Chapter 275: Break the Balance, Take the Lead! (Two-in-One)
The presence of the World Government Intelligence Agency members did not add any special color to Cyrus's wedding.
The World Government personnel, led by Ulysses Guderian, behaved very well and were very restrained when eating.
Ulises Guderian, who was sitting at the same table with Jikokuen, was also very graceful and dignified in his demeanor. He sat next to King Riku and there was never a dull moment between them, and the two of them had a very pleasant conversation.
On the contrary, there was not much conversation between the navy officers including Tsugakuni Yoshiichi during the meal.
Yoriichi is a quiet person, and so is Mihawk. Tiger and Jinbe are both very steady. Comparatively speaking, Issho is a little off-key. After hastily picking up a few pieces of food with his chopsticks, he started fiddling with his sieve.
Halfway through the banquet, Scarlett, holding Cyrus' arm, came to the table and toasted Tsukuni Yuichi and the others. It was the first time Tsukuni Yuichi had heard of such a custom at a Dressrosa wedding, and since he didn't like alcohol, he simply used tea instead.
When the circle came to Ulysses Guderian, Cyrus and Scarlett were a little stunned. They didn't know who this young man was, nor did they know why he appeared at this table.
The banquet was arranged according to the degree of closeness of relationship. The table where Jiguo Yuanyi and his friends were seated were all Scarlett and Cyrus' closest family members or friends.
At this moment, King Liku stood up with a smile and briefly introduced Ulysses Guderian to Cyrus.
Hearing that the other party was from the World Government, although Cyrus maintained calm on the surface, his heart was in turmoil. He glanced slightly and looked at Tsugikuni Yoriichi.
It's no wonder that Cyrus would have such emotions. As the current supreme commander of the Dressrosa Naval Base, Cyrus knew too well what was buried in Dressrosa.
Putting aside the fact that Yoriichi Tsugakuni had clashed with the World Government and severed ties with the Marine Headquarters, even without that incident, Dressrosa still harbored numerous time bombs.
The remnants of O'Hara, the wife and children of the Pirate King.
No matter which of the revelations is made, it will attract the attention of the world government.
Yoriichi Tsugakuni is very powerful and is against the World Government. Strictly speaking, he has nothing to do with Dressrosa.
Even if the World Government wants to cause trouble, it will most likely only target Yoriichi Tsugikuni.
However, harboring the remnants of O'Hara and the Pirate King's wife and children could lead to large-scale massacre.
Tsugakuni Yoriichi seemed unaware of Cyrus's gaze and drank his tea calmly. Cyrus's gaze did not linger on Tsugakuni Yoriichi either. With just a quick glance, he knew what to do.
Cyrus did not treat Ulysses Guderian differently. He smiled and said some polite words, and drank the wine in his hand.
"Mr. Cyrus, Her Highness Scarlett, this is a gift for you two."
"That master carefully selected them and specially gave them to you two."
Ulises Guderian said this, pointing to the pure gold box that was currently placed next to King Riku, and said with a smile.
"So valuable?"
Cyrus looked in the direction Ulysses Guderian pointed, and couldn't help but murmur, then looked at the other party with some surprise.
This was the first time Cyrus had heard of such a strange thing as the World Government giving a gift to a princess of a member country.
He had always felt that Ulysses Guderian's motives were impure, and when he saw the golden box, he became even more convinced of his thoughts.
"Haha, Lieutenant General Cyrus, you are joking."
"No matter how valuable something is, it won't seem valuable if it's given to you and Scarlett-sama."
"I think you two have heard of the things inside."
"It's a devil fruit known as the 'Secret Treasure of the Sea'."
Ulysses Guderian said with a smile, knowing very well what he had given.
"Devil Fruit?"
"It's actually a devil fruit?"
Hearing that it was a devil fruit, Cyrus and Scarlett were a little surprised. They thought that the golden box contained some precious jewelry, but they didn't expect it to be a devil fruit.
This thing is indeed quite rare. Even their powerful Sword of Dawn Marine Branch only has three devil fruits in their hands.
The Flame-Flame Fruit snatched from the pirates, the Smoke Fruit that Sakaski obtained and gave to Yoriichi Tsugakuni through Zephyr, and an unknown devil fruit that Yoriichi Tsugakuni obtained from the volcano on that strange island.
