One Piece: Blue Scale Admiral

Chapter 726 How can a live stream be without a tipping function?

The following day, the second live broadcast, which had kept countless viewers around the world up all night, began on time on G1 Island.

The highly anticipated battle for the general's place is about to begin.

As Gates invited the general candidates announced yesterday to the platform, the enthusiastic atmosphere both in the audience and in front of the screen reached its peak, with deafening cheers echoing over the G1 sea area.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I apologize for keeping you waiting!"

"Don't blink! The highly anticipated competition for the Navy Headquarters Admiral candidate is about to begin!"

Gates, holding a megaphone Den Den Mushi, roared at the top of his lungs with boundless excitement:

"As everyone knows, the candidates for admiral in the Navy Headquarters are all exceptionally talented and powerful individuals. Our Vice Admiral Rorschach—no, no, Admiral Rorschach—has emerged from the ranks of admiral candidates and is about to become the new Navy Admiral of the Navy Headquarters!"

"And today, we will decide on three new candidates for general."

"I know what you're wondering. You're wondering why we haven't seen our Lieutenant General Hibari."

Gates sighed, tears welling up in his eyes, and said in a low voice, "Alas, it is a great pity that Vice Admiral Hibari, whom we all look forward to, may not be able to participate in today's battle."

Gates had no idea how much of a stir his words had caused.

At this moment, countless viewers, including Vivi, were filled with anxiety, thinking that something had happened to Yun Que.

Unexpectedly, Gates continued, "Our beautiful and powerful Lieutenant General Hibari suffered severe internal injuries during the previous battle of Marineford and has not yet fully recovered. Therefore, she is unable to participate in this competition, which is both a pity and admirable. Let us applaud Lieutenant General Hibari's hard work!"

A wave of enthusiastic applause followed.

Among the crowd, Lark blushed after Gates's words and wished he could disappear into the ground.

"Vice Admiral Hibari, are you injured? Do you want me to treat you? My Healing Fruit ability is very effective at healing injuries." Sitting on her shoulder, Mansherry asked Hibari with concern.

"No, no need, I'm fine." Yun Que's face turned even redder.

Gates gestured, displaying the five people standing side by side beside him on the world's live broadcast screen.

"Therefore, the candidates participating in this competition for the position of admiral are Vice Admiral Enel, Vice Admiral Gion, Vice Admiral Kakei, Vice Admiral Shiryu, and Vice Admiral Yamato."

"Now, I will announce the match rules for this Grand General Candidate Promotion Tournament."

"Because the three strongest among the five must be selected, today's battles will consist of ten matches. Each of the five will fight the other four once to determine the winner. The winner will get one point, and the loser will get no points. The three with the most points will be the three candidates for general. If there is a tie, the tiebreakers will fight again to determine the winner."

"Such intense combat is a tremendous strain on both the physical and mental well-being of the participants. So please wave your hands and shout your encouragement to our athletes!"

Hearing the thunderous cheers from the audience, Gates grinned and said with practiced ease, "In addition, whether you are watching this exciting battle live at the Navy Headquarters or spectators from all over the world, if you appreciate the contestants' performance, you can give them a reward as encouragement."

"A single donation of one million Berries or more will be broadcast live in your town with your real name."

"If you tip ten million Berries in a single transaction, your name will be renowned throughout your kingdom and region."

"If a single donation reaches 100 million Berries, we will broadcast your name worldwide, letting the whole world know your name!"

"If you donate 1 billion Berries in a single transaction, we will not only broadcast your name around the world, but also provide you with the player's Den Den Mushi number after the match, allowing you to talk to your favorite player live on the world broadcast. In addition, you will also receive an invaluable global live broadcast advertising opportunity."

