"Well, I can always rely on you, kid."
Sengoku's satisfied laughter rang out through the Den Den Mushi.
But Daren's next words immediately wiped the smile off Sengoku's face.
Daren said with a half-smile, half-sneer,
"Admiral Sengoku, look at what happened in the North Blue. In less than a day, the North Blue Marines wiped out a criminal gang of no less than 500 people. Does Headquarters have any response?"
"What do you mean, 'response'?" Sengoku asked, confused.
"Well, you know, the cost of military weapons, medical treatment for the wounded and casualties, and compensation for the people... All of that adds up to a lot of money."
Sengoku: "..."
He was silent for a second, then his teeth-gritting voice came through the Den Den Mushi:
"Three hundred million Belly! That's the maximum amount of funds that headquarters can allocate! Daren, you brat!"
Three hundred million Belly...
Wiping ass is a technical job, and it's also hard work.
Although Daren now had the huge treasure of gold from Sky Island and lacked nothing but money, he had always adhered to the principle of "take the money, do the job."
From another perspective, this meant "if you want me to do something, you have to pay me first."
As for the difficulty of the task?
Sorry, that'll cost extra.
Three hundred million Belly isn't a lot, but it's quite a lot in this timeline—after all, the value of Belly hasn't been inflated yet.
Moreover, with the Dragon incident, he estimated that the headquarters would have to tighten their belts in the future, so he couldn't be too greedy.
Fine, it's better than nothing.
Thinking of this, Daren smiled contentedly and said,
"On behalf of the soldiers of the North Blue, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Admiral Sengoku and headquarters for their assistance and support."
Sengoku rolled his eyes and instantly felt bad.
"That's it then. You follow Sakazuki and the others back to headquarters. Don't run around."
"Zephyr is already getting impatient. I can't persuade him."
Daren nodded:
"Yes, Admiral Sengoku."
Brr!
The Den Den Mushi communication was immediately cut off.
"Admiral Sengoku's instructions are..."
At this moment, Sakazuki and Borsalino walked over, and the former took the military Den Den Mushi from Daren.
"Nothing important, just told me to finish up some loose ends."
Daren stood up, supporting himself with his knees, and replied casually,
"After all, this happened in the North Blue, so in a way, it's more convenient for me to clean up the mess... Well, I'll continue the pursuit of Dragon."
Sakazuki nodded.
"How are your injuries? Do you need to rest for a day?"
Daren smiled and said,
"It's fine, we can set sail at any time."
He could feel that the bleeding from his wounds had stopped under his blood-stained military uniform.
Sakazuki said nothing more, turned coldly, and boarded the warship with the Marines.
By then, the storm had subsided.
At some point, the sun had risen silently in the distance.
Warm sunlight scattered across the calm sea, and the sky was clear and blue.
The dawn light spread across the land.
Daren stood where he was and subconsciously looked toward the distant sea where Dragon was sailing away, a faint smile gradually appearing on the corner of his mouth.
"Don't look back, my friend."
He murmured softly.
…
At the same time.
Marine Headquarters, Admiral's Office.
Sengoku slowly put down the military Den Den Mushi, sank back into his office chair without saying a word, and let out a long, relieved sigh.
"In any case, this is the best outcome,"
said Chief of Staff Tsuru softly, seated on the sofa beside him.
"Yes," Sengoku nodded.
"This is the best outcome."
Both emotionally and rationally, they couldn't bear to see that brat Dragon fall into the hands of the Celestial Dragons.
From the perspective of "justice" and "principle," neither of them truly believed that Dragon had done anything wrong.
Protecting the weak had always been the duty of the Marines.
A young man with an unparalleled sense of justice, unable to tolerate the cruelty of the world, had lashed out in fury, blood spilled in the process—could anyone really blame him?
Perhaps if Dragon hadn't been that kind of person, they wouldn't have placed such high hopes on him in the first place.
And on a personal level, they were even more unwilling to see Dragon die at the hands of his own comrades—or worse, at the hands of the Celestial Dragons.
Even if he wasn't Garp's son, Dragon was still someone they had watched grow up. After all these years, deep bonds had naturally formed.
"So, what do you plan to do next, Sengoku?"
Tsuru looked at him with concern.
Sengoku rubbed his temples, thought for a moment, then spoke slowly,
"Erase all traces of Dragon's existence within the Marines. Seal all his records and data. We can't afford to let this cause any unpredictable consequences."
"Impose a gag order. No one is allowed to discuss any news or intelligence about Dragon."
Tsuru nodded in agreement.
Dragon's "defection" from the Marines was already an established fact. As much as they regretted losing such a promising young man, as the upper ranks of the organization, their top priority had to be controlling the situation.
Dragon's status was special, and his strength was formidable. Add in his magnetic personality and natural leadership, and he had gathered quite a following within the Marines.
Sengoku had to act quickly to prevent those loyal followers from "defecting" alongside him.
Otherwise, the entire Marine system could be shaken by a devastating "earthquake."
"What about Garp?"
Tsuru's expression turned grave.
Sengoku shook his head.
"He probably won't be too affected."
"With his reputation and strength, even the higher-ups or Celestial Dragons would have to seriously think twice before coming after him."
"Besides, what can the Five Elders really do to Garp? The government still needs him to pursue Roger…"
"So what could they even do? Demote him? Cut his pay? Strip him of his post?"
He let out a helpless chuckle.
"Garp wouldn't care about any of that."
"And as for surrounding him or issuing a bounty?"
"That's even more out of the question…"
"You know Garp's not Zephyr. That bastard doesn't hold back when he's been wronged."
Sengoku's voice lowered as he finished the sentence.
Tsuru's eyes dimmed, as if she, too, recalled something.
Sengoku sighed deeply and said slowly,
"Issue the bounty. Target: Monkey D. Dragon. Bounty amount…"
He paused.
"2 billion Belly."