"Here is..." Smoker raised his neck and looked at this out of place building with golden light.
In the past few days, Stussi led the two of them to familiarize themselves with the work process and visited various departments in the country.
"This is the preference of the Minister of Finance." Stusi shrugged and explained: "It was not originally like this shape, but Tezzolo got Eric's approval and spent private funds to renovate it."
"...It's full of the smell of the nouveau riche." Smoker curled his lips with a look of disdain.
The Minister of Finance of the Kingdom of China is Gilder Tezzolo. Smoker already hates the pirate Shichibukai, not to mention that this Shichibukai is still a young boy.
A group of people walked into the office at the top of this gorgeous-looking building. Tezzolo took the initiative to greet them and opened his arms: "Welcome everyone."
Wearing an expensive suit, almost all ten fingers are covered with gold rings, except for the ring finger of his left hand.
Stussy smiled and said: "You all know each other, I don't need to introduce each other."
"Of course." Tezzolo said with a smile on his face: "The new partners who have joined the team are Tina and Smog."
Smoker slowly read: "Gilder Tezolo..."
"Is there anything I can do for you?" Tezzolo narrowed his eyes and put on a business-like smile.
Smoker said rudely: "Your smile is so fake, it makes me sick."
"Smog-kun...!" Tina reminded softly.
"Hypocritical..." Tezzolo raised his hands and touched both sides of his cheeks. The smile on his face gradually disappeared, and he looked at Smoker expressionlessly, with a fierce look in his eyes: "Who do you think caused this? "
Smoker didn't reply, and looked at Tezolo with undiminished aura.
Tina tensed her nerves, worried that Tezoro would suddenly take action. The strength shown in Marinefando, Tezoro is not a guy who can become a Shichibukai just by money, he has the corresponding strength!
Tezzolo calmed his expression, his murderous intent subsided like a tide, and waved his hand: "Sit anywhere you want."
"Huh..." Tina breathed a long sigh of relief and pulled Smoker to find a seat to sit down.
Stusy had already found a single sofa to sit down on, and seemed not worried about a conflict between the two parties.
Tezzolo took the initiative to ask Stussi: "How has Mr. Eric been in health these past two days?"
"I don't see him every day." Stussy said with self-pity: "I am just a 'concubine' at best. I came here halfway. How can Chitong and the others be favored?"
"Besides..." Stussi glanced at Tina meaningfully: "Eric also has a new goal."
"..." Neither Smoker nor Tina spoke, and the atmosphere at the scene was awkward.
At this time, Baccarat, who served as Tezzolo's secretary, held the tray with one hand and served drinks to the four people: "Please use."
Smoker didn't even look at the drink Baccarat handed him, and kept his eyes on Tezzolo.
Baccarat didn't mind either, and placed the drinks in front of the four of them one by one, then held the tray in both hands, stood behind Tezzolo, and said with a smile:
"Sorry, you can't drink while working. This is a drink I made myself. It doesn't contain alcohol."
"Ahem" Tezzolo didn't dare to get involved in Eric's family affairs, so he took the initiative to change the subject: "Are you here to inspect? Or to supervise?"
"Bring them here to familiarize themselves with the work." Stussi chuckled and said: "You also know that the financial department controls the country's taxation and expenditures. Even if Tezzolo is not greedy, hundreds of department members may not be able to control it. Stay true to your heart..."
"Not to mention, the circulation of tens of billions of funds..." Stusi reached out to hold the drink that Baccarat had just sent, then loosened his fingers and spread them out to show Tezzolo.
There is some moisture in the palm of the white and tender palm, which is water droplets produced by condensation.
As one of the world's leading business wizards, Tezzolo instantly understood the meaning of Stussi's words.
"Well, that's a problem." During the transfer of funds, someone may misappropriate the money for speculation and enrich themselves.
If it's okay to make money, but if it loses money, it will definitely affect subsequent construction.
Tezzolo clenched his two fists and said with murderous intent in his voice: "If anyone dares to affect Lord Eric's plan, I will never spare him!"
Smoker sarcastically said to him: "You are really loyal."
"Of course." Tezzolo glanced at him, ignoring Smoker's sarcasm.
"Do you want to come and check if there is any corruption here now?"
"No problem." Tezzolo readily agreed and said, "However, my office currently only has information from the past week."
Smoker immediately said: "I'll look at these first."
Baccarat assisted Tezzolo in bringing a large pile of documents and piling them into a pile on the table.
"...So many?!" Smog didn't expect that Tezzolo would have so much work in a week and signed so many documents, so he had to bite the bullet and scroll down.
Tina picked up a stack of documents and looked through them with Smoker.
Looking at the densely packed words, numbers, and clauses, Smoker reluctantly reached out to touch the shoulder filled with cigars, but finally stopped.
