The Money (Part 2)

"DAMN DEMON CHILD!"

And with that yell full with fury, he moved his hand towards his sword with the obvious intention of swinging towards Fred.

'GREAT!'

Just what Fred had been looking for...

Being paranoid, Fred had already prepared contingencies in case he came across a corrupt Marine officer.

How could he not do it after seeing One Piece!? Where the first Captains of the Marine we were able to meet were [Axe-Hand Morgan] and [Nezumi the Rat]!

And once again his paranoia came true

That's why Fred took them to Marlon's house/smithy to talk about money, one of the most remote houses in town where it was difficult to obtain hostages and where they had prepared a lot of traps and weapons precisely for this occasion, some of which were inside the chairs where the Marines sat and under the table where they had been negotiating.

That's also why he always carried his poisoned needles with him in his pockets, under his sleeves, hidden in his hair and even in his shoes... needles that since few minutes had been pointing at Francis's legs under the table

And so did Marlon and Stephen with their respective ranged weapons loaded with non-metalic poison Fred forced them to use

'Come on attack fucking parasite...'

To Fred bastards like Francis, even if they belonged to a large organization, it was better to get rid of them as soon as possible… before things escalated to a point of no return where not only him but the entire organization behind him come after him

And for Fred this was an ideal opportunity to avoid any kind of repercussion...

There would be several witnesses that a Marine officer had tried to kill him, a ten year old boy who had just rid the West Blue of the Leech Pirates… and that still hadn't collected his reward... for trying to prevent him from stealing money earmarked for charity and for exposing his corruption to his subordinates and those he tried to steal from

As much as the Marine and the World Government controlled the press and the world's dominant narrative, it should be downright difficult for them to justify any punishment to an infant like Fred for killing Francis in self-defence under these circumstances

Especially when Lieutenant Lex was there...

By now it was more than evident that this Marine officer was on their side and that he wouldn't only speak well of them in the event of an [accident] could cause the [unfortunate] death of Francis. It was even probable that he would help them subjugate him for that unjustified murder attempt, turning this battle into a 4 vs 1 where Fred and the others had the surprise factor

Fred just needed him to lose his temper, start the attack first and everything would be over for him socially, professionally and biologically.

PLAM!

"LIEUTENANT FRANCIS!"

However… luckily or unfortunately… Lieutenant Lex was more farsighted and quicker than the others, grabbing Lieutenant Francis's sword before he could wield it, thus stopping the conflict in the bud.

"..."

And with even more fury than Francis, but trying to control it, Lex gave him an ultimatum with a more than remarkable hostility, an overwhelming hostility he never thought would be directed at a co-worker "I THINK it's now clear that Fred and Stephen will distribute the money to the victims themselves, as any GOOD CITIZEN would do...

Can we change the topic NOW!?"

With that ultimatum, Lieutenant Francis came to his senses, cooled his head and reluctantly gave up on continuing his assassination attempt, as did the Steel family and Freed, not having the nice excuse called [I did it in self-defence].

And after an awkward moment in which everyone was forced to pretend that nothing had happened… Fred, without losing his touch continued with the conversation "...

Thank you for clarifying that doubt for me, Lieutenant Lex.

But one more question... is there also a tax to return the money that some pirates had stolen from their rightful owners?"

"No, there's not…

Not yet..." Lieutenant Francis replied, that now was mentally killing Fred not having a better alternative

Fortunately, after this tense episode, no further altercations occurred between the two parties.

Lieutenant Francis excused himself, locking himself in his cabin to yell and break things, while Lieutenant Lex took charge and directed the entire evacuation operation.

Stephen and Fred, the latter vomiting blood... possibly due to an internal injury sustained during the battle against the Leech pirates, or so the Marines believed... divided the loot from the Leech pirates in front of everyone among the kidnapped women just as they had promised

After selling Fred and company certain medical supplies and food requested by the girls who had to be transported back home, they boarded the navy warship from which they thanked Fred, Stephen and the entire Narhad Village for what they had done for them

And Lieutenant Lex was saying goodbye to the mayor and the two little unconventional heroes of the village on the pier.

"Thank you for your collaboration Mr. Steel and Mr. Freed

We will contact you when we have received the money and... if any problem arises, don't hesitate to ask for me, I will be happy to help you personally" Lex said giving Fred a handshake, now being a little calmer knowing that although he had lost his direct family a few days ago, he still had many good people who loved him and cared about him on this island.

