New World, Archipelago of Sabaody.
This is a rare permanently neutral zone in the New World, where both Marines and pirates must maintain superficial peace and are not allowed to engage in any conflict.
This is because its ruler is also an overlord of the underworld, like the Golden Emperor, and even holds a significant position on the surface that even the World Government dares not easily offend: the President of the World Economy News Paper, 'Big News' Morgans.
A true industry monopolist, it is no exaggeration to say that in the news business, Morgans is the sole king.
It's not that no one competes with Morgans; rather, there is simply no other news organization besides the World Economy News Paper-that's right, his monopoly is that absolute.
As a Devil Fruit user who consumed the Tori Tori no Mi, Model: Albatross, Morgans, this individual who is either a bird transformed into a human or a human transformed into a bird, has developed his Devil Fruit ability to function almost like a Den Den Mushi.
Each news bird trained by the World Economy News Paper is equivalent to a 'clone' of Morgans.
These birds, imbued with his ability, fly to all corners of the four seas, delivering fresh newspapers daily across the world.
In terms of news dissemination efficiency alone, Morgans completely outclasses all previous news industries.
Moreover, Morgans' ability also ensured that no one dared to hunt news birds, because once you killed a news bird, Morgans would immediately know who did it, and that shipping lane would be directly abandoned by Morgans for newspaper delivery.
At the same time, a wanted poster for the murderer would be directly published on the front page of the newspaper.
You would only get newspapers by killing the idiot who hunted the news bird.
In this sense, Morgans' wanted posters were even more effective than the Marines' wanted posters.
As for Morgans' previous competitors, those newspapers are now history, either merged into the World Economy News Paper or forcibly merged.
The entire Hypa Archipelago has been completely transformed by Morgans into a giant news agency dedicated to the news industry.
Within the archipelago, there are thousands of news agencies and hundreds of thousands of employees working for Morgans.
They receive and process large amounts of news information daily, then compile and send out newspapers to all corners of the Grand Line.
According to incomplete statistics, Morgans' daily World Economy News Paper sales are at least around one million copies.
Although a newspaper only costs 100 Berry, Morgans can earn 100 million Berry a day just from selling newspapers, and this doesn't even count other types of newspapers and Morgans' various 'revenue streams.'
But in Shin's view, what's truly impressive about Morgans isn't how much money his newspapers make; his greatest achievements lie in two things.
First, his world-class intelligence gathering ability.
This is by no means an exaggeration; in terms of intelligence gathering, even professional CP organizations might be far inferior to Morgans.
News and information from all four seas: if Alabasta was liberated by Luffy one moment, this guy could publish the news of Crocodile's defeat the next.
Second, is absolute discursive power.
The most powerful aspect of news professionals is that they openly wield public discourse power under the guise of the public's right to know.
For Morgans, who monopolizes this business, world opinion is truly guided by his hand.
Can you imagine a situation where all news media in the world are concentrated in one person's hands? If the Golden Emperor is the god of finance in the world of One Piece, then Morgans is the god of public opinion.
His sensationalism can easily elevate an undeserving person to the status of a Yonko in his newspapers, or turn a famous figure into a clown and a joke overnight.
Such a person is extremely foolish to measure their status by so-called combat power.
Just like Tesoro, I might not be able to beat you in a fight, but I can do things you could never do in your lifetime.
"Whitebeard's illegitimate child? Throw that gossip into the entertainment Chapter. The latest front-page headlines will all have a bold title-Summit War! Name it, hype it up!"
"Add three more issues of power analysis for each captain of the Whitebeard Pirates, using the Marines as a stepping stone! Do I still need to teach you how to stir up emotions?! 'Marco the Phoenix, Admiral-level strength?' Write it like that!"
"And the Four Emperors' combat power rankings, raise them all up! Topic, I want topic!!!"
In Morgans' office, Shin, controlling Prayer No. 8, sipped tea while watching the frantically busy Morgans, sincerely remarking, "It seems President Morgans' work isn't easy either."
"No choice, all my subordinates are so incompetent."
Morgans, barely done with his work, sat in front of No. 8, grabbed a timer with his right wing, and twisted it three times.
"Alright, the exclusive interview with Dawn Master Poltorto begins now. First, tell us about this 'Puppet Fruit'!" Morgans looked expectantly, holding the recording microphone.
This big bird's entire life value was news, was stirring up trouble.
"No, actually, it's not a Devil Fruit ability." No. 8 shrugged and smiled playfully, "President Morgans, our time is very precious, and I don't want to explain the ins and outs of things to you. Let's just get straight to the point."
"I want to buy an entire issue of your newspaper. Headline, main Chapter, supplementary Chapters, in short, I want it all!"
Morgans raised an eyebrow, put down the microphone, and said playfully, "Hmm? Apart from the World Government, no one has ever made such a request to me? What do you want to give me? Berry?"
"Of course not." No. 8 smiled happily.
Morgans isn't short of money, nor does he care about money; buying his newspaper with Berry would be an insult.
What Morgans wants is big news.
"I just have a piece of earth-shattering news, surpassing the Summit War, the biggest news in nearly twenty years." He tossed something to Morgans, smiling mischievously, "Can this thing buy you an issue of the newspaper?"
Morgans was stunned for a moment.
The item in his hand was an Eternal Pose.
That wasn't unusual-wait? Laugh Tale??? Morgans thought he had misread it at first, rubbed his bird's eye, and looked again.
Holy moly! It really said Laugh Tale!
"This is an Eternal Pose made by one of the Pirate King's crew members. It circulated for many rounds and eventually fell into my hands." No. 8 answered before Morgans could.
"You don't need to question its authenticity. I specifically went to Laugh Tale following this Eternal Pose-this pointer is real."
"What??? What's in Laugh Tale?! Tell me now!!!"
Morgans, his eyes gleaming, grabbed No. 8 by the collar and shook him, shouting loudly, "This is world-shattering news, big news!!!"
"Don't rush-the answer to a mystery, of course, is for everyone to solve together."
No. 8 pulled Morgans' hand away and retrieved a large bag from under the table, tossing it onto the table.
Inside were all the Eternal Poses for Laugh Tale.
And not just that, No. 8 clapped his hands, and several pirates carried several boxes into Morgans' office.
The large bird stared blankly at the wooden boxes, which were filled with direct tickets to the world's greatest treasure.
"I think the Great Pirate Era officially ends today."
No. 8 kicked over a box, looking at the Eternal Poses for the Great Treasure rolling onto the floor, and smiled maliciously, "When a treasure can only be obtained by one person, it will be the most precious thing in the world. But when anyone can get a treasure, it becomes worthless junk."
What's in Laugh Tale? Endless treasure? The Void Century?
The ruins of that ancient, giant kingdom once destroyed by the Celestial Dragons? None of this matter anymore.
The moment these Eternal Poses are released, the Great Pirate Era, sparked by Roger, will officially come to an end.
Morgans had no reason to refuse.
In fact, this birdman, who valued news above his own life, would not hesitate to spread this world-shattering news across the entire Grand Line, even at the risk of being hunted to death by the World Government.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
The sound of wings flapping filled the skies above the Archipelago.
Countless news birds, their wings like a cloud obscuring the sky, took off from the archipelago.
The cloud scattered into many small black dots, heading towards the four seas, towards the Grand Line, towards every corner of this ocean.
"Fly, children, fly!"
Morgans spread his arms, laughing wildly and feverishly.
"Let this world-shaking news be known to all! Fly to every corner of the world, put an end to this era, and let a new era begin with us!!!"
Every 100 Power Stones gets 1 bonus chapters!