Tezzolo saw Smoker's face distorted from suppressing the pain, and said with a smile: "You can smoke in my office."
After enduring it, Smoker finally retracted his hand cruelly and continued to look through the documents.
"Here..." After browsing for a while, Smoker frowned and pointed at an item of money: "Navy bounty? What does this mean?"
"Literally." Tezzolo shrugged and said, "Sir Eric once placed a bounty on the navy. This is a bounty issued to the 'naval hunter'."
Smoker looked at the column of numbers at the back and couldn't believe his eyes: "So many?!"
"There have been more recently." The red liquid trembled with Tezzolo's wrist. He took a sip and said calmly: "In the past, pirates mainly attacked the navy."
"Well, this is probably the result that Mr. Eric wants. Ordinary people can't kill a Marine with the rank of Major at the Navy Headquarters even with a sneak attack."
"However, after the Navy Headquarters was destroyed, there were sporadic civilian attacks on the Navy."
"..." Smoker opened his mouth, and the air flowed out along the trachea, but no words came out.
"Of course, none of these things were reported." Tezzolo shrugged: "These attacks were not successful and only caused some injuries to some captains. How can officers with professional training be so easily killed by civilians."
"That……"
"Until the World Government increases the amount of gold in the sky." Tezzolo grinned, his lips stained with red liquid like a vampire drinking blood.
"In some countries, it is very difficult to collect the amount of gold from the sky. The civilians there work hard for a year, but just to prevent themselves from starving to death."
"Once someone gets sick, they have no choice but to wait for death; if they are lucky enough to survive, but have no money to recuperate, they can only continue to work hard, and then get sick again, over and over again, until they lose their lives."
"..." Neither Tina nor Smoker spoke.
"Isn't it cruel? This is the portrayal of most civilians in the past." Tezzolo put down the goblet and continued expressionlessly: "Only those with money have the right to pursue happiness."
Then, Tezzolo lowered his voice: "Without money, you are not even qualified to be a human being. You are only qualified to be a rich man's beast."
"Bang" Smoker hammered the table angrily, and the pile of documents collapsed.
"This is reality." Tezzolo lay on his back on the sofa, ignoring Smoker's eyes and looking at the magnificent ceiling: "If Sir Eric had appeared in front of me ten years earlier..."
"Stella." A name so subtle that only he could hear it.
After waiting for a while, Tina took the initiative to ask: "Are there more incidents of civilians attacking the navy now?"
"That's right." Tezzolo looked at the former navy with interest: "Poor people with no way out chose to secretly drug them and attack from behind, killing some naval officers."
"Of course, there are some who do not have enough official positions and do not meet Lord Eric's reward requirements, but I use my own money to distribute the money to these poor people so that they can have money to buy food."
Tina and Smoker naturally knew about Tezzolo's sinister intentions. He was encouraging the poor people to attack the navy.
But if his behavior is stopped, these poor people will definitely starve to death.
Tina and Smoker pursed their lips when they realized this.
"If you think what I did is wrong, you can mention it. After all, we are partners." Tezzolo spread his hands and said: "Besides, these poor people cannot be regarded as human beings..."
Smoker shouted, "Shut up!"
"It's my fault." Tezzolo showed an apologetic expression: "These poor people will become Lord Eric's people in the future. However, I hope they can survive before that. "
Tina asked in a low tone: "Why did they attack the navy? Didn't the navy protect them from pirates?"
"Don't you understand? How 'happy' your past experience was..." Tezzolo shook the goblet in his hand: "Sometimes, the three words 'poverty', 'hungry' and 'money' will change. one person."
"You cannot ask a person who has been hungry for several days to have basic morals and conscience, because he has turned into a beast."
"I used to... forget it." Tezzolo shook his head: "Sir Eric has strictly prohibited me from doing this."
"I've finished reading." Smoker threw the document in his hand on the table and pushed out the door impatiently.
"Smog-kun." Tina immediately chased after him.
"Hey——!" Tezzolo's voice came through the office door: "Do you need me to show you the documents in front of me?"
"You really have a bad taste." Stussy took a sip of the drink and praised: "It tastes good."
Bakala bowed slightly and said, "It is an honor for me to be praised by Lord Stussi."
"Bad taste? No, I am trying to make them realize the reality quickly. Naval justice is nothing."
Tezzolo attended the banquet a few days ago and also noticed the small interaction between Eric and Tina. She used her own despicability to reflect Eric's greatness, which affected her impression of Eric... …
Of course, this little thought cannot be known to Stussy. He is worried that Stusy will blow pillows on Mr. Eric and give him little shoes to wear...
"They should be greatly shocked." Stussy put down her drink and stood up: "I hope I won't ask for leave tomorrow."
Some people died, but not completely...
