Chapter 255: Joint Operations, Global Trade"News, big news!!"

"'World Destroyer' is defeated! Marine's justice is unstoppable!"

"The new generation of Marines' rising star? Rapid promotion—behind it, military merit or...?"

As newspapers were delivered across the seas by flying birds, the name 'Roman' became widely known. Whether it was his solo defeat of a 500-million bounty pirate or his regular 'clean-up' operations that captured pirates, countless people cheered and took notice.

At this point, Roman thought:

"What the hell? If I really had the strength to fight World one-on-one..."

Roman, holding a newspaper, rubbed his chin—after becoming familiar with the More More Book, he wasn't worried about facing World anymore. After all, the Momo Book could 'amplify' power, speed, and even other Devil Fruit abilities...Roman's abilities were much more versatile than World, who only knew how to throw stones.

It was definitely the most overpowered page!

"Well, I guess I'm an elite Vice Admiral now, right?"

An elite Vice Admiral in this world could already say: "There's nowhere left to go."

Moreover, with Roman's wide range of abilities, even if he couldn't win, he could still retreat gracefully unless he was specifically targeted by a top-tier opponent. Finally, he could breathe a sigh of relief, so:

"Lieutenant Commander, are the sea charts ready?"

"Here."

Nami handed him a stack of sea charts, and Roman rolled them up without even looking. – Of course, Nami's charts couldn't be wrong.

If there was a problem, it must be with the world itself.

Yeah, that's it!

——————"Commodore Roman! Is World alive or dead...?"

"Commodore Roman! May I ask...?"

As soon as they disembarked, a crowd of reporters swarmed in, forcing Bolkin and the others to step in as makeshift bodyguards, forming a wall to protect Roman.

"Make way, make way!"

"Don't crowd, don't..."

Facing the excited reporters, Roman gave Nami a look that said, "It's up to you," then let Isuka take care of the ship. He walked confidently toward the Fleet Admiral's office.

*Thud thud thud* 

"Come in."

At Akainu's stern voice, Roman pushed the door open—and, wow!

How long had it been? The once energetic man who had single-handedly taken on all the powerful pirates during the war now looked like this: His beard was all over the place, crow's feet lined his eyes, and the only light in the smoky room was the constant flickering of his cigar. Piles of documents stacked high beside him, looking every bit like a stressed office worker. Who would've thought this was the Marine Fleet Admiral?

"Fleet Admiral Akainu " Roman said, walking to the side and opening the window, letting a thick cloud of smoke roll out. He shook his head helplessly. The position of Fleet Admiral, to be honest, was a tough job! Above him were the Five Elders and the Celestial Dragons, below him were lazy and disobedient Admirals—it was like being a mouse in a bellows, squeezed from both ends.

"Even if you don't take care of your health, at least think about ours."

"The harm of secondhand smoke... Hm? Hasn't anyone published on that? Maybe I'll write something in a couple of days."

"Stop the nonsense!" 

Once Roman sat in the Fleet Admiral's chair, he understood the troubles of being the 'boss'. Akainu's temper had only gotten worse over time, though many times, all he could do was fume in frustration—like when dealing with the Celestial Dragons.

"You did well." Luckily, Roman's 'skills' earned Akainu's respect. Among all the reports asking for warships, personnel, and supplies, Roman's report was the only one that stood out. However...

"Why wasn't World sent to Impel Down?" 

At Akainu's question, Roman took out a sea chart.

"I have a plan."

? 

... 

*Bang!* 

"Ridiculous!!"

A loud slam of the desk echoed from the Fleet Admiral's office, making the passing Marines shudder and instinctively speed up.

"When business doesn't work out, we still keep some dignity, don't we, Fleet Admiral Akainu?" Roman, anticipating Akainu's desk slam, quickly pulled the sea chart away, causing Akainu to glare at him angrily—but there was nothing he could do.

"I think Commodore Roman's proposal is quite interesting," Vice Admiral Tsuru, the Marine strategist, picked up the conversation. "We already have enough enemies; there's no need to push everyone to the other side."

"But they're pirates!!" 

Akainu exhaled a puff of smoke, his entire presence like a volcano on the verge of erupting. "World, Hancock... These are all notorious criminals, and now you want to—"

"40 billion Berries." 

?!

In an instant, even the furious Akainu was struck silent.Roman raised the sea chart in his hand, "My proposal could bring more than 40 billion Berries in profit to the World Government... no, to the Marines every year. And this is just a preliminary estimate. With that much money, we could buy the head of one of the Four Emperors. Doesn't that tempt you, Fleet Admiral?"

"... Explain it again." 

Akainu was certainly moved!

He didn't care much for money himself, and his only hobby during his free time was taking care of his potted plants. But after becoming the Marine Fleet Admiral, he learned what it really meant by "you don't know how hard it is until you're in charge." Now, the entire Marine world was stretching out their hands to him, asking for just two words:

Money!

The bases need money, the warships need money, the training needs money, the bounties need money, and research... is an even bigger money eater! It had gotten to the point where Akainu just wanted to go out and catch a few big pirates to exchange for their bounties.

