Since Granny Nyon didn't intend to eat it, Meiser decided not to insist.
He then collected the several Devil Fruits from the table, planning to have Hancock find a place to store them for now.
"Let's put them in the treasure vault," Hancock said. "I have a special place for storing treasures here."
Every time she returned from an expedition, she would place the plundered treasures inside.
Hearing Hancock's words, Meiser raised an eyebrow. "You have a treasure vault here too?"
"Of course."
She was, after all, the emperor of this country—how could she not have a treasure vault?
"Then let's go," Meiser nodded.
"Alright, I'll personally take you there~" Hancock smiled.
She then stood up, taking Meiser's hand and leading him toward the treasure vault inside her chamber.
"Come along, everyone," Meiser said. "It's a good time for me to take out the gifts I have for all of you."
The others exchanged glances before following the two out of the room.
"I never expected an old woman like me to receive a gift too," Gloriosa remarked with emotion.
"How could I forget about you~" Meiser chuckled.
This elder treated Hancock and the others like her own daughters, so he naturally couldn't slight her.
Gloriosa laughed at his words, her gaze growing increasingly approving of Meiser.
Soon, the group arrived at the treasure vault Hancock had mentioned.
"..."
Meiser fell silent as he surveyed the scene inside the vault.
Was Kuja Island... a bit too poor?
"What's wrong?"
Hancock, who had been about to explain the situation, looked at Meiser with confusion, unsure why he wore such an expression.
"Is this your personal treasure vault?"
"Well..." Hancock thought for a moment before nodding. "You could say that."
"What do you mean, 'you could say that'?"
"Because I'm the emperor of this island," Hancock explained. "As the emperor of Kuja Island, I have absolute control over this country!"
"So it's not wrong to call this my personal treasure vault."
After every expedition, they would distribute a portion of the plundered goods and send the remainder here.
And she had absolute authority over these items!
"Don't worry, Brother-in-law," Sandersonia said. "Nothing will happen to the items stored here."
"Without Big Sister's permission, no one is allowed to take anything from here privately—it's a capital offense!"
Hearing Sandersonia's words, Meiser nodded. "Then we'll leave them here."
He then handed the Devil Fruits to Sandersonia, signaling for her to find a suitable spot to store them.
Sandersonia nodded, took the items, and turned to walk toward a distant area of the vault.
After watching the other party place the items into a large chest, Meiser turned to Hancock and said, "Hancock."
"Yes~"
Hancock blinked her large eyes as she looked at Meiser and asked, "What is it?"
"Is your Kuja Island a bit too poor?" Meiser glanced at the contents of the treasure vault and made an indescribable expression. "This doesn't even compare to a single Celestial Dragon's treasure vault."
This is a national treasure vault!
For a country's treasure vault to have so little... isn't this a bit too ridiculous?
Hancock:!!!
Seeing Meiser's expression, Hancock was momentarily stunned. Was she being looked down upon?
Thinking this, Hancock immediately said anxiously, "This consort will work hard to plunder more, please don't dislike this consort."
Meiser:
Was that what he meant?
Looking at the anxious Hancock, Meiser said helplessly, "I'm not looking down on you, I'm just remarking that you have relatively few things here."
Hearing this, Hancock immediately breathed a sigh of relief. "It's good that you're not looking down on me..."
If she were truly looked down upon, she wouldn't know what to do.
Observing Hancock's reaction, Granny Nyon shook her head helplessly before turning to Meiser. "Our Kuja Island definitely can't compare to the Celestial Dragons, after all... we don't have anyone paying us Celestial Gold!"
The Celestial Dragons have people paying them Celestial Gold, so they have endless wealth to use, but their Kuja Island doesn't have such treatment!
So having much less than the Celestial Dragons is completely normal.
"That's true..."
Meiser nodded while stroking his chin, then said, "But... Kuja Island is a closed-off country, right? Why hasn't money been saved up?"
They've been like this for hundreds of years, yet no money has been accumulated?
"It's true that we're in a state of isolation, but that doesn't mean we don't spend money," Granny Nyon explained. "When the Kuja Pirates go out, they bring back some things from outside."
"And all these things require money!"
"Moreover... when our Kuja Pirates go out plundering, we don't necessarily obtain large amounts of money."
Most of the time, the pirates they encounter are poor—even if they eliminate them all, they don't get much money. They only earn more when they encounter merchant ships.
"I see," Meiser nodded.
Put that way, it made perfect sense why Kuja Island hadn't accumulated much wealth.
Then Meiser asked, "Is it possible for the emperor of Kuja Island to leave with the treasure?"
"Yes."
Granny Nyon nodded. "Over a hundred years ago, there were two emperors who did exactly that."
"After finding true love, they took portions of the treasure and left. This is one of the reasons our treasure vault is so empty."
Hearing Granny Nyon's words, Meiser made that indescribable expression again.
At this moment, he could almost hear the cries of some Kuja Island citizens.
"The emperor has run away again!"
This tradition is really...
"Do you want treasure, Meiser!" Hancock looked at Meiser expectantly. "If you want it, all the treasure in this room can be yours!"
