So even though it was just wine sales, given how this incident had swept across the sea, the Marines took it seriously.
Even the current Fleet Admiral felt the same.
At this moment, inside the Marines' office, Fleet Admiral Sengoku stared gravely at the bottle of green grape wine bought from the West Blue while muttering: "This is ridiculous... It's just a bottle of wine produced in the West Blue, so why is it so expensive?"
Even the black market's price was already high enough to place a bounty on a fairly powerful pirate.
No matter how he looked at it, he still couldn't understand why.
This bottle didn't look special at all.
Before, the wine sold well only because of Zephyr and Garp, those two old men, right?
But now... Zephyr had left the Marine Headquarters, so why had the price gone even higher?
This really left him at a loss.
After thinking for a while, Sengoku sighed and said, "Fine. Maybe it tastes good? Let me try it first, then! Come to think of it, when those two old men, Garp and Zephyr, were selling it, I never had a drink."
After saying this, he muttered unhappily: "Those two old guys, all this time, and they never brought me a bottle? Now I even have to spend this much money myself!"
Unfortunately, during this period, he had to set an example and be cautious.
Otherwise, after leading an anti-corruption campaign, if the Fleet Admiral himself turned around and used public funds to buy wine, what would that look like?
But looking at the bottle and remembering the money he spent, Sengoku's heart still ached.
In the end, he gritted his teeth and took out a delicate wine glass from the drawer.
Without hesitation, he opened the bottle. But just as he was about to pour…
"Hahahaha! Sengoku, you bastard, you're secretly drinking without me!"
A familiar voice echoed.
Sengoku's face changed, and he tried to hide the bottle, but it was too late.
A black shadow pounced in and snatched the wine from his hands.
"Green grape wine?"
Garp looked at the bottle in his hand, stunned for a moment. Then he grinned happily. "You buy this wine? It's been so long since I drank it!"
"Wait, wait, wait! That's the wine I bought with my own money! I haven't even tasted it yet, give it back!"
"Relax, relax. What's yours is mine. Half for me, half for you!"
Garp ignored Sengoku's panic entirely.
After saying this, he directly put the bottle to his lips and chugged it.
Seeing Garp drink like a whale, Sengoku's heart aches painfully.
He hadn't even taken a sip yet!
And now Garp had gulped down more than half the bottle!
Just as Sengoku reached out to snatch it back, Garp seemed to have drunk enough and lowered the bottle.
However, his eyes narrowed in suspicion as he stared at the wine.
This made Sengoku, hand half-extended, freeze. "What is it?"
Before Sengoku even finished the question, Garp suddenly turned, his expression extremely serious as he glared at Sengoku. "Sengoku, did you buy fake wine?"
Sengoku: "...?"
Fake wine? What fake wine?!
This was something he paid a high price for, brought from the Sibia Village!
Accusing him of buying fake wine just to steal his drink?!
"Fake wine? I think you're trying to steal or scam my wine!"
"Aiya, why won't you believe me?"
Hearing Sengoku's words and seeing Sengoku coldly snatch the wine back, Garp scratched his head. "I've drunk this wine many times, and it never tasted like this!"
"Never tasted like this?"
Hearing Garp say this again, Sengoku also frowned as he looked at the half-bottle left in his hand.
For a moment, he wasn't sure whether this old bastard was lying to him or not.
After all, Garp did make a fair point; he indeed had drunk a lot of this wine.
And recently, he'd heard that because this brand of wine had stopped production, lots of fake wines appeared across the sea, and if one wasn't careful, they might buy fake ones.
That was also why he specifically sent someone to buy it from the Sibia River Archipelago; he was worried about getting fake wine.
Sengoku looked at Garp suspiciously. "You didn't drink too fast and failed to taste it properly, right? This was specially bought for me from the Sibia River Archipelago."
"Bought from the Sibia River Archipelago?"
Garp froze, then his expression grew serious. "You're right, maybe I drank too fast earlier. Why not let me taste it again?"
Sengoku: "..."
Sengoku's face instantly darkened. He had been suspicious earlier, but now he was sure.
This old fool was indeed here to scam his wine!
He almost believed his nonsense!
Sengoku pointed to the door. "Get out!"
"Aiya, aiya, what's wrong with you? I was only worried you bought fake wine!"
"Get out!"
"Fine, fine! I'll go!"
Being pushed to the door by Sengoku, Garp snorted. "As if I even want your wine! I've had enough of it already!"
After saying that, he swung his arm angrily and swaggered out of the room while humming his weird tune.
But after only a few steps, he scratched his head in confusion and muttered: "Drank too fast to taste it?"
He smacked his lips. "No, this taste really is a bit off!"
...
Meanwhile, after driving Garp out, Sengoku finally had peace to taste the wine he hadn't even taken a sip of yet, and which was already down to half a bottle.
After carefully wiping the bottle mouth, he sighed and poured himself a full, elegant glass.
A full glass!
Sitting in the Fleet Admiral's office chair, Sengoku swirled the wine silently, then raised it to his lips.
After a small sip, he frowned, smacked his lips, then raised the cup again and downed the rest in one go.
He looked at the wine glass in surprise. "The taste... It's fine!"
But the flavor wasn't nearly as exaggerated as rumored. Why was its price skyrocketing? The sea wasn't lacking in wine; there were countless kinds from every sea.
Sengoku pondered: "Looks like this is still the influence of Garp and Zephyr."
This was also why he decided to reduce or even erase Zephyr's influence within the Marines.
He had no choice; those two had too much influence.