Unfortunately, Luno didn't spare him a glance. He turned the corner and disappeared without hesitation.
In the end, Monkas and the others were nothing more than puppets Luno had propped up to help the Five Great Families rake in profits.
Once a puppet was exposed, it naturally lost all value.
Since that was the case, why waste any extra effort trying to save them?
These underworld families never did business at a loss.
Bege understood that perfectly.
He had his men take Monkas and the rest away without delay.
Carina hadn't expected to reel in such a massive catch either. She immediately ordered Victor and the others to intensify the interrogations.
Pulling up one radish brought out a whole string of dirt. Even if they couldn't wipe everyone out in one go, at the very least, those people wouldn't dare make a move anytime soon.
Victor even thoughtfully had Monkas and the others escorted past Red's prison cell.
"See that? Even if you don't talk, someone else will talk for you. You're worthless now. Just wait to die."
The reserve Shadow Dragon Guard in charge of interrogating him let out a cold laugh, packed up the confession, and turned as if he were about to leave.
At that moment, Red's mental defenses finally collapsed completely.
He broke down crying and shouted, "I'll talk! I'll tell you everything! I'll confess it all! I'm the king. I know far more than Monkas ever did!"
Red's stubborn attempt to hold out was utterly crushed by Monkas, that pig of a teammate.
Over the next few days, based on their confessions, Victor led a sweep that arrested more than thirty officials of all ranks.
Some of them held extremely powerful positions.
Thankfully, quite a few of the ministers Red had previously dismissed were still alive. Otherwise, the kingdom's operations might have ground to a halt.
As these people fell one by one, the Five Great Families' businesses within the Itel Kingdom were dragged into the light.
No surprises there. Smuggling, fencing stolen goods, human trafficking, and banned drug powders made up the bulk of it.
The reason they had wanted the royal family eliminated was simple. The Itel Kingdom's geographical position was just too good.
Situated between the three major powers of the West Blue, nearly all north–south traffic passed through here to rest and resupply.
On top of that, Carina's father had wisely established a free trade zone, causing commercial activity to multiply several times over.
Faced with such prime territory, how could the Five Great Families not want a slice of the pie?
The problem was that Carina's father had zero interest in their filthy businesses.
Normal taxation alone was enough to sustain the kingdom's development.
What's more, he even intensified crackdowns on the Five Great Families' human trafficking and banned drug powder operations within the kingdom.
That kind of attitude… not just refusing to cooperate, but outright smashing their rice bowls… completely enraged the Five Great Families.
That was when they decided to strike hard and replace the king of the Itel Kingdom.
After hearing the report, Carina showed little emotional fluctuation.
The moment she learned the Five Great Families were involved, she had already more or less guessed the reason behind everything.
"No wonder the Soul King had you come with me," Carina said as she looked at Bege.
Now that she had basically secured control of the capital, she no longer had to worry about embarrassing Oguro and openly addressed him as the Soul King.
"The West Blue underworld has existed for too long and grown too powerful. Even if the Five Great Families are wiped out, new ones will eventually rise to take their place."
"But if your Capone Family absorbs them and becomes the top underworld power in the West Blue, then this force can be smoothly controlled."
"One in the open, one in the shadows… flawless."
Carina couldn't help but admire Oguro.
Even though he wasn't in the West Blue, he had a crystal-clear grasp of the situation there.
Bege gave a quiet hum.
The moment he met Luno, he understood this was the Capone Family's best chance.
And also their last.
Although he had left the Capone Family and gone to the Grand Line, he had never abandoned the Capone name.
Luno would definitely push the Five Great Families to target the Capone Family.
With a powerful backer behind him right now, he had to push the Capone Family to the very top as fast as possible.
Otherwise, once the Five Great Families went all out against them, the Capone Family wouldn't last.
Buru buru.
Bege's Den Den Mushi rang.
The moment he answered, an enraged voice burst out from the other end.
"Hey, Bege! What the hell did you do? Why did the Five Great Families jointly question our Capone Family?"
"Do you have any idea that because of you, our operations on three islands were hit with devastating losses?"
The speaker was the current godfather of the Capone Family, Capone Slay.
Bege's uncle.
Bege replied bluntly, "Uncle, the Five Great Families won't be jumping around for much longer. If you trust me, lie low for now and preserve our strength."
"When they collapse, we'll take everything back tenfold… a hundredfold."
Anyone who could rise to the position of godfather wasn't stupid.
Slay immediately grasped the deeper meaning behind Bege's words.
Taking a deep breath, he calmed himself and said in a low voice, "Bege, be straight with me. The person you're working with… how confident are they?"
Bege instantly smiled.
Confidence?
In a place like the West Blue, Oguro could casually send someone like Rukia Kuchiki or Rangiku Matsumoto, vice-captain-level fighters, and they'd sweep through over ninety percent of the so-called strong.
As for the remaining ten percent… those were the rumored monsters no one could even confirm existed.
And they were mostly bullshit anyway.
Even if they ran into a real one by some awful luck, there were still two captains backing them up.
Who the hell could handle that?
If Oguro wanted to dominate the West Blue, it was only a matter of time.
Handing this matter to Carina was simply a test… to see if she was worth further cultivation.
Hmm.
By that logic, wasn't he also being evaluated?
Realizing that, Bege spoke into the Den Den Mushi. "If he's willing, there's no one in the entire West Blue who can stand against him."
"But if the Capone Family wants a share of those benefits, we have to show our value."
"So that's how it is. I get it."
Slay knew his nephew well. Bege would never exaggerate something like this.
Which meant the West Blue was about to be reshuffled.
Whether the Capone Family could leap through the dragon gate would depend on this moment.
At that point, Bege caught something off in Slay's words and hurriedly added, "Don't talk nonsense. I didn't pledge allegiance to him. We just made a deal."
That's right… a deal.
I help you dominate the West Blue. You help me build a fleet.
Fair and square.
I'm a man who's going to become Pirate King.
How could I possibly submit to someone else?
On the other end, Slay's mouth twitched.
His nephew really was stubborn to the bone.
The entire Capone Family would probably end up kneeling beneath that man someday… and he thought he'd be the exception?
Still, Slay didn't expose Bege's act and simply said, "I'll make arrangements and tell them to rein it in. If you need anything from us, contact me anytime."
After being suppressed by the Five Great Families for so long, Slay had been holding in his anger for years.
This time, with a chance finally in hand, he fully intended to stomp hard on their corpses.
***
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