"At the same time, we will also display a real-time leaderboard for tipping, divided into a ranking of the total amount tipped to the players and a ranking of the tippers. Those who make it into the top ten of the total tipping leaderboard will not only have the opportunity to interact with the players face-to-face, but will also receive two invaluable global advertising opportunities. Don't hesitate, let's turn our attention to the Vermeer battlefield now, the first battle is about to begin!"

Listening to Gates's broadcast on stage, Sengoku, Garp, and the others sitting under the parasol with Rorschach were a little confused.

"What's this 'tipping' thing? Morgans, is this yet another new money-making idea you've come up with?"

Seeing everyone looking at him, Morgans chuckled, shook his bird head, and patted Rorschach beside him with his wing. "Don't look at me, this was all Rorschach's idea. What a great method! Why didn't I think of it before?"

"Rorschach's idea?"

Sengoku was taken aback, tilting his head to look at Rorschach, and said with some disbelief, "Rorschach, can your method really make money? Are there really people willing to give money away for no reason? Millions, tens of millions, hundreds of millions of Berries."

He was a little skeptical.

In the Warring States period, wealthy people were generally considered stingy, especially the nobles of the kingdoms. They might have had decadent private lives and were willing to spend large sums of money to buy slaves for food, drink, and entertainment.

But is it really worth giving money to others just for some so-called regional or global broadcast?

is it possible?

"Don't worry, there will be people willing to spend the money. There are more rich people in this world than we imagine. Those royal families and nobles have money that comes easily and without pressure, so they naturally don't feel much psychological pressure when spending it."

Furthermore, do you think fame is unimportant? Imagine you are a world-renowned celebrity who wants to sell some of your own factory's fine wines. Now, an opportunity is presented to you where you can make the whole world aware of your name by spending 100 million Berries. Do you think your wines would still lack buyers?

Why do those pirates go to such lengths to cause trouble? Isn't it all to increase their bounties, make themselves more famous, and recruit more followers?

Luo Xia's words left Sengoku speechless.

As he spoke, he made a Den Den Mushi call to Frisis, who was far away in Mary Geoise, in front of everyone.

“Friss, are you watching our Naval Headquarters livestream? Listen, there’s a chance you can help Saint Musgard make a fortune in Beli. Take Saint Musgard to the settlement of the World Nobles, and do as I say…”

"Afterwards, regardless of whether you succeed or not, I will give 50 billion Berries to Saint Musgarud to help him buy slaves from other world nobles. Oh, by the way, could you please inform Commander-in-Chief Kong and ask him to help collect the Berries that were given as rewards?"

Sengoku, Morgans, and the others listened in astonishment as Rorschach and Frisis discussed how to exploit the Celestial Dragons' competitive nature to get Musgard to push them to their limits when it came to giving rewards.

As Morgans watched Rorschach blatantly finish making the Den Den Mushi call, he couldn't help but swallow hard.

He realized that he had underestimated Rorschach.

This guy even dares to fleece the Celestial Dragons!

"Hey, Rorschach, aren't you afraid the Five Elders will cause trouble?" Garp couldn't help but ask.

"Why is he causing us trouble?" Rorschach scoffed, taking a bite of his apple. "Don't forget, they get 20% of what we earn. Cause us trouble? We haven't invested any money, and we're getting a huge share. What right do they have to cause us trouble? Morgans, call them later and get those 200 billion Berries back. Otherwise, we're breaking up and letting the Five Elders handle it themselves."

Morgans could only nod silently, unsure whether he really intended to listen to Rorschach and ask the Five Elders for the two hundred billion Berries back.

Sengoku and the others were speechless, completely convinced.

What left Sengoku and Morgans speechless, and Hibari, Bepo and the others astonished, was that shortly after Gates finished talking about the so-called reward function, the Navy actually received a reward, and it was a huge reward of the scale of a world broadcast.

All the people on G1 Island saw was Gates standing on the stage, and after receiving a Den Den Mushi, a shocked yet delighted smile appeared on his fat face.