These three devil fruits are all the fruits of the Sword of Dawn.
Yoriichi Tsugikuni is not very interested in most devil fruits. For him, even the rare natural ones have no appeal.
But just because Yoriichi Tsugikuni doesn't care doesn't mean that the devil fruit is not precious.
Every devil fruit is precious, there is no doubt about that.
"Haha, yes."
"Carefully selected devil fruits are given to the two newcomers."
"Animal type, Dog-Dog Fruit - Wolf Form."
Ulysses Guderian did not keep the secret and introduced it with a smile.
When Cyrus heard that the fruit was of the animal type, he did not react much. Come to think of it, the natural and animal type mythical beasts were strategic resources, and the World Government would never give them to Yoriichi Tsugikuni's subordinates.
But when Cyrus heard the name of the Dog-Dog Fruit, he couldn't help but look at Ulysses Guderian.
At this moment, Yoriichi Tsugikoshi, Mihawk, Yixiao and others who were sitting at the table also stopped eating.
Several people looked at Ulysses Guderian one after another.
This devil fruit was really carefully selected!
The atmosphere, which was originally quite good, instantly turned cold when Ulysses Guderian said the name of his devil fruit.
Even King Riku, who had always communicated smoothly with Ulysses Guderian, had his smile frozen at this moment. He glanced at the expressions of Cyrus and his daughter, and frowned slightly.
"The Dog-Dog Fruit!"
"Is it really appropriate to give us something this valuable?"
Scarlett was stunned for a moment, gently squeezed Cyrus' arm, and then said with a forced smile.
However, Cyrus was not as smooth as his wife. After a slight snort, he patted Scarlett's hand and said in a deep voice:
"I can tell the difference between a sincere gift and a deliberate insult!"
"Ulises Guderian, right?"
"Do you know where you are now?!"
Cyrus' heart was filled with rage. Although he tried his best to suppress his anger, his words still showed his attitude.
If it were any other time, it would be fine, but today is different. Today is an important day for Scarlett, and he will never allow anyone to humiliate his wife.
"Where?"
"Isn't this Dressrosa? Dressrosa is a member of the World Government, and it's where the navy of 'justice' is stationed."
"Lieutenant General Cyrus, are you drunk to ask such a question?"
"Do you want to go take a rest first?"
Ulysses Guderian slowly stood up, smoothed his hands over the collar of his suit, and said with a smile. His handsome face did not show any fear because of Cyrus' anger.
"CP0, this isn't some other place."
"You are now in the Sword of Dawn Marine Branch!"
Cyrus pressed down on the golden box, and under Cyrus's hand, the golden box began to deform slowly. Cyrus relied on the strength of his body and easily deformed the golden box made of pure gold.
"Lieutenant General Cyrus."
"Calm down. It's not good for your health if you get angry."
"If you are not satisfied with this gift, then be dissatisfied."
“It won’t happen”
"You're not going to fight me just because you're not satisfied with this gift, are you?"
"A righteous navy would never do such a thing!"
Ulysses Guderian raised his chin slightly, put his hands behind his back, and looked at Cyrus in front of him with a calm look.
Seeing Ulysses Guderian's fearless look, Cyrus was furious, but in the end he did not fight with Ulysses Guderian.
Seeing Cyrus's face full of anger but unable to vent, Ulises Guderian also showed a bright smile on his face. He reached out and gently lifted the hat on his head, bowed slightly to Cyrus and Scarlett, and then politely bowed slightly to King Riku, Jiguoyuan and others, and said:
"It's getting late, and we've already completed the tasks assigned to us, so we won't stay any longer."
"Everyone, please continue eating and drinking. We will leave first."
"General Jiguo Yuanyi, we will take our leave!"
"Congratulations on your wedding, Lieutenant General Cyrus."
Ulysses Guderian put his chair back in its original place, said goodbye to Tsugikuni Yoriichi and Cyrus, waved to the little boy who was traveling with him, and then prepared to leave.
When Cyrus saw that the other party was about to leave, he clenched his fists and was in a bad mood.
After watching Ulysses Guderian and his party leave the venue one after another, Cyrus grabbed the wine bottle at the table, poured himself a glass of wine, and swallowed it directly into his stomach.
