Chapter 161: In Terms of General Theory
"I know." Garp replied absentmindedly. If Katakuri and Perospero could guess the information, then the Marines could certainly guess it too. These few islands right in front of them were not the real Inazuma at all, and wasting military force to attack them would be of little use.
However, Garp was quite displeased.
If it were up to him to deal with Ren, he would have been the first to volunteer, but they had missed their chance to participate in that war. After seeing those war machines, the World Government apparently had new ideas.
They didn't want to see such weapons fall into the hands of pirates, so their purpose for this trip became negotiating with Inazuma. This meant the World Government intended to compromise with Inazuma.
This was what displeased Garp.
"To actually cooperate with a war criminal like that!" Garp said forcefully, steam practically coming out of his nostrils.
"Don't be so emotional, Garp." Zephyr also came over to persuade him.
"This Inazuma, ever since it appeared on the seas, has been selling large quantities of weapons to the New World. You could say that wars everywhere now have their fingerprints on them." Garp said angrily.
"But, even without weapons sold by Inazuma, the number of wars wouldn't decrease." Sengoku said helplessly. "This is determined by the situation of the sea. Without Inazuma, other weapons manufacturers would just replace them. Besides, don't forget that we Marines were also one of 'Inazuma's' customers."
"But, the appearance of this machine will undoubtedly lead to an escalation of wars." Garp, who rarely thought about such issues, fell silent as the three of them pondered.
A warship approaching didn't draw much attention.
The Marines themselves had dealings with Inazuma. The person in charge of the island port followed the usual procedure and allowed the warship into the port, then began to receive them. Garp, Sengoku, and Zephyr disembarked.
"Vice Admirals of the Marines?" The person in charge of the port was quite knowledgeable and immediately recognized these three pillars of the Marines. Setting aside the hero Garp, Zephyr and Sengoku were also famous among pirates.
Many people believed that all three of them would become Admirals in the coming years.
"I want to see your leader." Sengoku said bluntly with a gloomy face.
"Follow me."
Garp and the other two followed the person in charge to Ren. During this time, Ren had basically never left the island.
"You're that 'Lightning' Ren? You don't really look like the person on the wanted poster, do you?" Garp sized up Ren, seemingly doubting whether he had the ability to go toe-to-toe with Shiki.
Ren at this moment was in his original form, which was quite different from the appearance Garp and the others had seen on the wanted posters.
But in reality, Ren's Haki had been continuously improving over the years. Even without using Full Body Armament Haki, his strength would definitely be in the top tier among pirates.
Ren was a bit surprised to see these three people standing together; he had thought the Marines were preparing to storm the island.
But what surprised him even more was Zephyr.
"When did you...?" After seeing Ren's appearance, Zephyr's eyes widened in shock.
"What? Do you two know each other?" Garp asked in surprise.
"It seems Mr. Zephyr has a good memory. We only met once back then, yet he still remembers." Ren laughed.
Hearing this, both Sengoku and Garp looked at Zephyr in confusion.
"You, you were still a pirate hunter back then. Why did you become a pirate?" Zephyr stared at Ren, questioning him.
"Pirate hunter?" Sengoku asked, as if remembering something. He then began to scrutinize Ren closely. After a moment, he found a trivial news report in his memory. "I see. So you're the one who sent a rising pirate star to prison several years ago."
"That's correct," Ren didn't shy away, admitting it directly.
As for Zephyr's question...
"You ask me why I became a pirate? Isn't that a strange question? I haven't plundered anyone or attacked the Marines. I simply took back what was mine from Shiki, and for some reason, you Marines put a bounty on my head." Ren said, spreading his hands.
"Instead of asking me why I became a pirate, I'd rather ask you Marines why you put a bounty on me back then."
Hearing this, Zephyr's face darkened, clearly recalling a meeting they'd had. At the time, all three of them had objected to the current Fleet Admiral defining Ren as a pirate. But it wasn't something they could control; the bounty poster had actually been ordered by the World Government.
Seeing that none of the three were speaking, Ren didn't continue the topic.
"To be honest, I don't really care about what's going on. Whether I'm a pirate or not makes no difference to me." Ren said. Even if he was a pirate, it was only a pirate as defined by the World Government.
And for how much longer could this shaky World Government last?
"I suppose since the opportunity has brought you here today, there must be something more important, right? You wouldn't really be here to start a war with me, would you?"
Ren spoke slowly, and when he got to the word "war," his tone became much sharper, his voice crackling as if carrying an electric current.
Sengoku took a deep breath and said, "That weapon you used during your fight with Shiki, the Marines would like to purchase a batch of them."
Zephyr and Garp stood silently on either side. While this was more Sengoku's area of expertise, to be honest, if they had come here with the intention of purchasing Ruin Guards from the start, they never would have sent Garp.
"Ruin Guards?" Ren nodded. "Of course, that's no problem. Although we've had our little disagreements, business is business. Each Ruin Guard we can sell right now costs ten billion Berries."
"Ten billion? Why don't you just rob people?" Garp jumped up upon hearing this, almost grabbing Ren's collar to question him.
"These war machines have very high production costs," Ren said with a helpless expression. On the surface, there was no way to tell that the price he quoted Sengoku and the others was double what he charged Katakuri and the others.
Ren felt he was being more than fair. He could have just taken them by force, yet he was still offering to sell Ruin Guards to the Marines.
If the Marines knew the truth, they would probably be moved to tears.
"Ten billion Berries is impossible! That price is too high," Sengoku immediately rejected the price without thinking. "We can offer at most five billion."
Ren pondered for a moment and said, "How about this, we both meet in the middle? I won't ask for ten billion, just nine hundred and ninety-nine million Berries. How does that sound?"
Sengoku: ???
"Nine hundred and ninety-nine million? What's the difference between that and ten billion?"
"According to basic theory, nine hundred and ninety-nine million is indeed ten thousand less than one billion."
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Hey everyone,
I need to tell you what's actually happening.
I just got hit with mass cancellations. On top of being buried in academics until the 9th. I'm in deep financial trouble right now—like, genuinely don't-know-how-I-cover-next-month trouble.
I want to do more for you. I have another Naruto fic ready to drop the moment this academic hell ends. But I can't keep creating if I can't survive.
I'm not powerless about the work—I know I can deliver for you. But I'm powerless to stop the bleeding alone.
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