Tesoro was in the middle of signing a document approving funding for Marine Headquarters' war weapon field tests when the Den Den Mushi on his desk suddenly rang.
Without even looking at it, Tesoro rubbed his forehead and sighed.
"Ugh, I get a headache just hearing this sound."
"Hahahaha! Is it because everyone keeps asking you for money?" Gion asked, laughing as she lounged on the sofa.
Tesoro nodded. "Ordinary people can't reach me through the Den Den Mushi. There are people who handle that sort of thing. Most of the funding requests aren't that large—nothing worth my time. Otherwise, what's the point of having an entire Ministry of Finance?
But anyone who can contact me directly… well, those are always troublesome people."
Tesoro wasn't wrong. As someone who oversaw trillions of Berries, dealing with requests for a few billion here and there was beneath him—that's what his finance staff was for.
Moreover, his status was high enough that very few had the authority to reach out to him directly.
Anyone who could bypass the usual channels and call him personally was definitely a big shot.
And the worst kind of big shots were the ones who never asked for just a little, they always came demanding hundreds of billions, masking their requests behind words like "important projects" and "business investments."
That was why he felt an instant headache whenever his Den Den Mushi rang.
Gion chuckled.
Tesoro finished signing the document and finally turned his head to look at the caller.
Seeing the Den Den Mushi's face, he was genuinely surprised.
"Huh? Enel?"
Unlike most high-ranking figures, Enel never asked Tesoro for money. In fact, Enel was actually one of the Ministry of Finance's biggest sources of revenue.
The guy loved treasure-hunting and adventure, constantly raiding pirates and looting their wealth along the way.
Among all the major players, Enel was one of the wealthiest. If someone told Tesoro that Enel had hundreds of billions of Berries tucked away in a private vault, he wouldn't even bat an eye—because Enel absolutely had that kind of wealth.
Moreover, Enel didn't even need that much money for himself. Instead of Tesoro giving him money, it was usually the other way around Tesoro would occasionally "borrow" some wealth from Enel when needed.
After all, being Minister of Finance wasn't easy. He couldn't just keep handing out money without some funds flowing back in.
Even with massive financial reserves, if every major player kept withdrawing funds year after year, even trillions of Berries wouldn't last forever.
So when Tesoro saw that Enel was calling, he suddenly felt relieved.
At least this time, it wasn't someone asking him for money.
Without hesitation, he answered the call in a relaxed tone.
"Enel? Hey, how's it going? You doing well? If you've got some extra cash lying around, maybe help me out a little.
You wouldn't believe it—these people really think I'm some kind of walking cash dispenser.
Gion is sitting right in front of me, demanding 100 billion Berries from me.
And for what?
I'm still not even sure!"
"Hey, Tesoro, it's for field tests! Field tests! Isn't that explanation clear enough?" Gion immediately protested.
"I don't even know what you're testing!" Tesoro said helplessly.
Hearing Gion's voice, Enel laughed through the Den Den Mushi.
"Hahahaha! Hey, Tesoro, why don't you just come out and be a pirate with me?"
"Hahaha! I'd love to, but I think His Highness would kill me before I even set sail," Tesoro replied with a hearty laugh.
Of course, they were just joking.
Everyone knew how much Saint Claudius relied on Tesoro. If Tesoro actually defected to piracy, the consequences would be disastrous.
"Anyway, no chance I'm helping you," Enel continued. "It's barely the start of the year, and you guys have already scammed me out of 200 billion Berries and that's excluding the high-value antiques and treasures I contributed!"
"At this point, I feel like stripping His Highness' Prometheus down to its treasures and selling them all off!
If I hadn't looted a group of Celestial Dragons' assets recently, I wouldn't even have the trillions of Berries I need to cover everything!" Tesoro complained.
"So, has the situation improved at all?" Enel asked, casually showing some concern.
Tesoro didn't hide anything.
"Yeah, things have gotten better. Expenses have dropped significantly.
The major financial allocations have all been settled.
Commerce, taxation, and other revenue streams have all entered a period of growth.
If things keep going at this rate, the next five to ten years will be golden years for the economy.
Profits should start rolling in soon," Tesoro explained.
After some more casual conversation, Tesoro finally asked,
"But what about you? You wouldn't call me just to chat. What's up? You bored and looking to mess with me?"
"Hahahaha, no, no! I actually have some huge news!" Enel said excitedly.
"Remember that treasure hunter, Mad Treasure—the one who used to work for you? That guy is seriously impressive. He's found something big again!"
Of course, Tesoro remembered Mad Treasure.
After all, that treasure hunter was the one who discovered the Gold-Gold Fruit, which ultimately fell into Tesoro's hands.
And right now, that Devil Fruit was a key asset for the World Government.
If financial issues ever arose, Tesoro had the ability to create gold and temporarily stabilize the economy until things recovered.
Hearing this, Tesoro's interest immediately spiked.
"What did he find this time? Why are you so excited?
Some legendary treasure trove? A city of emeralds?
Or did he stumble across the hidden treasure of the Rocks Pirates?" Tesoro asked eagerly.
If it was something like the City of Emeralds, Tesoro would be overjoyed!
But Enel just chuckled.
"None of those," he said with a grin.
Hearing that, Tesoro's excitement instantly dropped by half.
"Oh? Really? Well, uh… congrats, I guess," he replied, sounding far less enthusiastic.
"What's with that tone?! I'm telling you, this is even bigger than those!" Enel said, clearly dissatisfied with Tesoro's lack of excitement.
Tesoro wasn't convinced, but Gion was intrigued.
"Enel, what exactly did you find?" she asked.
Enel grinned.
"Sister Gion, have you ever heard of Pure Gold?" he asked mysteriously.
Gion blinked, momentarily confused.
She had never heard of Pure Gold before.
It sounded valuable—maybe some kind of rare mineral?
But before she could process it, Tesoro, who had just taken a sip of tea, suddenly froze mid-drink.
The next second, he spat his tea all over his desk!
Ignoring the now soaked documents, Tesoro grabbed the Den Den Mushi in shock.
"Wait, wait, wait—Enel, did you just say Pure Gold?!
As in the legendary Pure Gold created by alchemists over two hundred years ago?!"
"Yeah, that's the one! The legendary metal that supposedly grants eternal life," Enel said smugly.
"You're telling me—you actually found Pure Gold?!" Tesoro asked in disbelief.
Even Gion's expression turned serious.
The idea of eternal life was far too tempting.
For Claudius, Tesoro, Gion, and the other high-ranking figures, this wasn't just any treasure, this was something that could change their fates.
If enough Pure Gold existed, it could even strengthen the World Government's rule.
Imagine if Garp, Sengoku, and the Admirals could all live forever.
Two hundred years later, who could possibly stand against them?
By then, their battlefield wouldn't just be the sea, they could start conquering the stars.
"Haven't gotten my hands on it yet, but I've got solid leads," Enel said, grinning.
(To be continued.)
***
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