36 Government

A few days later

Zeus landed on the deck of the destroyer with his mask and cloak on. He walked around the ship and took a look at the whole thing. He was pleasantly surprised, the ship even had a motor that he specifically designed to work with his powers to move the ship faster! Other than that the ship sailed normally, even if it didn't there were plenty of ways to move the ship manually. If he really wanted to he could find a Wind fruit and have a permanent navigator.

Zeus rubbed his chin and thought that, that wasn't actually a bad idea.. He knew the perfect person too, whether she agreed to a life of crime of not was the question though. He threw the idea into the back of his head and walked through the rooms, before coming across a book shelf, there were plenty of books on the shelf and Zeus pushed several in before knocking in a specific pattern on the wall.

Suddenly

The book shelf slid apart and a hallway was revealed. He designed the whole ship, he naturally knew the sequence to open the conference room. He walked inside and tapped on the wall of the hallway lightly, closing the entrance. The door to the secret rooms were in various places on the ship. There was one for every use.

The conference room was in Crocodile's personal room.

The stock room was guarded by Trent himself, plus it required a password and a knocking sequence.

And finally the Assassin lounge along with a full training room was in the captain's cabin. It was restricted access, only Zeus and someone with a golden token could enter, but even then they also needed the passcode to open the secret entrance. Obviously the assassins were treated extremely well.

Zeus walked through the hallway and tapped the floor in front of a metal door three times in three different places. The metal door slide open and Zeus walked into the conference room. The metal door slid back behind him and closed as Zeus sat down in the head chair.

Zeus was wearing the Blank mask, Crocodile was to his left with a skull mask, Tesoro was to his right with a golden mask, Persephone was next to Crocodile with a boar mask, and Lucci was next to Tesoro with a tiger mask.

Sitting across from Zeus were 3 men wearing different masks.

Zeus scrambled his voice with electricity and made it sound different as he said "You brought them here through the Visitor's entrance I hope." Crocodile nodded wordlessly and Zeus said "Good." before turning to the 3 men and saying "How can Tartarus help you today, Mr. Cipher Pol agents?"

The 3 men were sitting in a line and the man in the middle said "The government wants to give you a deal." Zeus waved and said "Go on." the same man said "You can call me Ghost. The government wants a 30% cut of all your business deals in exchange for letting you work freely."

Zeus sneered under the mask and said "And If I refuse?" Ghost said "Then you will find yourself having a hard time developing in the future." Zeus tapped on the table rhythmically and hummed he turned to the 4 and said "Sounds like a threat to me. Midas, tell them what happens when we get threatened."

Tesoro sneered and said crazily "We eliminate." Zeus nodded and said "So, as you have heard Mr. Ghost. I'm not afraid of ghosts and I never will be. So if you would like to talk business, reel in your attitude because it means nothing to me. Frankly, I have no problem talking with individuals such as yourself, but to give you the cold hard truth Mr. Ghost, If you threaten me again, I will send you back to Mariejoie in a box." Zeus knocked his fingers on the chair and the walls and floors had thick metal plates appear on them, blocking all exits and entrances. Light dials turned on and slowly lit up the room.

This was a must for the conference room, Zeus had specifically requested for it to be implemented. Once it was active, no one came it, and no one came out. Only he and he alone could active and de-activate the mechanism.

The atmosphere in the conference room became tense, only the sound of Zeus' finger rhythmically tapping against the table. Even the 4 were stunned, they never knew the conference room could do that, they looked at Zeus and showed different emotions. Persephone was awe and a bit of bitterness that only she could understand, Lucci was respect, Crocodile was almost worship, and Tesoro was envy, he sighed to himself 'Why didn't I think of that!?' he decided that it was time for renovations in his conference room.

Zeus said "I have all the time in the world Mr. Ghost. I would appreciate it if you don't waste it however." Mr. Ghost spoke "You aren't afraid of the governments retaliation?" although he said that, his tone was noticeably less calm and powerful than before.

Zeus grinned under his mask but said calmly "Naturally I have my means. It was just a warning Mr. Ghost, don't take it to heart. Obviously attracting attention to myself and Tartarus is one of the low-priority tasks on my agenda." Mr. Ghost said immediately "What exactly is on your agenda, Mr. Kronos."

Zeus waved his finger and said "Upupupup Your horse just had a false start, Mr. Ghost. Don't try and pry open my secrets.." his voice turned sinister "I guarantee it won't end well for you." Mr. Ghost kept silent and one of the other masked men said in a female's voice "Is that a threat?"

