Generous Harvest

It was late at night.

On a high slope north of Asagiri Island, a cemetery adjacent to the sea.

Xianuo, easily slinging Sakuraba Tree's corpse over his shoulder, stepped through the cemetery gates, while Junyi bit his lip, unspoken, following closely behind.

"Where?"

"This way, boss." Junyi led Xianuo to a rather old grave.

The tombstone above bore Sakuraba Tree's name.

After digging up the grave, it was indeed empty.

The desolate, lonely night wind blew into the cemetery. Cherry blossoms withered by the graves, scattering onto the slender youth's shoulders.

Junyi squatted on the ground and suddenly burst into tears.

How he wished it was all just a nightmare, that the monster who had gone mad and become indescribable wasn't his father, that the real Sakuraba Tree had long since closed his eyes peacefully, lying within this tomb.

Xianuo watched quietly beside him.

At times like these, excessive comfort wasn't needed; one simply needed to give the other space to vent their emotions.

He could understand Junyi's feelings. The person he had admired and respected the most had suddenly turned into a frenzied demon. Not everyone could withstand such a blow.

Glancing back towards the city, Xianuo fell into thought.

Just now, after defeating the true "Carpenter" in the dojo, those puppets that hadn't been fully Puppetized slowly got up and regained consciousness.

Outside, a large number of Marines from the branch had arrived, and reporters were rushing to film.

If they didn't leave soon, they'd become the center of public opinion. Xianuo dreaded such trouble the most, so he took Sakuraba Tree's corpse and left the city with Junyi from the north, coming to this cemetery.

Anyway, with witnesses and evidence at the scene, he wasn't afraid of the truth being buried.

From now on, Sakuraba Tree's legend on Asagiri Island would likely shift from a great swordsman who founded the Kendo Tournament to a mad, murderous devil.

Junyi's wish to revive the Asagiri Dojo was probably also...

After an unknown amount of time.

Junyi's emotions finally began to calm down.

With Xianuo's help, he placed the corpse in the grave. He then took out a few crumpled cherry blossom candies from his pocket, sprinkled them silently on the corpse, and reburied the soil.

After kowtowing a few times and gazing deeply at the tombstone, he followed Xianuo out of the cemetery gates.

Celestial Dragons, Marine Vice Admirals... The slender youth's fists quietly clenched tighter.

After walking for a while.

"Did your old dojo, or your house, have any hidden underground rooms?" Xianuo suddenly asked.

Junyi blinked. "Boss, why the sudden question?"

"I found this inside your father's body just now."

Xianuo took out a dark yellow wooden box, shaped like a heart.

"This is his heart. Who knows if the Puppet-Puppet Fruit turned his heart into a cold block of wood, or if a heart that had long since lost its warmth led him to slowly become a true puppet."

Who could say for sure?

Junyi's gaze was complex, unsure how to respond. Then he saw Xianuo open the wooden box, revealing an antique-looking key.

"A key hidden in the heart must mean something important is behind a door." Xianuo patted his shoulder. "Let's go find it."

Half an hour later.

Following Junyi's childhood memories, the two successfully discovered an extremely hidden underground passage beneath the old Asagiri Dojo house.

Reaching the end, a seemingly ordinary wooden door blocked their path.

Xianuo knocked on it with his fist and immediately felt something. "There's a thick steel plate interlayer behind it. Without the key, probably only a few people in the entire East Blue could open it."

Undoubtedly, this was the most important and secret place for Sakuraba Tree.

Using the key to open the door, they stepped inside. After turning on the lights, both instinctively raised their hands to shield their eyes.

Because in this not-so-large room, all the cabinets were piled high with all sorts of glittering gold and silver treasures, almost blinding them!

"This is... my father's vault?" Junyi looked around dazedly. "All the billions of Belly he earned are here?"

"Doesn't look like it, not that much." Xianuo estimated roughly and shook his head. His gaze was drawn to the items on the table.

They were piled with ledgers, letters, and various maps and documents...

He pulled out a chair and sat down, patiently flipping through them. After a simple review, a complete plan for revenge instantly became clear.

"I have to say, your father's revenge plan actually had a slight chance of success." Xianuo was somewhat surprised.

The number of people the Puppet-Puppet Fruit could control was far greater than Sakuraba Tree had claimed, and the effective control range was much farther than Xianuo had thought.

It even extended into the Kingdom of Layacote, hundreds of nautical miles away from Asagiri Island.

About three years ago, using the Kendo Tournament as an attraction, Sakuraba Tree had invited some local officials from the Kingdom of Layacote to Asagiri Island as guests.