And now even off the island

'I hope my son grows up a healthy, strong, intelligent, responsible, determined, kind and generous boy like Fred… but without his tendencies to horribly torture his enemies to death and for making creepy faces too...' Lex thought, partly already admiring that unconventional child, even though he seemed somewhat dangerous

"Thank you Lieutenant Lex, it's a pleasure talking to you.

Rest assured that we will see each other again sooner than you imagine, but for now...

Please make sure they all make it home safely" Fred replied, gladly accepting that friendly handshake.

And Stephen too, although he preferred to give him a hug, with his cast included "And with the money we've given them intact...

Don't let that guy come near them"

"Haha...

And I'll also take care of explaining everything that happened, don't worry about anything, I'll cover you

Until next time!" Said Lieutenant Lex, saying goodbye to Narhad for good to return to the ship, where a great battle awaited him

"Lieutenant Lex is a good person" Stephen and Marlon said synchronously after saying goodbye to the new family friend. A person they had already become fond of despite having known him for only a few hours

"Of course...

There're good people even where one least expects it..." Fred responded, agreeing wholeheartedly with them despite talking about a Marine.

Fred was really grateful to him

He wasn't only very helpful during his first and subsequent calls, but also by doing everything possible to be here today to help them since he foresaw that something like this could happen with Lieutenant Francis, although he didn't think he would dare so much

If Lex hadn't been here for sure Fred would have had to try to poison the entire crew, prevent any communication from escaping the island and one by one through torture... something he was now quite well trained in... use his Pact Magic on everyone to force them to do what he wanted just like with the Leech pirates and thus prevent them from saying anything about what had happened on the island

Thanks to Lex that wasn't necessary, although a part of Fred wished Lex hadn't intervened to still have the perfect excuse to dispose of Francis… luckily Fred didn't get that chance, since contrary to what he believed at first, that would have caused him big problems, as Lex explained...

'Lex…

Even though the basket of apples is rotten, there're some that stupidly resist...'

In a certain moment, when they were alone, Lex explained that he had felt quite helpless for not being able to do much against Lieutenant Francis, since his hands were practically tied. Not only had he come to this mission as a guest under several limiting conditions which he had to disobey by contradicting and stopping him on many occasions.

Apparently that particular lieutenant was highly valued for his combat power and family connections. So much so that the Captain of the base herself had to turn a blind eye on some occasions in order not to lose military power and internal and external support.

'I miscalculated this time…

Not only for the consequences after winning...

There was a chance of losing if what Lex told me was true...

I got too confident after defeating those tired and injured pirates...

Damn…'

In addition, since the Age of Piracy began the World Government and therefore the Marine wanted to give to the masses the illusion that both internally and externally both organizations were virtually perfect

Perfect morality, cohesive to the point of being monolithic and that never, never made mistakes or were capable of being corrupted, in order to... supposedly... generate a great... false... sense of security towards the population that were facing the great pirate threat

And obviously that wasn't the case... but to continue maintaining that façade towards the ignorant or passive masses, they had to do anything to make sure it was so… at least in appearance

Internal [mistakes] within the organization and discovered member of the organization before they became known by the public were simply dealt with a [nothing has happened, keep working] and only in extreme cases was necessary to [eliminate the mistake] and force anyone to remain silent about that [problematic incident] or [problematic person]

In the event that some[mistakes] involved the outside world they would be covered up by their propaganda machine, preferably by denying them or using some scapegoat to blame for said [mistake].

However, when said [mistake] was too big and it wasn't possible to find a convincing scapegoat, the options were to silence the population by giving them some kind of incentive along with a death threat… and when even that wasn't possible, well...

Ohara was a great example of what was usually done in such cases...

'Fucking scum...'

But the worst thing was that to avoid any of these scenarios all critical voices was silenced in the media, any citizen who dared to denounce abuses by the Marine or World Government was directly accused of slander and even external and internal investigations were blocked when a marine denounced another with sufficient evidence

Lieutenant Lex might still have a chance to screw over Lieutenant Francis if he could gather extremely solid and serious evidence to make the higher-ups determine that was better to erase all traces of him to avoid future harm to the organization… although there would be no reparation for the victims

But if Fred or any other poor bastard tried to do the same and even ask for compensation, surely the World Government would distort reality to impute all the crimes to them, even if the lie was too obvious and the case extremely small

The masses would have no choice but to believe it, and even if they didn't believe it, they couldn't do anything either...

