"On… one hundred million berries?!"
Rehn's chubby, always-calculating face instantly turned.
The small abacus in his hand slipped from his fingers and fell onto the cloud floor with a crisp clack.
It wasn't that he hadn't seen money before; he currently had more than six billion berries stuffed inside his briefcase.
But to be extorted, no, to have someone "clearly list the price" and charge him like this… this was a first!
"Miss Nami!"
Rehn adjusted his glasses, trying his best to look like a "dignified Marine."
"We are Marines performing official duties! Assisting the Marine is every citizen's respons, "
"We're not 'citizens,' you know?"
Nami cut him off with a sunny smile. Her big orange eyes curved like crescent moons, but inside them sparkled a light that could only belong to berries.
"And besides… you guys are ten thousand meters above sea level, not down in your Blue Sea. Up here, the name 'Marine' doesn't mean very much."
"You!"
"Nami-swan~~~!!!"
Rehn had just begun to get angry when Sanji exploded forward in a heart-shaped spinning kick, appearing in front of Nami with hearts in his eyes.
"She's absolutely right! One hundred million berries is far too cheap! For the navigation of such a beautiful navigator, no, no, not even one hundred million, even one billion, ten billion couldn't measure her value!"
He whipped his head toward Rehn, glaring with murderous intent.
"Fatty! What are you waiting for?! Pay up! Or do you want this angelic lady to be troubled by something as trivial as MONEY?!"
"Tri… trivial money?!"
Rehn felt his worldview crack.
This was one hundred million!!
How much tea could he buy with that?!
How many bonuses could G-5 give out with that?!
"B-but… this expense… isn't in the budget…" Rehn made one final struggle.
"Then MAKE it part of the budget!!" Sanji roared.
"Mr. Haredas," Nami ignored the argument entirely and turned to her tutor.
"Since the business deal is done, we'll help them. Besides, we also need to go to the 'End of the Clouds' to record the newest airflow data."
"Well, since you've decided," Haredas nodded slowly. "Very well, Marine gentlemen. This way. Our 'Visalia' is currently moored at the edge of Angel Island."
Half an hour later
With Pagaya and Conis enthusiastically seeing them off, Sanji and Rehn boarded the legendary "mobile sky island", Weatheria.
It was small, yes, but the island was littered with bizarre instruments that neither of the Marines could understand.
The scientists on the island, white-bearded elderly men, welcomed them, though 99% of their attention was still locked onto their research.
"Please, have a seat," Nami said, leading the two into a tiny reception room. She casually drew "cloud drinks" out of a nearby cloud.
"Before we depart, let's go over the details of our cooperation."
"A pleasure to work with you, Nami-swan!"
Sanji pulled out a chair for her with extreme care.
"Thank you."
Nami turned to Rehn.
"First, the hundred million berries is just the basic navigation fee. It only covers taking you to the 'End of the Clouds.' As for your ship…"
Rehn took a deep breath. He knew this orange-haired girl was a tougher negotiator than a Yonko commander.
"I understand."
He pushed up his glasses, restoring his "chief secretary" professionalism. He opened his briefcase, revealing rows of neatly stacked bills.
"This is the deposit, fifty million."
He slid a small case forward without blinking. "The rest will be paid once we safely reach the End of the Clouds. As for ship repair materials and labor, we can calculate those separately."
"Straightforward! I like it!" Nami snatched the deposit instantly, eyes sparkling.
With the deal settled, the atmosphere finally eased.
Sanji served "Sky Afternoon Tea," hastily prepared using Skypiea ingredients and Blue Sea seasonings, mostly for Nami. The unmatched flavor even made the scholars abandon their research for a moment.
"This is SO good!"
Nami said with her eyes happily closed, savoring a "Sea of Clouds Star" tart.
"You… you're a Marine, but your cooking is amazing! A million times better than that idiot on our ship who only knows how to grill meat!"
"To serve you is the honor of my lifetime, Nami-swan!" Sanji twisted into a heart-shaped pretzel of love.
Meanwhile, Rehn sipped his tea and began his "intel gathering."
