This is a world with a highly distorted development, where the law exists, but countless individuals can break its restraints with personal force.
Cross-national fraud is usually difficult to handle, but across this sea, as long as you catch a clue, the major powers have ways to deal with it.
Just like impersonating other pirate crews, everyone knows the risks involved, but faced with immense profits, some are willing to risk their lives to try.
In the First Half of the Grand Line, Kekli Island, according to feedback from Hundred Beasts Fruit products, a series of fraud incidents have already occurred near this island.
They are a legitimate enterprise and would not casually handle such matters, so they naturally arranged for another group of people to deal with it.
"Page One-sama, you shouldn't need to come here personally for such a small matter, right?"
"What a fool to say, impersonating us is not a small matter; the problems in this area have almost reached the sum of those elsewhere. It's not good to keep fleecing just one sheep.
Besides, what if there's a troublesome guy behind it?"
Page One's reasons were quite sufficient, but the real reason was that as the sea grew increasingly tumultuous, the Hundred Beasts' officials were quite short-handed; assigning a single-digit Numberer for a First Half of the Grand Line mission was fine, but they would never send two people simultaneously.
This meant that during the mission, Page One could reasonably avoid his sister's torment; he truly wished the mission here would drag on a bit, although reality usually disappointed him. In less than a day, the source was found.
"Page One-sama, it's confirmed; the source of the fake prize tickets is right here. That guy is 'Three Tongues' Demaro Black, with a bounty of 26 million Belly."
"Such guts..."
Looking at the data in his hand, Page One somewhat admired these newcomers' guts; if they achieved a 26 million bounty with their own strength, they could still be a regular grunt in the New World.
But those who climbed up through scams didn't even count as cannon fodder in the New World, yet their audacity was astonishingly excessive.
Page One couldn't waste too much time on such pirates, or it would give Ulti an excuse to pester him, so he wasn't interested in showing up at all; he directly and remotely launched an earthquake and Draco Meteor, turning Black's base into ruins.
...
With false, there comes truth, excluding the stooges and fake scammers he arranged, after some time fermenting, the prize tickets began to serve their purpose.
New World, Egghead Island - Aeghede, the sound of surprised cheers came from the island.
"I won! Jackpot!!"
A man dressed in a slightly sci-fi style excitedly rubbed his eyes; the dazzling gold explained everything.
This is the site of Vegapunk's new research facility, located where Punk Hazard was scrapped due to an explosion accident, reputedly five hundred years ahead in technology and Future Island.
The island's population is not large; most are World Government-appointed workers assisting Vegapunk in his work, responsible for transporting materials, maintaining the island's logistics, and acting as some research assistants.
Though many roles have been replaced by robots, a certain number of personnel remain, as the World Government hasn't yet considered silencing Vegapunk, so their relationship remains relatively intimate.
Aeghede's quality of life is high, with machines automatically preparing meals, capable of making 500 dishes within a minute if ingredients are in place; chefs on the island don't need culinary skills, they only need to deliver the materials to the machine.
The drawback is the lack of technical personnel; only Vegapunk and his replicas can create this machine, making mass production impossible.
There are also various styles of holographic projectors to alter the island's appearance, providing different living experiences to its residents, along with automatic dressing machines with various clothing styles.
However, this is merely a workplace; Vegapunk hasn't accommodated any employees' families here, and their wages are indispensable to them.
Five hundred million Belly is no small sum; to them, it represents immediate financial freedom.
"You're really lucky; you actually won the jackpot."
"Haha, I bought it during my last vacation, kept it in my pocket, and always forgot to scratch it open. If only I'd scratched it sooner..."
"Stop rambling, quickly take a leave and redeem it; the validity is only for a month."
"A leave? I'm resigning directly! With this much money, who would still work here!"
The next day, this individual left Aeghede and found the nearest redemption center.
"Name."
"Teru."
"Occupation, place where tickets were purchased."
"You need this kind of information for redemption?"
"Of course, we need to verify the information, and also allocate the funds mark the source. You don't want to be dragged away for an unclear source of huge assets, do you?"
"That's true... I used to be a researcher at Aeghede, purchased the tickets on a merchant ship passing by Aeghede."
"Got it... know it..."
The redemption personnel quickly filled in the information and sent it via Rotom Phone to Tesoro; his Rotom Phone also had eye-like features, evidently it's an original Rotom Phone.
This also showed he was a member of Hundred Beasts.
"Wait a few days, 300 million Belly's prize money will be delivered to you soon."
"Wait, wasn't it 500 million Belly?"
"The World Government has to levy a tax of 200 million; there's nothing we can do. Oh, an obligatory inquiry, do you have intentions to donate?"
"No...."
The prize money shrank by nearly half, causing him to awkwardly scratch his head, realizing his resignation might have been premature.
The redemption process had just started when the news of the actual golden prize ticket reached Arceus within an hour.
"Holy Beast-sama, according to reliable intelligence, Asie's litmus paper reacted; there's a high probability your item is on Aeghede."
Shaina reviewed the details in her hand, summarized the information, and reported it to Arceus.
"Aeghede... Shaina, please work together with Zeraora, go there and verify. If the item is present, bring it back.
Take Kuzan along for this operation; he's been here for a month or two and hasn't done anything yet. If there's any combat, let him handle it. You and Zeraora's priority target is the Plate.
If it's confirmed to be the Plate, directly contact me."
Both Zeraora and Shaina are among the High-Level Officials with the fastest speed, coupled with their inherent strength and flight capability, hardly anyone can apprehend them.
At the same time, it's also a test for Kuzan, to see what choice he'll make in this situation, subsequently shaping his future role; otherwise, Arceus going personally is the most secure course.
"Yes sir, I'll handle everything, please be assured."
At almost the same time on Aeghede, several golden-glowing prize tickets appeared in Lilith's hands.
"Lilith, what are you spacing out for?"
A male with a helmet marked 01 and wearing a long hoodie with Vegapunk 01 printed on the side and a '正' symbol on the back questioned Lilith nearby.
Although they are replicas of Vegapunk, they have independent thought habits, resulting in distinct styles of conduct.
Compared to Lilith, who represents evil as Number 02, Shaka, representing integrity as Number 01, is more serious.
"Originally wanted to test luck, see if I could get more research funding, but now, I have new findings."