rose by 4000—from 1500 to 5500. He was now not far from another promotion.
But why did they increase so much?
Was it because of the new refugees at the time? But that small number of refugees wouldn't raise it that much.
One hundred? Two hundred?
So why did it go up so much this time? It was almost on par with recruiting Robin or defeating Arlong.
Could it be...
Did he unknowingly change someone's fate again?
Garp?
Smoker?
Or maybe Tashigi?
Chacher couldn't figure it out, but he didn't think too much about it.
In the end, he set his next development goal, summarized as: "Build high walls, stock up on supplies, and delay taking the crown," then officially ended the meeting.
Aside from Robin, Nami, and Kuina, Udo and the others all left their seats to begin their assigned tasks.
Robin stayed because she was always by his side and wouldn't leave unless something important came up. Kuina had more things to ask. As for Nami...
"No money!"
After Robin listed out one thing after another, and every single one required a large budget, Nami's face grew darker and darker.
But there were too many people earlier, so she couldn't speak up.
Now...
"Didn't you already understand our current situation?" Nami didn't hold back at all, walking straight up to Chacher and pressing her hand against her forehead.
"Come on, the Navy Headquarters just added one more level to our status. They didn't increase our funds tenfold. Where's all this money supposed to come from?"
"Thank you for your hard work, Nami~"
"You, you, don't think I'll fall for it again. This is useless now." Although she said this, hearing Chacher's comfort, Nami's anger inside had somewhat calmed down.
She crossed her arms, and her graceful figure, characteristic of the great sea ladies, immediately appeared before Chacher's eyes.
Yet, she still pouted and said, "Unless you take me to dig for gold, otherwise, don't even think about it. I can't magically produce money."
"Don't worry, I have a way."
"Gold mine?"
"It's not yet time to use the reserve fund." Chacher waved his hand, signaling for Nami, whose eyes were sparkling, to calm down. He then directly pulled out the new bounty he received this morning.
"It's time for Mok to act."
On it was the new bounty for Mok, worth fifty million.
"Mok?" Nami glanced at Mok's bounty, frowned, and said, "You don't mean you're planning to sell Mok, right? Fifty million isn't enough!"
"..."
What on earth is this girl thinking?
Chacher's face darkened, and then he ignored Nami, turning to look at Robin beside him. "Tell Mok, it's time to move."
...
Year 1517 of the Sea Circle Calendar.
A new ruler of the East Blue was born.
A new bounty poster worth fifty million spread across the entire East Blue in an instant.
Aside from an old man in a village, who was slapping his thigh and laughing hysterically, the entire East Blue… everyone who received this bounty poster was in shock.
You have to know, this was the weakest sea—East Blue!
What does fifty million mean to pirates in the East Blue, who have no real experience?
It's almost as if the Pirate King was about to appear again!
This could be said to have shaken the entire East Blue.
For reference, the nominal ruler of the East Blue, Captain Krieg of the Krieg Pirates, only had a bounty of 17 million. Yet Mok's pirate crew… they hadn't even left the East Blue for the Grand Line yet!
And now it's almost three times that!
What if they enter the Grand Line… the possibilities are unimaginable.
What kind of outrageous actions did the Mok Pirates commit, that they were given such a high bounty by the Navy even before entering the Grand Line?
Countless pirate crews were curious, and many pirates began to idolize this new star of the East Blue, eager to witness the power of this new ruler of the East Blue.
Before long, however.
Just as everyone was shocked, curious, and filled with anticipation.
Suddenly.
The new ruler of the East Blue issued a pirate's notice to the nearby seas of the East Blue's first half, gathering the pirates in the region to declare war on the Navy's 16th division, preparing to bloodily wipe out the Navy's 16th division and announce their status as the new ruler of the East Blue to the entire sea.
In an instant.
The entire East Blue pirate community was stirred into a frenzy.
**********
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