Chapter 28: Suspicion from the World Government

Morning.

The sun was rising.

"Vivian, it's time to get up for breakfast."

Tashigi stood at Vivian's door, knocking lightly.

Knock knock—!

"Vivian?"

Knock knock knock—!

"Where is he?"

Is he still asleep?

After a while, with no response, she found it strange and decided to enter the room.

As soon as she stepped in, she saw Vivian lying on the bed, shirtless, with his back to her.

His broad, muscular shoulders and well-defined muscles led her eyes down to his barely visible buttocks, making Tashigi's face turn bright red.

"Ah!" With a scream, Tashigi turned and ran out, disappearing quickly.

Vivian: "…"

He couldn't help but twitch his mouth, feeling a bit embarrassed as he sat up and looked at his chest, where a clear bruise had formed.

This was, of course, from Garp's punch a few hours earlier.

Without Armament Haki to protect him, if he hadn't had Tashigi's Shigure with him, he might have lost his life.

Even so, after blocking Garp's punch with the blade, Vivian could feel his chest bone had fractured.

And to top it off, the medical skill he received after completing the task couldn't even heal his own injuries!

What a rip-off.

Skill Name: Infuse with Starlight

From: League of Legends

Description: Soraka's W skill, consumes 10 energy to heal a target's injuries and restore health. (Cannot heal oneself)

How frustrating is that?

At least it doesn't consume his own health to heal others, or Vivian would be spitting blood in anger.

Taking out medicine and bandages from the bedside drawer, Vivian quickly dressed his wounds, put on his uniform, and grabbed Tashigi's Shigure, heading to the deck.

"Hey, Tashigi, here's your sword back."

Handing the sword to Tashigi, he saw her face was still red, and he almost laughed.

Tashigi instinctively took the sword, looking a bit disappointed, "You… don't need my sword?"

"Uh… I'll buy one myself when we get back to Loguetown," Vivian said.

"Buy one yourself?"

Tashigi blinked, "Do you have enough money? A good sword costs millions of Berries, you know."

"It should be enough… I've saved quite a bit in the two years I've been in the Navy," Vivian said.

He had saved quite a bit, but it was less than three million Berries, mostly from eating at the Navy canteen and saving money. The rest he spent on cigarettes.

There wasn't much else to do without a phone, so smoking was his only pastime.

As for why he said he had money to buy a good sword… it was because he had taken all the money from the Celestial Dragon's ship.

In total, it was about 100 million Berries. He gave 90 million to the slaves on the ship to buy their own vessel and escape back home. The remaining 10 million, he pocketed himself, hiding it in his pants and bringing it back to his room overnight.

Taking such a big risk to rescue people and then getting hit by Garp's punch, he had to take some compensation, right?

Vivian was quite considerate. If it were someone else, they might have taken even more money.

"So, are we heading to BBQ Island now?" the helmsman asked from the front.

"Yeah… let's follow the direction recorded on the Eternal Pose for now."

Vivian lit his last cigar, leaning against the edge of the deck, grinning.

…

Two days later.

Marine Headquarters, Marineford.

Wearing frog glasses and with his black beard twisted into a braid, Sengoku sat at the head of the conference table, rubbing his temples in frustration. "I assume you all know what happened the night before last?"

"What happened?"

Garp, lying back in his chair, opened a bag of rice crackers, looking confused at Sengoku.

Sengoku: "…"

Forget it… I shouldn't have asked you.

"Celestial Dragon Saint Jalmack's ship was attacked while passing through the Calm Belt. Most of the guards were killed or injured, and he himself was severely wounded."

"Do we know the reason?" Vice Admiral Tsuru asked from the other end of the table.

"It seems to be a slave revolt," Sengoku said, taking some documents from his assistant. "According to the surviving guards and Saint Jalmack himself, the ship's hold mysteriously caught fire. While the guards were putting out the fire, the slaves, who were supposed to be in the cells, suddenly appeared in the corridor with weapons and attacked them."

"Then, a Fishman slave tore off his collar and severely injured Saint Jalmack and several of his bodyguards with an explosion."

"So, it's just a simple slave revolt? Why did the government hand this over to us? Couldn't CP9 handle capturing the slaves?" An Officer asked.

After all, helping the Celestial Dragons capture slaves seemed a bit excessive for the Navy.

"Because… this was found at the scene." Sengoku said, throwing a plastic bag onto the table.

The officers leaned in to take a closer look.

"A flintlock bullet?"

"No… it looks modified," Tsuru squinted.

"Indeed, it's modified, more powerful than regular bullets."

Sengoku nodded. "Because of this, the World Government's intelligence agency suspects there might be a third party involved."

"CP0?"

"They're suspecting us, the Navy…"

Hearing this, everyone started to ponder.

"And apparently, there was a Navy warship near the Calm Belt at that time?"

Pushing his glasses up his nose and crossing his arms, Sengoku continued with a serious expression.