章 50: 50. Akira: I Once Met A Guy Who Called Himself A Hokage!
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If subordinates are in a situation where they outwardly serve the Marine but their loyalty lies elsewhere, there are three potential options:
1. Kick them out of the team and let them fend for themselves.
2. Imprison them for ideological reeducation.
3. Follow the example of a certain Cao and force them to stay, even if they may not be fully committed.
Akira chose the third option.
If the first method is implemented and such soldiers are expelled, it's foreseeable that they might turn to piracy without hesitation.
At that point, those who have received Marine training could be more dangerous than ordinary people, and with so many of them, they could scatter and form pirate crews worldwide, worsening the current situation.
So, should they be eliminated as a precaution?
But it won't solve the case properly. What would soldiers, generals, and civilians think of the Marine? The reputation of justice could be severely damaged, and the loss would outweigh the gain.
As for the second option, reeducating them ideologically would waste manpower and resources. In the current era of the Great Pirate Era, the Marine is already extremely short of manpower and shouldn't overextend for this group of people. It's unnecessary—especially when the effort isn't worth the potential return.
So, if letting them go or reeducating them isn't viable, that leaves the third option. However, forcing them to stay could risk undermining their colleagues' morale.
Therefore, Akira decided to send them all to the G-5 branch located in the second half of the Grand Line. The Marine's control over that area is weak, and the supply of troops there is always lacking compared to other places.
If these soldiers don't want to follow the strict rules, they can be sent to the second half of the Grand Line to live more freely. The G-5 branch, which has been short of personnel, would be fully staffed, and these difficult soldiers might find contentment there. It's a win-win!
"Alright! I'll make the arrangements when I get back."
Tsuru is as sharp as ever, and after a little thought, understood the logic behind this arrangement. However, she was still surprised that Akira could come up with such a fitting solution so quickly.
"Aunt Tsuru, is there something on my face?"
Seeing her staring, Akira rubbed his cheek and asked in confusion.
"No!" She smiled and shook her head, then changed the subject. "By the way, I have another question."
"Go ahead."
"About the berries. The amount embezzled from the Marine Bank to pay the soldiers—hundreds of billions of people's deposits—have you thought about when you'll repay it?"
"Why do we need to make up for it? There's no need!"
Akira raised his eyebrows, shook his head, and said with a light smile, "The money that goes out will come back on its own."
"Huh? Can you explain that in detail?" Tsuru looked puzzled.
How could it be possible to move hundreds of billions of berries to pay salaries, and then have that money just come back on its own? If she hadn't already seen the money-making methods of the young man in front of her, she wouldn't have believed it. But since Akira said it directly, she was curious to learn more.
Akira licked his lips, organized his thoughts, and said, "Aunt Tsuru, what do you think the soldiers will do with their berries after receiving huge salaries?"
"If they have families, they'll likely buy houses and pay for meals. If they don't have families, they'll spend it during their vacations."
"Exactly. Now, where will the money they spend end up?"
Tsuru frowned, thinking carefully. After a while, she said vaguely, "Buying a house is a big expense, and the landlord who receives such a large sum of berries would probably deposit it in the Marine Bank. The money spent on meals and other purchases will first go to merchants and shop owners."
"Then the merchants and shop owners will pass it on to fishermen, small vendors, and workers."
"And eventually, this money will..."
At that moment, Tsuru's eyes widened in realization as she looked at Akira in disbelief.
"Yes, it will go back to the Marine Bank."
"Exactly, Aunt Tsuru," Akira nodded. "No matter how many hands these hundreds of billions of berries pass through or how much they get divided, as long as the threat of pirates remains and the Marine Bank maintains its reputation, the money will eventually find its way back to us."
Tsuru asked, still somewhat confused, "Can you explain it more clearly?"
Akira nodded, removed his glasses, and began wiping the lenses with a cloth while explaining:
"First, we need to understand the nature of berries. They're just a currency, a medium for exchange, and a standardized way to assign value to items. The berries themselves have no intrinsic value; the value lies in the goods, which are renewable and not unique."
"To put it simply, imagine a village in East Blue with a total of 100 million berries, evenly distributed among all households. A housewife in the north of the village wants to cook a special dinner for her anniversary. She spends 900 berries on fish, meat, and fruit from different vendors. The fishmonger will then buy fish from the fisherman, the butcher will buy pigs from a local farmer, and the fruit seller will replenish stock from an orchard."
"In the evening, the housewife cooks the meal, and her husband comes home with the 200 berries he earned from fishing. Meanwhile, the other villagers also earn and spend berries, circulating money throughout the village."
"Even though the fisherman's family earned back only 200 berries, the total amount in the village remains 100 million berries. It hasn't changed and won't change unless something extraordinary happens."
Tsuru swallowed hard, realizing the implication. "So, the total is still 100 million berries. It hasn't decreased, and it won't as long as the system remains stable."
Akira, now satisfied with the clarity of his glasses, put them back on, clapped his hands, and smiled, saying, "Exactly! If we expand this village scenario to the entire world, the hundreds of billions of berries we've used are like a drop of water in the ocean. Even if we can't trace that specific drop, it's part of a larger cycle. It flows through the 'Berry Sea,' and eventually, it returns to us from other sources."
"That's why we don't need to worry about paying it back. The money will come back on its own."
"Akira, tell me, where will the berries eventually go?" Tsuru held onto Akira's cloak tightly, her face full of curiosity.
At her age, not many things could provoke such a reaction. Even if the world were to end tomorrow, Tsuru was confident she could face it calmly. But the idea of new knowledge—especially something as intriguing as the circulation of berries—was something she couldn't take lightly.
