40. The Marine News Shock Department.

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"Strange, why hasn't little Robin come back?"

The next day, Akira, who was enjoying a lavish dinner in the office, muttered to himself in confusion.

Robin had come to the office with him that morning, carrying documents out of the Fleet Admiral's office.

She hadn't been seen all day.

But since this is Marineford, where there are no human traffickers or pirates, Akira wasn't too concerned.

Moreover, Robin, having been trained by the academy, wasn't defenseless, so Akira wasn't worried about her safety.

"Soldier, do you know where she went?" Akira asked.

The soldier standing at the door heard this and immediately ran in, "Fleet Admiral, Miss Robin has been in the staff headquarters all day today."

"Alright, go and call her back for dinner."

"And bring Rosinante here; I have something to discuss with him."

Akira ordered after hearing this.

Soon, Rosinante and Robin, holding a thick stack of papers, appeared in front of him.

"Fleet Admiral Akira, reporting as ordered," Rosinante said, standing at attention and saluting.

"Alright, I called you here to ask how things are going."

"We've written several reports today. I was going to ask you to review them before we publish and distribute them worldwide," Rosinante said, handing over the documents.

Akira unfolded the papers and began reading.

[Marine Headquarters discovers the land of gold from fairy tales 400 years ago.]

[Join us as we uncover the truth about how Shandora, once rich with gold, vanished from the legends passed down by the residents of Sky Island.]

[Marine has secured all the gold and is transporting it to headquarters.]

[…]

After a few minutes, Akira finished reading the documents.

"What do you think, sir?" Rosinante asked, eagerly awaiting feedback.

This was his first time leading his team in completing a significant task, and he was anxious to hear Akira's thoughts.

"Well...."

Akira flipped through the documents again, letting out a long breath, "The content is solid. Using North Blue's well-known fairy tale 'Noland the Liar' as a reference, you've detailed the origin of Shandora and how it disappeared."

"From this, you wrote about Borsalino's journey to Sky Island, and the photos are convincing enough to make people believe in the reality of the Golden City."

"Whether it's the logic or the way the text is introduced, it basically meets my expectations."

Rosinante tried to keep his expression neutral, but the slight smile on his face gave away his excitement.

"But..."

Akira's words made Rosinante tense up immediately.

"The headline is the only flaw in your reports."

"The Marine's promotion this time will be funded out of pocket and distributed worldwide for free, almost like a blitz."

"Now think about it: you're an ordinary person, exhausted from a long day. You just want to go home and sleep. At this moment, you see several free newspapers in front of you. Do you care? Will you bother to read them?"

"You won't!!!"

Before Rosinante could respond, Akira slapped the documents on the table and continued,

"The headlines of these news articles are nothing special, and they don't entice people to open and explore them. People can figure out the entire story just from a glance." Akira continued, "Write that the Marines discovered the land of gold hundreds of years ago."

"Oh, then why didn't Shandora disappear? Oh, the Marines returned to headquarters with the collected gold."

"These topics are too distant for most people. They don't have the slightest interest, and the headlines don't stir any curiosity. They just feel like it's irrelevant to them."

"I don't want this kind of news. I want headlines that make people want to open the paper and read it the moment they see it."

"I want something so memorable that even when they lie in bed at night, they'll think about it..."

"It's the kind of news they'll remember for days, even after two or three days."

Rosinante broke out in a cold sweat.

Looking at the articles on the table, he felt ashamed.

He'd always believed that the content was the most important part of a news story. But he wasn't foolish, so understood immediately.

If you're a busy resident in a small town, you won't waste time opening a newspaper with such dull headlines.

After all, the headlines already give away everything.

It's different if they have bought it with your own berries, but all of these will be given away for free.

Free newspapers aren't treated like paid ones, and it's hard to get people to read them seriously.

And if you want to build hype for the City of Gold, you need to grab the public's attention as much as possible, and let them know just how much gold the Marines found.

So what if the content is fantastic if the headline isn't attractive? The public will forget the Marines found a massive amount of gold within a few days.

"Do you understand?" Akira asked.

"I understand, but..."

After taking a few deep breaths, Rosinante bowed and said, "Please teach me."

Even though he understood what was needed, without examples, it was like trying to describe an elephant to a blind person.

Time was running out, and Rosinante didn't feel confident he could come up with a strong title before midnight.

Akira thought so too.

