Even if it was a precious Logia-type Devil Fruit, compared to a ten-billion-belly bounty, the so-called Logia Devil Fruit seemed somewhat insignificant.
Even the Marine Headquarters was the same.
After receiving the intelligence delivered by the Marine Intelligence Division, the current Fleet Admiral, Sengoku, couldn't help but furrow his brows.
After pondering for a moment, he raised his head and looked at Vice-Admiral Tsuru opposite him.
"Has the intelligence division already found out who offered the ten-billion-belly bounty?"
"It has been confirmed that it came from the underworld, but we still don't know which side."
Hearing Sengoku's question, Tsuru spoke directly, then revealed a hint of helplessness. "To be honest, up until now, I still can't figure out which deep-pocketed fellow would actually spend ten billion belly to put a bounty on a Devil Fruit. Even if it's a Logia Devil Fruit, it's not worth that price!"
"So I suspect there might be some conspiracy behind the force that issued it."
Sengoku wasn't surprised by Tsuru's explanation.
After all, he thought the same. Ten billion to bounty a Devil Fruit?
What idiot would do that?
You have to know, ten billion could buy the heads of an entire Emperor crew.
And that Dark-Dark Fruit... The Devil Fruit Encyclopedia did record it. Although it was indeed a Logia, after elementalization, it couldn't avoid attacks, and even pain was doubled when hit. The only real advantage was its ability to restrain other Devil Fruit users!
No matter how you think about it, such a bounty was absolutely abnormal. Thus, it could only be a conspiracy or a trap.
But what is the force that issued this bounty trying to do?
Who is this conspiracy aimed at?
And who is the trap waiting for?
Sengoku frowned deeply, falling into thought, but with so little intelligence, he couldn't analyze anything.
Helpless, he rubbed his forehead and sighed. "Have the intelligence division keep investigating. Hopefully, this won't become another mess."
"I understand."
Tsuru nodded, then continued: "Although we don't know which force it is, the target probably isn't us. After all, the Marine Headquarters would never spend ten billion belly to buy a Devil Fruit."
"No matter who it is, there are only a handful of forces capable of bringing out that kind of money. Any movement they make could have an enormous impact."
Sengoku agreed with Tsuru's guess, though he imagined the situation in a more pessimistic way.
As he spoke, his brows furrowed again as though he suddenly remembered something.
After a moment of silence, he asked: "Has that Umbrella Corporation made any moves recently?"
After the war in West Blue ended, aside from the publicly known Grado, that organization had been unusually quiet.
"Umbrella Corporation?"
Hearing Sengoku's words, Tsuru froze for a moment, then seemed to guess something.
Her brows furrowed as well. "You mean..."
"That's right. I have to admit it, the Umbrella Corporation certainly has the means to bring out ten billion belly."
Sengoku nodded with a bitter smile, then cursed with frustration: "Damn it, why is their wine selling so well?"
These past two years, the Umbrella Corporation's wine has been sold across the entire sea, and not only the Sibia Green Grape Wine, but also the Brando Family's market.
Even Brando's wine had become Umbrella Corporation's.
Now, thanks to Umbrella Corporation's aggressive distribution, Brando Family's wine was being sold all over the sea.
And the high-end Sibia Green Grape Wine, because of its high price and limited production, could only be bought on the black market for seven to eight times its listed price.
It was said that every time a batch of high-end Sibia Green Grape Wine was released, crowds lined up in numbers like mountains.
With power and money, the Umbrella Corporation was far more troublesome than the Four Emperors of the New World!
Especially after hearing many marine reports lately saying that Zephyr was drifting around the sea with twenty-something fleets, Sengoku's headaches had only grown worse.
"The Umbrella Corporation indeed has the ability to take out ten billion belly."
Tsuru murmured with brows furrowed. "But what would be their purpose? Their boss is already a Devil Fruit user. If they want this Devil Fruit, who would they be giving it to?"
She paused again, thinking deeply, then finally exhaled slowly. "Forget it. I'll have the intelligence division prioritize the investigation."
Then, as though remembering something, she turned to Sengoku again.
"What about the East Blue? There are rumors that the Dark-Dark Fruit appeared there. Although we can't confirm if it's real, for ten billion belly, those pirates who smell profit definitely won't give up easily."
"The East Blue, huh…"
Hearing her words, Sengoku thought for a moment, then spoke immediately: "Garp is vacationing in the East Blue. I'll notify him later. With that old man there, nothing too serious should happen."
"Garp? Indeed, with him there, that's reassuring."
Tsuru nodded and then stood up. "If that's the case, I'll go arrange it. Hopefully, this incident won't cause too much impact."
She finished and said no more, then turned and walked out.
Sengoku remained seated in the Fleet Admiral's chair, still frowning deeply in thought.
Then…
"Purururu!"
The Den Den Mushi on the table rang.
Sengoku frowned, picked it up, and spoke with authority: "Hello?"
The moment he heard the voice on the other end, Sengoku slammed the table and shot up, eyes wide with fury as he roared into the Den Den Mushi: "I've had the headquarters cracking down on corrupt officers for so long, and there are still people in the East Blue branch bold enough to commit crimes right under my nose?! Are they not putting me in their eyes at all?!"
...
At the same time, Ace, who had been in Foosha Village for a while, was preparing to leave.
Although he trusted Luffy's strength, he had come to the East Blue this time specifically to see Luffy and to tell him the news that Sabo was still alive.
"Hahaha! So this is the ship you all built yourselves? It looks pretty decent!"
Garp, who came to see Ace off, laughed heartily as he glanced over the ship and rubbed his chin. "I heard that old guy, Zephyr, has been sailing around in a ship like this, giving plenty of marine fleets headaches!"
"This was built by Wolf."
Ace didn't hide anything and grinned. "Not only is it sturdy, but the speed is also really fast!"