But every time he thought about how money just went from one hand to the other, he felt a pain in his chest.

This Marine Fleet Admiral job isn't worth it!

··········"To sum up, with World's abilities and the Amazon Lily's advantage in the Calm Belt, we can definitely start cross-ocean trade!"

When Roman said "cross-ocean," he didn't mean going from one island to another. He meant:

Long-distance trade from the South Blue to East Blue!

You have to understand, the things that hold back ocean trade in this world aren't just huge waves, bad weather, or sea monsters.

There are also two major obstacles: the Red Line and the Calm Belt!

The Red Line is self-explanatory, a vertical cliff thousands of meters high. Small-scale transportation might be fine, but trying to carry out large-scale trade is a nightmare.

The Calm Belt is the same. Not only is there no wind at all, but the sea currents only flow vertically. And it's filled with giant sea kings, so even the Marine's special warships have to rely on luck to cross it.

"The Amazonian ship, the 'Perfume Snake,' can drive away the sea kings, and the female warriors led by Hancock can fully handle the escort work. —In fact, with just that one ship, how much could the Amazon Lily really plunder in a year?"

"And World, when not in combat, can enlarge a ship into a 'giant ship' for long periods! Not only can it maintain the stability of the ship in a magical way, but it can also accelerate with just a little bit of thrust."

Roman was pitching his idea to the Marine Fleet Admiral and the Chief of Staff.

"World's ability allows us to transport massive amounts of goods, while the Empress can drive away sea kings to provide escort. We Marines could definitely carry out long-distance trade. Just think about the price difference between goods in the South Blue and East Blue..."

Official monopoly on shipping trade would be extremely profitable!

Things like human trafficking and arms trade, in comparison to the huge volume of trade between dozens of countries, are just a joke.

——SilenceLooking at Akainu Fleet Admiral and Crane, who were deep in thought, Roman walked to the window and looked outside:

Producing Devil Fruits really is a game-changer!

But in this world, people are used to using them for fighting.

Massive trade would raise the living standards of ordinary people, with frequent exchanges of various goods and knowledge... Only when the entire world improves can the pirate world be eradicated! As for what comes after that—

Roman looked up at the blue sky and white clouds, getting lost in thought for a moment.

'Commodore Roman...'"Commodore Roman!"

?

"Ah, sorry."

When Roman turned around, he could already see the answer in Akainu and Crane's eyes.

"We approve of your plan, but—"

Akainu stood up.

"The first trade must be led by me personally!"

"Of course."

——————————A month later:

With World's ability, a heavily armed merchant ship was expanded into a real sea fortress. Then, using Nami to create 'wind' and the Marine elites sweating in the ship's hold pushing it manually, combined with acceleration from the More More Fruit, the ship was able to reach a normal speed.

Along with the Kuja Pirates, who acted as bodyguards, clearing out sea kings along the way... actually, with the size of this ship, whether any sea kings would even dare to approach was a question in itself.

In this way, the giant ship, powered by the Devil Fruit ability and a team of experts, crossed the calm belt twice and successfully transported one hundred thousand tons of various supplies from the South Blue to the East Blue.

"This... this is really..."

"A miracle—"

After the giant ship unloaded its cargo on an island in East Blue, the Marine elites, who temporarily acted as 'laborers,' stood stunned, staring at the endless line of containers. Unlike their own destructive power, which could easily crush things, these long stretches of supplies represented:

Hope and progress!

"So? My plan isn't flawed, right?"

In response to Roman's question, the Marine higher-ups were too busy calculating how much money they could make. The number already had Nami standing there in stunned silence.

"Roman, is making money really this easy?"

All the hard work and struggle I went through before was nothing..."I am a noble..." *cough cough* 

Roman waved his hand. "Just think for a moment. Earning a huge amount of money is as easy as pie, right?"

By the way, the containers used to load the cargo were 'knocked out' empty-handed by the World Pirates' Gai Ram. With the unscientific nature of his Devil Fruit, he alone was like a modern-day production line.

"Commodore Roman, very good, very good!"

Akainu couldn't stop admiring Roman more and more. If it weren't for Roman's lacking combat strength, Akainu seemed ready to promote him to Admiral on the spot.

"This ship still has a lot of unused space,"

Akainu, influenced by Roman's ideas, walked back and forth, giving orders.

"Take apart the cannons!"

"But..."

"Are we afraid anyone would dare to attack us with so many people here?"

"Take apart the lounge!"

"But..."

"We're all soldiers. Have everyone sleep on the deck!"

...Tsk tsk tsk, Fleet Admiral Akainu is really focused on the money.

"Commodore Roman, congratulations~~"

"It looks like Roman will soon be promoted..."

"Brother Roman, how about a drink later?"

The Marine elites greeted Roman warmly. A leader who could lead them to victory was naturally popular, and one who could lead them to victory and help them make money?

Of course, they were adored by everyone, like flowers in full bloom!

—————— 

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