He held up his Den Den Mushi high and shouted excitedly, "It's happened! The first person to give more than one billion Berries in a single donation during this world broadcast has appeared! It's unbelievable! The competition hasn't even started yet, and someone has already spent a fortune to donate one billion Berries to our contestant!"

As Gates finished speaking, the entire audience on G1 Island erupted in uproar.

Countless viewers watching the live stream were stunned and shocked, craning their necks to wait for Gates to reveal the name of the tycoon who had tipped him a billion dollars.

"No way? Someone's already giving a reward so quickly? And a billion Berries at that?" Sengoku's eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

Drake's lips twitched; for the first time, he realized how easy it was to make money.

A single Den Den Mushi call can bring in a billion Berries; it's much easier than robbing someone.

Luo looked at Luo Xia and Morgans suspiciously, "Could they be shills you arranged in advance?"

Upon hearing Luo's doubts, Sengoku and the others suddenly realized the truth.

Yes, there's that feature too.

Hiring shills to create hype and encourage other customers to spend money is a common practice in auction houses.

Seeing the relief on everyone's faces, Luo Xia rolled his eyes.

"I said, why do you all think I hired someone beforehand? Couldn't someone have spent a fortune to be the first to try something new?"

"That's a billion Berries! Who has so much money to burn? Who would be willing to spend a billion Berries for a chance to broadcast worldwide?"

Drake held his breath and immediately questioned.

Upon hearing "one billion Berries," he recalled the unjust fight he had with Lacroix in the Sabaody Archipelago in an attempt to rob the Navy of one billion Berries in taxes.

"Hmph, short-sighted. If you don't believe me, just listen to Gates's broadcast. To be honest, I'm also curious who will be giving away so many Pele for the first time."

Rorschach gave a soft hum, straightened up slightly, and looked at Gates on the stage, who was excitedly giving a long speech.

After waiting for ages, Gates finally finished his long string of empty praise and announced the names of the giver and the giver.

"The first naval officer to receive a reward of one billion Berries is... Vice Admiral Rorschach!"

"what?"

When Gates announced his name, Rorschach, who was sitting down, was stunned.

Sengoku and the others standing nearby were also stunned.

"No."

Rorschach was a little confused.

Why am I the one receiving the tip?

I'm not a naval candidate participating in an admiral candidate duel.

He had been pondering which of the five Enel members would receive the 1 billion Berries reward.

But to my utter surprise, I was the one who received the tip.

Gates continued shouting at the top of his lungs.

"The person who gave the tip is...the most beautiful woman in the world..."

"what?"

Before Gates could finish speaking, everyone around Rorschach gaped, their faces showing disbelief.

The most beautiful woman in the world—is this referring to Boa Hancock, the Pirate Empress?

That guy will give Rorschach a billion Berries?

For the first time in the Warring States period, he felt that his brain was not working properly.

It seems he should discard his reputation as a strategist from the Warring States period as soon as possible to avoid further embarrassment.

Leaving aside the grudge from the last time Rorschach nearly killed Hancock with a single punch during the battle at Marineford.

Just a few days ago, when Rorschach went to Amazon Lily to pick up Garp, he reportedly taught the arrogant Hancock a lesson.

For Hancock to give Rorschach a reward is like the sun rising in the east!

[Note: In the world of One Piece, planets rotate from east to west, the opposite of the real world. Therefore, the sun rises in the west. This is a setting by Oda, and it's quite interesting.]

Hibari looked at Rorschach's profile with suspicion, beginning to wonder if something had happened between Rorschach and Hancock that she didn't know about.

Fortunately, her misunderstanding was quickly dispelled.

Because Gates, who was panting heavily, then exclaimed in a strange voice, "The most beautiful woman in the world, the apple of the eye of the Ryugu Kingdom, our mermaid princess, Princess Shirahoshi!"

"Phew... It was Shirahoshi who gave it to me. I thought it was Hancock." Hibari patted his chest, letting out a sigh of relief.