Koby's appearance suddenly reminded Amon of those melodramatic hero-saves-the-beauty scenes from TV dramas, and his mischievous side immediately surfaced. He decided to play along for his own amusement.
Those men had been just about to seize Koby and drag him back to their pirate ship. They had not expected to run into someone like Amon, who looked completely unafraid of dying. At once, they turned and snarled, "If you don't want to die, then get lost!"
"Alright," Amon said, sounding as though he really meant to leave.
The last bit of hope Koby had barely managed to summon shattered on the spot.
Even the pirates were stunned by how direct he was. He was actually leaving just like that. What kind of ridiculous script was this? Shouldn't he have gotten angry from humiliation and rushed over to fight them? Wasn't that how this always went in dramas?
Who would have thought that small fry like them could actually get to act like the main characters for once?
"Hahaha, so he's just a coward."
"I thought the Marines had shown up. Scared me half to death."
"That brat got lucky."
Although they had not expected Amon to retreat so cleanly, the thought that they had scared him off with nothing but their own so-called domineering aura made them feel extremely pleased with themselves.
But just as they thought Amon had said his piece and was about to leave, they realized he was still standing there without moving an inch. Their brows furrowed, and they barked at him again.
"Brat, why aren't you gone yet?"
Amon stood there with a faint smile and said, "When did I say I was leaving? I said, alright, I want to die."
The men froze for an instant.
Then their faces turned ugly.
"Damn it, this brat's playing with us. Kill him!"
They raised their sabers and moved to charge at Amon. But before they could even take more than a step, they suddenly found that all the strength in their bodies had vanished.
A dizzy spell struck them next. Their vision blurred, their heads spun, and then they dropped to the ground one after another, unconscious.
The sudden, inexplicable change left Koby completely baffled.
"What... what just happened?"
Amon glanced at him. "Why are you still standing there? Hurry up and go. Your name is Koby, right?"
"Oh, yes, sir. Thank you, sir. Right, right, my name is Koby!"
Although he had no idea what had just happened, he immediately scrambled free from beside those unconscious men.
Amon looked at him and got straight to the point.
"So you're the Koby who's wanted to become a Marine Admiral since childhood?"
The moment Koby heard that, his whole body trembled again.
"S-sir... h-how do you know that?"
Amon even knew the dream he had buried deep inside his heart. That was enough to frighten him badly. Koby had always been a timid child, so an encounter like this naturally left him even more shaken.
Amon grinned.
"Good. Then I've got the right person. But with how timid you are now, there's no way you'll ever become a Marine Admiral. Fortunately for you, you ran into me."
As he spoke, Amon took on the air of a mysterious old swindler from a martial arts movie.
"I have some magical jars here. Open them, and you can become stronger immediately. So, what do you say? Do you want power?"
"Sir... you really have something that can make me stronger?"
Koby's voice shook, but there was excitement in it too.
Since childhood, he had been looked down on and bullied because of his appearance. That was why he had long ago made up his mind to become a Marine Admiral. In his eyes, Marine Admirals were the strongest fighting force in the world.
"Of course," Amon said. "As long as you open my jars, you'll definitely grow stronger. Becoming a Marine Admiral won't be impossible."
At this point, Amon no longer cared about anything else. He was shamelessly luring the poor kid in.
Selling the jars came first. Everything else could wait.
"Really?"
Koby still felt a little dazed, like he was half awake inside a dream.
"Of course. Just look at these jars. Every single one of them is a treasure. Not a single empty one among them."
As he spoke, Amon took the jars out from his subspace.
Koby's eyes lit up at first, but after getting a proper look at them, hesitation crept onto his face.
"Th-these ordinary jars?"
Amon chuckled. "Who said they're ordinary jars? These are magical jars. There are all sorts of treasures inside them, things that can make you stronger."
He paused, then struck with a sharper question.
"Or what, you don't want to become stronger? Was all that talk about becoming a Marine Admiral just empty words?"
That question landed straight in Koby's heart.
Koby bit his lip, then nodded firmly.
Seeing that, Amon was very satisfied.
This deal looked secure.
"Then... Sir, how much are these jars?"
"Very cheap," Amon said with a straight face. "Normally, one would cost a million berries. But I think we're fated to meet, so I'll give you a ninety percent discount. Just a hundred thousand berries."
He added casually, "If you really do become a Marine Admiral one day, just don't forget the person who sold you jars in Loguetown."
It was little more than planting a seed of goodwill.
Whether Koby would truly become a Marine Admiral in the future made no difference to Amon. As long as this jar was sold, then he only needed two more to complete the mission.
Koby nodded eagerly.
"Don't worry, Sir. If I really become an Admiral one day, I definitely won't forget your great kindness. But... can the price be a little lower? I don't have that much money on me."
Discounting further was impossible.
The system had already set the minimum at one hundred thousand berries, and there was no chance Amon would make up the difference out of his own pocket.
So he simply gave Koby a useful hint.
"The hundred thousand is already the absolute lowest price. Besides, if you don't have enough on you, then go take it from those pirates."
Koby's eyes widened.
"Can I do that?"
"Of course. I already knocked them out."
Amon nodded. He had no interest in the money on those men anyway. Letting Koby take it was no loss at all.
As long as it helped buy a jar, it was worth it.
"Alright!"
Koby hurried over and began fumbling through the pirates' pockets.
Before long, he pulled out quite a lot of berries from them, and joy immediately appeared on his face.
At the same time, as he looked at those pirates lying unconscious after being silently dealt with by Amon, he slowly realised that Amon was no weak person.
Someone this powerful probably would not bother lying to him.
Besides, the berries had all come from other people's pockets. If Amon were really after money, he would never have done things this way.
With that thought, Koby became even more eager for the jar he was about to open.