Zeus chuckled and said "Is it? Is it a threat to barge in here unannounced and demand 30% of my profits for basically nothing? Is it a threat to assume that everything will go your way because you have the backing of the World Government?" his voice got louder and colder as he asked every question.

Zeus went back to his usual tone and said "Normally, I would just laugh and kill you where you stand for wasting my time, but this time I'll give you one chance to actually negotiate with me. If it's unsatisfactory..." Zeus chuckled evilly and said "Then I'm afraid the last lights you'll ever see are the ones in this room." His conqueror's haki unintentionally burst out of him and pressured everyone in the room, Zeus smiled wryly under the mask and lifted the pressure on his 4 leaders.

The Cipher Pol agents were under the pressure of Zeus' haki and Mr. Ghost said quickly "Very well, we'll renegotiate!" Zeus reigned in his haki with some effort but to the Cipher Pols it looked like he was warning them, needless to say this happy little misunderstanding didn't need to be addressed.

Mr. Ghost said "What are you thinking." Zeus tapped on the table and said "I'll give you 10% of my profits every year and in exchange I want 1 Logia. 2 Zoans, mythical or ancient. And 3 Paramecia, with a guarantee of one special Paramecia. Every 2 years, starting now. Also, I prohibit you from spying on my operations, meaning all those little flies buzzing around my ship at the moment, are never to be seen again or I will simply kill them."

Mr. Ghost countered "20% No Logia and 3 Zoans of any type, plus we have an agent in your ranks." Zeus waved and said "I see you have aspirations of being a comedian, Mr. Ghost. The most I'll agree to is 15% 1 Logia and 2 Paramecias with a guarantee one will be special. In addition to the 2 Zoans of either Mythical or Ancient and absolutely no government agents within my ranks. If you can't agree to this then I don't see any reason to keep this conversation going."

Mr. Ghost said helplessly "Mr. Kronos, it's not that I don't want to, It's that I don't have the authority to make such a big deal. Originally it was supposed to go differently but you have succeeded the expectations the Government had on you."

Zeus tilted his head and said "Make your calls, you will not leave here until we reach a deal." Mr. Ghost nodded and pulled out a snail a voice came over and said "Finished?" Mr. Ghost replied "Not quite." he explained the situation and said Zeus' demands and the voice was silent for a few moments and said "It's a deal but he gets the fruit 2 years later."

Zeus interjected "I do not agree. I get the fruit now and I get the same shipment 1 and a half years later as well. I give you the 15% in 6 months and then 12 after that. My organization started 6 months ago and you're paying for a whole year, plus I need two shipments within a 2 year period of Tartarus being functional. You pay for the start and the 2 years after, if you cannot agree to this then I'm sorry but I will keep your 3 agents as well as the ones outside my ship."

The voice was silent before saying "If you want this condition the price will be 20% per year." Zeus said "18%." the voice responded "If you agree to let the agents go you have a deal." Zeus tapped the chair again and the metal plates receded before Zeus said "I want the fruits within a week is this possible?"

The voice said "As soon as all the agents make it back safely, Mr. Ghost will personally deliver your goods." Zeus nodded and said "I hope so." the voice responded "Happy cooperation. Return." and hung up.

Mr. Ghost put the snail away and said "It's been a pleasure, Mr. Kronos." Zeus nodded and said "I hope you can be back within a week Mr. Ghost. I might miss you if you're not." Mr. Ghost nodded and left through the Visitor's entrance, which was just a door that had a 10 cm thick Seastone plate blocking it from the inside. The seastone slid into the wall and the 3 Cipher Pol agents left under the guidance of Crocodile before the Seastone door slid closed.

Zeus held up his hand and lightning washed over the room, vaporizing everything that wasn't here before the agents came inside.

A while later

Crocodile returned and said "They're gone, I walked around the whole ship with my haki on, didn't find a single one." Zeus took off his mask and had a frown on his face, the rest took off their masks and Tesoro said "I thought you didn't want to deal with the government?"

Zeus nodded and said "They moved faster than I expected. I think Joker has something to do with it. I was estimating at least 2 years of development before the government came knocking at our doors."

