Naruto Online: Hyuga Branch Family? Let's go all out!

Chapter 257 A Newspaper Stirs Up Turbulent Times

As a new day dawned, the latest issue of the World Economic Herald was printed thanks to the workers' all-night efforts. Newspaper birds, carrying more newspapers than usual, set off for all corners of the world.

In order to receive news from all over the world as quickly as possible and send the newspaper to all corners of the world as fast as possible, the headquarters of the World Economic Daily must be located in a place where people from all over the world converge.

Reverse Mountain is too far from the center of the world to be suitable, so Morgans' headquarters has been floating over Sabaody Archipelago at the end of the Grand Line for many years.

Therefore, ordinary people, nobles, Celestial Dragons, and pirates in Sabaody Archipelago were the first to see the newspaper.

Including some old fellow who lives in seclusion on Sabaody Archipelago.

Adjusting his glasses, Rayleigh looked at the headline in the newspaper, quite shocked: "Jinbe, he's actually plotting something like this!"

"I really didn't expect him to be so thoughtful!" Peony next to her was also surprised, feeling as if she had misjudged him.

Jinbe's nickname is Strait, and he himself looks very honest and simple. At first glance, he doesn't seem like a person with a deep mind.

Moreover, Peony herself works in intelligence, yet after all these years, she still hasn't found any flaws in Jinbe!

Yes, they both believed it!

You have to believe it; the logic in the article is too meticulous.

If it weren't for a bigger scheme, you really couldn't explain why these pirates didn't squander their wealth after accumulating it, nor could you explain why a group of pirates weren't greedy or lustful.

The dragon simply believes that the fish-men have a noble bloodline, but this argument might convince the fish-men, not the humans.

Humans don't consider fish-men lowly, so how could they possibly consider them noble?

Since they don't think fishmen are noble, they naturally don't agree with the logic of evil dragons.

"In any case, this report is going to stir up some storms at sea!" Rayleigh said calmly.

Humans already had a bad attitude towards fish-men, and this report will only make them hate fish-men even more.

Even the practice of enslaving fishermen was given a degree of legitimacy thanks to this report.

However, Rayleigh was just a retired old cadre, and there was nothing he could do about it. He just sighed a couple of times and then moved on.

But the Navy Headquarters was absolutely furious.

"What is Jinbe trying to do?! They actually want to steal a country and establish a kingdom for the fish-men?!" At 8:30 in the morning, Sengoku, who had just received the newspaper, slammed his fist on the table in anger. "Haven't we treated the fish-men well enough?"

"The crux of the matter isn't that Jinbe wanted to steal a country, but that he's a Shichibukai!" Chief of Staff Tsuru said, frowning. "The Shichibukai were established to protect the World Government and its member states, but Jinbe used his power to try and steal a country. Although he didn't succeed, and didn't even set a target, the impact of this matter is still very bad!"

"I'm afraid the Five Elders' call is on its way!"

Sengoku was taken aback when he heard the Den Den Mushi next to him ringing.

He quickly picked up the phone and saw that the Den Den Mushi had turned into a bald old man.

Sengoku immediately sat up straight, and his expression became serious.

"This is the Five Elders!" another old man asked. "Sengoku, I ask you, is it true that Jinbe stole the country?"

"The report from the branch colonel is still on its way, and I'm preparing to question him personally!" Sengoku hurriedly said.

"There's no time to verify!" the Five Elders said coldly. "Since the Navy is involved, this matter should be beyond doubt. We will revoke Jinbe's title of Shichibukai. You immediately arrange for his arrest!"

"Yes!" Sengoku nodded.

The Five Elders continued, "The Navy is very enthusiastic about this kind of thing!"

Zhan Guo remained silent, for he understood the meaning behind the Five Elders' words.

The Seven Warlords of the Sea are an organization directly under the World Government, and many people in the Navy are very dissatisfied with this organization.

Therefore, the Five Elders suspect that this matter was initiated by certain individuals within the Navy.

The evidence is that the Navy didn't even report this to the World Government; the World Economic Herald broke it up first!

