Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Peace prize winner, is known in the whole world as the banker of the poor, because he pioneered and tested a funding system in Bangladesh: by lending little sums of money to the less well-off with no interest, and returning it by installments gained with their work, people are able to get free from extreme misery. Thus, what can happen if three boys, just graduated, who live in Naples, try to import this funding system that subverts every economic rule?

In 1916, laconic adventurer Corto Maltese is in Paramaribo, Surinam visiting his mystic female friend Java. He helps a young heir haunted by voodoo spirits, delivers some weapons to rebels in Brazil and hunts for treasure with Rasputin.

In 1913, laconic sea captain Corto Maltese, adrift in the Pacific, gets rescued by his bandit friend Rasputin who's taking two rich shipwrecked teens to an island where his boss the Monk will hold them for ransom. WWI complicates things.

On the outskirts of Naples during the Second World War, naïve 15 year-old Miluzza, subjected to repeated abuse by the men around her, is unable to escape the confines of her small village. After her mother's unfortunate death, she meets a wounded soldier and helps him return to his family's farm. He falls in love and wants to marry her but his mother insists on his betrothal to a virgin.

Recognizing the raw material of champions in his two nephews, Vittorio Amitrano eagerly takes on the task of training them to compete professionally. His efforts spark conflict with their father, who feels betrayed as the boys' allegiance shifts to their uncle. Further obstacles are created by manipulative forces within the Rowing Federation. But the brothers' loyalty survives every test, and their winning spirit remains undaunted.