"Cough cough... Refund his money, give him the second place, and tell him there's always a next time."
If it were normal competition, Morgans might lose a business partner with such behavior. However, apart from the official information flow within the World Government, his World Economic News Agency is a monopoly.
The Grand Line and the Red Earth Continent divide the world, and combined with the culture of the islands, only he, relying on the News Bird, can achieve this.
Moreover, the existence of the News Bird has long been an objective impression among people. Coupled with Morgans' audacious reporting behavior, his newspaper agency holds a very solid position.
Other countries also have their own news agencies, which enjoy some prestige locally, but they are nowhere near comparable to Morgans on a global scale. Therefore, he can occasionally do some willful things.
...
The next day.
As the sun appeared on the horizon, the News Birds there started their busy day. The channels within the World Government had been smoothed out with significant funds.
The Five Elders at that level couldn't care less about these matters. The people below are enough to make judgments; as long as the political situation of the World Government remains stable, a mere Freyvans and its effects are well within acceptable limits.
It certainly wouldn't be the World Government to take the blame, after all, it wasn't them who sent people into Freyvans. Because of Tesoro's well-laid arrangements, they were already prepared for public relations.
[The Truth of Freyvans! The Century-old Lie of Platinum Lead!]
[The Choice between Life and Money]
[Using Platinum Lead May Cause Infertility...]
With Morgans' news release, other news followed suit in imitation. This is one of the reasons why Morgans' World Economic News Agency stands at the top. With his position in the Underworld, he always manages to get the news first.
News is time-sensitive; falling behind leaves only leftovers to eat.
...
The newspaper news began to ferment, and this matter almost caused a huge uproar worldwide. Except for those who knew the truth or were prepared, everyone else was taken aback.
No wonder, Freyvans' situation was too tragic, not undeservedly called a living hell, especially the appearance of those affected by Platinum Lead was particularly terrifying.
"Take them away! Quickly, take them all away!"
In a certain country's palace, the King, slightly terrified, dropped the cutlery in his hand. The long dining table was lined with his favorite platinum lead dishes, but looking at these things was like seeing the God of Death.
He fearfully ordered the attendants to take them away, and such occurrences were not isolated ones. Palaces, nobles, wealthy merchants, similar events were common, and the Platinum Lead, which was priced higher than gold before, now seemed like poison. Many Platinum Lead items were thrown into the scrap yard.
...
East Sea, Goa Kingdom.
Goa Kingdom was known as the most beautiful kingdom in the East Sea because they kept all the ugliness outside the city walls.
Outside the city walls, the Gray Terminal, uncertain objects piled up here like mountains, and the kingdom's underclass and bandits relied on picking the nobles' unwanted trash to sustain their lives.
The arrival of new garbage trucks was like opening a treasure chest for them, and today was destined to be different. The soldiers discarding garbage wore heavier chemical protective suits, throwing things from a distance.
When people at the Gray Terminal discovered those were Platinum Lead, worth a fortune, they immediately started to scramble, ignoring even regular garbage, which gave others a chance.
For instance, Ace and Sabo took the opportunity to acquire many other things, and while those ruffians increased their manpower, they emptied their hideout, storing the items as future funds for going out to sea.
The victorious bandits, although their home was robbed, felt it was all worth it seeing the Platinum Lead they had seized.
But when they reached their usual place for cash exchange, everything changed.
"Platinum Lead? Who would want that stuff now? It's toxic, don't you know?"
As he spoke, he shut the window directly and handed them a newspaper through the door gap.
"See for yourselves! Keep it if you want to die!"
Overnight, Platinum Lead turned from a luxury item into toxic waste. Let alone its original price; now people aren't even willing to touch it.
Originally, due to the Freyvans incident, some had hoarded a lot of Platinum Lead products, laughing at the increasingly high prices. But today, they couldn't even cry.
Platinum Lead shops closed directly, and some selling Platinum Lead became panicked, dreaming of Freyvans' plight befalling themselves.
The Platinum Lead warehouse was left unguarded because now throwing Platinum Lead on the street wouldn't attract any takers. Its value had plummeted so much it was less than scrap iron.
And Tesoro was waiting for this.
Some who knew the truth and part of the military industry wouldn't miss this opportunity, so Platinum Lead's price couldn't stay low forever; this moment was what Tesoro considered the bottom price.
On this day of Platinum Lead's crash, his dispatched personnel split into several teams and stealthily purchased Platinum Lead worldwide.
Although the global panic over Platinum Lead wasn't as impactful as for them, the countries near Freyvans suffered the most.
Morgans' news came very suddenly; these royal families weren't prepared, and by the time they realized, the information had reached the soldiers.
Bang!
With a gunshot, a soldier fell to the ground, but he hadn't violated any discipline; it was he who pulled the trigger.
In the prior Freyvans operation, he had killed many people, although reluctantly, he did it to save his own country and family. Despite some psychological burden, it was bearable.
But now, with the truth revealed, knowing that those he shot were innocents, his mental defenses crumbled. Thinking back to the children's innocent smiles, he didn't know how to face it all, so he ended his life with a gun.
Such incidents happened recently, leading the King's army to order the retrieval of firearms to prevent greater turmoil, but the effect was minimal, as a gloomy mood started spreading in the barracks.
Some thought it was no big deal, merely following orders, but many couldn't accept it.
Several officers even reached their limits.
In the barracks, an officer looked at the glass in front of him and added some purple liquid to it.
"Platinum Lead... Platinum Lead... huh... Let's experience your pain..."
But as he prepared to drink the poisonous drink, his arm was suddenly grabbed.
A person wearing a green cloak appeared there...