If the order were reversed, with the Navy reporting to the World Government first and then attempting to publish the news in the newspapers, the World Government could at least find a way to cover it up and prevent the news from leaking out.

What now?

"This incident has put the World Government in a very passive position!" the Five Elders continued. "I don't want anything like this to happen again!"

"Yes!" Sengoku nodded.

"Alright, that's it!" The Five Elders hung up the phone. On Sengoku's side, Su Zheng's expression immediately fell. He then rummaged through the pile of documents next to him and found a report.

This report was published by Dongbao the day before yesterday. A Straw Hat Pirates crew formed by Luffy set sail. This pirate crew not only attacked the 153rd Marine Division, but also attacked the soldiers of the 16th Marine Division after defeating the Arlong Pirates.

By flipping through the newspaper again, Zhan Guo gradually pieced together the timeline.

Straw Hat Luffy first attacked Branch 153, then defeated the Arlong Pirates, and then defeated Branch 16, which came to pursue them.

Intimidated by the Straw Hat Pirates' strength, the 16th Branch did not pursue them. Instead, they established a base in Cocoyasi Village, interrogated the remaining members of the Arlong Pirates, and searched their base.

During the search, a journalist from the Grand Line happened to pass by and heard about the incident.

The reporter happened to know that the Arlong Pirates were once members of the Sun Pirates. Combining this with the Arlong Pirates' actions in the nearby towns and the confessions of the Arlong Pirates themselves, the reporter finally arrived at this report.

Looking at the whole incident, apart from the reporter's appearance being somewhat accidental, everything else unfolded quite naturally.

Even the appearance of reporters felt natural, because reporters from the World Economic Herald are always traveling around, so it's normal for them to appear anywhere.

"This matter was probably not orchestrated by our navy; it was just a coincidence!" Sengoku said.

Crane nodded: "That's true, but unfortunately the Five Elders don't seem to believe it!"

"Just report back truthfully when the rats' report arrives!" Sengoku scoffed. Anyway, that's the truth, I don't care if you believe it or not.

"If Jinbe's status as a Shichibukai is revoked, will his bounty also be reinstated?" Tsuru asked.

"Not only should it be restored, but it should be increased! To attempt to usurp the throne is an unforgivable crime!" Sengoku asked, "What was Jinbe's bounty before?"

"2 million!" Crane had already been flipping through the files as soon as he saw the newspaper.

Jinbe was a member of the Sun Pirates in his early years, and later worked alone for a while, so his bounty was still quite high.

But that was in the past. In recent years, with more and more pirates going to sea, coupled with the World Government's continuous printing of money, the world economy has shown signs of inflation, and pirate bounties have also been rising.

"That's too low. How about we raise it to 4.5 million?" Sengoku thought for a moment and then asked.

"This number is reasonable!" Putting aside Jinbe's strength, his act of stealing a country is a great threat to the World Government, so the bounty can't be low!

Nine o'clock in the morning.

While the Navy and the World Government were exchanging opinions on Jinbe's situation, Doflamingo in Dressrosa also saw the newspaper.

"Fufufufu..." Doflamingo, with blond hair, wearing sunglasses, a pink feather coat and cropped trousers, and habitually wearing pointed shoes, had one arm around Violet and held a newspaper in the other.

Upon seeing the headline news, he subconsciously let out a strange laugh: "Jinbe's planning to steal a country too? Is he copying me? But once you've made a decision, you should act quickly! Who plans for ten years straight?!"

Violet glanced at the newspaper with curiosity, her face calm, but in her heart she was thinking, "If Jinbe also needs land, could I cooperate with him?"

As long as the country can be restored, ceding a piece of land is not out of the question.

Later that morning, at ten o'clock, the Newspaper Bird flew to the New World and landed on the Four Emperors' ship.

"Dad, Dad, come quick, here's today's newspaper! There's big news!" Marco flew over and brought the newspaper to the white-bearded man.

"Gurararararar..." The white-bearded man was sunbathing with his eyes closed, while a group of scantily clad nurses massaged his muscles.