To her, money wasn't important—Meiser was what mattered most!
Listening to Hancock's words, Granny Nyon shook her head helplessly.
However, she didn't say anything, since this treasure vault belonged to Hancock, so Hancock could do whatever she wanted with it.
"No, I don't want the treasures here," Meiser shook his head and said. "I'm just surprised by how little you have here."
"I see..."
Hancock felt slightly disappointed upon hearing this—she had thought Meiser wanted her treasures.
"Alright, stop overthinking it," Meiser patted Hancock and said. "I'm not short on money."
This time, Hancock didn't say anything more and just nodded obediently.
At that moment, Granny Nyon spoke up, "I remember you said you robbed the Celestial Dragons' treasure vault in Mary Geoise, right?"
"Right, and that's why I said I'm not short on money."
"Just the portion I gave to Shakky to handle is worth thirty billion Berries!"
As soon as these words were spoken, the room fell completely silent.
In that instant, everyone stared at Meiser with shocked expressions, their eyes practically bulging out.
"Th... thirty billion?!" Granny Nyon looked at Meiser in disbelief, stunned. "That much?!"
No wonder Meiser had said their Kuja Island treasure vault was so poor earlier... Compared to him, wasn't it indeed poor?
That was thirty billion!
If they added up everything in their Kuja Island treasure vault, could it even sell for ten billion Berries?
Probably not.
Yet Meiser alone had... This was just terrifying!
"Are the Celestial Dragons really that rich?" Merry swallowed hard and said.
Before, they had struggled so much just to get a few billion Berries from that bounty hunter family, yet Meiser had gotten thirty billion in one go...
That was just unbelievable!
How many delicious things could that buy?
"The Celestial Dragons are far richer than you can imagine," Meiser said.
If you added up the treasure vaults of the seven Celestial Dragons, the total value would probably be around a hundred billion, right?
"Meiser, you're truly amazing!" Hancock's eyes sparkled with admiration.
Daring to steal money from the Celestial Dragons' treasure vault... No one but Meiser would dare do such a thing!
"That's right, Brother-in-law is truly incredible!"
Sandersonia and Marigold also showed looks of worship, their expressions filled with excitement.
Daring to rob the Celestial Dragons' treasure vault... As expected of their brother-in-law!
"Don't get too excited yet, this is just the beginning."
Meiser smiled and said, "Besides the portion I gave to Shakky, I also looted quite a few things from the Celestial Dragons."
"There's more?!"
Hearing Meiser's words, everyone's eyes widened in shock once again.
There was more than thirty billion?
This... wasn't this a bit too exaggerated?!
"Of course," Meiser nodded. "I robbed quite a few Celestial Dragon treasure vaults—how could it only be thirty billion?"
With that, Meiser took out a scroll from his ninja tool pouch.
Then, he crouched on the ground and pulled out some gold, silver, jewelry, and accessories from the scroll, along with the gifts he had bought for Hancock and the others on Sabaody Archipelago.
Thud—
Seeing the sudden pile of items appear before her, Hancock's eyes widened in astonishment.
"This... this much?!" Hancock exclaimed in shock.
This was far more valuable than anything in her treasure vault!
"Do you like it?" Meiser asked with a slight smile.
Hancock paused for a moment before saying, "Could all these be for me?"
"Aside from the gifts for them, everything else is yours," Meiser nodded.
Hearing this, Hancock fell silent briefly, then looked at Meiser with teary eyes and said, "Meiser... you're too good to me!"
Although she wasn't particularly interested in gold, silver, and jewels, that didn't mean she couldn't recognize their value!
Willing to give her treasures worth over ten billion—or even tens of billions—all at once, she understood perfectly well what that meant.
At this moment, Hancock once again felt how much Meiser valued her.
"You're my wife. Who else should I treat well if not you?" Meiser chuckled.
Those words moved Hancock deeply.
"You're really quite generous, young man," Granny Nyon remarked with emotion. "To give so much all at once."
With this much money, Hancock wouldn't need to go out plundering anymore.
Just then, Hancock asked, "Meiser, if you're giving all these treasures to me, what will you do?"
"That's right, Brother-in-law, what about you?" Marigold chimed in.
To deal with the pursuit two years from now, Brother-in-law would need money to buy Devil Fruits, right?
If he gave it all to Sister, where would he get the funds?
"Don't worry, I still have plenty of money," Meiser reassured them. "Besides these, I have a lot of gold and Berries left."
"Alright then," Hancock nodded. "In that case, I'll accept them."
"But... if you ever need them, you can take these things to use anytime."
As she spoke, Hancock pointed at the pile of treasures, then gestured toward the wealth originally in the room and added, "And those too—you can use them as well."
In Hancock's view, what was hers was Meiser's, so she wouldn't begrudge the money.
After all... from start to finish, what she truly cared about was Meiser himself!
"Don't worry, if I ever need to, I won't stand on ceremony with you," Meiser said with a smile.
Hancock was his wife, so if he really needed something, he wouldn't hesitate to ask.
"Nothing could be better."
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