Even if Rosinante hadn't asked, he was ready to teach him himself.

If there's anyone who knows how to craft eye-catching headlines, it's the UC Shock Department.

Akira tapped his fingers on the table, thinking to himself.

In his previous life on Blue Star, he had often been drawn in by "shocking" headlines, clicking on them, only to find he'd been tricked.

He had complained about UC many times before, but now, in a different position, his perspective had changed.

"Shocking" news can quickly grab readers' attention, making them feel they have to click on it.

Now, he had to admit, those titles were pretty effective.

His news team needed to learn this!!!

Not just learn it but master it and take it to new heights.

The sound of tapping filled the office.

After a while, Akira, having collected his thoughts, said, "Let me give you a few examples."

Rosinante focused intently, and even Robin, standing beside him, listened carefully.

"Let's say there's a piece of news where the content is pretty mundane: A woman couldn't take off three rings on her hand, so she asked the Marines for help."

"The story itself is very ordinary and dull, right? But no matter how bland, as a journalist, you need to make people want to read it, so the title could be written like this:"

"'It was fine when it went in, but it wouldn't come out! Marine soldiers rush to a young woman's home late at night, and here's what they found!'"

"Another dull story: A golden retriever in heat was taken out for a walk by its owner, and it accidentally tore off a passerby boy's clothes. How about this for a title:"

"'Shocking! Golden Retriever in heat seeks satisfaction late at night, and the owner takes it to the wilderness for a wild encounter with a man!'"

"And here's another example....."

"A resident used wood to keep warm late at night, causing a fire that burned down the neighbor's house, leading to a loss of 100,000 berries. The title could be:"

"'Shocking! He put it in but didn't pull it out, two families destroyed in a fire!'"

Robin tilted her head, confused.

Though she was smart for her age, some of these concepts were clearly beyond her.

The grown-up Rosinante was different. As soon as he grasped Akira's point, his jaw dropped, and his face flushed once he fully recovered.

"I-I see!"

He looked at Akira like he was looking at a genius, and without another word, quickly gathered up the file and rushed out.

After receiving such instruction, his mind was now brimming with flashy ideas that he urgently needed to jot down.

Akira watched his hurried exit and felt a wave of relief.

It seems the sharp Rosinante has caught on.

This is good.

As a leader, Akira appreciated having smart and obedient people around, those who could infer a lot from just one example.

"It's time for dinner, Robin." Akira said, turning to Robin and gesturing to the dishes that had been kept warm for them.

"Okay, brother. Here's the task you gave me last night. I've already finished writing it. Take a look," Robin replied.

Robin shook off the earlier confusion from the discussion and held out the paper she'd been working on.

Akira took the paper, noticing it was densely packed with writing.

Time passed as Akira carefully read through the plan Robin had written.

"You wrote this all by yourself?"

"Yeah! Brother, I did it all on my own."

Robin, her mouth full of rice, proudly patted her chest, her cute little face beaming.

Akira placed a large hand on Robin's head, giving her an appreciative pat. "Tell me about your problem-solving approach."

"Well, you said the Marines couldn't be transferred, but you didn't say people from other departments couldn't be commanded. So I went to the General Staff this morning and now the Marines can still get the CP to fully cooperate."

"Plus, since many treasures and ruins are scattered across different places and we need to collect them all by the end of the month, it's impossible to do it ourselves, so..."

"I thought it'd be better to leak the information and let the pirates explore the dangerous ruins for us. We can swoop in and take the spoils when they come out."

"As for the less dangerous treasure locations, we can have the CP department send people to collect those."

Akira smiled as he listened, his eyes gleaming slightly.

After Robin finished laying out her entire plan, Akira nodded approvingly.

"Well done. I'll add two points! First, to avoid making the pirates suspicious, the dangerous ruins need to be exposed by scholars from Ohara to give the information credibility."

"Second, you'll need to negotiate with the person in charge of the CP department to split the treasure locations. That way, they'll be more motivated to do the search."

Though the Five Elders ordered CP to fully cooperate with the Marines, if you want a horse to run fast, you have to let it eat.

Given the difficult situation, even the CP is struggling.

So, to ensure they're fully committed, offering them some necessary benefits is essential.

After all, while Dr. Clover's treasures would help fill the trillion-berry gap, the majority of it would still depend on Borsalino, Sakazuki, and Kuzan.

As the acting Fleet Admiral, Akira saw no harm in sharing some of the wealth with others under the World Government's command.

