Luo Lan's "Super Fortress Builder System" was powerful—
But it was also outrageously expensive.
Every single function required points to activate, and aside from the occasional mission, there was only one reliable way to get points:
Exchange Berries.
10,000 Berries = 1 Point.
Simple. Brutal. Final.
And the problem?
Luo Lan was broke.
When he first arrived at Branch 157, he barely had 100,000 Berries to his name.
That was worth just 10 points. And with that? He couldn't do jack.
So in the beginning, all Luo Lan had were the freebies from the newbie starter pack: two basic buildings and one asset—S-Class researcher, Seras.
And with nothing else to build, Luo Lan had to get creative.
Thus, a covert department, orchestrated behind the scenes by Luo Lan and executed publicly by Ian, was quietly established under Branch 157's Intelligence Division.
Its name?
Intelligence Division No. 2.
And its mission could be summed up in two words:
Make. Money.
Now, if you're asking who has the money in the East Blue—pirates?
Wrong. Most East Blue pirates were dirt poor. If a crew could cough up a few hundred thousand Berries, they were already considered "well-funded."
The real cash? The nobles.
But as a marine officer, Luo Lan couldn't exactly rob them outright.
So what did he do?
That's where Division No. 2 came in.
The method was simple:
Pick two targets. One rich noble. One ambitious pirate crew.
Then, feed the pirate crew intel. Secretly lend a hand, even—just enough to ensure the raid went smoothly and the profits were maximized.
And when it was all over?
That pirate crew would mysteriously disappear.
Over time, not only were these pirates wanted by the Marines, but certain nobles also began issuing private bounties—enraged by the losses.
But despite all that…
Not a single crew has been caught.
In just one year, Division No. 2 had funneled over 100 million Berries into Luo Lan's operations.
---
"Colonel, we've got a problem," Ian said, his tone uneasy. "It's about the second target… Someone found out about our operation."
Luo Lan's expression darkened.
This wasn't good.
If this blew up, he'd be in deep trouble.
System or not, transmigrator or not—if he hadn't fully grown, he was still just a pawn.
"What happened?" he asked.
Ian hesitated before responding. "After we dealt with the pirates, we found a letter on their ship."
"The message was clear:
'We know what you're doing. If you don't want this exposed, you'll complete one task for us—
Take down the Arlong Pirates in Cocoyasi Village.
Do that, and we'll keep quiet.
And we'll even pay you 60 million Berries.'"
Luo Lan blinked.
Cocoyashi Village.
Arlong Pirates.
And a 60-million-Berry reward?
Nami.
It had to be her.
Sure, in the original timeline she scrounged up 100 million, but that was two years later.
So now, she'd already scraped together 60 million?
Interesting. Very interesting.
"She leave a way to contact her?" Luo Lan asked.
Ian nodded. "Yes, with the letter there was a directional Den Den Mushi."
"Oho... fancy," Luo Lan smirked. "Those things aren't cheap. Didn't think she'd spend money on something like that."
"Wait—'she'? Colonel, you know who this person is?"
Ian was stunned again.
Luo Lan held out his hand. "Give me the Den Den Mushi."
Ian handed it over.
Unlike regular Den Den Mushi that could call anyone with a dialed number, a directional Den Den Mushi only connected to its paired twin.
Dumb in most cases—but impossible to tap.
Luo Lan lifted it and dialed.
Brrrr… Brrrr…
A moment passed, and then:
"Have you made your decision?"
The voice came through—young, female.
Ian's jaw dropped. He was right… again?!
How did he always know?
Meanwhile, Luo Lan grinned.
"No problem," he said. "We'll take care of the Arlong Pirates. But… 60 million Berries isn't enough."
"You—what?! That's insane! Arlong might be dangerous, but even his whole crew's bounty doesn't add up to that!"
"Oh?" Luo Lan replied lazily. "Then maybe I'll send Arlong a message.
Tell him Nami spent 60 million to hire someone to kill him.
What do you think?"
The silence on the other end was deafening.
Then—panic.
"You… you… Who are you?!"
The words hit Nami like thunder. Her mind raced. She was truly, thoroughly shaken.
It took a moment for her to calm herself. When she did, her voice turned cold.
"Fine. If you want to expose me, I can expose you too.
Let's go down together.
I'll tell everyone how you've been using pirates to rob nobles!"
Checkmate, right?
Wrong.
"Go ahead," Luo Lan said calmly.
"…What?"
"I said go ahead.
But I'm curious—exactly who do you think we are?"
---
Nami froze.
That was the crux of it.
She had pieced together bits from patterns, incidents, and whispers—but…
She didn't know who they were. What faction. What branch.
She knew nothing.
"You… what do you want?"
"Didn't I say already? The 60 million isn't enough. You'll also have to do one more thing."
"What thing?"
"Simple.
After this is done, you're going to join us."
"…Can you at least tell me who 'us' is?"
A pause.
Then Luo Lan chuckled.
"You think I'm dumb enough to hand you that secret on a silver plate?"
"Still," he continued, "I can give you a hint."
"Your adoptive mother, Belle-mère, once worked for our organization."
And with that—
Click.
The call ended.
---
Two thousand sea miles away, a sixteen-year-old girl collapsed to the floor.
Her wide eyes stared blankly ahead, voice barely a whisper.
"…Belle-mère…?"