"Shut up!" Myers glared at Capo, his tone vicious.
Capo shrank back in fear and immediately realized he had lost his composure, so he stopped talking. Cross watched the scene unfold before him without saying a word, his eyes fixed on the two brothers.
To have a declining medium-sized merchant association grow into a large one in just a few years in this cruel ocean, anyone who said Myers was a good person would be lying. But the guy was very low-key, preferring to quietly make a fortune, which gave him a harmless impression.
In reality, this short man was ruthless and meticulous in his actions, which was why he appeared so unassuming.
Hoo...
Myers let out a breath and said in a frigid tone, "Since the security officers on the island determined it was a suicide, then it must have been a suicide. It's unbelievable, but it's a fact!" He emphasized the word "suicide." However, his tone quickly softened. "Of course, I understand your grief over the deaths and injuries of those Marines. So I've decided to add another 100 million Berries. That's a total of 200 million Berries for you to distribute as you see fit!"
"Hehehe~ Are you trying to bribe me?" Cross asked with a slight laugh, spreading his hands.
"This is my support for the Marines. How could you call it a bribe?" Myers denied.
"Two hundred million Berries just like that. The Jimmy Trading Company is truly wealthy!" Cross laughed and shook his head. "Unfortunately, I'm not lacking money. I only want to..."
"Five hundred million Berries! Or, you name a price!" Myers interrupted Cross without blinking.
Commercia Island was a direct subordinate of the World Government. All the institutions on the island, such as the city hall and the security department, were staffed by World Government officials.
On some matters, the Marines could cooperate with these World Government officials, but they had no power to interfere with daily management.
It was like the relationship between the Marines and the CP organizations. Both sides could cooperate, and in some missions, the CP agents would even follow Marine orders, but if a Marine officer wanted to command the agents at will, none of them would listen.
Similarly, even if everyone knew there was something wrong with the manager's death, if Cross went to the island's security department and asked the security officers to reopen the case, the bribed officers would surely refuse and might even report him to the World Government and Marine Headquarters.
However, Myers didn't want to fall out with Commodore Amphitrite Cross because it didn't align with his motto of "quietly making a fortune." He also knew that Cross was a talented Marine with a lot of power whom Marine Headquarters valued highly. It was best to avoid conflict and solve the problem with money, even if Cross was asking for a huge amount.
"Tsk tsk tsk~ Truly wealthy, what an enormous amount of money!" Cross clicked his tongue repeatedly, muttering to himself. "My dream used to be to throw money at people. It's a shame I never got to fulfill it before I went down a path of 'reasoning' with my fists."
"Hahahaha~ That's an excellent dream, Commodore Cross! I feel like I can help you achieve that dream! As long as you cooperate a little with Branch G-2 and Marine Headquarters, I believe your dream will soon come true!" Hearing Cross's words, Myers couldn't help but laugh. He thought this was an excellent opportunity to establish a connection with him.
Money is only money when you spend it! Otherwise, it's just worthless paper! To Myers, if he could spend money to gain an alliance with a promising Marine genius, it would be the best investment of his business career!
"To be honest, if someone had said that to me in the past, I would have been tempted. But now, even though I haven't figured out my future dream yet, at least money isn't that important to me anymore!" Cross sighed and got straight to the point.
"Then... what do you want?" Myers's eyes darkened, and his tone turned cold again.
"Let's stop wasting our breath." Cross shook his head, his voice firm. "Let your brother come back with me honestly and confess everything. Otherwise, don't blame me for getting rough!"
"Fine, Commodore Cross. You are a Commodore of Marine Headquarters and the patrol officer of Branch G-2. If you have solid evidence to accuse my brother, I'll tie him up and hand him over to you myself, no questions asked!" Myers saw that Cross was not moved. He immediately changed his attitude, his tone cold and threatening. "But if you try to frame my brother without evidence, don't blame me for reporting you for abuse of power to the World Government and Marine Headquarters, having your uniform stripped from you, and making you see the light!"
"Hehehe~" Cross stared at Myers with a calm expression, then suddenly chuckled, his tone full of hidden meaning. "You people who manipulate power with money are all the same. You always think that after you've committed a crime and destroyed the evidence, no one can touch you. But you've forgotten one thing: in this world, absolute power dictates absolute authority. Sometimes, the power of money is not as great as you think it is when faced with sheer force!"
"What do you mean?" Myers's face changed slightly, and he asked in a low voice.
"The meaning is simple. My fist is bigger than yours. If I say your brother is the murderer, then your brother is the murderer, even if he really isn't!" Cross shook his fist at Myers and said coldly, "Just like how you use money to manipulate power and oppress the weak!"
He laughed. "If you're not happy, you can complain about me to the World Government. You can complain to Marine Headquarters. Let's see if they'll stand with me, a strong-willed powerhouse, or with you, a money-wielding powerhouse!"
"Don't give me that! Even an Admiral has to follow the rules! We both live under the rule of justice, light, and order, so we must follow the rules of the light. It's pirates who act recklessly, not the Marines!" Myers scoffed, completely unafraid.
"I heard you were a business genius, but I never expected you to be so foolish!" Cross shook his head in disappointment, leaning back comfortably on the sofa. He said in a deep voice, "In this world, order is maintained by force. Otherwise, why would the Celestial Dragons be able to do whatever they want and enjoy all the privileges in the world?"
"I stand with the Marines and the World Government. I can use my great strength to maintain the order established by them, helping them kill or suppress those who oppose them. So in a sense, people like me are also part of the order!"
"If one day in the future, I become a Marine Admiral, and I declare that there are ambitious people on Commercia Island who want to shake the World Government's foundation, and I use that as a reason to launch a Buster Call on Commercia Island... tell me, will the World Government and the Marines side with me, using ten warships to completely wipe this island from the map, or will they listen to your explanation and stop the Admiral's Buster Call?"
"Of course, I don't have that much power right now. But what if I just arrest your brother without evidence, or get a little more aggressive and directly destroy your Jimmy Trading Company..."
"Do you think the World Government and Marine Headquarters would punish me for the sake of someone like you, who has less value to them than I do, and who has already lost all your value to me?"
"And besides, your brother really did something harmful to the Marines!"
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