Upon hearing of Marco's arrival, the white-bearded man grinned: "I won't watch it, just tell me!"

"The newspapers say Jinbe is planning to usurp the throne!"

"What?" Before Whitebeard could even react, Ace exclaimed in shock, "How could this be! How could Jinbe have such thoughts? Doesn't he have great respect for Neptune from the Fish-Man Kingdom?"

"It wasn't about stealing the Fish-Man Kingdom!" Marco said. "The Fish-Men's ideal is to live on the surface, right? So Jinbe thought of finding a country to steal, ruling its people, and plundering their wealth to pay the Celestial Fee. As long as the Celestial Fee is paid on time, the World Government won't interfere!"

"How could that be!" Ace snatched the newspaper from him. "I know Jinbe, he couldn't possibly be that kind of person!"

"I know you fought once, and even became friends in the end!" Marco said, "But this is, after all, the ideal of the merfolk for thousands of years!"

Ace was speechless, frantically flipping through the newspaper, trying to find a flaw between the lines.

However, even highly intelligent humans like peony and crane couldn't find any flaws in Ning Yuan's writing, so how could someone who didn't even attend elementary school possibly be able to do it!

Even though he trusted his brothers with his most basic emotions, Ace was a little insecure when he thought about the ideals of the fish-men race, which had lasted for thousands of years and numbered in the millions.

Yes, although Jinbe is outgoing and generous, he is still a fish-man after all!

Perhaps he really does have such thoughts and plans?

"No, I have to ask him!" Ace said immediately.

"It's best not to ask at a time like this!" Marco immediately stopped Ace. "Even if you ask him, will he admit it or not?"

If you've admitted it, then there's nothing more to say.

You won't admit it? That means you don't trust your brother.

"But at a time like this, shouldn't I help him as a friend?" Ace asked.

"Help him? How?" Marco asked again, "The merfolk need a piece of land to live on, are you going to give it to them?"

Estun remained silent for a moment.

The Whitebeard Pirates have plenty of territory, but people live on all of it!

It's not that there aren't uninhabited islands on their territory, but guess what? With such a developed maritime industry in this world, why are there still uninhabited islands?

There must be a reason why an island is deserted!

Actually, some islands could be developed and become habitable, but the development process is bound to result in many deaths. If the fish-men knew how to be grateful, they would understand that these people were dying for their own future.

The fear is that the fish-men will be ungrateful and blame the deaths on the people who gave them the island.

Furthermore, people in the One Piece world tend to be the type who take what they want themselves, rather than expecting others to give it to them.

If you want land, why don't you just go and seize it yourself? What's the point of having someone give it to you?

Even if you want someone else to deliver it, you have to come and ask for it yourself, instead of some brother on the ship saying the land is yours.

In the end, Marco managed to subdue Ace.

As for Big Mom, Kaido, and Shanks, they also saw the newspaper, but only glanced at it before moving on.

They weren't familiar with Jinbe and couldn't be bothered to pay him any attention.

At 11:00 AM, the Newspaper Bird arrived at the middle section of the Grand Line.

On a deserted island, Jinbe, the protagonist of the headline story, finally sees the newspaper.

When Jinbe saw his name in the headline, he was first stunned, but after reading the content, he was completely dumbfounded!

"Me, stealing a country? How could that be!"

What do you mean by "the dragon is my subordinate"? We've worked together, but he doesn't listen to me at all!

Moreover, we haven't seen each other since he came out of Impel Down ten years ago, and we haven't even been in contact with each other. I have no idea where he is or what he's doing. How could this be related to me?

but. . .

The further Jinbe read, the more confused he became, until finally, even Jinbe himself was dumbfounded.

Because the newspaper's entire logic was impeccable, the operation of stealing a country was highly feasible, and the report even provided a solution on how to gain the recognition of the world government after stealing a country.

It was practically like he was teaching Jinbe how to make the fish-men live on the ground!

Who came up with this method?

It wasn't a reporter, it wasn't that rat colonel, it was... a dragon!

In an instant, Jinbe was completely dumbfounded!

What was his impression of dragons ten years ago?

