The Celestial Dragon's face, already pale from weakness, grew even whiter as he trembled with rage. "What did you say? Humiliating? How dare a mere Admiral talk to me like this! You must have a death wish!"
"Oh my, oh my, such anger—so frightening," Kizaru replied in his usual lazy tone. "But if word of what happened to you got out, I'm afraid the other World Nobles would laugh at you for the rest of your life."
Hearing this, the Celestial Dragon's body began to tremble even more. "Are you threatening me?"
Kizaru waved his hand dismissively. "I wouldn't dare. I'm just a lowly Admiral. How could I possibly offend someone as important as you? But you know, even the World Government can't always cover everything up. We, as the Marines, have to rely on evidence to convict people—otherwise, it would damage our reputation, and that of the World Government. And right now, the only evidence of what happened is your... well, your current condition. Takumi's group is nowhere to be found, so the only proof left is... you."
The Celestial Dragon glared at Kizaru, his mind a chaotic mess.
As a Celestial Dragon, he knew that his kind ruled the world. The World Government catered to their every whim, and whatever they desired, they could usually get. But even with such high status, he wasn't the only Celestial Dragon—there were others. And among them, they liked to compare their power and wealth. If the others found out what had happened to him, they would mock him endlessly!
There was no way he would ever allow that to happen.
But letting the matter go without retaliation? That was something he could hardly accept either.
Suddenly, an idea crossed the Celestial Dragon's mind, and he smirked coldly. "I am a Celestial Dragon. If I say someone's guilty, then they are guilty. Evidence is meaningless to me! I don't care about any of that. I want Takumi's group as my slaves—I want to make them suffer until they beg for death!"
Kizaru sighed, his usual lazy expression never leaving his face. "The order from above was to kill them on sight..."
"Ignore that!" the Celestial Dragon snapped, glaring at Kizaru. "If you want me to overlook this, I have two conditions: One, no one is to ever speak of what happened to me. If a single word gets out, I'll see to it that everyone involved dies. Two, you must capture Takumi's group alive and deliver them to me in secret!"
"Oh dear, that's quite the request," Kizaru responded, pretending to be conflicted.
The Celestial Dragon raised his chin arrogantly. "You don't have a choice. From now on, you work for me. If you do a good job, there will be plenty of rewards."
Kizaru stroked his chin thoughtfully.
The Celestial Dragon continued, "Whatever the Marines are paying you, I'll give you double each month!"
At this, Kizaru flashed an "OK" sign. "Deal."
Meanwhile, back at the ship…
Takumi was lounging on his deck chair, basking in the sun and drifting off for his afternoon nap.
A delivery bird flew by.
Kaku called out to the bird and bought several newspapers to catch up on what they had missed over the past few days.
Whether Takumi or Enel cared about the newspapers wasn't important to Kaku, but he had to keep an eye on the latest news. Even though the chances of CP9 submitting reports was low, he couldn't afford to be careless. As an undercover agent and assassin, CP9 communicated through their own set of codes. It wasn't impossible that Spandam might use a code to recall him at any moment, and if Kaku missed it, Spandam would definitely hold a grudge.
"You waste so much money on these newspapers," Enel scoffed as he walked past Kaku, who was sitting on the deck reading. "Wouldn't that money be better spent on apples?"
Kaku chuckled, shaking his head. "We can't fall out of touch with the world. Reading the news is the fastest way to understand what's happening. I remember you've read the paper a few times yourself."
"Only to pass the time," Enel replied nonchalantly. "Most of what's in there is boring. Nothing but pointless articles."
"If you're so bored, why don't you train your Haki and physical techniques?" Kaku suggested. "I'll read the paper and then get back to studying."
Just as Kaku finished speaking, something in one of the headlines caught his eye. "Huh? Takumi, our captain, made the papers?"
"Hm?" Enel raised an eyebrow and, in an instant, appeared beside Kaku, looking down at the newspaper. "What's this about? Has the incident at Amazon Lily already been published?"
"It's not about Amazon Lily," Kaku said after scanning the article. With a dry laugh, he continued, "It's about the Celestial Dragon you killed at Sabaody... Though the details are vague. Oh, and it seems both you and Takumi have been given bounties."
"Bounties?" Enel blinked. "I thought only pirates got bounties? We're not pirates..."
"The circumstances are different," Kaku explained, glancing at Takumi, who was still resting as if he hadn't heard a thing. "Attacking a Celestial Dragon automatically draws the attention of an Admiral. Killing one... well, that puts you on the World Government's radar, whether you're a pirate or not. From what I know of the World Government, they'll definitely take action. They might even send some powerful people after us."
"Powerful people? You mean like Admirals?"
"It's possible." Kaku nodded, pulling out the bounty posters that had been tucked inside the newspaper. He examined the numbers, a flicker of surprise crossing his face. "This amount… Is the World Government serious?"
Enel glanced at Takumi's bounty poster, quickly doing the math in his head. He then burst out laughing. "Hahaha! One billion, four hundred forty-four million, four hundred forty-four thousand, four hundred forty-four Berries! That's incredible! Hahaha, why not just make it an even ten billion?"
"Ten billion would put him on the level of the Four Emperors," Kaku remarked. "But for Takumi, this is his first bounty. One billion, four hundred forty-four million for someone his age... that's unheard of."
"Hahaha! Not bad at all. As expected of someone chosen by me, the great Enel! But what about me? How much is my bounty? Surely it's at least one billion, right?" Enel asked with great anticipation.
Kaku glanced at Enel's poster, then handed it over.
Enel, not bothering to count the zeroes at first, laughed proudly. "Hahaha! Eight hundred million! That's decent enough—barely worthy of the great Enel!"
"Hold on," Kaku said, still smiling. "It's not eight hundred million. It's eighty million."
Enel's triumphant grin froze. He snatched the poster from Kaku's hand and counted the zeros again. And again. And again.
Realizing that it was indeed only eighty million, Enel's face twisted with rage. He tore the poster into countless pieces and tossed the scraps into the air. Still not satisfied, he summoned a storm of lightning, obliterating the floating remnants into dust.
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