Arrangements for Everyone

Hardbane Island, conference hall.

Sunlight filled the room. Dawn sat at the head of the table, assigning tasks to his newly joined companions. At this moment, he still had no idea that the major powers of the West Blue Underworld had jointly placed a bounty on him, and that an assassin's scythe had already silently swung in his direction.

He swept his gaze across everyone present, lingering briefly on those he had brought out of the Cipher Pol training base.

He first looked at the boy who was only nine years old, yet had an exceptionally cold gaze.

"Lucci, I'm leaving the establishment of an intelligence network to you. I'll give you the maximum financial support possible. Your primary task is to thoroughly investigate the five Underworld families in the West Blue as quickly as possible—their business distribution, key personnel, transport routes, partners. The more detailed, the better. Your secondary task is to watch for and gather information on exceptionally talented young people throughout the West Blue."

The treasure looted from the Cipher Pol base would serve perfectly as the startup capital for establishing the intelligence network. He was not short on money right now.

Dawn figured that with his current strength, he could easily eliminate the heads of those five families.

But what he wanted was not merely their heads. He wanted their profitable businesses and talented personnel—their "geese that laid golden eggs."

Killing the leaders rashly would only cause their forces to collapse, allowing other small and mid-sized factions in the West Blue to rise amid the chaos and divide up the profits.

Only after completely uncovering their business networks and core personnel could he take everything over with the least cost and greatest precision.

Lucci maintained his eternally indifferent expression. Upon hearing this, he merely nodded slightly, accepting the task.

He believed in strength above all else. Dawn had not only crushed him in actual combat, but had also displayed a level in the use and development of the Six Powers that Lucci could never hope to match.

Following such a powerful person was not difficult for him to accept. It was simply his proud nature that kept him from showing such feelings.

Dawn then looked at the long-nosed boy standing beside Lucci.

"Kaku, your task is to continue improving your strength while studying and refining your shipwright skills. I'll do my best to gather and provide the necessary resources, tools, and blueprints."

Kaku possessed outstanding talent as a shipwright, something that had already been demonstrated in the original timeline.

Although Dawn's preferred shipwright was still Franky, it was too early to approach him now. At least, Dawn would not contact him before he became a cyborg, and that day was still at least ten years away.

During those ten years, Dawn intended to have Kaku fill the role first.

"Yes! Sir! Understood!"

"Thank you for your support! I'll work hard and never let you down!"

Kaku replied loudly with an excited expression. His attitude was far more enthusiastic than Lucci's, completely unaware that in his commander's eyes, he was merely a temporary replacement.

After assigning those two tasks, Dawn indicated that they could leave. Lucci and Kaku wisely turned and departed.

At this point, aside from Dawn, only several women remained in the conference hall.

"Robin, Kalifa. Your main task from now on is to follow Stussy and systematically learn how to become excellent, efficient, and reliable secretaries. Document processing, information filing, scheduling, reception etiquette, and so on. All of these are important."

Dawn had already learned that Stussy had been far ahead of everyone else in the female agent training at the Cipher Pol base.

Female agents needed to master all kinds of assumed identities for infiltration and investigation missions—secretary, nurse, teacher, and so on—and she had perfected them all. There was no one more suitable to teach the still-young Robin and Kalifa.

"Yes."

Robin nodded obediently, her eyes behind her lenses shining with a thirst for knowledge.

"I understand. I'll study hard."

Kalifa also seriously pushed up her small round glasses.

Stussy stood behind the two girls, watching Dawn with great interest. Her expressive eyes narrowed slightly, gleaming with alluring charm.

She suddenly spoke, her voice carrying a trace of laziness and deliberate provocation:

"I don't mind teaching these two little ones~ But are you sure that's all you're assigning me to do?"

She leaned forward slightly, fully displaying her captivating curves.

"I thought... you'd have me do something more 'special'? Like... personally serving you at night?"

Her words were bold and direct, and coupled with that seductive posture, they were enough to make any normal man's heart race.

"Hmph! Shameless woman!"

Before Dawn could respond, Stella, standing at his side, immediately bristled like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. She raised her brows and scolded Stussy. She would never allow this "vixen" to openly seduce Dawn like that.

Yet Stussy was not offended in the slightest. Instead, she let out a coquettish laugh, turned her gaze toward Stella, and spoke in an even more suggestive tone:

"My, my~ Is Stella jealous? It's all right, little sister is very generous. If you don't mind... I wouldn't be against the three of us being together~"

The moment those words came out, Stella's face turned bright red. She stammered in anger, unable to say a word. Beside her, the much younger Robin and Kalifa instantly turned red as ripe apples, lowering their heads shyly as their fingers unconsciously twisted the hems of their clothes.

Seeing Stussy acting tough with her words but never following through, Dawn grumbled inwardly:

This woman talks a big game, but when it comes time to get serious, she runs faster than anyone. She'd said things like this more than ten times recently, and every time she flirted and ran.

However, he remained calm on the surface. Instead, he followed along with her words, revealing an amused smile.

"Oh? Since you're asking so strongly, then I'll satisfy you tonight. Remember to wash up and come to my room. We can have a proper discussion about the scope of a 'personal secretary's' duties."

The instant Dawn finished speaking, the seductive smile on Stussy's face froze.

She clearly had not expected Dawn to respond so directly this time.

She hurriedly straightened up, a barely noticeable flicker of panic flashing across her face. She cleared her throat.

"Ahem, well... a secretary's duties are actually very complicated and demanding! There's a lot to learn. Tonight... yes, tonight I still need to stay up and explain the relevant knowledge to Robin and Kalifa, so I'm afraid... I won't have time."

After saying that, she did not wait for Dawn to speak again. She grabbed the still-shy Robin with one hand and the equally red-faced Kalifa with the other, then hurried out of the conference hall as though fleeing, leaving behind only a fragrant breeze.

Watching Stussy's embarrassed retreat, Dawn's lips curled into a triumphant smile.

Stella turned around at that moment, planting her hands on her hips and glaring at Dawn with her big eyes as she demanded loudly:

"Tell me honestly! Did you bring that... that woman back because you had improper intentions from the very beginning?!"

Dawn looked down at Stella's adorably puffed-up face and nodded candidly.

"Yes."

Such a straightforward admission left Stella momentarily speechless. Every follow-up question she had prepared was lodged in her throat. She had thought Dawn would at least make up some excuse, such as valuing Stussy's abilities, but she had never expected him to admit it so readily!

Dawn watched her chest heave violently again in anger. The sight was indeed quite eye-catching. He chuckled, reached out once more, and pulled Stella into his broad embrace. Ignoring her token struggle, he soothed her softly.

"Don't worry, Stella. No matter how many women I have around me in the future, I'll treat them all equally. I'll never favor one over another, and I certainly won't mistreat you in the slightest. That's my promise."

Held tightly in his arms, Stella listened to his shameless words and found herself both annoyed and amused. She lightly punched his sturdy arm and mocked him.

"Hmph! What a... 'moving' statement! I never expected you to be such a 'responsible' man!"

As if he could not hear the sarcasm in her words, Dawn nodded as though it were only natural, his tone even carrying a hint of pride.

"Of course. I'm not the kind of scumbag who denies everything after putting his pants back on. I'm deeply devoted to every one of my women."

"..."

Stella was completely speechless. All she could do was give him an utterly contemptuous roll of her eyes.

Outside the conference hall, the three girls who were supposedly "long gone" were quietly pressed against the door, eavesdropping. When they heard Dawn's earth-shattering claim that he was "deeply devoted to every woman," all three girls, regardless of age, simultaneously wore expressions of extreme disgust.