It was deep into the night.
On a high slope north of Asagiri Island stood a cemetery beside the sea.
Xia Nuo casually carried Sakuraba Tree's corpse over one shoulder as he entered the cemetery gate. Chunyi bit his lip in silence and followed closely behind.
"Where?"
"This way, Boss." Chunyi led Xia Nuo to a somewhat old grave.
The name Sakuraba Tree was carved into the tombstone above it.
They dug open the grave, and sure enough, it was completely empty.
The bleak, lonely evening wind swept through the cemetery. Withered cherry blossoms beside the grave drifted onto the frail boy's shoulders.
Chunyi squatted on the ground and suddenly burst into loud sobs.
How he wished it had all been nothing but a nightmare—that the monster who had gone mad beyond description wasn't his father, and that the real Sakuraba Tree had already peacefully closed his eyes and was lying in this tomb.
Xia Nuo quietly watched from the side.
At a time like this, there was no need for much consolation. All the other person needed was some time to vent his emotions.
He could understand Chunyi's feelings. The person he had always admired and respected had suddenly become a frenzied demon. Not everyone could withstand such a blow.
Looking back toward the city, Xia Nuo fell into thought.
Just now, after he defeated the true "puppeteer" in the dojo, the puppets who had not yet undergone complete Puppetization had slowly climbed to their feet and regained consciousness.
A large number of Marine branch soldiers had also arrived outside, along with reporters who came to take pictures.
If he stayed any longer, he would become the center of public attention. Xia Nuo hated that kind of trouble most, so he took Sakuraba Tree's corpse and left the city through the north with Chunyi, coming to this cemetery.
In any case, there were witnesses and evidence at the scene, so he wasn't worried that the truth would be buried.
From now on, the legend of Sakuraba Tree on Asagiri Island would probably change from that of the great swordsman who founded the Kendo Tournament to that of a deranged murderous demon.
Chunyi's wish to revive the Asagiri Dojo would probably also...
No one knew how much time had passed.
Chunyi's emotions finally began to recover.
With Xia Nuo's help, he placed the corpse in the grave. Then he took several crumpled cherry blossom candies from his pocket and silently scattered them over the body before covering the grave with soil again.
After bowing his head several times and taking a long look at the tombstone, he followed Xia Nuo out of the cemetery gate.
Celestial Dragons, Marine Vice Admirals... The frail boy quietly clenched his fists.
After walking for a while,
"Did your family's old dojo, or the house beneath it, have anything like an underground chamber?" Xia Nuo suddenly asked.
Chunyi froze. "Boss, why are you suddenly asking about that?"
"I found this inside your father's body just now."
Xia Nuo took out a dark yellow wooden box. Its shape was unexpectedly that of a heart.
"This was his heart. Who can say whether the Puppet-Puppet Fruit turned his heart into a cold piece of wood, or whether that heart had already grown cold and caused him to slowly become a real puppet?"
Who could say for sure?
Chunyi's gaze grew complicated. Not knowing how to respond, he saw Xia Nuo open the wooden box, revealing an ancient-looking key inside.
"A key hidden inside the heart. There must be something important behind the door." Xia Nuo patted him on the shoulder. "Come on. Let's look for it."
Half an hour later.
Following Chunyi's childhood memories, the two of them successfully discovered an extremely concealed underground passage beneath the old house of Sakuraba Dojo.
After feeling their way to the end, they found an ordinary-looking wooden door blocking their path.
Xia Nuo rapped on it with his fist and immediately sensed something. "There's a very thick steel-plate layer behind it. Without the key, there probably aren't many people in the entire East Blue who could open it."
Without a doubt, this was the most important and most secret place to Sakuraba Tree.
They opened the door with the key and stepped inside. After turning on the light, both instinctively raised their hands to shield their eyes.
The cabinets lining all four walls of the small room were piled high with glittering gold, silver, and other treasures, nearly blinding them.
"Is this... my father's treasury?" Chunyi stared blankly as he looked around. "So the billions of Berries he earned were all here?"
"Doesn't look like that much." After making a rough estimate, Xia Nuo shook his head. His attention was drawn to the things on the table.
It was piled high with account books, letters, and various maps and documents...
He pulled out a chair and sat down, patiently reading through everything. After organizing it briefly, the framework of a complete revenge plan instantly became clear.
"I have to admit, your father's revenge plan really did have some chance of succeeding." Xia Nuo was somewhat surprised.
The Puppet-Puppet Fruit's maximum number of controlled people was far greater than Sakuraba Tree had previously claimed, and its effective control range was also much farther than Xia Nuo had thought.
It even extended into the territory of the Kingdom of Layacote, hundreds of nautical miles from Asagiri Island.
Around three years ago, using the appeal of the Kendo Tournament, Sakuraba Tree invited several local officials from the Kingdom of Layacote to visit Asagiri Island.