He screened over a dozen promising individuals inside and planted puppet strings on them.

Then, through massive financial operations and casting a wide net, he cultivated these dozen or so officials into ministers heavily relied upon by the Raycott royal family.

Two of them were recommended by the royal family and passed the World Government's selection a month ago. They were about to be promoted to Holy Land Mary Geoise to work as employees of the World Government.

If this continued, there would eventually be opportunities to encounter those two female Celestial Dragons.

It was for this reason that Sakuraba Tree felt the time was right and prepared to abandon his foundation on Asagiri Island and head to Sabaody Archipelago.

That was the island closest to Holy Land Mary Geoise on the Grand Line, close enough for him to control the two puppets who were promoted to the World Government at any time.

"After operating for these few years, he probably invested six to seven hundred million Belly, and it's finally bearing fruit."

Xianuo tossed the letter back to its original place. "The remaining funds are about six hundred million. Two hundred million are here, and the remaining four hundred million Belly are deposited in the bank vault in Loguetown. The vault key and identification card are all here."

"In other words, Junyi," Xianuo raised his head with a smile, "you are now a genuine billionaire."

"Stop joking, boss."

Junyi shook his head decisively. "His money is ill-gotten gains. I won't inherit it, and that guy has nothing to do with me anymore! Actually, this money should be yours, boss!"

"Mine?"

Xianuo was slightly taken aback.

"Isn't that only natural?"

Junyi said earnestly, "That evil spirit that occupied my father's body, I only managed to defeat it thanks to you. You also found the key. Aren't all these battle spoils naturally yours?"

It really does seem to be the case...

Xianuo scratched his head.

He didn't have Junyi's kind of moral purity, but... really, all this money was his?

At first, he was only aiming for the five million reward for winning the Kendo Tournament. As a result, all seven Great Dojos masters had died, and he didn't even know who to claim the prize money from.

Now, it was even better. The five million had multiplied over a hundred times, becoming six hundred million Belly?

He had directly become a super-rich man.

"No, I still don't feel at ease taking all this money."

Xianuo ultimately shook his head, recalling the corpses in the dojo. "Moreover, the items in this room, the cash is easy to carry, but the rest are too cumbersome. Neither of us can take it."

"Can we leave it here temporarily and come back for it later?" Junyi was stunned. "No one can open this place anyway, right?"

"No, I only need to take the four hundred million from the bank vault. I counted the cash in this secret room, and it's over a million. I can take that too. As for the remaining two hundred million Belly and treasures, they will be used as compensation for the victims."

Xianuo picked up a pen and paper and began to write furiously.

"Later, clean up everything about the revenge plan here, especially anything related to the Celestial Dragons. As for the remaining treasures..."

He turned to Junyi. "Are there any reliable people among the upper echelons of the island?"

"Yes." Junyi thought carefully. "Mr. Az, the honorary chairman of the Kendo Guild, is one. He has been incorruptible his whole life, has a stubborn temper, and is very strong. He has used almost all his fortune to sponsor children from poor families. Everyone respects him. Before my father became what he was, he treated him as a teacher for decades."

"Besides Mr. Az, there are a few others, but their prestige is far inferior..."

"Then let Mr. Az preside and supervise. Also, make more copies at the magazine agency and inform a few of the most trustworthy people about the bank vault treasures. Do not give it to anyone who might arouse suspicion. Ensure that these treasures are distributed as much as possible to the victims' families."

"Alright, done! Let's start clearing out the letters."

Xianuo put the notice letter into his pocket and then began clearing out the secret room full of secrets with Junyi, ensuring that nothing was missed.

As they were clearing, Xianuo's eyebrows suddenly twitched, and his gaze fell on a certain compartment of the cabinet.

This compartment only held a seemingly ordinary scabbard, which looked a bit strange.

Next to it was a photo cut from a newspaper. In the photo, a middle-aged bearded man in a white justice cloak was smiling at the camera.

"Could this scabbard be..."

Xianuo instantly realized something. He glanced back to make sure Junyi wasn't looking, grabbed the scabbard, and activated his sacrifice.

As expected.

The next moment, the scabbard vanished without a trace, and the system panel appeared before his eyes.

[Offering: Scabbard of Steelres's Katana] [Quality: Epic] [Value: 600 points] [Appraisal Comment: One of the Fifty Great Meito, the original scabbard for "Winter Rain". Five years ago, it was grabbed by the struggling Sakuraba Tree and fell into the sea together. The scabbard that had accompanied him for nearly twenty years disappeared without a trace. Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral Steelres often laments this loss.]