Tesoro was in the middle of signing a docunt 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 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 ti. Otherwise, what's the point of having an entire Ministry of Finance?
But anyone who can contact directly… well, those are always troubleso people."
Tesoro wasn't wrong. As soone 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 ca demanding hundreds of billions, masking their requests behind words like "important projects" and "business investnts."
That was why he felt an instant headache whenever his Den Den Mushi rang.
Gion chuckled.
Tesoro finished signing the docunt 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 soone 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" so wealth from Enel when needed.
After all, being Minister of Finance wasn't easy. He couldn't just keep handing out money without so 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 ti, it wasn't soone 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 so extra cash lying around, maybe help out a little.
You wouldn't believe it—these people really think I'm so kind of walking cash dispenser.
Gion is sitting right in front of , demanding 100 billion Berries from .
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 imdiately 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 co out and be a pirate with ?"
"Hahaha! I'd love to, but I think His Highness would kill 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 scamd 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' Protheus 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 so concern.
Tesoro didn't hide anything.
"Yeah, things have gotten better. Expenses have dropped significantly.
The major financial allocations have all been settled.
Comrce, 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 so more casual conversation, Tesoro finally asked,
"But what about you? You wouldn't call just to chat. What's up? You bored and looking to ss with ?"
"Hahahaha, no, no! I actually have so huge news!" Enel said excitedly.
"Rember that treasure hunter, Mad Treasure—the one who used to work for you? That guy is seriously impressive. He's found sothing big again!"
Of course, Tesoro rembered 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 Governnt.
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 imdiately spiked.
"What did he find this ti? Why are you so excited?
So legendary treasure trove? A city of eralds?
Or did he stumble across the hidden treasure of the Rocks Pirates?" Tesoro asked eagerly.
If it was sothing like the City of Eralds, Tesoro would be overjoyed!
But Enel just chuckled.
"None of those," he said with a grin.
Hearing that, Tesoro's excitent 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 excitent.
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, montarily confused.
She had never heard of Pure Gold before.
It sounded valuable—maybe so 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 docunts, 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 tal that supposedly grants eternal life," Enel said smugly.
"You're telling —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 sothing that could change their fates.
If enough Pure Gold existed, it could even strengthen the World Governnt'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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