"Hahahaha, you three came at the perfect time. I heard you put out bounties on the Marines. Well, I caught one, still alive, too, figured I'd trade him in for some money."
Roy happily dragged Ryokugyu in front of the three men as he spoke.
Their faces changed dramatically.
They thought their eyes were deceiving them. What did they just see?
A Marine Admiral.
Alive.
Buggy blinked several times, rubbed his eyes hard, then confirmed he wasn't mistaken.
"A–A… Admiral!!!"
Sweat instantly poured down Buggy's forehead; his heart gripped with fear.
Yes, he was the one who issued bounties on the Marines. Yes, people had brought in Vice Admirals before.
But those Marines were always dead.
Who in their right mind delivered a living, breathing Admiral?! This wasn't a reputation boost; it was handing them a ticking time bomb.
Think about it: If Teach had handed Ace over alive, would the Marines have escalated to war with Whitebeard? Would they have publicly executed him to force a showdown?
If Roy had brought a corpse, it would've been fine. After all, it was Roy who killed him; they'd just be accepting a body. They could shrug and say, "Not our fault."
But this time, Roy delivered a live Admiral into their hands.
What were they supposed to do? Lock him up? Execute him?
Either way, the Navy would lose its mind. And all the trouble would be dumped on them.
Buggy, Crocodile, and Mihawk immediately understood what Roy was doing.
They had refused to ally with him before. Now Roy was forcing their hand, presenting them with a deadly problem.
"You wanted to put out bounties on Marines, right? Well, here's one, not just any Marine, a Marine Admiral."
Surprised? Delighted? Or terrified?
This was an open trap, a blatant move.
All three were left speechless. Buggy's underlings weren't fools either; they instantly realized what Roy was up to.
Crocodile's subordinates were sharper. Mr. 1 suddenly sprang forward, his arm turning into a sharp blade, and lunged at the beaten-down Ryokugyu.
"Hey, what the hell are you doing? I haven't traded him for money yet!" Roy lifted his leg and kicked Mr. 1, flying.
That guy had wanted to kill Ryokugyu on the spot. But right now, Ryokugyu was still Roy's captive. If he died in Roy's hands, then it would be clear-cut: Roy killed him, and they only took the corpse.
But Roy clearly intended to dump a living Admiral into their laps, forcing them to deal with the consequences.
If they killed him, their prestige among pirates would soar above all the other Emperors; the first to publicly kill a Marine Admiral.
If they imprisoned him? The Marines would burn the world to get him back.
Roy had handed them a live bomb, smirking.
After all, they were the ones who put out the bounty on Marines.
They assumed no Emperor would actually bother capturing a Marine Admiral alive.
They never imagined one would be dragged right in front of them.
"What's wrong? Having second thoughts? Do you know how hard it was for me to catch him alive? It cost me a lot of effort. I haven't even gotten my payment yet, and you're already trying to kill him? Wait until I get paid, after that, you can do whatever you like with him." Roy said.
"C–Can I… refuse?" Buggy stammered.
"Oh? So you're trying to trick the world, huh? Let me tell you, I'm recording all of this. What? Is Cross Guild just a bunch of frauds who only shout slogans for fame?" Roy said with a displeased look.
"We'll pay. We honor our bounties." Crocodile stepped forward firmly.
"Good. Then hurry up with the payment. 3 billion berries. I still have other business to attend to," Roy said.
"Pay him," Crocodile ordered.
"I don't have that kind of money," Buggy whispered nervously.
Crocodile glared at him fiercely. Buggy was so frightened that he shut up immediately. In the end, Crocodile himself handed over 3 billion berries, laying them in front of Roy.
"Thanks, boss. You're generous." Roy checked the money, confirmed it was real, and handed it over to Atmos for safekeeping.
"Then he's all yours. This is a Marine Admiral. In eight hundred years, no one has ever been captured alive like this. He's premium goods."
Roy shoved Ryokugyu forward.
The Admiral's body was covered in injuries. To keep him suppressed, Roy had beaten him repeatedly along the way.
His powers were sealed, his stamina drained, and his body reduced to that of a normal man. Hungry, beaten, and with both legs shattered, he couldn't even stand.
Being shoved onto the ground, Ryokugyu felt humiliated beyond measure. He turned to glare at Roy's retreating figure, his heart boiling with hatred toward pirates.
Roy suddenly stopped, turned back with a grin, and said:
"I know you hate me to the core. But I won't kill you. I want you to live. You're a good dog, after all. I want to see whether the Marine and the World Government will risk war with an Emperor just to save you."
"I also want to see if the new Emperors can withstand the onslaught of the Marine Headquarters. Like I said before, if you can't handle it, you can always come to me."
Then Roy looked at Crocodile and added, "Oh, right. Crocodile, I've seen Pluton. It's nothing like what you think. The legend is fake."
His words made Crocodile's expression twist in shock. He stepped forward excitedly:
"You saw the ancient weapon, Pluton? Where is it?!"
"I'm not telling you that. But I can tell you this: Pluton doesn't have the power to blast an island apart in a single shot. In fact, it has no weapons at all. It's just a ship. You've been fooled by rumors."
"The World Government spread lies for hundreds of years to tarnish the ancient weapons' names. The real Pluton is nothing like a battleship. I saw it with my own eyes, even boarded it myself."
"On the other hand, Uranus can destroy the world with a single blast. And the World Government controls it. You must have gotten intel about that through the underworld, right?"
"That intel was deliberately leaked by me. I wanted you to understand: the World Government's power is overwhelming. Uranus is what destroyed the Lulusia Kingdom. Pluton, on the other hand, doesn't even have that kind of power."
...
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
[email protected]/DaoistJinzu