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Chapter 310: Extorting Five Hundred Billion!
"What do you want?"
Saint Saturn spat the words out through gritted teeth, his voice trembling with suppressed rage.
"It's quite simple, really."
Dragon pulled a crumpled piece of parchment from his cloak and gave it a casual shake.
"This is the deed. The Goa Kingdom is now the legal territory of the Revolutionary Army. And we," Dragon's usually stoic, stiff face suddenly morphed into the grin of a shrewd, predatory merchant, "are reasonable people."
He looked at the Elders with a mocking tilt of his head. "You want to stay here? Fine. Buy the land."
"What?!"
The crowd erupted. Sengoku took off his glasses and wiped them frantically, certain his hearing had failed him. Garp sprayed a mouthful of senbei across the deck, his eyes bulging.
"That brat... when did he learn how to do business?" Garp muttered.
The supreme rulers of the World Government buying land from the world's most wanted criminal? The sheer absurdity of the situation felt like a fever dream.
"Absurd!" roared Saint Topman Warcury, the Warrior God of Justice. "All the world under heaven belongs to us! We are requisitioning the land of traitors! Why should we pay?!"
"Then there's nothing to talk about."
Dragon shrugged and turned to leave with crisp, decisive movements.
"We 'mud-legged' peasants are used to living in tents anyway. But as for you, my noble Lords..." He paused, glancing back at the pampered Celestial Dragons huddled on the decks, shivering in the sea breeze. "The wind gets quite vicious at night. I wonder if those 'Gods' with such delicate skin can handle it?"
"You—!!"
Saturn's beard quivered. This was a blatant trap—a move made in broad daylight. If they didn't buy, would they really let tens of thousands of World Nobles sleep on the streets? Or force them to huddle in the harbor with the "stinking" pirates? Where would the dignity of the Celestial Dragons go?
More importantly, if they didn't settle in quickly, how would they seize the initiative in that shop?
"Name your price!" Saturn closed his eyes, feeling his heart bleed. Those three words cost him every ounce of his lifelong composure.
Dragon stopped and turned back, holding up five fingers.
"Five billion?" Sengoku interjected. He calculated that while the price was high, it was somewhat reasonable for a capital city.
Dragon shook his head.
"Fifty billion?" Kizaru raised an eyebrow. That price was already entering the realm of the ridiculous.
Dragon continued to shake his head. The purple ripples of his [Rinnegan] flickered slightly as he uttered a number that made the entire harbor stop breathing.
"Five hundred billion Beri. Plus half of the supplies you brought with you."
Hiss—!!
A collective intake of breath hissed across the port. Even Whitebeard accidentally snapped an IV tube. This wasn't just a slaughter; Dragon was treating the World Government like a prize-winning hog.
Five hundred billion?! This wasn't buying land; you could buy several entire nations for that!
"You're insane!" Saturn nearly lost control and attacked. "This is extortion!"
"Too expensive?" Dragon spread his hands, looking utterly indifferent. "Then don't buy it. This location is right next to that man's tavern—it's [Prime School District Real Estate]. If you don't want it, I'm sure Kaido or Big Mom over there would be very interested. I imagine they'd be more than happy to pay for a foothold right under the shopkeeper's nose."
It was a lethal blow. He had struck the Five Elders' Achilles' heel. If the Four Emperors occupied that high ground and spent all day in front of Blake, the World Government would be finished.
"Pay him!" Saturn felt like his teeth were about to shatter. "Give it to him! Now! IMMEDIATELY!!!"
Ten minutes later, a farcical transaction destined for the history books was complete. Chests of treasure and supplies bearing the World Government crest flowed off the warships like a river and into the hands of the Revolutionary Army.
Belo Betty was grinning ear to ear as she directed the soldiers to move the massive fortune—enough to fund a ten-year war.
On the World Government's side, every face was downcast, looking like defeated roosters. This wasn't moving into a new home; it was signing a treaty of national humiliation.
