Crack~
Crack~
Kong's arms were unconsciously coated in thick Armament Haki, causing the table under his influence to continuously fracture.
Bang~
The cracks spread relentlessly until the entire table finally exploded, turning into dust.
Fortunately, the dust didn't scatter everywhere but remained in place as it fell to the ground.
Thankfully, Kong still had enough awareness to control his power.
Otherwise, the meeting room would have been thrown into chaos today.
"Hiss~"
"Impossible! Your Rocks Pirates are asking for far too much."
"How could our Navy possibly have that many precious resources? It's simply unachievable."
"Making such demands shows you have no sincerity at all."
Seeing his superior's reaction, Sengoku quickly took a deep breath to shake off his shock.
He rapidly fired back through the Den Den Mushi.
It wasn't appropriate for Kong to show himself yet—it would be too undignified.
"Gyehahaha, if your Navy doesn't have that many resources, the World Government does."
"What, aren't the descendants of the Five Elders worth that price?"
"Even if Saint Naya is Saint Saturn's descendant, that doesn't mean you can casually make such demands."
"Impossible! Even though there are Five Elders, your conditions are too harsh."
"Let's not even mention the rest—just the Beri alone, you're asking for 50 billion. The Fiore Kingdom's annual Celestial Tribute is only 20 billion Beri."
"And Devil Fruits—Mythical Zoan, Logia Type—these are extremely rare treasures. Do you think they're cabbages that you can buy by the basketful?"
"As for materials like Sword Jade and Sea Stone, their mining difficulty is unimaginable."
"How much exists in the entire world right now? And you're asking for a ton—are you crazy, or am I?"
"Gyehahaha, let's just say we're all crazy then."
"Your Navy negotiating terms with us pirates, actively trying to ransom a Celestial Dragon—isn't this unprecedented too?"
"Since that's the case, what couldn't possibly happen?"
"Even so, your conditions are far too harsh. They must be reduced, or they're impossible to meet."
"How much of a reduction? Let's hear it."
...
Aside from the abnormally powerful World Government, the two strongest forces in the world currently were the Navy and the Rocks Pirates.
The two most powerful forces were now haggling fiercely over a single Den Den Mushi.
And all the high-ranking members of both factions were listening in on the sidelines.
This absurd scene was truly a once-in-a-millennium occurrence.
If word got out, countless people around the world would have their worldviews shattered.
Half an hour passed.
Only after Sengoku and Shiki had bargained to the very end did they barely reach terms that both sides could somewhat accept.
20 billion Beri.
Twenty Devil Fruits: three Mythical Zoan, two Logia Type, five Ancient Type, and ten others of various kinds.
One ton total of the five materials: Sword Jade, Sea Stone, Iron Essence, Gold Crystal, and Jadeite.
Although these conditions might seem straightforward, they effectively emptied the Navy's entire treasury.
Even the Navy's entire assets wouldn't cover half of it—the bulk had to come from the World Government, that deep-pocketed patron.
Berries weren't the issue; the Navy could handle that amount, as it was only twenty billion. Coincidentally, their annual military budget was fifty billion Berries, and though they'd been applying for increases for years, it had been stalled for quite some time.
However, the next two conditions were beyond the Navy's capacity to bear.
After so many years of accumulation, the Navy only had a little over ten Devil Fruits in stock, most of which were of ordinary grade.
High-end varieties like Mythical Zoan and Logia Type were extremely scarce and kept deeply hidden.
On the current black market, a Mythical Zoan started at 1.5 billion Berries, and even then, it was almost impossible to find one for sale.
Logia Types were slightly cheaper, but their starting price was still 500 million Berries.
Particularly high-grade Logia Types cost at least one billion Berries.
In all these years, the black market had only auctioned Logia Types twice...
As for Mythical Zoans, there hadn't been a single auction so far...
The above prices were calculated based on the current, non-devalued value of Berries in the world.
If this were forty years later, the prices would at least double, if not more.
Not to mention the precious materials listed below—only the World Government had the capability to procure such vast mineral resources.
Available at a price, but nearly impossible to find—truly, almost impossible to find!
In the entire world, only the World Government could pull this off—no one else.
These three conditions were tacitly approved by Kong and Rocks before being finalized.
For the Navy, it essentially came down to the Five Elders' tacit consent.
Plus, during the bargaining process, he had double-checked with CP0 before daring to agree.
"Gyahahaha, it's settled then. See you in the New World in a week."
"Wait, Shiki."
Shiki was about to hang up the Den Den Mushi and start an all-night celebration with his crew over their huge haul.
But Sengoku suddenly interrupted him, saying,
"What about Saint Naya? We need to confirm his safety first."
All the Navy personnel and several CP0 agents nearby immediately straightened up—this was the crucial point.
All the previous haggling was based on the premise that Saint Naya was still alive.
If Saint Naya had been in the hands of the Rocks Pirates for two days and ended up dead from mistreatment,
then there would be no further discussion—just one word: fight.
Nothing more to say—it would inevitably lead to another major battle.
Thanks to Brian, after Saint Naya was brought back, he specifically had someone treat his injuries.
Otherwise, he might very well have kicked the bucket.
The rescued Saint Naya hadn't had an easy time these past few days either...
"Gyahahaha, fine."
"Hey, someone, bring that Celestial Dragon up here."
Ahem, hope he hasn't been broken."
Shiki sounded a bit uncertain with that last remark.
Thinking about what Saint Naya had been through these past few days, he was afraid they might have driven him insane.
"Yes, Lord Shiki."
Soon, Saint Naya made his appearance.
The current Saint Naya looked like someone who could easily be mistaken for a refugee.
The spacesuit and fishbowl he originally wore had long been stripped off by some pirate, nowhere to be seen.
He was left with only a small pair of shorts for decency, his upper body bare, revealing a massive belly.
He was covered in dust from head to toe, but there wasn't a single wound on him.
Saint Naya seemed dazed and disoriented, as if on the verge of losing his mind.
"Come on, Celestial Dragon, say hello to the Navy. They've agreed to ransom you back."
Placing the Den Den Mushi in front of the Celestial Dragon, Shiki felt slightly embarrassed.
"The Navy?"
"The Navy!"
"Waaah, you Navy soldiers across the way, come save this Saint quickly! This Saint wants to return, to go back!"
Upon confirming it was the Navy, Saint Naya instantly burst into tears, wailing as if his heart were being torn apart.
"These pirates, they've mistreated this Saint! They dared not give this Saint good food, and even prevented this Saint from sleeping!"
"This Saint hasn't closed his eyes for two whole days! These lowly commoners, these lowly commoners!"
"Waaah~"
"These wretched commoners actually put this Saint in a cage and took turns coming to gawk at this Saint!"
"They don't give this Saint any normal time at all! This Saint is going mad! This Saint wants to go home, go home!"
As he continued speaking, Saint Naya became increasingly incoherent.
He had been treated like a circus monkey, put on display thr
oughout Hachinosu.
It couldn't be completely called abuse, yet it was more terrifying than abuse.
To be paraded around the island like a monkey - for a Celestial Dragon, this was the ultimate humiliation.
After two days of such humiliation, Saint Naya had nearly gone completely mad.