Crocodile waved and said "Then we just crush that pink bastard." Zeus nodded and said "With time, we don't have enough man power right now to swallow him alive. When we do it we'll have help, the pieces are placed all we have to do is wait. Who knows maybe we can even get some extra benefits by fishing in muddied waters. The mantis stalks the Cicada, unaware of the oriole behind."

The 4 were in awe and Zeus waved and said "Don't look at me like that, I didn't come up with it." the 4 had funny looks on their faces, they were pretty sure anyone else would say that it was them who came up with it instead of telling the truth. They didn't despise him for this, on the contrary they only respected him more, loyal and honest to his people, but vicious and deceitful to his enemies. Not many people were like this and not many of them actually survived for long.

Zeus rubbed his chin and smirked before saying "They're completely gone now, let me talk about what's actually going to happen." the rest looked startled and Zeus pointed down and said "Those agents sure can hold their breath for a long time. I was going to keep talking but he swam away."

They looked down and looked back at Zeus like they were looking at a monster.

Zeus waved and lit a cigarette before saying "Here's the plan, though I said we'll pay them every year, I'm planning on burning them on the third year after we get the second shipment of Devil Fruits. By that time we'll have enough manpower and have grown enough to ignore the Government entirely."

Zeus paused and thought for a moment before saying "We might even have swallowed Doflamingo's entire organization by that time. What I want now is rapid growth, paying for a third year is unacceptable. If necessary I will use force if I have to. Relay this information to your staff 'All staff are expected of being able to use both forms of Haki'..."

Zeus paused for a moment before saying "I will also release the methods for Soru and Geppo only." Zeus whistled and a cloud flew in before dropping two stacks of books and disappearing. Zeus covered himself in lightning and wrote down the methods for Haki in one stack, and Soru and Geppo in the other.

In next to no time

All the books were written and Zeus waved "Spread these among the staff with my message. I changed my mind I want them all to know both forms of Haki and Soru and Geppo within two years, no matter what. Even basic mastery is acceptable, as long as they can use all four."

Crocodile said while trembling "That's around 60 people with all four.." Zeus waved and said "I will be the King of the Underworld. I will not allow my staff to be weak garbage, this isn't you Baroques Works. We operate in the New World, Haki is a requirement. The Soru and Geppo is an added bonus, tell them if they work hard the top 5 in 18 months will be rewarded with a devil fruit of their choice and a promotion to executive if they are trustworthy."

Tesoro said "A devil fruit of their choice?!" Zeus laughed and said "So? If they are willing to work hard, they will be rewarded. I also can't go around giving powerful devil fruits to random staff members, hence the promotion to executive, as we get bigger I will add lower ranks and those executives will be in charge of their own officers."

Tesoro chuckled wryly and Crocodile just shook his head and left with the books on a patch of sand trailing behind him. Tesoro left as well and Lucci didn't see any reason to stay here so he left to train, leaving Persephone and Zeus in the room.

Persephone sat on the table in front of Zeus and said "Being the big boss is tiring eh?" Zeus rubbed his forehead and said "You know me so well, sis." Persephone giggled and Zeus grinned playfully and said "I have a few relaxation ideas." Persephone leaned over and came face to face with Zeus, exposing her cleavage as she said with a smile "Do you dare?"

Zeus pinched her cheeks and said "If it was the past I really would." he sighed and added "It's different now." Persephone giggled and sat on his lap before saying "Tell this sister everything." Zeus said "I don't know. It's just Bonney is so good to me, when I think about being with other women behind her back I fell terrible, and my heart starts to hurt. I don't know why. Am I sick?"

Persephone leaned her head on his shoulder and said "Aiya, Big brother. This is what they call love." Zeus thought about it before mumbling "Love?" Persephone sighed and said "You can pleasure a woman for hours but you don't know what love is?"

Zeus waved and said "Of course I know what love is. I just didn't think I felt that way about her. I.. I never felt that way before, all the other times it was just a deal between two people."

Persephone looked at Zeus and said "For you." Zeus looked at her and said "For me?" Persephone's face was mere inches away from his face as she continued lazily "Yes, for you. Who knows if any of those girls love you. You always disappear the next morning, or so I've been told."

Zeus was obviously not worried about how close Persephone was to him and touched his nose saying "Oops? Nobody ever said anything to me though." Persephone smacked his forehead and said "Idiot! Of course they won't say anything to you! I can Imagine the poor little engaged marine is in love with you too!"

