"Boom!"
Sengoku suddenly stood up, the chair behind him shattered by the force.
His pupils contracted violently, countless images flashing through his mind: the humiliation of the Marine being forced to act as enforcers for the Celestial Dragons, the helplessness of having to let certain parasitic scum go, the soldiers' worn-out uniforms when military funds were short...
Garp's fists clenched, cracking: "Ron... you bastard..."
"Think about it," Ron continued to press, "when the Marine no longer needs to cater to the Celestial Dragons, when justice can truly be served..." He paused deliberately, "And even... attack Mary Geoise, and take those guys' ill-gotten gains..."
These words were like a heavy hammer, striking Sengoku's heart fiercely. His breathing became heavy, and fine beads of sweat seeped from his forehead. The balance he had maintained for years cracked at this moment.
"You planned this long ago, didn't you?" Sengoku's voice was hoarse, "From the moment you started making phones... no, from the day you left the Marine..."
Ron smiled but did not answer, merely downing the wine in his glass. The side of the glass reflected Garp's shocked expression and the burning ambition in Sengoku's eyes.
Outside the window, the faint sound of the Marine's morning training slogans drifted in.
And in this office, an idea capable of overturning the world's order was quietly taking shape among three old friends.
...
After lingering at Marineford for several days, Ron decided to leave.
In the early morning, he stood by the window of the Marshal's office. Sengoku had his back to him, his voice low: "Are you really not reconsidering staying?"
Ron shook his head, his figure dissipating into the night like mist, unnoticed by even the on-duty sentries.
However, when he arrived at the agreed-upon coast, he found that the Sea King, "Little Wang," who was supposed to be waiting there, was nowhere to be seen.
"Little Wang? Where's Little Wang?"
Ron's pupils suddenly contracted, and Conqueror's Haki was released abruptly. The surrounding sea instantly caved in, forming a huge vortex.
"This is impossible..." he murmured softly. Under the deterrence of his Haoshoku, Little Wang absolutely could not have left on its own.
Unless...
A few terrible thoughts flashed through his mind:
Was it stolen?
Or was it captured and roasted by some short-sighted Pirate crew?
Ron frowned. That was his mount that had accompanied him for so long, his good friend, just captured like that?
Just then,
A blurry black silhouette on the distant sea surface caught his attention.
That outline... vaguely resembled Little Wang's dorsal fin!
Without a word, Ron used Moonwalk repeatedly under his feet, drawing a purple trajectory in the air as he sped away.
"I'd like to see who dares to touch my mount!" His eyes flickered with a dangerous light.
As Ron approached the black silhouette, the scene before him made him freeze.
He saw Little Wang carrying a group of Fishmen and mermaids, and standing at the very front was none other than Fish-Man Island's famous fashion designer—the starfish Papag!
And when Papag saw Ron, he was first startled, then immediately showed a look of pleasant surprise,
"Ron-sama!" Papag, wearing his signature sunglasses, waved his short little hands, "I am extremely sorry!"
Little Wang, seeing its master, excitedly stirred up huge waves and let out joyful whimpers,
"You know me?"
Papag quickly explained: "We can understand a little bit of the Sea Kings' language. Here's what happened..."
It turned out that Papag had brought Camie and other Fish-Man Island residents to the Sabaody Archipelago for a visit, but they were unfortunately targeted by a group of slave traders.
Just at the critical moment, Little Wang suddenly appeared and overturned the slave traders' ship with a single flick of its tail.
"If it weren't for your mount saving us, we would have been sent to the auction house long ago!" Camie peeked out from behind Papag, tears of lingering fear still in her eyes.
Ron's anger instantly dissipated, and he regained his calm. He gently stroked Little Wang's head: "So that's it... You did well." The Sea King let out a pleasant low growl, rubbing affectionately against its master's hand.
Papag took off his sunglasses and bowed solemnly: "We were just about to send it back, we didn't expect you to come looking for it yourself. Thank you again for your mount saving us."
Ron waved his hand: "It was nothing."
Afterwards, Papag sighed, spreading his short little hands helplessly: "We're preparing to return to Fish-Man Island, the land is really too dangerous." He adjusted his sunglasses, his tone full of regret: "It's just a pity, we couldn't buy the legendary phone... such a shame."
Ron raised an eyebrow, a little surprised. He hadn't expected this was their purpose for coming to land: "You want to buy phones?"
"Yes!" Papag suddenly became excited, gesturing wildly: "After seeing the phone at Boss Jinbe's place last time, I couldn't forget it!" His small eyes sparkled with longing, "That hard screen, those amazing functions... I dream of owning one!"
Camie also leaned over and added: "We finally managed to persuade King Neptune to let us come ashore to purchase, but we didn't even wait for a single News Bird..."
Papag slapped his forehead in frustration: "We originally wanted to try our luck at the Sabaody Archipelago, but then we ran into those damn slave traders..." As he spoke, he glanced fearfully at the restless sea surface in the distance.
Hearing this,
A muffled thunder suddenly exploded in Ron's mind. He realized he had made a huge mistake!
Fish-Man Island!
That's a huge market with millions of Fishmen and mermaids!
Not to mention the countless underwater races in the vast Sea!
"Cough, cough..." Ron lowered his voice, pretending to be mysterious, "Actually... I know a phone distributor."
Papag's sunglasses "plop" slid down to the tip of his nose: "R-really?!"
Ron took out a new phone from his pocket and gave it to Papag: "Here, take this extra phone, and also..." He handed over a gilded business card, "This is the contact information for Morgans, the president of the World Economic News Agency."
When Papag took the phone, his short little hands were trembling.
Before Ron could even open his mouth to teach him how to use it, he saw that this starfish had already fluidly completed a series of operations like turning it on, registering an account, and watching videos, and had even started taking selfies of himself!
Ron was dumbfounded: "You... how do you know how to use it?"
Papag didn't even lift his head, skillfully swiping the screen: "I've operated it countless times in my dreams!" He excitedly showed it to Camie, "Look! This is the account I just registered, 'Underwater First Designer'!"
Camie and the other mermaids let out gasps of astonishment and crowded around, asking Papag to teach them how to use it.
Ron watched this scene, the corner of his mouth slightly turned up. He could already foresee that it wouldn't be long before a phone craze swept through Fish-Man Island!
In a short time, the number of phone users would definitely skyrocket!
...
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