The wager

"It looks like Brother Issho can finally put his talents to use this time. Cloud Gull Admiral, a toast to you. Bottoms up!"

Ao San was thoroughly easygoing, not at all like someone who thought things through meticulously.

He and Issho had met through gambling, and Issho had once helped him resolve a conflict.

At the time, a pirate with a bounty of over a hundred million had heard of the Woof Woof Royal Casino and come out of curiosity.

The more he gambled, the more he lost; the more he lost, the more he gambled.

In the end, relying on his own strength, he declared that the casino had cheated, yet could produce no evidence, and even demanded compensation from the Woof Woof gambling house.

Such incidents were commonplace on Fortune Island, and they generally ended with Heng Youcai stripping the offenders of their financial luck for life.

But there were always people who thought they were the strongest in the world.

Ao San was no weakling, but if a fight broke out, his establishment would suffer considerable damage, and some of its arrangements would also be noticed by those who had come with ulterior motives in the first place.

Yet Issho had resolved that difficult situation with ease.

The moment he activated the Press-Press Fruit, the pirate passed out without even having time to react.

"A casino is a place for gambling. Unless you've staked both body and mind, don't enter lightly."

Only afterward did the defense squad arrive and drag the unconscious, notorious pirate away.

That was how the two had met, and after exchanging gambling experiences, they had come to regard each other as close friends.

"Brother Ao, once I leave this time, we may not see each other for many years. If your wager reaches a conclusion, you must let me know."

Issho raised his wine cup and spoke solemnly.

"Oh? From what I've heard along the way, you're not a man who enjoys gambling, Boss Ao."

Lofan was quite curious about this. On the way here, he had read the basic information on Fortune Island and learned a little about Ao San as well.

"Hahaha! You flatter me, Admiral. Who doesn't like gambling? Everyone simply has their own way of doing it."

"Oh? Would you care to enlighten me, Boss Ao?"

Ao San drained the liquor in his bowl in one gulp, then wiped the liquor from his beard before speaking:

"Some gamble their wealth and status, some gamble their very lives, some gamble their dreams, and some gamble their futures.

I don't like complicated forms of gambling. The simplest gambling is the most captivating. But I also wanted to find something I could keep betting on forever.

So I privately entered into a wager with Heng Youcai. I bet that I'd never be caught cheating. If I lose, I'll have no financial luck for the rest of my life. But if I win!"

Ao San's eyes lit up, only to dim again immediately.

"If you win, you can't gamble anymore! Hahahaha!"

Issho finished Ao San's sentence for him and laughed out loud.

Lofan raised his wine cup with one hand, gave a slight gesture, then drained it.

He really is an extremely interesting man. No one in this world isn't gambling; they simply do it in different ways.

"That's why I, Ao San, never gamble on all those assorted games! My wager has never ended!"

There were always people in this world who were pure to the extreme. It was hard to say what was right or wrong, but their lives had already been entirely consumed by their pursuits.

After receiving Duobao and Duocai's reply, Heng Youcai sank into deep thought.

It wasn't that no one had designs on him. Rather, there was no one who didn't.

But Heng Youcai had always managed to get through safely by being rich. Though he wasn't strong, he had plenty of people above him.

Only now, he didn't know what kind of person could ward off this unexpected calamity.

"Let's hope he really is just curious..."

Though he didn't believe it himself, it was true that no amount of clever maneuvering worked against matchless strength.

Of course Lofan had designs on Heng Youcai. The Navy Criminal Search Bureau was currently managing to support itself by rooting out corruption, but only at its present size.

Sengoku's funding request to the World Government had yet to be approved, and even if it was, how much they would receive was another matter.

And he still needed to establish the special covert unit SWORD, on top of funding various research needs and all manner of expenses.

When building an organization, money always came first.

Heng Youcai really was wealthy, and Lofan couldn't help being somewhat tempted. If he relied on Doflamingo as his sole source of support, what if that support suddenly snapped one day?

So Lofan needed additional sources of funding. Though Morgans was also wealthy, the time had not yet come to integrate him fully into his team.

Thus, Lofan had plans for Heng Youcai as well.

After three rounds of drinks.

Lofan and Issho bid farewell to Ao San and boarded the warship.

Aboard the ship, Issho kept taking in the information Lofan gave him: what the Search Bureau was, what the declaration of the three principles of fairness meant, and what the principles of clean governance were.

Issho felt he had lived most of his life in vain. These theories truly astounded him.

"What it means is that we need scientific principles to guide us. Tackling corruption is important, but prevention is even more important. We must build a system for addressing corruption-related crime with prevention at its core. As I said before, you can never catch every corrupt person."

Issho wanted to try taking notes, but he couldn't see.

He had originally thought himself a rare genius. Others never forgot what they saw; he never forgot what he heard.

But he didn't understand any of this talk of scientific rigor, guidance, systems, social activity, and so on!

Let alone patterns of corruption, anti-corruption models, precision strikes, strict procedures...

So I still have a long way to go.

Issho had originally assumed that once he took office, he would be ordered to make arrests. He hadn't expected to be given ideological education and job training right away.

And all over the warship, voices murmured the same recitations over and over:

"Loyalty not absolute is absolute disloyalty."

"Arrest every corrupt offender. Absolute zero tolerance."

"Be impartial and act according to the law."

So this is what the Navy really is!

Issho felt deeply ashamed of his former prejudice against the Navy.

Even their training emphasized combining intellectual and physical development. As they drilled, they shouted, "Upright and incorruptible."

While Lofan was explaining to Issho what "having tea" meant, the Den Den Mushi in his pocket suddenly rang.

He could only give a few reminders before stepping aside to answer.

"Go ahead."

"The Five Elders have ordered you to Mary Geoise to appear in the Hall of Authority and hear the charges against you."

Robin conveyed the information succinctly.

At Lofan's current level, minor troubles couldn't reach him, while major troubles weighed their options and decided against coming to his door.

But once trouble did come, it truly was enormous.

Robin had just received notice that the Search Bureau was to suspend operations, then immediately gone to ask Sengoku about it.

Sengoku had already been red-faced with rage and had nearly started swearing during his call to Kong.

Only after the call ended did Robin learn that the order had come from the Five Elders.

The Search Bureau was to suspend operations until the review of the Cloud Gull Admiral was complete.

But no one knew exactly what was being reviewed. Sengoku had told Robin to notify Lofan. Since even he didn't know the details, it was probably the work of those Celestial Dragons.