The final solution was that there was no solution. What these children were experiencing were withdrawal symptoms. Being fed NHC10 over a long period had led to severe physical addiction. In this situation, there was no specific antidote; it would take time to gradually alleviate.
The most direct way to relieve their pain was to give them NHC10, but doing so would worsen the accumulation of toxins. The most effective short-term method was simply to knock them out.
And that became Tiger's most exhausting task. Since they didn't carry sedatives with them, they were forced to resort to relatively crude physical methods.
This wasn't an easy job. For Tiger, breaking a person's cervical spine was simple, but knocking out a frail child required precision.
And the follow-up problems became a new headache.
These children were different from the previous batch. Back then, the ones they took in were all orphans.
But this group had been abducted from nearby islands. Except for a few who were very young, most clearly remembered where their homes were and missed their parents.
These types of children were not their target for adoption.
"What do we do? There are too many of them, and their locations too spread out."
"Time isn't really the issue, but the drug problem needs systematic treatment. The medical facilities on the ship aren't adequate. We can't just knock them out again every time they relapse, right?"
Misu rubbed her head in frustration. Returning them one by one wasn't a big deal, just a matter of time. They could even spread out their doctrines a little during the process.
But given the condition these children were in, anything could happen along the way.
In the end, she made a relatively appropriate decision: send the children to a Marine base.
Every group has its scum, but it's a matter of proportion. There were still many dependable people within the Marines. Protecting civilians was their job.
And since NHC10 was a drug strictly controlled by the World Government, like morphine on the battlefield, the Marines had more detailed methods of handling it.
The Marines also had more convenient routes. In theory, they might even have information about these missing children, making it easier to find their families.
"Which nearby branch has a good reputation?"
"G-5 Base. The Vice Admirals stationed there are Smoker and Vergo. Both are well-regarded in the outside world, though the G-5 Marine soldiers are a bit unconventional.
They don't follow orders from Headquarters, act independently, and are known to brutally kill pirates. Sometimes they act more like a rogue army."
Vergo was actually a spy placed in the Marines by Doflamingo. Aside from members of the Donquixote family, no one else knew this.
When Vergo infiltrated the Marines, he was just a low-ranking soldier. He had climbed to his current position through accumulated merits.
Though not a good person at heart, Vergo maintained a friendly, charismatic, and approachable demeanor to protect his status within the Marines.
As for Smoker, being reassigned to East Blue back then was both a protection and a trial. His strength far exceeded East Blue's standard. After the Marines' elites suffered losses, Smoker's status naturally rose.
At his own request, he was stationed in the more dangerous New World.
Neither Misu nor Tiger were wanted, but they had no interest in entering a Marine branch. After reaching the vicinity of the G-5 Base, they left the children on nearby reefs and drew the attention of the G-5 guards.
After the Marines sent ships to pick up all the children, Misu and Tiger changed course.
"Vice Admiral Vergo! A large number of children were found nearby. Upon checking, they match the identities of children who recently went missing from nearby islands.
Someone also left information on them, indicating they are affected by NHC10 and require systematic treatment."
In the office of the G-5 Base, Vergo, the branch leader, was receiving a report from one of his subordinates.
"Understood. Send them to the infirmary for a physical checkup. The fish steaks in the mess hall are pretty good today. Make sure they each get a portion."
"Yes, sir!"
After the soldier left, Vergo wiped his mouth with a napkin, but seemed to miss the half-eaten fish steak stuck to it.
Once he confirmed that no one else was around, Vergo took out his Den Den Mushi, specially used to contact Doflamingo.
"Doffy, it's me. About Punk Hazard…"
"No special action needed. Just follow Marine's procedures. You don't need to interfere in this matter, as bigger players are involved."
"Yes, I understand."
After ending the call with Doflamingo, Vergo immediately issued a new order.
"Sort out the information on those children. Have Smoker return them home one by one."
Their military rank was both Vice Admiral, but Vergo was the branch leader of G-5, which made his position one level higher than Smoker's. Without orders from Marine Headquarters, he still had the authority to command Smoker.
