Chapter 21: Rich Rewards

Deep into the night.

On the northern slopes of Shallow Cherry Island, a cemetery sat adjacent to the sea.

Shano carried Sakuraba Tree’s corpse easily over one shoulder, stepping through the cemetery gates. Junichi followed closely behind, biting his lip in silence.

"Where?"

"Here, Boss." Junichi led Shano to a grave that looked quite aged.

The tombstone was engraved with the name of Sakuraba Tree.

Digging up the grave, they found it was indeed empty.

A bleak and lonely night breeze swept into the cemetery, and the cherry blossoms near the grave withered, drifting onto the thin boy's shoulders.

Junichi knelt on the ground and suddenly burst into tears.

How he wished this were all just a nightmare—that the monstrous creature, twisted beyond recognition, was not his father; that the true Sakuraba Tree had long since closed his eyes peacefully and was resting in this grave.

Shano watched quietly from the side.

At a time like this, there was no need for excessive comfort; the other person simply needed time to vent their emotions. He could understand Junichi’s feelings. To have the person he had always admired and respected most suddenly turn into a deranged demon was a blow not everyone could withstand.

Looking back toward the city, Shano fell into deep thought.

Back at the dojo, after he had defeated the true "Carpenter," the puppets that hadn't fully turned into wooden dolls had slowly climbed up and regained their consciousness. Outside, a large number of Marine branch soldiers had arrived, along with reporters coming to film the scene.

If he didn't leave now, he would become the center of public attention. Shano feared such trouble most of all, so he had taken Sakuraba Tree’s body and left the city from the north with Junichi, arriving at this cemetery.

In any case, with all the witnesses and evidence at the scene, there was no fear of the truth being buried. From now on, the legend of Sakuraba Tree on Shallow Cherry Island would likely shift from that of a great swordsman who founded the Kendo Tournament to that of a maniacal, murderous demon.

As for Junichi’s wish to revive the Shallow Cherry Dojo, that, too, would likely...

After an unknown amount of time, Junichi’s emotions finally settled.

With Shano’s help, he placed the body into the grave, took a few crumpled cherry blossom candies from his pocket, sprinkled them silently over the corpse, and then filled the grave back up with soil.

After kinking his head firmly several times and casting one last deep look at the tombstone, he followed Shano out of the cemetery gates.

Celestial Dragons, Marine Vice Admirals... the thin boy's fists clenched tightly.

After walking for a while, Shano suddenly spoke up. "Is there any kind of secret underground room beneath your old dojo or house?"

Junichi was stunned. "Boss, why ask that all of a sudden?"

"I found this inside your father's body." Shano pulled out a dull yellow wooden box, shaped, surprisingly, like a heart.

"This was his heart. I don't know if the Puppet-Puppet Fruit turned his heart into a cold block of wood, or if that heart, having long since lost its warmth, caused him to slowly turn into a real puppet."

Who could say for sure?

Junichi’s expression was complex, unsure how to respond, when he saw Shano open the wooden box to reveal an antique-looking key.

"A key hidden inside a heart—there must be something important behind the door it opens." Shano patted him on the shoulder. "Let's go and find it."

...

Half an hour later.

Guided by Junichi’s childhood memories, the two successfully discovered a highly concealed underground passage beneath the old Sakuraba Dojo.

Reaching the end, a seemingly ordinary wooden door blocked their path. Shano punched it and immediately sensed something. "There's a thick steel plating sandwich inside. Without the key, I doubt many people in the entire East Blue could open this."

Without a doubt, this was the most important and secret place for Sakuraba Tree.

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

In this small room, the cabinets on all four sides were piled high with all sorts of glittering gold and silver treasures, nearly blinding them!

"This is... my father's vault?" Junichi looked around, dazed. "The billions of Berries he earned... they were all here?"

"Doesn't look like it, not that much." Shano made a rough estimate and shook his head, his attention drawn to the items on the table.

It was piled with ledgers, letters, and various maps and data.

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

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

The limit on the number of people the Puppet-Puppet Fruit could control was far higher than what Sakuraba Tree had claimed, and the effective control range was also far greater than Shano had imagined. It even reached as far as the Rayakort Kingdom, hundreds of nautical miles away from Shallow Cherry Island.

About three years ago, using the allure of the Kendo Tournament, Sakuraba Tree had invited several local officials from the Rayakort Kingdom to visit Shallow Cherry Island. He had screened a dozen promising ones and planted puppet strings in them.

