York beckoned, ordering the 180 people to line up separately at the front.
Then, with a wave of his hand, he ordered the official distribution of the spoils.
50% of the 300 billion Berries, which amounted to 150 billion Berries, would be distributed equally among the more than 4,000 ordinary members of the Red Flag Pirates.
Among them, those who died in battle would receive five shares of the equal distribution, the severely injured three shares, and the lightly injured two shares.
In the battle with the Vodka Kingdom, the Red Flag Pirates' original 5,000 pirates suffered 325 deaths, 158 severe injuries, and 587 light injuries.
After the final calculation:
Each ordinary member of the Red Flag Pirates received 20,824,656 Berries.
Those with light injuries received double, or 41,649,312 Berries.
Those with severe injuries received triple, or 62,473,968 Berries.
The families of the fallen received five times the amount, or 104,123,280 Berries.
When they saw the green Berries, almost enough to fill a chest, being delivered to them, the Red Flag pirates' eyes turned red once again.
It wasn't that they hadn't seen this much money before, but it was the first time in their lives they had personally received this much.
Consequently, the gazes of the uninjured towards the wounded changed.
After all, previous raids were small skirmishes; the total money snatched was only tens of millions of Berries. When divided, even if someone got double or triple, the difference was only a few tens of thousands of Berries.
But now, a twofold difference meant 20 million Berries!!
In the past, how many ships would they have had to rob to get this much?!
And after the wounded received the wealth they deserved, their gazes towards York changed again.
Captain York was truly generous!
40 million Berries, 60 million Berries—he gave it just like that, without a hint of hesitation!
"Captain York!!"
The wounded pirates who hadn't declared their stance before now stepped forward proactively with tears in their eyes.
Of course, along with them, many pirates who were simply envious of the wounded's treatment and hadn't been injured in battle also declared their stance.
"We are also willing to follow you to the death!!"
Hearing this, York grinned. Although this batch of pirates wasn't as firm in their beliefs as the previous one, their loyalty would stand the test in the future.
At least, unless the Marines or the World Government offered better terms than him, they would never betray him.
So York beckoned again, having them form a second line behind the group of 180.
After screening the entire Red Flag Pirates into three batches, York's face hardened, and his voice turned cold.
"The benefits have been distributed to you! I have fulfilled everything I promised you!"
"So now! Isn't it time for you to fulfill your promise to me!!"
As soon as these words came out, the faces of the pirates who had just thought the loot distribution unfair changed drastically.
Many instinctively wanted to turn and run, but Kaido's Flame Clouds whistled out directly.
Dragon himself appeared at the very back of the formation, his eyes staring fixedly at the terrified pirates.
York's voice continued.
"I said it before the battle started!"
"In this operation! We only target the royal family and nobles of the Vodka Kingdom! At most, including the Vodka Kingdom's army! But civilians must be left unharmed!!"
"Now! Those who violated my order, step forward voluntarily! I can still spare your lives!!"
"I'll give you a count of 10! Make your decision!!"
"Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven..."
"So... sorry... Captain York, I..."
During York's countdown, quite a few pirates from the second formation lowered their heads in shame and stepped out of the formation voluntarily.
Seeing this, although many in the third formation looked hesitant, they gritted their teeth. Reasoning that York hadn't even arranged a supervising team and couldn't possibly know exactly what each of them had done, they decided to gamble.
York finished counting to ten and first looked at those who had stepped forward voluntarily.
"First formation! Confiscate all the spoils from those who just stepped forward!!"
"Remember! This is the price for sparing your lives! If you dare to disobey orders again next time, none of you will live!!"
The confiscation process went smoothly. The pirates whose spoils were taken couldn't help but sigh.
This was money they had just gotten their hands on!
Tens of millions!!
However, facing York's cold gaze, they ultimately chose to submit.
After all, York had indeed fulfilled his prior promise as a captain. Since they hadn't obeyed York's captain orders, they deserved such punishment.
The other pirates who gritted their teeth and refused to confess saw this. Besides feeling a bit of sorrow for their kind, they couldn't help but harbor mockery deep in their eyes.
'A bunch of idiots! Just don't step forward and it'll be fine!'
'The Captain didn't even arrange a supervising team; how could he possibly check on every single person!'
'Now look, your money is gone!'
'Tens of millions! Must hurt like hell! Hahahaha...'
However, their joy didn't last long. York immediately called out over a dozen names.
These names were all pirates located in the second formation who had also chosen to tough it out.
Upon hearing their names called, they instantly panicked and knelt on the ground.
"So... sorry! Captain York!"
"We were wrong! We shouldn't have counted on luck!!"
"We... we are willing to offer up all our spoils! And... and previous spoils too! We are willing to offer everything!"
"Beg! Beg Captain York to spare us this once!!"
York looked at this group silently, finally sighing lightly.
"As you say. All spoils obtained since following me are confiscated in exchange for your lives this time."
"Th... thank you, Captain York!!"
To be honest, if it weren't for their acceptable level of loyalty, York would have really wanted to get rid of them too.
After all, in an army, the biggest taboo is disobeying orders.
But since the pirate crew was just starting out, killing too many people was inappropriate.
Having dealt with the second formation, York looked at the third formation, the one with the least loyalty.
Towards this group of pirates, York would have no more mercy.
As names were called out one by one, Kaido personally grabbed these guys with his kanabo in hand.
It wasn't that the pirates didn't think of resisting, but under the combined hands of Kaido and Dragon, it was meaningless. They couldn't even escape.
In the end, from the third formation of fully 3,000 people, 1,500 pirates who violated York's orders and attacked civilians were dragged out directly.
York took a deep breath and raised his head somewhat painfully.
"Why!!"
"It's not that I didn't give you money! It's not that I didn't let you indulge!!"
"Why did you have to attack civilians?!"
York leaped down from the castle wall, looking at the group of pirates controlled by Kaido's Flame Clouds.
"For the sake of us having fought side by side, I grant you a dignified death."
With that, York extended his hands forward. Countless tentacles of holy light released from his palms, successively wrapping around the 1,500 disobedient pirates.
"Peaceful Sleep of Death!!"
With a soft whisper, these pirates, faces full of fear, anger, and unwillingness, closed their eyes one after another, entering a deep, eternal sleep.
Seeing York execute so many subordinates without hesitation, everyone present, whether the surviving Red Flag pirates or the soldiers of the Vodka Kingdom, felt a chill in their hearts.
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