Meanwhile, in the New World, Island of Performance, a grand concert was once again underway. [TN: Can't find which island is this.]
Brook, dressed in gorgeous attire and holding a custom-made shark-shaped guitar, stepped onto the stage. The moment he appeared, cheers erupted from the crowd.
"Soul King! Soul King! Soul King!"
With his unique appearance and powerful singing voice, Brook had successfully made a name for himself over time, becoming the second most popular man in the Beasts Fruits Entertainment Department, surpassed only by Tesoro.
This also meant that Cavendish had been surpassed. At the moment, he was backstage furiously biting his handkerchief.
"Damn it, damn it!! He's just a skeleton! Why is he more popular than me!! I refuse to accept this!!!"
"Even if you don't accept it, there's nothing you can do. You both had the same resources, but Brook gained fans much faster than you. It's a pity he has no intention of renewing his contract. Otherwise, you might not even be needed."
Uta was backstage doing her preparations while answering Cavendish's question.
Brook's rate of gaining fans far exceeded Cavendish's, but he was still far behind Uta; an innate difference caused by gender.
A dreamlike singing voice, an emotionally moving tone, and her own appearance. Uta was the ultimate traffic magnet at the moment.
Before Cavendish could say anything more, Uta grabbed Heracross's arm and flew toward the stage. What reached Cavendish's ears was another wave of deafening cheers.
When it was Cavendish's turn, the cheers were much smaller, but it was clear that he was still quite popular. However, unlike Uta and Brook, what greeted Cavendish was not just cheers.
Brook's unique skeleton persona and Uta's adorable appearance appealed to both men and women. Only Cavendish was the exception.
While he became a celebrity loved by female fans, he also became the public enemy of many men.
This had to do with Cavendish's overly cocky personality. He didn't follow the comedian route, and his "beautiful man" persona naturally irritated many of the male companions of his female fans.
After all, the reason Cavendish was exiled from his country was that he was too beautiful and attracted too much female attention, causing young women across the kingdom to refuse marriage.
Even though he was a prince, this behavior, which drastically lowered the national birthrate and threatened the future of the country, was unacceptable.
However, the fan base Cavendish had brought in also generated the highest profits. Merchandise related to him sold out instantly every time.
Even though there were fewer of them, his fans could still compete with Uta's in terms of spending. These people spent far more on idol-chasing than others.
And the goal of this concert was very clear: to promote the lottery tickets.
After continuous overtime work, Queen had completed the ticket production and, with Acier providing ample materials, had begun mass production.
By the time the concert was underway, the lottery tickets had already been shipped worldwide through freight channels. With the decades of reputation built by Beasts Fruits, the star power of these top idols, and Morgans' promotion, it quickly gained popularity.
The gold ticket was set at 500 million Berries, while the second prize red ticket was 100 million Berries.
Just revealing the prize amounts sparked interest in many people.
Soon, across the world, Tesoro's planted actors began to move.
[Over twenty merchants on Gran Tesoro jointly bought lottery tickets and split the 500 million Berry grand prize.]
[An employee of a Water 7 shipbuilding company won the grand prize, resigned, and is planning to travel around the world by ship.]
[A resident of the New Fishman Island became rich overnight.]
Winners of the gold tickets were gradually revealed, and some even accepted interviews, but those interviewed by Morgans all chose to wear masks.
With the low ticket prices and occasional appearance of other prize winners, a wave of lottery mania was sparked. Some special edition merchandise-linked tickets were even bought out completely as soon as they were released, thanks to crazy fans.
Money moves hearts. Under the influence of massive profit, some people began to harbor bad intentions.
Faking tickets, selling counterfeit ones, pretending to have won but claiming they had no time to claim the prize and offering to sell the ticket at a discount to unsuspecting passersby.
In just half a month, all sorts of scams appeared in the hands of various con artists.
As for the matter of the gold ticket, it became a new top priority for the Beasts Pirates. Real gold tickets concerned the plate and must be taken seriously, while fake gold tickets meant someone was exploiting businesses under the Beasts Pirates. So, naturally, retaliation would follow.
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