---
Bang!
The crowd watching was dumbfounded when they heard Garp's words. Did he seriously choose to become hostile because he thought it was too expensive? That sounded too childish.
"Why are you here, old man?"
"Hmph! Why am I here? It's because of your people!"
Garp glared at Akira with annoyance.
"???"
Akira was puzzled—what did he mean by "because of your people"?
"Because of you, countless pirates have been causing trouble in the City of Water 7 over the past few days. But every one of them was captured by your Uchiha Security Company, who then took them to the bounty exchange office to collect the reward money. The prisons in the City of Water 7 are overflowing with these pirates, so I came to take them all away."
Akira was stunned, not expecting this to be the reason.
He turned to Inari and asked, "How many did we catch?"
"About a thousand," Inari replied.
Akira's eyes sparkled. "And the bounty?"
"A total of 425 million!"
Akira nodded with satisfaction. "Not bad, not bad."
Seeing Akira's nonchalant attitude made Garp even more irritated. Inwardly "This brat wasn't only disrupting the Marines' operations, but he was also taking advantage of the World Government's bounty system. Truly shameless!"
Pirates usually wouldn't be delivering other pirates to bounty stations, but Akira had zero regard for tradition.
"Alright then, as long as you don't cause any destruction here, feel free to act as you please," Akira said to Garp, "but try not to interfere with the Galley-La Company. Mayor Iceburg has no good impression of World Government people."
"Oh, and do me a favor: tell those guys up above that I don't want to see any more of attacks and assassination attempts. Frankly, in terms of assassination skills, If the Uchiha clan claimed to be second, then no one in this world would dare to be first."
Akira's eyes met Garp's as he spoke.
"You little brat, you have no respect at all, even threatening an old man?" Garp retorted.
"This isn't a threat, it's a warning. We don't start trouble, but we don't shy away from it either. My wish is world peace, but my strength is limited, so I can only ensure peace in the areas I'm responsible for."
"Kid, even though you're not a pirate, your actions are akin to directly competing with the World Government!" Garp pointed out.
"Monopoly may be convenient, but it's that very monopoly that has led to the downfall of many nations, destroying countries and families. These countries could protect their rights with less money by us. I think that's fair."
"The Uchiha Security Company will handle what the World Government doesn't care about, and we'll take on what the Marines can't manage."
Akira's target clients weren't individuals; he was focused on countries abandoned by the World Government because they couldn't pay the Heavenly Tribute.
He had his own ambitions, and they had never been about merely securing one corner of the world. His true aim was to unite those powers left behind by the World Government.
This would be the true foundation for the growth of the Uchiha clan.
What truly strengthens a force is not money, but people. He had a plan to make people want to work for him.
Garp's expression turned serious as he listened to Akira. "Kid, you're pushing the limits."
"Don't worry. I'm only picking up what the World Government doesn't want, so there's no major conflict with them. Besides, our company is small, with limited influence—we don't consume much," Akira said, then turned to leave with Inari and the others. Before leaving, he cast a deep look in a certain direction.
Garb is here to take the pirates away?
He wouldn't believe such nonsense. They were only small-time pirates; there was no need to send someone like Garp.
This old man was here to test his stance toward the World Government.
He also wanted to gauge the strength of the company's members, but Akira had no intention of letting him see through their abilities, so he stopped Inari from taking further action.
Sometimes, a bit of mystery made the opponent hesitate to act rashly.
"This kid… he's not simple at all," Garp muttered to himself while stroking his chin.
Initially, he had thought Uchiha Akira, being so young, was just a hot-headed fool.
Now he saw how wrong he was. This kid was as cunning as they come. The destruction of Enies Lobby, the destruction of Marine ships, triggering the Buster Call, and even his fight with Aokiji—all of it might have been calculated by this boy.
Garp wasn't fond of dealing with people who had eight hundred schemes running through their heads.
"Teacher Garp, are we just going to watch the criminals leave?" asked Koby.
"And what do you want me to do? Do you expect me, an old man, to fight them? The young can always best the old!" Garp replied.
"But sir, aren't you the Marine hero who once chased the Pirate King? Surely they can't be stronger than Gol D. Roger," Helmeppo added.
Bang!
Garp hit Helmeppo on the head.
"Ouch!!"
"You feel the pain, don't you? I sometimes wonder if you two ever think! If I fought him, the entire city would be reduced to rubble!"
"Oh! So you're worried about the citizens!"
"No, I'm worried about you idiots! If I fight that kid, those three guys beside kid AKira alone would be enough to wipe you all out."
"Those three?!" though beaten, they wouldn't believe the would lose to those ordinary three people.
"Don't underestimate those three. Their actual strength is at least equivalent to Marine Vice Admirals."
"What?!!"
The Marine soldiers were shocked. Marine Vice Admiral level—wasn't that the same rank as Garp himself?
Could those three truly be that strong?
"What did you expect? They can easily capture pirates with multi-million berry bounties without a scratch. Do you think they'd be weak?"
"According to our intel, in this city alone, the Uchiha Security Company has ten such masters—ten Marine Vice Admiral-level fighters."
"The fact that they haven't shown up doesn't mean they aren't here. If a battle broke out, they'd appear in an instant and show no mercy."
Suddenly, a voice spoke up.
"Mr. Garp is right!"
Everyone turned to see a tall man wearing a blue shirt and white vest, riding a bicycle toward them. The sight of this man left all the Marines speechless.
"Admiral Aokiji ?!!!"
.
.
.