"Let's speak seriously for a moment, Amon. You really don't plan to join our Marines?"
Garp's expression hardened.
"Don't worry. We won't restrain you. You'd just carry the Marine name. Do whatever you want, we won't interfere. You'd be an honorary Marine Inspector. Without some kind of title, it gets hard for me to handle things."
Amon chuckled. "I already said it. I'm not joining any faction. I'm not going out of my way to provoke the Marines either. Unless I run into people like today, rotten scum who are worse than pirates. Other than that, I won't act recklessly."
His answer left no room for doubt.
A title was still a collar. Once it was on, there was no guarantee it would stay loose forever.
So he refused it now itself.
"Alright." Garp sighed with disappointment. "I won't force you then."
He had wanted Amon to join. He had even thought about grooming him for the future. Garp was getting old, and sooner or later he would step back. If Amon entered the Marines, maybe one day he could stand in the same position.
But Amon clearly had no interest, so Garp did not press.
Besides, Garp still had two grandsons. With enough training, Luffy and Ace should become excellent Marines someday.
Garp could not have known that neither of them would ever listen. Both would become pirates.
That was later.
Right now, Luffy was only seven. The road ahead was long.
"Oh, right."
Garp turned his head as if he had just remembered something.
"Sengoku... ahem. Sengoku wants to talk to you."
"Oh?" Amon glanced over, already guessing what this was about.
Jars.
Sengoku walked up and stroked his goat beard, his tone a little stiff.
"It's nothing big. I heard from Garp that you sell Jars."
He paused, then spoke plainly. "I'm interested. I want to try one."
Amon smiled. "So you want to open a Jar."
"Sure, it's not impossible." He tilted his head. "But Garp should've told you the price."
Amon had only sold two so far.
One Jar remained to complete his task.
He had originally planned to sell it to Belle-mère, but she did not look like she had money to spare. Amon was not handing anything out for free.
He had been wondering where to find a third buyer.
Now Sengoku had delivered himself.
Convenient.
Amon did not mind selling to Sengoku. Sengoku was not the worst kind of Marine.
As for the price, that was another matter.
If he did not raise it, where was the fun?
"Garp already told me," Sengoku said. "One hundred million beli for one."
His tone was calm, almost too calm.
Amon narrowed his eyes.
Sengoku did not look like someone who had walked into this on impulse. Who carried that kind of money on a routine mission?
No wonder everything had been so smooth. Sengoku made a single call to Loguetown and immediately pulled up Rat's entire history.
It felt less like a sudden discovery and more like a file that had already been prepared, with that call serving as a clean official record.
This old goat-bearded bastard was slippery.
He had even played his part in front of everyone, making it look like he came purely for Rat Major.
Fine.
If Sengoku could act, Amon could charge for it.
Amon's smile deepened. "That was the previous price."
Sengoku's eyelid twitched.
"It's gone up. Two hundred million beli per Jar."
"Two... two hundred million?" Nojiko gasped.
She remembered paying one hundred thousand.
Two hundred million was the kind of number that did not feel real. She had never even seen a million.
She was about to blurt something out, but Belle-mère clapped a hand over her mouth.
Belle-mère understood that Amon was bleeding Sengoku, and she was not letting Nojiko ruin the deal.
Garp heard "two hundred million" and leaned in with a loud laugh, enjoying himself. "Nice one, kid! Sengoku's got plenty saved up. Squeeze him hard!"
Sengoku's face darkened.
If he could beat Garp without consequences, he would have punched him already.
Just wait.
Once he opened a Jar too, he would find an excuse to smack this old bastard at least once.
Still, Sengoku did have private savings.
He had captured pirates for decades, and many of them had massive bounties. He had kept a good portion of what he earned and saved it up.
Even so, watching money leave your hands never felt good.
And there was another problem.
He had just heard that girl's reaction. That shock did not come from hearing "one hundred million." It came from a gap between what she knew and what she was hearing.
So Sengoku tried to bargain.
"Mr. Amon, isn't that too expensive? I remember Garp saying one hundred million."
He spread his hands. "I came in a hurry. I didn't bring that much beli with me."
"Not negotiable." Amon cut him off.
Then he smiled, "Fleet Admiral Sengoku, are you saying my Jars aren't worth two hundred million?"
Sengoku's mouth tightened.
Amon watched him and felt satisfied.
Sengoku had put on a show to pressure him.
Now he wanted a Jar?
Pay up.
Or walk away.
...