Then, through large-scale financial operations and a wide net, he had cultivated these dozen officials into ministers favored by the Rayakort royal family. Two of them had been recommended by the royal family and, a month ago, had passed the World Government's selection, soon to be promoted to work as World Government employees in the Holy Land of Mary Geoise.

Given enough time, there would eventually be an opportunity to encounter those two female Celestial Dragons. It was for this reason that Sakuraba Tree felt the time was ripe and was preparing to abandon his foundation on Shallow Cherry Island to head for the Sabaody Archipelago. That was the island in the Grand Line closest to the Holy Land, a distance sufficient for him to control those two puppets who had ascended to the World Government at any time.

"Operating for these few years, he probably invested six or seven hundred million Berries, and finally, it bore fruit." Shano tossed the letters back to their place. "The remaining funds are about six hundred million. Two hundred million is here, and the other four hundred million Berries are deposited in the Loguetown bank vault. The vault key and identification cards are all here."

"In other words, Junichi," Shano looked up with a smile, "you are now a bona fide billionaire."

"Don't joke, Boss." Junichi shook his head decisively. "His money is dirty money. I won't inherit it, and that guy has nothing to do with me anymore! If you really want to talk about it, this money should rightfully belong to you, Boss!"

"Mine?" Shano was slightly taken aback.

"Isn't that obvious?" Junichi said seriously. "That evil spirit that possessed my father's body could only be defeated because of you, and you were the one who found the key. Isn't it only natural that these are your spoils of war?"

It seemed that was indeed the case...

Shano scratched his head. He didn't have Junichi’s kind of moral squeamishness, but... was this for real? So much money, all his?

At first, he had just been aiming for the five-million-Berry prize for winning the Kendo Tournament, but since all seven dojo masters had kicked the bucket, he didn't even know who to collect the prize from. Now, the five million had multiplied over a hundredfold into six hundred million Berries? He had become a super-rich man overnight.

"No, taking all this money, I still wouldn't feel right." Shano ultimately shook his head, recalling the corpses in the dojo. "And the things in this room—the cash is easy to carry, but the rest is too bulky; we can't take it with us."

"We can leave it here for now and come back for it later?" Junichi asked. "No one else can open this, right?"

"No. I only need to take the four hundred million from the bank vault. I counted the cash in this secret room, and there’s about a million; we can take that. As for the remaining two hundred million in treasures, let's treat it as compensation for the victims."

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

"Later, we'll clear out everything related to the revenge plan, especially anything concerning the Celestial Dragons. As for these remaining treasures..." He turned to Junichi. "Among the upper-class people on the island, is there anyone trustworthy?"

"Yes." Junichi thought seriously. "Old Mr. Azu, the honorary president of the Kendo Association. He has been upright his whole life, has a stubborn temper, and is very strong. He spent most of his fortune supporting the children of poor families. Everyone respects him. Before my father became the way he was, he had always treated him as a teacher for decades."

"There are a few others besides Mr. Azu, but their prestige is nowhere near his..."

"Then let Old Mr. Azu supervise the distribution. Also, make more copies at the magazine office and inform a few of the most reliable people about the treasures in the vault. Don't give any to those who are even slightly suspicious, and ensure that as much of these treasures as possible are distributed to the victims' families."

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

After putting the notice away in his pocket, Shano and Junichi began to clean out the secret room to ensure nothing was missed.

As he was clearing things out, Shano’s eyebrows suddenly arched, his gaze falling on a compartment in the cabinet.

In this compartment, there was only a plain-looking scabbard, which seemed somewhat strange. Next to it was a photo, seemingly clipped from a newspaper, showing a middle-aged man with a beard and a white Marine coat, smiling at the camera.

"Could this scabbard be..."

Shano realized something in an instant. He glanced back to make sure Junichi wasn't looking, grabbed the scabbard, and initiated the sacrifice.

Sure enough.

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

【Sacrificial Offering: Scabbard of Stainless's Sword】
【Quality: Epic】
【Value: 600 Points】
【Appraisal: One of the fifty Skillful Grade swords, the original scabbard of "Winter Rain." It fell into the sea five years ago when a struggling Sakuraba Tree grabbed it. The scabbard that had accompanied him for nearly twenty years vanished, a loss that Marine Vice Admiral Stainless often regrets.】