He took out a small notebook and asked professionally:
"So, Miss Nami. For record purposes, I need your… affiliation. Are you a formal scientist of Weatheria?"
"Me?" Nami blinked, then laughed.
"A scientist? No way. I'm just… well, 'studying' here."
"Then your actual profession?"
"Me?" Nami casually licked cream from the corner of her lips.
"I'm a pirate."
PFFFFT!!!
Rehn spat an entire mouthful of tea directly onto Haredas's beard.
"P-PI… PIRATE?!"
Rehn shot to his feet like a triggered trap, instinctively taking a defensive stance.
Sanji froze as well, but for a different reason:
"Pirate?! OHHHHH!! A beautiful, brave, wise lady pirate! Like a Valkyrie of the seas! Please, Nami-swan, bind my heart in the chains of freedom you wield!"
"…Is this guy's brain okay?" Nami whispered to Haredas.
"Cough cough cough!!"
Rehn's mind was spinning at full speed.
'Pirate… cooperating with a pirate… no, hiring a pirate… this was a severe violation of Marine regulations… BUT… Lord Renzo's afternoon tea… mission priority… rules are dead, superiors' moods are alive…'
After 0.5 seconds of intense mental struggle, he snapped his notebook shut and sat back down.
"I see. A pirate lady. My apologies."
"…Huh?" Nami stared, confused by his sudden acceptance.
"Since you're a pirate, this transaction will be classified as 'special intelligence procurement.' It is irrelevant to G-5 and will be considered a personal, no, a private commission from Admiral Renzo."
Rehn quickly reframed the entire situation.
"So, Miss Nami, as part of the transaction, I need information about your team. What is your pirate crew called? And who is your captain?"
In his mind, any pirate crew that could afford to let members "study" on Skypiea must have either deep backing or insane strength. Worth assessing.
Nami crossed her arms, declaring:
"We're the Straw Hat Pirate Crew! As for our captain… he's gluttonous, brainless, but surprisingly reliable at crucial times."
"His name is-"
"Monkey D. Luffy."
Clatter.
Rehn's pen fell to the floor.
Crash.
Sanji's dessert tray dropped as well.
The fat one and the skinny one stared in identical, ghost-struck horror.
"M… Monkey… D… Luffy?!"
Rehn's voice trembled.
He suddenly remembered something and desperately rummaged through his briefcase, eventually pulling out an ultra-classified internal G-5 document on "Hero of the Marines" Garp's family, which Rehn was responsible for organizing.
He pointed at a line with shaking fingers:
"Vice Admiral Garp's… biological grandson?!"
"Huh?!"
Now it was Nami's turn to be stunned.
"That old man… is Luffy's grandpa?!"
Sanji inhaled sharply, his cigarette trembling violently.
"H-hey… Nami-san…"
His voice cracked.
"The Luffy you're talking about… is he a skinny guy with a straw hat, wearing a red vest… looks like a monkey… but unbelievably hard to kill?"
"Huh? You met him?" Nami blinked.
"'Met' him…?"
Sanji's mind flashed back to the nightmare of Marineford.
He hadn't directly participated in the war, but he saw everything.
Especially that little straw-hatted cockroach who threw himself into Whitebeard, the Admirals, and the Warlords, getting smashed over and over yet refusing to die.
"That guy… charging forward, screaming like an idiot… in THAT hellish battlefield…"
Sanji swallowed, his expression twisted somewhere between absurd, confused, and respectful.
"In my entire life… I've never met someone so 'fearless'… or so 'suicidal'."
"That maniac… is your captain?!"
Sanji now looked at Nami the way one would look at a zookeeper who raises monsters.
Rehn, meanwhile, had given up thinking altogether.
He quietly picked up his pen and scribbled a summary:
["Target: Grandson of Vice Admiral Garp's crewmate.
Risk level: EXTREME.
Chaos level: EXTREME.
Predictability: ZERO."]
He closed the notebook and sighed deeply.
"Haredas… please… start the island."
"I think… my stomach is starting to hurt."
.....
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
[email protected]/DaoistJinzu