Sabaody Archipelago, Island 78.
The sun dipped in the west, painting the sky with hues of orange and purple. Warm twilight rays filtered through the gaps in the dense branches and leaves of the Yarukiman Mangrove Forest, reflecting on the emerald green grass. Occasionally, the unique bubbles of the Sabaody Archipelago emerged from within the ground, reflecting rainbow colors under the sunlight, making the surroundings appear enchanting and captivating, like a living fairy tale.
In front of Tesoro's house.
"Ahh~", "Nnh~", "Haa~", "Mmhh~", "Ahn~", "Ohh~"
"Ah! Wait, this won't do..."
Sephiroth carried a large bag of money slung over his left shoulder. He raised his right hand to knock on the door, but after a moment's thought, he withdrew his hand. He turned and sat on the stone steps in front of the door, quietly taking out a cigar from inside his blue suit and lighting it. He inhaled deeply before slowly exhaling white smoke.
Sometimes, having overly good hearing wasn't necessarily a good thing. He often heard sounds he didn't want to hear, especially considering he was a teenage boy with surging hormones.
Sephiroth felt that he shouldn't be a lustful person. His profession as a Doctor in his previous life caused him to unconsciously analyze the human body every time he saw it, examining the tissues and organs beneath the skin: muscles, blood vessels, bones, teeth, heart, liver, spleen, lungs, kidneys, and so on.
In his previous life, he also had a girlfriend whose looks and figure were quite good. However, perhaps because he understood the structure of the human body too well, or perhaps due to job risks, he wasn't particularly interested in matters between men and women back then, and was more rational. To the extent that, sometimes, he found his girlfriend less exciting than playing online games. Over time, he started to feel annoyed with the woman who often made unreasonable demands, talked endlessly, and was very bossy in everything. When he finally lost his temper and suggested they break up, she naturally agreed. He even felt a sense of relief in his heart, thinking that living a free and unburdened solitary life was actually quite good.
Therefore, when the Boa Sisters loudly proclaimed their 'love' for him, he seemed quite calm and unwilling to simply go with the flow. For him, physical intimacy was fine, but emotional attachment, please let him consider it carefully!
After much thought, he felt that the culprit behind his recent excessive annoyance must be that woman, Gion! That person, constantly flaunting herself in front of him, had caused him a suppressed frustration. However, he'd bet that if he confessed to that woman like Tokikake did, there was a 99.99% chance he'd be flat-out rejected by her. She's just messing with you, and you're taking it seriously? Sephiroth estimated that the woman would definitely utter similar words to mock him fiercely.
After he had been lost in thought for half an hour, the sounds inside the house finally ceased. Only then did he stand up and reach out to knock on the door.
After a moment of somewhat frantic footsteps, Tesoro, clad only in a set of purple pajamas, opened the door and appeared before him.
"Boss, you're here! Please come in! Please come in!" Tesoro immediately ushered Sephiroth into the house and seated him on the living room sofa.
"This is over 100 million Berries, and also some treasures. Take it all as the initial capital for the Company." As he spoke, Sephiroth opened the mouth of the sack, revealing the banknotes and shimmering treasures within.
"Wow! Boss, where did you get so much money?!" Tesoro asked, his eyes wide.
"I killed the Captain and officers of the Gray Wolf Pirates, and when combined with the money they had, it amounted to this much..."
Hearing this, Tesoro immediately gasped, saying with a hint of surprise, "Hiss~! Boss, I remember Gray Wolf Bello was a wanted criminal with a 76 million Berry bounty, right?"
"Yes! The enemy turned out to be weak..."
When Tesoro was short on cash back then, he also thought about becoming a bounty hunter to quickly earn money. That way, he might be able to redeem Stella overnight. Unfortunately, his combat strength was limited to that of a street thug and he wasn't proficient with firearms. On the contrary, bounty hunting was a profession of licking blood from the knife's edge, with an extremely high mortality rate. After battle, being covered in injuries was normal, but he could also lose his life, and might even become a target of retaliation and other pirates later on. Therefore, after carefully considering the pros and cons, Tesoro eventually had to give up on that unrealistic idea.