An extreme mermanist, greedy, cruel, and obsessed with money.

If they weren't both fish-men, he would never have looked down on someone like Evil Dragon.

But I never expected that you were actually planning for the benefit of your people!

Moreover, it almost succeeded!

The only thing the dragon lacks is strength!

If he had the strength, why would he stay in a small place like the East China Sea? He would have already found a powerful country to fight!

Why is the Arlong Pirates so weak?

Because Jinbe looks down on Arlong and doesn't support him!

Now, Jinbe has become a Shichibukai, escaping the life of being hunted by the Navy. Although his life isn't exactly glamorous, he's at least financially secure.

And what about my compatriots?

They hid in the impoverished countryside of the East China Sea, scrimping and saving, carefully avoiding the navy's pursuit, all in an effort to find a possibility for their people to live on land!

"Slap!" Jinbe slapped himself hard across the face, tears streaming down his face. "Arlong, I'm so sorry!"

"If, if I had known about your plan earlier, I would definitely have helped you!" Jinbe slapped himself hard a few more times.

Because he remembered that the dragon had contacted him over the years, but whenever he saw that it was the dragon calling, it would hang up without giving him a chance to speak.

"It's me, it's me, it's all my fault. If only I could have answered your call, if only I could have talked to you!" Jinbe was already tired of slaps, so he simply used his fists!

After a while, Jinbe, having finished beating and crying, sat up and picked up the newspaper.

Between the lines, Jinbe confirmed that all members of the Arlong Pirates had died from their injuries due to the lack of doctors in the 16th Division of the Navy.

"Thank goodness, thank goodness!" Jinbe tightened his grip on the newspaper.

Fortunately, this newspaper conveyed your ideas and passed them on to me, Jinbe.

"Your efforts will not be in vain!" Jinbe solemnly vowed!

After saying that, he went straight to the beach and dived into the water.

He must return to the Fish-Man Kingdom to gather his followers; he must continue the dragon's unfinished work!

As for the Seven Warlords of the Sea, let whoever wants to be one be one!

At noon, the Newspaper Bird arrived at the first half of the Grand Line, a desert region.

In a city in the desert, a newspaper bird swooped down and handed a newspaper to a slender, elegant woman.

The woman unfolded the newspaper, but the first thing she noticed was the words "stealing the country"!

"Huh?" The woman was taken aback, looked closely, and then realized that it wasn't her who had been exposed, but someone else.

However, it would be quite interesting if the boss saw this newspaper!

After thinking for a moment, the woman swayed her body and walked towards a mysterious building.

A moment later, the newspaper was handed to a man with a cigar in his mouth and an iron hook in his other hand.

"Stealing a country?" Sure enough, the first thing he noticed was the word "stealing a country," and it was the Seven Warlords of the Sea who stole the country.

Fortunately, upon closer inspection, it turned out that these were not Crocodile, but Jinbe, who was also a member of the Seven Warlords of the Sea.

"I didn't expect there to be other Shichibukai with this idea?" Crocodile said with a cigar in his mouth and a serious expression. "Although it wasn't us who were exposed this time, the world's attention to the other Shichibukai will definitely increase."

"Shall we lie low for a while?" the woman asked.

"No!" Crocodile shook his head. "On the contrary, we must act ahead of schedule!"

"But many things haven't been arranged yet!" the woman said hurriedly.

"It doesn't matter!" Crocodile said coldly, "If we don't have 500,000 rebels, 50,000 will do. As long as the rebels enter the city, everything will be under our control!"

Anyway, the newspapers have already written out the methods for handling the aftermath.

As long as you have money and can pay the heavenly gold, the world government doesn't care who controls the country.

At most, it will just be a symbolic condemnation.

Moreover, the newspapers clearly stated the reason for Jinbe's failure: the planning took too long!

The longer the time span, the more uncontrollable factors there are. For example, this time, the secret was exposed because of a pirate crew that had just set sail.

Alabasta is on the Grand Line, where countless pirate crews pass by every day. Who knows when you might run into a meddlesome pirate crew!

"Let's do it this way!"

(End of this chapter)