At six in the morning, the bugle call pierced the sky.
Hancock ran desperately around the training ground, dark circles under her eyes and a look of utter despair on her face.
After three laps, her slender legs felt as heavy as if they were filled with lead.
Beside her, Sandersonia and Marigold weren't faring much better. The three girls panted heavily, their lungs burning.
This was a completely different world from life on Amazon Lily.
On the island, aside from moderate Haki training, their days were spent listening to Elder Nyon tell fascinating stories about the world beyond the sea.
But at G-5, everything had changed.
That man named Kane didn't treat them like little girls at all. Instead, he trained them according to the highest standards set for the beasts in the new recruits' camp.
"Faster! Anyone who doesn't finish running can go to the cafeteria for breakfast. If you're even a minute late, everyone's meat rations will be cut in half!"
The supervising officer shouted at the top of his lungs.
Meat rations cut in half?!
Hancock's small face instantly turned pale. She clenched her teeth, mustering the last of her strength, and quickened her pace.
…
Half an hour later, in the main building's finance office.
Hancock splashed some cold water on her face and was then forcibly seated behind an overly large mahogany desk.
She was too short.
She even had to stand on two wooden crates meant for cannonballs just to bring her eyes level with the desktop.
Before her now lay six towering stacks of account books.
On the left was the "Detailed Expenditure Report for the Punk Hazard Land Reclamation Project Construction Materials."
On the right was "Doflamingo's First Quarter North Blue Arms Distribution Flow Report."
The pages were filled with dense Arabic numerals, complex double-entry accounting tables, and unfamiliar terms for incoming and outgoing funds.
Hancock stared at these scribbles that looked like demonic symbols, feeling as though her head was about to explode at any moment.
Who was she?
She was the future empress of Amazon Lily!
In her mind, if you wanted something, you just sailed out and took it, didn't you?
Why did she have to sit here, studying how many barrels of gun maintenance oil a disgusting man named "Doflamingo" had bought?!
"I quit!"
The little girl's fiery temper flared up. With a push of her chubby little hand, she sent the topmost account book flying.
Thud.
The door opened.
A slender, large hand caught the account book mid-air with perfect stability.
Kane walked in slowly, holding a steaming cup of black tea. Today, he wore a casual black shirt, still draped with that incredibly flashy "Justice" cloak.
He walked over to the desk, slapped the account book back onto the surface, and looked down at the fuming Hancock.
"Can't understand it?"
Kane pulled out the chair opposite and sat down, blowing on the foam floating on the surface of his tea, his tone indifferent.
Hancock's eyes darted around quickly.
Elder Nyon had said that men outside couldn't resist a woman's tears.
Though she was still young, the lethal power of her beauty was already taking shape—this was one of her few weapons.
She lowered her head, her long eyelashes fluttering intensely as she forced out two glistening tears that swirled in the corners of her eyes.
"Admiral..." Hancock's voice instantly turned soft and sticky, carrying a heartbreakingly pitiful nasal tone. "These things are too difficult. I've never studied them before and truly can't understand them... I want to go to the training ground to practice Haki, okay?"
She raised her head, her large azure eyes seemingly veiled by a thin mist of tears, gazing pitifully at Kane.
It had to be said, this was an exceptionally deceptive talent.
If it were any normal man facing such a pitiful appearance, their heart would have long melted.
Unfortunately, standing before her was an emotionless money-making machine.
Kane set down his teacup and even had the mood to applaud twice.
"Good acting. The emotions are spot-on, and the pitiful look in your eyes is perfectly captured," Kane said, a teasing curve lifting the corner of his mouth. "Unfortunately, it doesn't work on me."
The pitiful expression on Hancock's face instantly froze.
Kane extended his index finger and tapped on the topmost account book.
"Listen carefully. G-5 doesn't support idlers."
"These account books were submitted by Doflamingo and Crocodile. They are Pirates, and nine out of ten accounts submitted by Pirates are fake. Your task is to uncover these false accounts for me."
Hancock bit her lower lip, deciding to drop the act, and glared at him with stubborn eyes. "What if I can't figure them out? I barely know how to read!"