As if remembering something much bigger, Tesoro immediately said with a joyful expression, "That's right, Boss! I have a bold idea, I wonder if you dare to do it... If it succeeds, our Umbrella Corporation can rise with the momentum!"
Sephiroth raised an eyebrow, and said with keen interest, "Oh!? Tell me."
"Just yesterday, in the Sabaody Archipelago, two of the largest underground arms dealers clashed on Island 25 over the arms market..."
Late at night, dark clouds obscured the moon, dissolving the starlight in the sky.
Sabaody Archipelago, Island 21, inside a large villa.
At a long table, more than twenty men in black suits sat on both sides. At the head of the long table was a mustachioed man wearing a white suit. He held a glass of champagne in his hand, his face beaming with a wild grin.
"Hahaha! After a day of cleanup, the remnants of the Lawrence Family have finally been taken care of. From now on, our Charlie Family will be the largest arms dealer in the Sabaody Archipelago. Cheers!"
"Cheers!"
"Cheers!"
The faces of the various gang leaders present also showed joyous laughter, and they all raised their glasses high.
The Sabaody Archipelago was a gathering place for criminals from the four seas. The profits from the underground industry were immense, and arms dealing was one of the most lucrative businesses.
According to World Government regulations, ordinary weapon shops could only sell pistols and single-shot rifles, and were not allowed to sell automatic rifles, grenades, rocket launchers, high-powered explosives, and other weapons.
In this turbulent era, besides the chaos caused by pirates, many countries themselves were embroiled in wars for various unavoidable reasons. Some countries initiated wars due to the king's greed. However, some countries, in order to pay the high tribute to the Tenryuubito, could only maintain their legal status as member states of the World Government by constantly warring to reduce their populations and plunder the wealth of other nations.
For the world's top experts, heavy firearms were not very useful to them, even less practical than the swords they wielded or single-shot firearms. But for ordinary people, heavy firearms were their best option to defeat the strong with the weak and quickly increase the combat effectiveness of their national armies. Therefore, under such immense demand, the World Government always maintained tacit approval of the arms industry. Of course, they would not openly declare or support it.
Therefore, if the Charlie Family controlled the arms business in the Sabaody Archipelago, they would hold a crucial position in the underworld.
Suddenly!
Screech, screech, screech...!
A large swarm of black bats swarmed in through the open window, entering the room and startling the Charlie Family members, who stood up one by one and pulled pistols from their pockets.
An incredibly thick black mist quickly filled the room, obscuring everyone's vision. Even the lights in the room were condensed into one corner, unable to illuminate the entire space.
"Ah!"
Bang, bang...!
"Ah!"
Bang, bang...!
Gunshots and screams continuously echoed within the room. The gang members guarding outside the villa rushed in after hearing the commotion inside. But when they entered the villa, they saw someone standing before them, covered in blood, wearing black leather clothing and a black hood, holding a large cleaver in his right hand and an ordinary pistol in his left, staring at them with indifferent eyes.
Da da da...! Thump! Thump! Thump!
The group of gang members quickly raised the firearms in their hands towards the black-clad figure and pulled the triggers.
However...
The black mist dispersed, and amidst their expressions of horror, the black-clad figure mercilessly and swiftly harvested their lives as if cutting melons and vegetables...
The next day, Monday.
News spread across the Sabaody Archipelago that the two major arms dealers had clashed, but high-ranking members on both sides had suffered heavy casualties, almost wiped out. Many underground forces seized this opportunity and surged into the vacant arms market together, beginning to carve up this pie.
And Tesoro, relying on Sephiroth's abundant funds, quickly recruited a group of people and gained control of a portion of the market, laying the initial foundation for the grand ambitions of Umbrella Corporation.