"general."
Jinbei couldn't stand it any longer and felt that the other party's behavior was a bit too much. He couldn't help but ask Tsugikuni Yoriichi in a low voice.
He understood Cyrus's depressed mood and wanted to teach him a lesson if possible.
Regardless of what I will do to the other party, I will never let him leave so easily like this.
"Ulysses Guderian."
"The World Government, or rather the Celestial Dragons, sent him here not simply to embarrass Cyrus."
"They are testing the waters."
"I want to use this method to feel out the character of people like us."
"If things go smoothly and Cyrus takes action against these people, the World Government will be able to strip the aura from the Sword of Dawn."
"If you want to deal with a powerful enemy, you must first isolate him and then find ways to point fingers at him from a moral high ground."
"First, destroy the reputation, then destroy the support, and finally, label the opponent and make everyone in the world despise him."
"When everything is ready, we can officially launch the general attack."
"For our Sword of Dawn Navy branch, this incident is probably just the beginning!"
"The Celestial Dragons can no longer pretend to be blind. They have already sat down at the chess table. The war has begun."
Looking at the backs of Ulysses Guderian and others leaving, Tsugikoku Yoshiichi said slowly.
King Riku was completely confused by what Tsugikuni Yoshiichi said. He had no idea why the people from the World Government would do such a thing. The other party's purpose must be to get Tian Shangjin.
But would humiliating Cyrus at Cyrus and Scarlett's wedding be beneficial to the World Government? King Riku couldn't understand.
The World Government sent people to humiliate the navy?
What the hell is this?!
However, several people from the Sword of Dawn branch understood the meaning of what Tsugikuni Yoshiichi said.
At the same time, he also came to his senses and tasted the danger involved.
Giving a "Dog-Dog Fruit" is, after all, just a metaphorical insult to Cyrus, a declaration of so-called "master's rights." However, if Cyrus were to take action against CP0 for this, the nature of the problem would change.
Why did the World Government often choose to swallow its anger when it had conflicts with Tsugakuni Yoriichi before? On the one hand, it was because Tsugakuni Yoriichi himself was very powerful, and another reason was that Tsugakuni Yoriichi's identity as a navy admiral had a huge influence.
Moreover, the World Government itself is also very clear that the exposure of those things will not only have no impact on Yoriichi Tsugakuni, but will instead deepen the public's impression of Yoriichi Tsugakuni as the "righteous navy."
Under the current world situation, the Five Elders are unwilling to take the risk of a complete break with Yoriichi Tsugikuni.
However, the growth of Tsugakuni Yoriichi's power in recent years has also been noticed by the Five Elders. They do not want Tsugakuni Yoriichi to continue to grow. If they want to restrict and deal with Tsugakuni Yoriichi, they must first strip away his halo of "justice".
Although the Five Elders wanted to weaken Tsugakuni Yoriichi's influence, the performance of the Sword of Dawn branch active in the New World was too dazzling. The Marine Headquarters tried to use Yoriichi's achievements in the New World to expand the Navy's influence. For this reason, they "passively" promoted Tsugakuni Yoriichi and expanded Tsugakuni Yoriichi's influence.
Nowadays, if you ask anyone in the world about Yuichiro Tsugikuni, I’m sure no one will not know him.
Over the years, the number of famous pirates who died at the hands of Ji Guoyuan is too numerous to count on one hand.
The terrifying reputation shrouded in justice is one of Tsugakuni Yoriichi's amulets, making the Five Elders dare not act rashly.
As for Tsugakuni Yoshiichi's other amulet, it is his terrifying strength.
After leaving the wedding venue, Ulysses Guderian quickly returned to his ship with his subordinates. Ulysses Guderian stood at the bow of the ship and looked at the wedding venue in the distance. Seeing that no navy followed, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
Ulysses Guderian held onto the railing, his body somewhat limp, and leaned lightly against it.
"Captain Ulises? What's wrong with you? Are you feeling unwell?"
The boy following Ulysses Guderian saw his leader looking "weak" and immediately asked with concern.
Ulises Guderian leaned against the railing and took a long time to breathe out. He ignored the boy's concern and looked at the sea and said to himself:
"I've already walked through the gates of hell."