"Go ahead, I'm leaving this entirely in your hands," Akira said, signing Robin's paper and stamping it with the Fleet Admiral's seal, signifying his approval of the plan.

"Yeah!"

Robin, thrilled, stopped eating and dashed out with the paper in her arms.

Akira watched the little girl bounce out of the room with a smile.

Once the office was quiet again, he suddenly stood up and walked to the window, silently gazing out at the sea.

Later that night, Rosinante, with his hair in disarray, returned with a document filled with over 20 proposed headlines.

After half an hour of discussion, with a few final selections approved by Akira, Rosinante left feeling satisfied.

That night, the Marine News and Information Department went into overdrive, printing newspapers non-stop, and distributing this batch worldwide for free.

The headlines read:

[Shocked! Gold Falls from the Sky, Marine Stunned by Their Discovery!]

[Shocked! Men Will Be Speechless, Women Will Weep! If You Don't Read This, You're Not from North Blue!]

[Touching! He Finally Spoke Out About the Forbidden Feelings Between Two Men.]

[Angry! An Admiral candidate claims he could buy the whole world—where did he get so much money?]

[…]

For the first time in eight hundred years, a novel and provocative style rocked the traditional pirate world, spreading like wildfire and creating a massive impact.

The Marine News Shock Department began its legendary status from this day onward.

Time ticked by, and now, only seven days remained until the end of the month.

Everyone's nerves were on edge.

Marineford's "Fraud Department" worked tirelessly, operating around the clock to concoct elaborate ruses.

Officers from all over the world and the first half of the Grand Line led their soldiers in maintaining trade routes 24 hours a day, selling goods and earning profits to match the influence of the Sea Emperors.

Akira wasn't idle either.

In addition to reviewing documents daily, he also crafted various leaves. Depending on the need, he even replicated specific characters and items, no longer limiting himself to characters like Bartholomew Kuma, Streusen, or Shiki.

Marine Banks across the globe remained untouched by large-scale pirate attacks. These banks were still relatively unknown and unworthy of the attention of notorious pirates seeking to plunder treasures.

Even if smaller pirates tried their luck, they would find the vaults empty—despite witnessing someone deposit 100,000 berries moments earlier.

Gion and Rouge were busy in the New World.

Zephyr was stationed somewhere in North Blue.

Tokikake continued fighting pirates on Fish-Man Island, sending loot to Marineford every day.

The Ministry of Information worked tirelessly, with Rosinante leading the charge and supported by other civil servants, churning out shocking newspapers that promoted the Golden City.

These papers were distributed worldwide.

Even little Robin, acting far beyond her years, directed the CP agents from the officer's office, orchestrating the robbery of pirates who emerged from dangerous ruins laden with treasure.

And today, finally, on the 4th of May.

The Golden City, which had captivated the world's attention, made its grand debut on the Grand Line.

Alabasta, at the port.

"Good morning to everyone watching this live broadcast across the globe!"

"Today, I'll be guiding you through this momentous Marine event!"

"From Shandora, the 'hometown of gold' 400 years ago, this is the value evaluation conference."

A Den Den Mushi, taller than a person, stood high above the crowd, transmitting the Marine reporter's words live to the entire world.

As the Den Den Mushi's sight shifted, people worldwide could see the throngs of people crowding the port in real-time.

Rough estimates put the number of spectators at nearly one million.

In addition to the native residents of Alabasta, there were people from all corners of the world.

"Wow, look at all these people! It seems the Golden City has really grabbed everyone's attention."

"Don't worry, everyone. To ensure safety, the Marines have deployed the nearest Vice Admirals along with thousands of soldiers to escort the city."

Suddenly, a commotion rippled through the crowd.

"Look, the Golden City~~~ it's here!"

A voice shouted out.

Everyone turned their eyes toward the horizon.

There, rising above the sea, was a Golden City as tall as a mountain, gleaming blindingly under the scorching sun.

The bustling port fell into a stunned silence.

All eyes were glued to the approaching Golden City.

Though called a city, it resembled a Golden Mountain more than anything else.

In comparison, the people appeared as small as ants before a true mountain.

Even the Marine reporters, who had mentally prepared themselves, were momentarily rendered speechless by the sight.

At the forefront, leading the way on a warship marked by battle scars, three figures emerged together.

Sakazuki, Borsalino, and Kuzan.