"Tsk, tsk," Sengoku whispered from his ship. "Using the enemy's money to feed your own troops. Dragon is even more terrifying than before."
Garp, however, laughed heartily, even giving Dragon a thumbs-up.
"Well done! That's my boy! That's what I call—turning Justice into cash! Bwahahaha! Satisfying! Truly satisfying!"
Garp tossed the last piece of senbei into his mouth, clapped the crumbs off his hands, and leapt from the deck.
BOOM!
The ground cracked as he landed. The Marine Hero completely ignored the Revolutionary soldiers looking at Dragon with adoration and walked straight up to his son with a swagger.
"What? Business is done, and you're not even going to give the old man a cut?" Garp picked his nose, wearing a mischievous smirk as he faced the man the World Government viewed as their greatest enemy.
Dragon's "poker face" twitched the moment he saw Garp. Even with the [Rinnegan], that instinctive suppression buried in his blood made him feel a bit apprehensive.
"Old man," Dragon said, taking a deep breath as his green cloak billowed. "This is funding for the Revolution."
"Drop the act!" Garp slapped Dragon's shoulder so hard the ground beneath Dragon's feet spider-webbed. "You've done well, kid! I never knew you were this shady! Five hundred billion! Even I was shocked! That old fossil Saturn's face looked worse than if he'd eaten sh*t! Hahaha!"
Garp doubled over, laughing so hard tears started to flow. Watching him laugh like a three-hundred-pound child, Dragon's gaze softened slightly, though he maintained his cold, aloof persona.
"Desperate times call for desperate measures. If we don't make them bleed, how will they learn the meaning of pain? Besides..." Dragon turned to look at the tavern nestled halfway up the mountain. A deep sense of wariness flashed in his purple eyes. "In the presence of that shopkeeper, money is nothing more than a worldly possession. If money can buy an opportunity to grow stronger, then five hundred billion is a bargain."
Garp's laughter slowly subsided. He nodded, his expression turning rare and serious.
"True. That kid Blake is an incomprehensible monster. Once you step through those doors, the rules of this world... they no longer apply."
Father and son stood side by side, falling into a momentary silence as the sea breeze kicked up a few fallen leaves. One was the Marines' ultimate combatant; the other was the supreme leader of the Revolutionary Army. Two men on opposite sides of the world had reached an eerie consensus because of a single, mysterious existence.
"By the way," Garp said suddenly, turning his head casually. "Since you've been here for a while... have you seen Luffy yet?"
The moment the words left his mouth, Dragon—who had been mentally calculating his next strategic deployment—froze.
His body turned rigid as if someone had cast a paralysis spell on him. The stiffness extended from his neck all the way down to his heels. Even those deep, inscrutable eyes showed a fleeting moment of panic.
"..."
Silence. An incredibly awkward silence.
Dragon turned his head to the side, pretending to study the scenery.
"Well... I've been quite busy lately. You know how it is—organizing the troops, dealing with the World Government... the cause of the Revolution is just beginning, I must..."
His voice grew smaller and smaller, his confidence draining away until he was almost incoherent.
The smile on Garp's face vanished, replaced by a darkening cloud of fury. A vein began to throb violently in his temple.
"Busy?" Garp's voice dropped, carrying the suppressed weight of a coming storm. "Busy haggling with the Five Elders? Busy moving treasure? Busy standing here trying to look cool?"
Dragon swallowed hard, a drop of cold sweat sliding down his brow. "Old man, listen to me. My identity is sensitive... if I were recognized, it wouldn't be good for Luffy—"
"GOOD FOR NOTHING!!!"
The roar was like a sudden thunderclap, exploding across the harbor. Revolutionary soldiers dropped the crates they were carrying, and distant Marine soldiers shrank back in fear.
Garp's muscles bulged instantly. [Armament Haki] coated his fist until it shone with a pitch-black luster. Not only that, but a faint blue flame of energy erupted from his body.
[Sage Mode: Active!]
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