"Next, as long as we can steadily collect the gold from the sky and return it to the holy land, we will succeed!"
Ulysses Guderian, who looked fearless after the meeting, immediately became embarrassed after returning to the ship.
Ulysses Guderian was not as fearless as he appeared at the wedding. At the banquet, when Tsugikuni Yoshiichi looked at him, Ulysses Guderian felt like his heart was about to jump out of his chest.
Only now did I slowly calm down.
However, Ulysses Guderian was well aware that things were far from over.
He was now praying in his heart, praying that Yoriichi Tsugakuni was truly an upright and righteous navy officer as described in the intelligence he had received.
If the information is wrong, these people may really have no way to leave the new world.
The World Government's ships still did not leave the naval port after Cyrus's wedding.
After the cruise ship docked for nearly three days, the Kingdom Guards escorted a large amount of money, property, supplies, etc. to the coast, and then transported them to the cruise ship in boxes.
Heavenly Gold is collected every three years, and today is the day to pay the Heavenly Gold. 70% of the national tax revenue of Dressrosa in the past three years has been collected here.
Dressrosa has a large population, so the amount of Sky Gold paid is also very large. Once this money and materials are spent, the entire country is seriously injured, and the speed of national development is also greatly reduced.
Even a relatively wealthy country like Dressrosa is finding it difficult to bear the burden. Some small countries simply cannot afford the heavy amount of Heavenly Gold. For a kingdom that pays Heavenly Gold, it is extremely difficult to survive, let alone develop.
Wang Guo is wise and will tighten his belt, find ways to increase revenue and reduce expenditure, and maintain national stability.
Some foolish tyrants will simply send unproductive elderly and disabled people to reincarnate in order to reduce the burden.
In such a big world, there are probably few countries that can afford Heavenly Gold like Dressrosa without exploiting the people.
On the side of the cruise ship, a dedicated CP9 was recording the supplies placed in the cabin and quickly calculating the value of these things.
While the cargo was being loaded and unloaded onto the cruise ship, curious people were also looking at the boxes of "gold from the sky" being put onto the ship, with puzzled expressions on their faces.
In the office of the branch base, Cyrus stood by the window, watching the scene of cargo loading and unloading at the harbor, and sighed softly:
"Such a heavy amount of Heavenly Gold, only in recent years has King Liku been able to take it out smoothly."
"I heard from Scarlett that in previous years, in order to raise the Heavenly Gold, the people had to tighten their belts. One year, there was even a tsunami, and the kingdom sent 2,000 mercenaries to help the Kingdom of Ksai fight the war, only then was the Heavenly Gold raised."
"People probably fear the World Government more than they respect it. Most of those watching are probably feeling resentful. The taxes they pay aren't being used to develop this country, nor are they being used to protect it."
"Instead, it was squandered by those Tianlong people."
In the office, Tsugikuni Yoriichi was drinking tea. Ichisho, Tiger and Shibei had already gone back. Yoriichi took the opportunity of coming to Dressrosa to see the development of the Naval Academy.
Today, when I have some free time, I came to Cyrus' office to talk to him about the development direction of the branch and have some tea.
"Watch?" Upon hearing Cyrus' words, Ji Guoyuan's expression froze. He put down his teacup and immediately walked to the window, looking at the coast.
Seeing the scene on the coast, Tsugumi Yoshiichi had a bad feeling.
Naval Headquarters, Marinford.
"Report! West Sea Branch 63 was attacked by the Saiyan Kingdom's militia!"
"Report, a riot has broken out in the Principality of Kedi, where the South Sea Branch 116 is located, and the Navy Branch has also been attacked by the rebels!"
"Report, the dragon of the Self-Guard Army has appeared! Traces of the Self-Guard Army have been found in the Keming Sea area of the South China Sea."
All morning, people were coming and going in Zhan Guo's office. Zhan Guo sat behind his desk, reviewing documents and intelligence.
From time to time, naval officers came to report with intelligence from all over the world.
After listening to several reports in succession, Marshal Zhan Guo finally punched the table in anger and said angrily:
"asshole!"
"Isn't it CP's job to accept the gold from heaven?"
"Why are we, the Navy, suddenly held responsible?!"
"That's it. Do we still have time to chase after the pirates?!"
"asshole!!!"
(End of this chapter)
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