In the end...
Garp still couldn't bring himself to be ruthless and follow Sean's suggestion.
Faced with this, Sean could only let out a soft sigh.
After all, Garp was the one who had rescued him from that deserted island; he was willing to help the old man where he could.
However, he had done what he needed to do and said what needed to be said.
As for the rest...
He would leave it to fate.
If Luffy still chose to become a pirate in the future, Sean would no longer worry about saving Garp's face. He would arrest him if necessary. And if the boy did something truly egregious, then even if he ended up killed, it would simply be a case of reaping what he sowed.
'''
The next day.
Sean had the Tokaf Construction Company arrange a ship to send Luffy back to Foosha Village.
Regardless, the waters outside the 16th Branch were currently crowded with the ships used by the construction crews.
Mansour naturally didn't refuse Sean's request and agreed quite readily. After all, Sean was the company's biggest financial benefactor, and Mansour viewed this project at the 16th Branch as the symbol of Tokaf's complete rise in the East Blue.
At the docks, Ace and Makino came to see him off.
"Luffy, have you really decided?"
"Yeah! I'm definitely going to become the Pirate King! That's my promise to Shanks!"
"You... 'sigh'. Then from now on, once we're out on the sea, we'll be enemies!"
Ace sighed softly. His stupid little brother...
At the same time, Ace made a decision. If Luffy truly set sail as a pirate, Ace would make sure to be the first one to catch him.
The reason was simple: if Ace caught him, he could send him to Impel Down—or better yet, keep him locked up within a Marine branch. But if he ran into other Marines, the result might be far more permanent.
"Luffy, since you're going back alone this time, remember to eat properly every day, okay?" Makino added.
Back in Foosha Village, she had spent most of her time preparing Luffy's meals. Now that she was gone, there would be no one to look after him.
"Don't worry! I can hunt or catch fish on my own!"
"Alright. If you have any trouble, remember to ask Mayor Slap for help."
"Got it! I'm off then! Ace, I'll see you on the sea in three years!"
Ten minutes later, as the ship carrying Luffy faded into the distance, Sean appeared on the pier.
"Makino, I originally thought you would go with him. I heard that you were the one who raised him from a young age."
"If I left, who would make seafood risotto for you every day?"
Sean froze for a moment.
To be honest, he had been prepared for Makino to leave with Luffy. He just hadn't expected her reason for staying to be 'that'.
Still, he had to admit, it was a very compelling reason.
As he watched Makino turn and walk away, a small smile played on Sean's lips.
However...
"If I left, who would make seafood risotto for you every day?"
The exact same words echoed behind him. Only this time, the tone was unmistakably sarcastic.
"Ain, is recruit training that boring? Why are you always around?"
"Hmph. Captain Sanders asked me to tell you that the effects of that Sea King jerky are incredible. He thinks if the recruits are given some, their training efficiency could increase tenfold."
"No. My supply is very limited. Until I can confirm that the recruits' values are correct and they've actually passed the final assessment to stay, I'm not giving them any quotas!" Sean shook his head in immediate refusal.
Right now, he couldn't be sure if there were any bad actors among the new recruits, nor could he guarantee that all of them would pass the evaluation. Giving them the Sea King jerky now was simply inappropriate.
Seeing Sean's refusal, Ain didn't push further. Sanders and the others had already discussed it and agreed that such a miraculously effective jerky couldn't possibly be available in unlimited quantities. Ain had only come to ask as a trial; she hadn't expected a definite "yes."
Thus, Sean's reaction was within her expectations.
Of course, she didn't know that if Sean wanted to, he could produce an endless supply of this—or even higher-grade—Sea King meat. After all, the previous batch had a 68-fold yield.
Furthermore, if he hunted a higher-level Sea King—perhaps one eight hundred or even a thousand meters long—and paired it with a hundred-fold yield, the effects would be far stronger than the current batch.
However, Ain had reminded Sean of one thing: obtaining another batch of high-quality Sea King meat would likely take nearly a month for a round trip. Moreover, the yield multipliers weren't always that high, so the process could take even longer.
If he wanted to maintain a steady supply, he needed to start preparing in advance. Otherwise, by the time he ran out, it would be too late.
'''
The following day.
Of the five combat squads currently at the 16th Branch, Sean took four of them with him. As for the security of the base, he left Kaku and Jabra in charge, along with the remaining squad.
Additionally, Sean brought Makino along for the trip to the Calm Belt.
This caused an absolute uproar among the remaining Marines and recruits at the branch, who spent the morning wailing in jealousy.
The four Marine squads totaled 80 men. Two squads were assigned to a medium-sized warship each, while the other two manned a large warship. This was the bare minimum crew required to navigate the vessels.
But that didn't matter. They were going to hunt Sea Kings, not fight a war.
The reason he brought three ships—including the large one—was to avoid the problem he had last time, where he had to discard most of the meat because he lacked the transport capacity.
What a waste!
"Sean, where are we going?"
"To the Calm Belt!"
"Oh, the place you mentioned that has those Sea Kings?"
"Exactly. You seemed interested before, so I thought I'd take you to see it. Besides, once we catch a Sea King, we can have a feast thanks to your cooking, right?"
Sean nodded.
Returning to the 16th Branch took many days, making it impossible to bring back fresh meat. He would have to do as he did before: process everything into jerky for storage.
Hearing this, Makino felt a spark of excitement. She had heard many stories about the great ocean from Shanks, and even more from Sean, but she had never actually seen it for herself.
Now, she would finally get to see the Sea Kings that Sean described—monsters that reached hundreds of meters in length.
A week later, the three warships officially left the East Blue and entered the Calm Belt.
Chapter: The Hunt in the Calm Belt
Of course, they needed to push further in. Sea Kings were rare on the outskirts of the Calm Belt, and even when they did appear, most of them were small fry.
While Sean could use his system to multiply his rewards, it stood to reason that the larger the base value, the greater the final gain.
And so, Sean had made his decision.
He would hunt a Sea King at least three hundred meters in length. If a target didn't meet his criteria, he would simply knock it unconscious and... let it go!
The fleet sailed deeper into the Calm Belt for another day. Eventually, on Sean's orders, the Seastone plating was removed from the hulls of the three warships.
Now... all that was left was to wait.
To wait for a Sea King to take the bait!