He selected more than a dozen officials with considerable potential and planted puppet strings in them.
Then, through the use of large sums of money and casting a wide net, he cultivated those officials into ministers relied upon by the Layacote royal family.
Two of them were recommended by the royal family and passed the World Government's selection process a month ago. They were about to be promoted to Mary Geoise in the Holy Land to work as World Government employees.
Given enough time, they would eventually have a chance to come into contact with those two female Celestial Dragons.
That was why Sakuraba Tree felt the time was ripe. He was preparing to abandon his foundation on Asagiri Island and head for the Sabaody Archipelago.
It was the island on the Grand Line closest to the Holy Land, close enough for him to control the two puppets who were being sent to work for the World Government at any time.
"He invested around six or seven hundred million Berries over the past few years. Finally, his efforts have borne fruit."
Xia Nuo put the letters back where they had been. "There's probably six hundred million Berries left. Two hundred million is here, while the remaining four hundred million is stored in a bank vault in Loguetown. The vault key and identity card are both here."
"In other words, Chunyi..." Xia Nuo raised his head with a grin. "You're now a genuine billionaire."
"Don't joke around, Boss."
Chunyi shook his head decisively. "His money was all ill-gotten. I'm not inheriting it. That man has nothing to do with me anymore! If anything, this money should belong to you, Boss!"
"Me?"
Xia Nuo was slightly taken aback.
"Isn't that only natural?"
Chunyi said seriously, "That evil spirit occupying my father's body could only be defeated because of you. You were the one who discovered the key, too. Aren't all these things naturally your spoils of war?"
That did seem to be the case...
Xia Nuo scratched his head.
He didn't have Chunyi's aversion to anything spiritually tainted. It was just... Was this real? All this money was his now?
At first, he had only been aiming for the five-million-Berry prize for winning the Kendo Tournament. In the end, all seven great dojo masters had kicked the bucket, and he didn't even know whom to claim the prize from.
But now, the five million had multiplied more than a hundredfold, becoming six hundred million Berries?
He had become a super-rich man just like that.
"No. Taking all this money still doesn't feel right."
In the end, Xia Nuo still shook his head as he recalled the corpses in the dojo. "Besides, cash from this room is easy enough to carry, but the rest is too bulky. The two of us can't take it all."
"Could we leave it here for now and come back for it later?" Chunyi blinked. "Besides, no one can open this place, right?"
"No. I only need the four hundred million in the bank vault. I counted more than one million in cash in this secret room, so we can take that, too. As for the remaining two hundred million Berries' worth of treasures, let's treat it as compensation for the victims."
Xia Nuo picked up a pen and paper and began writing rapidly.
"We'll clear out everything related to the revenge plan later, especially anything related to the Celestial Dragons. As for the remaining treasures..."
He turned to Chunyi. "Are there any trustworthy people among the island's upper class?"
"There are." Chunyi thought seriously for a moment. "The former honorary president of the Kendo Guild, Old Mr. Azi, is one. He was incorruptible his entire life, stubborn, and extremely powerful. He used nearly his entire fortune to support children from poor families. Everyone respects him. Before my father became like that, he treated him as his teacher for decades."
"There are a few others besides Mr. Azi, but their prestige is nowhere near his..."
"Then let Old Mr. Azi oversee and supervise the process. Also, make several more copies at the magazine office and inform a few of the most trustworthy people about the treasury. Don't tell anyone who has even the slightest suspicion surrounding them. Make sure as much of these treasures as possible is distributed among the victims' families."
"All right, that settles it! Let's start clearing out the letters."
After Xia Nuo put the notice into his coat for safekeeping, he and Chunyi began cleaning out the secret room filled with secrets, ensuring that nothing was missed.
As he continued cleaning, Xia Nuo suddenly raised an eyebrow. His eyes fell on one of the cabinet compartments.
This compartment contained nothing but an ordinary-looking scabbard. It seemed rather strange.
Beside it was a photograph that looked as if it had been cut from a newspaper. In the photo, a middle-aged bearded man wearing a white justice cloak was smiling at the camera.
"Could this scabbard be..."
Xia Nuo instantly realized something. After glancing back and confirming that Chunyi wasn't looking this way, he grabbed the scabbard and activated Sacrifice.
Sure enough,
the scabbard vanished without a trace, and the System Panel appeared before his eyes.
[Offering: Steelres's sword scabbard] [Quality: Epic] [Value: 600 points] [Appraisal: The original scabbard of Winter Rain, one of the Fifty Skillful Blades. Five years ago, Sakuraba Tree, struggling desperately, grabbed it and fell into the sea. The scabbard that had accompanied him for nearly twenty years disappeared without a trace. Steelres, a Vice Admiral of Marine Headquarters, often felt regret and sorrow over this.]