Akira shrugged, "I don't know exactly, Aunt Tsuru. Maybe it's from the taxes people pay to the World Government. The World Government then sends protection money to the Marine, which in turn pays the soldiers. The salaries eventually return to the Marine Bank, and the cycle continues."
He added with a smirk, "It's a complicated process, Aunt Tsuru. If you want a detailed explanation, you'd need to consult a professional scholar. Unfortunately, I'm just an ordinary Marine general. My job is to catch pirates, not study economics."
Tsuru, still in thought, slowly released her grip, her mind clearly absorbed in the concept.
Meanwhile, Akira walked over to his desk, rummaging through a pile of documents until he found what he was looking for. "Found it!" he exclaimed, picking up a request for the establishment of the "Marine Crime Investigation Bureau," which he intended to present to the staff. Since Chief of Staff Tsuru was here, there was no need to send someone else.
As Akira approached her with the document, Tsuru suddenly stood up, frowning. "Something doesn't add up. I can't quite agree with this."
Akira calmly responded, "Aunt Tsuru, I understand your concerns. We're talking about hundreds of billions of berries—it's hard to believe that money could be used without being repaid. But economics is a complex subject, and the simplified explanation I gave was just to help you grasp the concept more quickly and put your mind at ease."
"If you really want to delve deeper into it, you'd need to understand concepts like inflation. I can't fully explain it right now, but just remember that the World Government prints berries every year. When the time comes, they'll deposit Marine's share, and everything will balance out in the end."
"And remember, not every bit of berries in circulation is constantly moving. There will always be 'stagnant water.' For example, if a noble deposits 100 million berries in the Marine Bank today but suddenly dies from a brain hemorrhage after seeing Saint Saturn, those 100 million berries would remain in the bank, untouched. We could discreetly use that money to cover any gaps in the budget."
He gasped, finally snapping out of her focus on berries and stunned by Akira's last example. If a noble's death could lead to unclaimed money, what if this scenario played out on a larger scale? What if millions of people worldwide deposited their savings in the Marine Bank and then fell victim to pirates? Wouldn't that unclaimed money—now "dead water"—eventually be available for the Marine to use?
Tsuru looked at Akira in shock. She couldn't help but wonder if the Marine Bank, under Akira's guidance, was created with this intention all along—to gather the world's wealth and manage it subtly.
Akira noticed her intense gaze and raised an eyebrow. "Aunt Tsuru, what's with that look? I was just giving an example—just an example!"
He quickly changed the subject, handing her the document. "Aunt Tsuru, this is my proposal regarding soldiers committing crimes. Please take a look."
Crane instinctively looked down at the document. After a moment, she glanced back up at Akira and nodded. "A Criminal Investigation Bureau? That's an excellent idea. The Marine really does need this department."
"Great! I'll leave the terms of this department in your capable hands," Akira said, pleased to have steered the conversation back to more comfortable ground.
"Okay, do you have a preferred candidate for the section chief?"
Akira paused at the question, and for some reason, the image of Admiral Sengoku flashed in his mind. He actually wanted to offer the position to Sengoku.
Among the three Admirals in the Marine, only Sengoku was still holding his position under the title of Admiral. Garp was the eternal Vice Admiral, unshakable in his role. Zephyr, though still an Admiral in name, was essentially retired, focusing more on his role as the academy's Instructor.
With the other two Admiral positions technically vacant, the Marine's next generation—Sakazuki, Borsalino, and Kuzan—were more than ready to step up. But filling only two of those positions would leave the third one feeling slighted, creating tension. As a member of the previous generation, Sengoku was due to step aside for the younger generation. However, at just over fifty, he still had at least two decades of service left in him, making retirement wasteful.
Therefore, giving Sengoku the Admiral-like authority as the Chief of the Marine Criminal Investigation Bureau seemed ideal. But since Akira was only the acting Fleet Admiral, he wasn't in a position to persuade Sengoku to step down from his Admiral role just yet.
"Let's finalize the terms first, then we can choose the right candidate," Akira waved off the question.
Tsuru's eyes twinkled as if she had just thought of something, and she nodded in agreement. "Alright."
"Anything else?"
"One last thing. The staff department received information that some pirates broke into the Marine Bank of a kingdom on the Grand Line. They didn't find any berries. But when the Marine Bank reopened in the afternoon, people were still able to withdraw their money. How did you manage that?"
"Oh, that matter~~~" Akira realized it wasn't anything serious. Raising his hand, he activated his Devil Fruit ability, and a leaf appeared floating in his palm.
"The deformed leaves I create can not only copy people," Akira explained. "In fact, they can replicate items too."
He pulled out a pen and wrote "Scroll of Summoning" on the leaf. In a puff of smoke, a large scroll appeared.
Akira unrolled the scroll, filled with intricate symbols, and wrote a note saying, "Deliver this piece of paper to the Fleet Admiral's office in person," before handing it to Tsuru. "Aunt Tsuru, try it. Just press this piece of paper onto the scroll."
"Alright!" Tsuru, though puzzled, followed his instructions, pressing the paper onto the scroll. Her face briefly paled as she felt a sudden drain of energy. When she stood up, the paper had disappeared.
Before she could ask what had happened, her sharp ears picked up hurried footsteps approaching.
"Report!"
"Come in."
A soldier entered and handed Akira a piece of paper. "Master Fleet Admiral, this paper just appeared on the main scroll in the warehouse."
Tsuru's eyes widened in shock.
After the soldier left, Akira explained, "I once encountered a guy who called himself a Hokage while on a mission at sea, and he had a scroll like this. So, I recreated it from memory."
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