'Yes, it's a great possibility...

It seems that I had underestimated the great level of impunity that Government and Marine officials enjoy… even if they're caught being corrupt, there's almost no way to make them pay for their crimes, even if their rank is low.

I think I misunderstood Morgan's arrest, but now that I analyse it with this new information, I'm sure there was a great pact of silence to cover up what he did, a pact of silence that would surely involve the entire island… that idiot turned the whole island against him therefore after being defeated by Zoro, surely all the marines without exception denounced him until the headquarters couldn't ignore or subtly cover up this case

I imagine that most cases are like Captain Nezumi or Spandam, who even after being exposed as useless and corrupt they continued working in the organization after a small punishment

Mental note: I must not kill those kind of scum, I must knock them out and torture them until I can use Pact Magic on them.'

However, there was no reason to waste his brain cells on that, now they had to be used on matters he could influence.

"Okay...

Now we will have to clean up the basement...

I guess…" Fred said somewhat sorrowfully as he surveyed the village, now extremely empty in the absence of that extra population of young women…and the recent deaths of many of its previous residents.

After all his efforts, after having accepted so many responsibilities and risks, what remained was an impoverished, almost uninhabited village, a small hospital with hardly any patients, a house where no one else lived except him...

And plenty of time alone to think about what to do next...

"Not at all, Fred!

First we're going to have dinner, you must be hungry with everything that's happened, Stephen and I will pick it all up later "Marlon said with a smile, while he ruffled Fred's hair with his only available hand

"Let's see if I have understood…

You're hungry and you want me to make dinner because you don't know how to cook anything but grilled meat, but you obviously want lentils and... you will make it up to me by fixing my basement that smells like iron from all the blood spilled?" Fred asked, making a contextual translation of what his Uncle Marlon had meant.

"...

It's a good summary...

Yes... I think that's it..." Replied Stephen, who also understood that, although he was a little embarrassed to admit that they needed his help so selfishly

And fortunately for them and for Fred... none of them wanted to be alone that evening "Come on, follow me...

Let's go to my house...

I cook better from there, you'll be closer to Roxanne... and most important of all, that way you won't slip away after eating"

"YEEEEEESSSS!!!

LENTILS! LENTILS!

LENTILS! LENTILS!

LENTILS! LENTILS!" The father and son pair cheered, hooping after their tsundere Fred, their saviour, who would allow them to eat their favourite dish after so many days.

So it was, Fred dusted off the cookbook and prepared twenty portions of lentils, with which, with some luck, could satisfy the voracious appetites of the great iron lovers that night

"Hmm...

They're exquisite, delicious

The best I've ever eaten!" Marlon said as he licked the only five fingers of his remaining hand

"You know that's not true...

Aunt Roxanne makes them so much better," Fred replied as he stirred his bowl of lentils over and over with his spoon.

"It's true, but you give us more quantity

Mama says that if dad eats a lot he will get fat" Stephen said, who like every child, ate with his eyes rather than with his palate

"I'm afraid that process has already begun son...

STEEL! STEEL! STEEL!" Marlon answered while he slapped his gut, as always trying to brighten up the atmosphere even in the worst situations...

Everyone had been through a horrible situation that had left some serious scars, both physical and emotional, so Marlon tried to do everything possible so that Stephen and Fred, who had just gone through the worst experience of their lives at a young age, didn't feel alone or helpless as they surely had felt when he was unconscious...

And above all to watch in case what they experienced had left them with some kind of serious psychological sequelae.

Especially to Fred, who since Norman died had hardly slept, had been working most of the time and looking for more work or extra responsibilities even when there was nothing left to do... and he still hadn't cried once, not even when Norman died according to what Stephen told him

It was obvious that something was wrong with him… although the strange thing would be that he was perfectly fine

That's why he couldn't ignore Fred's gloomy emotional state in which you just turn a spoon on a plate still full of food "What's wrong Fred?

You barely ate anything"

"Uncle Marlon...

Could you tell me what really happened with my mother?" Fred replied, dropping the spoon on the plate to use that hand to lend the pendant his father gave him to Marlon.

A pendant that he opened, showing the photo that was inside, where his father and mother and he himself looked happy the day he came into this world.

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You'll be able to see 8 chapters in advance in my Pa-treon

pa-treon.com/user?u=83938371

Edited By: The_Bored_Immortal