Zeus was taken a back and said "Milly? No, she's just a friend, plus she's engaged." Persephone sighed and shook her head as she said "Did that matter?" Zeus smiled wryly and replied "I guess not..." Persephone giggled and closed her eyes as she said "Some of the other girls on the ship worship you."

Zeus was stunned and said "Really?" Persephone nodded and smirked as she said "If you told them to warm your bed tonight there would be a line up." while giggling. Zeus shook his head and said "As much fun as that sounds, I can't. Speaking of warming the bed.." he looked at Persephone and said "You haven't found anybody yet have you?"

Persephone's eyes flashed a bitter light and she said lightly "Nope.." she started giggling and said "When you keep sending women to me. I never get the chance. Do you think this sister of yours likes women?!"

Zeus scratched her nose and said "I'm trying to protect my little sister, you're too young for romance." Persephone flared up "I'm older than you!" Zeus twisted his finger in his ear and said "What was that? I didn't hear you properly."

Persephone was trembling in anger and Zeus laughed as he patted her head affectionately, only further enraging Persephone as she bit into his shoulder. Zeus loosened his body and let her bite him as he pretended "Ah big sister no! Ah stop!" Persephone giggled and Zeus pretended to scream, it was a good thing the conference room was sound proof.

A week later

Zeus was sitting on an island and saw Mr. Ghost walking over with a box. He dropped it in front of Zeus and said "You can check it if you want." Zeus waved and said "I trust you. I hope that won't turn out to be a poor decision." Mr. Ghost nodded and left.

Zeus watched him go before bringing the box into a secluded location. He put the box down and took out the devil fruits, putting them in his cloud before vaporizing the box and leaving. Mr. Ghost reappeared when Zeus left and looked at the debris before sighing and speaking into a snail "Didn't work. What do we do now?"

The voice responded "Tell him that the next shipment will have an extra Paramecia in compensation. Blame it on a lower ranking officer and hand them over to him." Mr. Ghost nodded and disappeared.

Zeus sneered under his mask before disappearing and reappearing on the destroyer. He touched the metal ball next to the ship's wheel and channeled electricity into it, driving the destroyer back into the water at a rapid pace.

A while later

Zeus was back in the conference room and there were 6 fruits on the table. Crocodile said "They don't even have the common decency to provide a box?" Zeus sneered and picked up a fruit as he said "They did but they bugged it. Bring me the snail." Persephone handed him the snail and it started ringing as soon a Zeus touched it, the other 4 looks at Zeus in awe.

Zeus rolled his eyes and said "Coincidence." before changing his voice and answering "I assume you have an explanation?" Mr. Ghost said apologetically "Yes, Mr. Kronos. You see one of out lower ranking agents tried to pull a fast one. Fortunately Mr. Kronos found it or else even we would be in the dark." Zeus was silent and Mr. Ghost said "Of course we will hand over the agent as well as add an extra Paramecia in the next shipment as compensation."

Zeus said "Special Paramecia." Mr. Ghost said "Of course." before hanging up. Zeus handed the snail back and sneered "What an excuse! See this is why you never trust the government. One of their agents was sacrificed because they underestimated me again." He shook his head and said "Now I have to him a random."

Crocodile said "Kill him?" Zeus nodded and said "Not only as a show of strength but I am willing to bet that they believe I will try and take the agent under my wing. They're compensating me but also gambling for a spy, tricky tricky." he clicked his tongue and sneered.

Crocodile nodded and said "Whatever, kill the chicken to warn the monkeys." Zeus gave him a thumbs up and said "My thoughts exactly! Now let's see what he got.." He picked up a fruit and said "Tree fruit, grow trees from a single touch. Paramecia.. Sell it. Unless this fucking thing can grow Adam trees it's useless." he threw the fruit behind him into a box labeled 'Sell', in addition, next to it there was a box that said 'Keep'. Pretty handy!

Zeus picked up another one and said "Sabertooth tiger Zoan. Ehhh any of you have any use for this?" they shook their heads and Zeus threw it into the sell box saying "Jack up the price on that one." Persephone sat next to him and took notes.

He picked up another one and clicked his tongue saying "The bare minimum eh? Another ancient Zoan Giant ground sloth. Sell it, lower the price to 90% of original." Persephone wrote it down and Zeus threw it behind him.

