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"Gion, are you okay? I heard that you have a big problem with your health, and I've been worried about it. Why is your hair turning gray... could it be that you're really going to die soon?"
Chaton jumped from the deck of the Marine warship to the Explorer and walked toward Ikki and Gion with a worried look on his face. But when he noticed their joined hands, he immediately gasped.
"You... how could you do this?! Wait a minute, did you force Gion to do something?" His eyes widened as he looked at Ikki with suspicion.
"Okay, Chaton, you should know why Gion is here with Ikki. Sengoku should have made it clear to you." Garp jumped from the warship with a big bag and held Chaton's shoulders.
"But... but there's no need to hold hands! Gion, why are you looking for other men behind my back?" Chaton looked at Gion with an aggrieved expression, as if he wanted her to give an explanation.
Gion's veins popped out on her forehead as she looked at Chaton angrily. "Chaton, first of all, I am not your girlfriend. I don't need to explain anything to you. In addition, Ikki is holding my hand to help me not lose my vitality as much as possible, and to help me get my innate Demon Slayer Mark as soon as possible. Please show some respect to Ikki."
"It turns out... it turns out to be like this. Great, I misunderstood. Sorry, Ikki, thank you for helping Gion." Chaton turned to Ikki and bowed deeply.
"No need, I'm not helping Gion for nothing." Ikki waved his hand, feeling a little embarrassed. The man in front of him was the one who had confessed his love to Gion a hundred times and been rejected a hundred times. But even so, he was still pursuing her.
What if Chaton knew that Gion and he had bathed together in the bathhouse many times, and that Ikki even drew pictures of Gion bathing in private? Ikki could imagine how Chaton would feel. At that time, he'd probably be thinking of killing him.
"Anyway, it's great that your situation is getting better, Gion. I've already heard the details from Sengoku and Tsuru. It shouldn't take long for Gion to recover completely." Garp looked at the Demon Slayer Mark on Ikki's forehead and asked curiously.
With Garp's fighting instincts, he could naturally feel the power of the Demon Slayer Mark. That was a kind of power that came at the cost of consuming life force. Of course, the power obtained by using one's life was naturally powerful. Garp knew that Gion became what she was now for this reason. Ikki obviously used the Demon Slayer Mark, but wasn't affected by it. He could even help others awaken their marks without affecting their vitality. How could Garp not be curious?
He even felt that if Ikki's Demon Slayer Mark was so special, it could be used to help other Marines activate similar marks.
"Well... if there are no accidents, it shouldn't take more than a few days." Ikki nodded slightly and answered Garp's question.
"Hahaha, I'm looking forward to Gion activating that innate Demon Slayer Mark! By the way, this is the bounty you got from defeating Golden Lion Shiki and the Bellamy Pirates. More than four billion in total. Speaking of which, since I've been a Marine, I've never really seen someone receive such a large bounty. That guy Golden Lion was really unlucky to meet you. Ikki, Sengoku really appreciates you. He even wants you to become a Shichibukai, but you're not a pirate, Bwahaha!" Garp laughed and handed the Berry bag to Ikki.
"It's my honor to be appreciated by Fleet Admiral Sengoku. But it would be nice if he wouldn't reduce my bounty for killing Golden Lion out of appreciation." Ikki threw the bag containing Berry toward Nami.
Nami's eyes lit up and she immediately started counting the berries.
"Haha, that's not okay! Only by capturing Golden Lion alive could you obtain his complete reward. You killed him, so of course you can't get all of his bounty. That's not a small amount. He is still very worried about military expenses." Garp held Ikki's shoulders and laughed.
He thought of Sengoku's expression of pain when he took out the bounty from Golden Lion and the others. It was clear that Sengoku didn't want to pay the bounty. But Ikki was currently treating Gion. And if the bounty wasn't paid, there was no guarantee that there would be bounty hunters willing to trust Marines in the future. Of course, the last thing Sengoku wanted to see was Ikki falling out with the Marines because he didn't get the bounty. That would directly create a very troublesome "criminal."
"Ikki, I think you're also a person with a sense of justice. How about it, do you want to take this opportunity to join the Marines? If you dislike not having freedom, you can become a Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral like me. In that case, the World Government can't order you around. And Sengoku would definitely be willing to give you some privileges." After laughing, Garp looked at Ikki seriously.
After talking to Sengoku, Garp knew how much the Fleet Admiral admired Ikki. Of course, Garp himself also admired him. After Garp finished speaking, although Gion knew the answer Ikki was about to give, she still looked at him with some anticipation. 'If Ikki can join the Marines, I'll have more opportunities to spend time with him.' Such thoughts came to Gion's mind unbidden.
"After becoming a Marine, can I still get such a huge bounty for killing pirates like Golden Lion, Vice Admiral Garp?"
"Um! Well... Marines get a fixed salary. Although there's performance pay, there's no bounty system."
"Then why should I join the Marines? Golden Lion had a bounty of more than 4 billion Berry. If I join the Marines, can you give me 500 million performance Berry? That's the real question."
"This... joining the Marines will enable you to shoulder 'justice'—" Garp scratched the back of his head, trying to instill a sense of justice into Ikki.
However, Nami on the side interrupted him mercilessly. "Justice? Is there anything more righteous than Berry? By the way, if you Marines are really just, my hometown has been occupied by the Arlong Pirates for so many years. I don't see any righteous Marine coming to help us. On the contrary, that Captain Nezumi actually protected the Arlong Pirates." Nami glanced up at Garp and said coldly.
Garp's face froze, and his originally excited expression suddenly became lonely.