"Make one mistake, or fail to submit the summary report before sunset."
Kane raised a finger, his tone casual.
"Your lunch and dinner meat rations, including your two sisters' portions, will all be canceled and replaced with boiled potatoes."
Meat canceled?!
Hancock's eyes widened instantly. For someone undergoing high-intensity training every day, this was worse than killing her.
"Additionally."
Kane smiled and added an even more fatal condition.
"You will clean the public men's restroom on the third floor for the soldiers, for one week."
Cleaning... the men's restroom?!
Hancock's mind exploded.
Her, the future Pirate Empress, cleaning toilets for a bunch of smelly men?!
"You're a bastard!"
Hancock grabbed a fountain pen and pointed it at Kane.
"Thank you for the compliment."
Kane bowed gracefully and turned away calmly.
As his hand rested on the doorknob, he paused and tossed back a sentence without looking back.
"A friendly reminder: Doflamingo reported expenses under 'transportation loss fees' that are fifteen percent higher than the normal market price. That brat thought he was clever, making a fake account to swindle my money."
"You can start there. For any characters you don't recognize, check the dictionary in the drawer."
"I want to see the report before sunset."
The door slammed shut with a bang.
Hancock sat in the large chair, trembling with anger.
She took several deep breaths to suppress the urge to smash the office to pieces. For her sisters to have meat to eat, to avoid that nightmarish men's restroom...
"Damn you, Doflamingo! How dare you make fake accounts to harm me? I'll expose every last secret of yours!"
The little girl vented all her anger toward Kane onto the innocent ledger and clues. With one hand flipping through a dictionary and the other gripping a fountain pen, she scribbled fiercely on the paper.
Outside the corridor.
Kane held a cup of black tea, listening to the sound of gnashing teeth coming from the office, and smiled with satisfaction.
On his retina, the familiar faint blue screen quietly popped up.
[Ding! Detected that the host is engaging in behavior that severely violates morality and Navy regulations!]
[Abusing authority, forcing an underage girl from an innocent island to engage in high-intensity mental labor completely unsuitable for her age and status!]
[Severely interfering with the world's timeline! Forcibly turning the future "Pirate Empress" of the Seven Warlords of the Sea into a child laborer for a ruthless capitalist's accounting!]
[Comprehensive assessment complete...]
[Congratulations to the host for receiving a Violation Value reward: 300,000 points!]
"Tsk tsk, hiring child labor turns out to be so profitable." Kane looked at the points on the panel, the smile on his lips warmer than the black tea.
...
Four in the afternoon.
Sunlight slanted into the finance room.
The door was pushed open on time, and Kane walked in.
Hancock lay slumped over the desk, her fair face smudged with several ink stains.
But beside her hand, a neatly arranged summary sheet with clear data was placed.
Kane picked it up and glanced over it, a flicker of surprise flashing in his eyes.
Although the handwriting was crooked, under the "Doflamingo Accounts" column, not only had the fifteen percent discrepancy been perfectly identified, but she had even deduced two hidden accounts Doflamingo had concealed under other headings!
This little girl's talent for numbers and organization was simply monstrous. No wonder she would become a leader capable of managing an entire country flawlessly in the future—her mind was indeed far sharper than that of an ordinary pirate.
"Accounting check passed."
Kane put down the report and looked at the half-dead Hancock. "Your barbecue dinner is safe. Now, stand up and head to the training ground."
Hearing this, Hancock, who had been on the verge of collapse, sprang up from her chair with a "whoosh." The exhaustion in her eyes instantly ignited into blazing combat spirit.
She might be terrible at accounting, but when it came to fighting, she had never backed down from anyone!
On Amazon Lily, she was absolutely invincible among her peers. After a whole day of pent-up frustration, her mind was filled with thoughts of how to land a punch on that bastard Admiral's handsome face.
"Just you wait! I'll teach you a harsh lesson in physical combat!"
Hancock clenched her ink-stained little fist, stormed past Kane with imposing momentum, and strode purposefully outside.
Kane watched her determined little back and shook his head helplessly.
"Ignorance can sometimes be a kind of bliss."