"If it weren't for you—"
Vegapunk glared furiously at Borsalino for ruining his deal, but before he could finish…
"One billion Belly. I'll buy it."
Ian directly interrupted the two of them, and seeing the doubtful stares from both, he continued: "I'm not joking. And I also have a seven billion belly business deal that I want to make with Mr. Vegapunk as well!"
"Seven billion belly?"
Vegapunk's eyes immediately lit up. "What business?"
"I want you to build a ship for me."
"A ship?"
"I'll remind you."
Borsalino continued swinging his legs leisurely while speaking with that strange mouth of his: "Building Marines warships or pirate ships privately is illegal!"
"It's not a Marine's warship or a pirate ship, just a merchant ship. I have a legal sea-trade license issued by the 315th Branch."
Ian didn't care at all about Borsalino's words. He smiled and said, "Asking someone to build a slightly smaller and sturdier merchant ship is perfectly normal, right?"
"Just slightly smaller and sturdier?"
Hearing that, Vegapunk folded his arms and frowned: "Any proper shipwright could build that. And you want to spend seven billion belly?"
"Of course, there are some big requirements!"
"I knew it. A seven billion belly order wouldn't be that simple."
Vegapunk spoke with interest while looking at Ian. "Go on, what other requirements do you have? But let me tell you first, if it's troublesome, I won't do it!"
"No need to worry. It's really just a simple requirement."
Ian nodded and continued: "I want the ship to be able to be powered by my Devil Fruit ability, able to conduct underwater trade, have strong propulsion, much more convenient, and less dangerous!"
"Your Devil Fruit ability is the... Light-Light Fruit, right?"
Vegapunk blinked, then nodded seriously. "It truly is a good idea."
Sticking out his tongue with a smile, he said, "I'll take this order. Don't worry. I'll make sure you find that seven billion belly well spent."
"That settles it then. Later, I'll have someone transfer the money to—"
"Transfer it to this account; this is my personal underworld bank account."
Before Ian could finish, Vegapunk raised his voice. "Remember, don't use Punk Hazard's official accounts. And hey, kid... If there are deals like this in the future, contact me secretly. If you have personal requests, as long as nobody finds out, I can fulfill them. But now that an Admiral is staring at us, how could I dare act recklessly?"
"Hey, hey, hey! I'm right here!"
Borsalino massaged his forehead helplessly. "I'm not trying to make things difficult for you, Dr. Vegapunk!"
But the two simply ignored Borsalino's complaints.
Ian looked at Vegapunk with a strange expression. "Alright, I know."
This old guy... is also pretty honest!
"Then it's settled. Here, take it!"
Vegapunk shoved the Devil Fruit into Ian's hands while laughing. "One billion Belly. Don't forget to send it soon!"
Ian: "..."
Ian stayed silent for a moment as he looked at the Devil Fruit being pushed toward him. Without saying anything else, he turned toward Ain, who looked conflicted, and handed the Devil Fruit to her.
"Ian, you..."
"Take it. Maybe this Devil Fruit suits you more. Just treat it as my gift in return for the weapon you gave me."
"Mmm…"
Hearing Ian say that, Ain no longer hesitated. With an awkward, helpless smile, she said: "Thanks!"
"No need to thank him."
Vegapunk stood behind them with hands clasped behind his back, confused. "Wasn't that Devil Fruit originally yours? It's just like he spends one billion Belly to craft a weapon, while you get back your own Devil Fruit!"
Ain: "Shut up!"
Ian: "Shut up!!"
Vegapunk: "..."
What on earth were these two doing?
"Hehehe."
Still swinging his legs without regard for the stunned Vegapunk, Borsalino whistled lazily. "So youthful!"
Then, as if suddenly remembering something: "Wait. No, that's not right."
He stared at Ian with a strange expression. "I remember hearing at Marine Headquarters that you already had a family. That you didn't agree to the recruitment from Marine Headquarters because of your family. So that means you—"
"That's not the point!"
Ian waved his hand and cut him off, showing a bright smile under the moonlight as he looked at Ain. "When will the ship arrive at Punk Hazard?"
"Around tomorrow morning. Why?"
"Nothing, so it's tomorrow, huh?"
Ian looked toward the direction where the warship was sailing, his gaze flickering slightly as he muttered, "I wonder how things are going now?"
While Ian was still curious about the situation in Dressrosa…
Tonight, Dressrosa was destined to be sleepless.
No, not just Dressrosa. Because of his intelligence, even Marine Headquarters fell into chaos that very night.
…
Inside the large meeting room at the Marine Headquarters.
At this moment, all marines ranked Rear-Admiral and above who were stationed at Marine Headquarters had been urgently summoned.
Fleet Admiral Sengoku sat with his hands clasped under his chin while looking sternly at the people before him.
With a low voice, he said: "Speak. What should we do now?"
The moment those words fell, the silence in the room was shattered, and all the marine officers began discussing with serious expressions.
Even one of the current three admirals, Sakazuki, showed no respect for the Fleet Admiral and glared directly at Sengoku. "I already told you, we must bring that old guy back immediately. Because you hesitated before, now that old guy is causing a huge mess again."
"Calm down, Sakazuki. That isn't what Sengoku meant."
Tsuru, sitting beside Sengoku, looked at Sakazuki with a helpless expression. "And Zephyr may not be wrong with the report."
After saying this, she glanced around at the marine officers present, then her tone became stern. "The report said that Dressrosa has been completely sealed off. No person, no news, not even birds, can enter or leave Dressrosa now. Based on my analysis, the one sealing the Dressrosa should be Doflamingo."
If there was nothing wrong, then why did that sea rogue seal off Dressrosa so shortly after Zephyr submitted the report?
"He's probably trying to prevent information about what's happening inside from leaking out."
"No one and no information can leave or enter?"
Sengoku's expression grew grave. "Does that mean even Den Den Mushi calls can't get through?"
"It can't, and it's possible they can't call out either."
Tsuru shook her head helplessly, then, after a moment of hesitation, she said to Sengoku, "Perhaps you should try calling Zephyr again. Maybe we can get more information."