He picked up another one and said "Glass fruit, producer Paramecia. Anybody want?" Tesoro said "Can you keep the glass it makes?" Zeus chuckled and shook his head, Tesoro waved and said "Useless." Zeus said "Actually, you can make broken glass and shoot it at people." everyone was silent and Persephone threw it in the sell box.

Zeus chuckled and picked up the second to last fruit and said "Ohh A good one! Goo-Goo fruit! Transform yourself into goo! I'm going to keep this one for an assassin." he threw this one into his cloud and threw 2 fruits that were in his cloud into the keep box.

Zeus reached out for the last fruit and said "It is the special Paramecia? Marshmallow fruit, basically a Logia... Keep it." he threw it in the keep box and dumped 6 more fruits on the table from his cloud, excluding the Goo fruit.

Zeus said "These are all the fruits I have left, excluding the Goo fruit. Pick one each to keep or sell for whatever purposes." They all looked at him incredulously, Zeus touched his nose and said "Did I get more handsome?"

Persephone burst out laughing and the others shook their heads with smiles. Zeus waved and said "You guys worked hard over the past 5 months. Don't be shy, take one. There's a Vampire bat Zoan, and Bee Zoan, a Two Tailed Cat mythical Zoan, a Honey Logia, a Warp Paramecia, and an Ice cream special Paramecia"

The four of them looked at the fruits and Crocodile said "These are some powerful fruits.. You're just going to give them away?" Zeus snorted and grinned "You're part of my organization no? If I don't give them to you, who am I going to give them to?" Crocodile chuckled and said "Fair enough." before picking up the Warp Paramecia.

Lucci picked up the Vampire Bat Zoan.

Tesoro rubbed his hands together and said "Can you eat the Ice Cream?" Zeus burst out laughing and nodded saying "Yeah." Tesoro took the Ice cream fruit and Zeus said "I hope you give it to someone powerful at least. That's basically a Logia." Tesoro grinned and said "Don't worry, I got the perfect person in mind."

Zeus shook his head and looked at Persephone, she tapped her chin thoughtfully before picking up the Two Tailed Cat Mythical Zoan. Zeus looked and said "Nobody took the Honey Logia or the Bee Zoan?" he slapped himself and looked at the four before saying "Is this a prank? Did you set this up?"

They all looked at the fruits before bursting into laughter, what a coincidence! Their laughter subsided and Zeus muttered "Bastards definitely did it on purpose..." He grabbed the bee fruit and threw it in the sell box before throwing the Honey fruit back into the cloud and saying "Alright back to work. I have to leave again soon." The 4 nodded and the guys left.

Persephone stayed as usual and said with a smile "Going back?" Zeus nodded and smiled a little "Bonney's waiting for me." Persephone flashed a bitter look and Zeus pulled her into his lap and caressed her cheek as he said softly "Don't give me that look. It makes me hurt."

Persephone snorted and said "Good. It's your fault for seducing me." Zeus flashed a bitter smile and said "Ah this handsome face, I don't know if it's a blessing or a curse!" Persephone giggled and got off his lap saying "Leave, I have things to do."

Zeus pointed at himself and said "This is my conference room!" Persephone glared at him and he left bitterly, she watched him go before sighing and going back to her notes. Sometimes she wondered what would have happened if they stayed in Mariejoie together, she shook her head and focused on her work saying to herself "Doing a good job will make him happy." before grossing herself in her notes.

A week later

Zeus landed back on Thunder Fire Island and snuck up on Bonney before hugging her from behind. Bonney smiled and said "Brother-in-law, my husband will see us!" Zeus whispered in her ear "Be a good sister-in-law~"

Bonney turned around and kissed him before saying "How was the trip?" Zeus sighed and said "Exhausting! I didn't have my little Bonney-chwan!"

Bonney twisted and turned as she said "Miss me?" Zeus picked her up in a princess carry and said "Want proof?" Bonney blushed and nodded gently, Zeus laughed and flashed away, soon moans cam from the direction Zeus left in. He had been gone for a month, there was 13 months left.

(Author's Note)

Idk if you guys know but let me tell you a secret! Psst! It's not a harem! ITS A SECRET TO EVERYBODY!

You can check out my OTHER books while you wait:

One Piece: Another Chance (Completed)

Saiyan in Marvel (Completed)

My Hero Academia: Quirkless

One Piece: Price of Freedom

One Piece: Shadow King

Another Dragonball Adventure

DISCORD LINK: https://discord.gg/VUJYbRX7Ej (IT NEVER EXPIRES)