Chapter 224: Two Months of Peace, Crime Bank
"Since none of you have anything to say, I'll speak."
Asking a group of Pirates to discuss such matters was clearly difficult for them; it was already good enough that no conflict broke out.
Hades could only step forward again.
"Everyone is aware of the current situation. For the sake of overall interests, Honeycomb Island cannot erupt in turmoil for a short period."
Hades knew the inherent flaws of Pirates all too well; endless treasure was the goal of many Pirates.
Therefore, they had to be restrained within a tolerable time limit.
"This limit will be set at two months."
"Within these two months, no conflict can occur inside Honeycomb Island. A trade fair can be held to trade some useless items."
"During this time, whether you leave Honeycomb Island, recruit subordinates, or win over other members is up to you."
"Once you leave Honeycomb Island, everything is out of our hands. Whatever happens, you bear the consequences yourselves."
"After two months, you can do whatever you want."
"Two months of absolute order, that should be achievable, right?"
Hades narrowed his eyes and slowly sat down.
"Jie ha ha ha! Agreed! My Flying Pirates just need time to expand. I don't want my future subordinates to kill each other like this."
Shiki "The Golden Lion" laughed heartily, not hiding his purpose.
"Hmph! Shiki, it's still uncertain whose subordinates they'll be. Don't get too carried away." Wang Zhi scoffed.
Shiki wasn't the only one who wanted to expand his Faction.
The Rocks Pirates were about to disband.
The many Pirates on Honeycomb Island were undoubtedly elites on The Great Sea, the best source of manpower.
Without Rocks' suppression, they could now expand their Factions and military strength recklessly, becoming competitors to each other.
Captain John, Silver Axe, Nash, Zak, Charlotte Linlin—which one didn't have the ambition to become a hegemon?
Hades's influence within the Rocks Pirates was extraordinary.
Not only was his Pirate Crew the strongest overall in strength, but his personal strength, besides "Violence King" Kosa, was also among the strongest.
His words were very persuasive and quickly gained everyone's recognition.
Maintaining absolute order on Honeycomb Island for two months was not a difficult task for them.
This also gave them an opportunity to gather the vast amounts of treasure obtained by the many Pirates under their own command.
If a riot occurred, a huge amount of treasure would certainly be lost.
As for the rule that no conflict could occur, what if the treasure was handed over by the Pirates themselves?
With that, the matter concluded.
"However, how should Rocks' treasure be handled?"
Captain John spoke up, his eyes gleaming with the light of treasure.
He had been eyeing this treasure for a long time.
Even though a considerable amount of Rocks' treasure had been spent, it was still a terrifying amount of wealth.
"Two choices: divide them directly now, or wait two months and fight for them yourselves."
Hades offered the choices.
As he expected, some people had no interest in Rocks' treasure, while the majority chose the latter.
The outcome of the meeting of the thirteen Division Captains quickly spread throughout Honeycomb Island.
Two months of peace brought a sigh of relief to many Pirates.
Carrying huge sums of money was truly unsafe; it was practically a death warrant.
Now, with the combined suppression of the thirteen Division Captains, no one dared to cause trouble.
Some Pirates planned to secretly leave Honeycomb Island and find a place to hide their treasure.
More Pirates wanted to sell off their treasure as quickly as possible.
After all, the peace would only last for two months.
Those Great Pirates must have already targeted them.
If they didn't sell quickly, they would definitely be completely devoured.
Was there any Faction that could absorb such a large amount of treasure?
Of course there was!
Six years ago, a mysterious organization called the "Crime Bank" appeared in the Underworld.
By paying a certain insurance fee, you could store items in the Crime Bank for preservation.
Items weren't limited to treasure, Devil Fruits, antiques and artwork, confidential documents, or even Slaves.
After storing items in the Crime Bank, you would receive a certificate.
With this certificate, you could retrieve the items you stored.
Naturally, this process involved some complex procedures, but it was sufficiently confidential.
After receiving the certificate, the Crime Bank would arrange a secret Den Den Mushi number.
With this certificate and Den Den Mushi, you could communicate with the Crime Bank anywhere, and the Crime Bank would deliver the items to you in the shortest possible time.
The items seemed to appear out of nowhere, very mysterious.
No one knew who was behind the scenes of the Crime Bank.
However, the Crime Bank had only existed for six years, yet countless people had stored things there, and no problems had occurred over the years.
Security measures were taken to the extreme.
There were definitely many Great Pirates who stored items there.
The higher the value of the stored items, the higher the insurance fee required.
This situation resulted in relatively few people storing things long-term.
However, because short-term deposits and withdrawals occurred constantly without issue, the Crime Bank's reputation continuously increased, and more people began choosing long-term storage.
The items that could be stored in the Crime Bank were inherently valuable, and some were even illegal and could not be known to others.
However, it was all worth it.
For the many Pirates who had plundered God Valley, it was nothing.
The Crime Bank had a mysterious stronghold on Honeycomb Island.
The interior was like a labyrinth, where people entering would not encounter each other, thus preventing identity exposure.
Take out the treasure, get it appraised, store the treasure, receive the certificate, and a mysterious Den Den Mushi number.
Walk in with a huge amount of treasure and walk out feeling light.
The Crime Bank was like a bottomless pit; the vast amount of treasure that went in mysteriously disappeared.
It was as if it had been transferred to another space.
It wasn't that no one had tried to uncover the Crime Bank's secret.
However, the personnel inside mysteriously disappeared every time.
This made the Crime Bank even more mysterious in the eyes of the various Factions on The Great Sea.
Some speculated that the mastermind behind the scenes of the Crime Bank was a Space-type Ability User.
However, not many people dared to offend it.
Six years of standing firm had already proven everything.
Moreover, it was an absolutely neutral Faction that only recognized money.
If the certificate was lost, or the Den Den Mushi number was forgotten, then no matter what, the stored items could not be retrieved.
Even if it wasn't the original person, as long as they had the certificate and Den Den Mushi number, they could still get the items.
In other words, the Crime Bank only recognized the certificate and Den Den Mushi number, not the person.
If a person died, or lost either the certificate or the Den Den Mushi number, the items would remain in the Crime Bank and could never be retrieved.
Besides the insurance fee, the Crime Bank made its wealth precisely from this kind of "dead money."
Many people knew this, yet they had no choice but to store their items there.
They only needed to keep the certificate safe and remember the Den Den Mushi number.
If they died, then it was meaningless anyway.
(end of chapter)