bookbashuk Chapter 50 What are you good for?!
Chapter 50 What are you good for?!
"Take good care of yourself."
T. Peng took two steps forward, patted Yelena's head through her hood, and looked at her with concern.
No matter how powerful the other person is, he's just a teenager.
"Don't worry, I value my life more than anyone else."
Yelena awkwardly twisted her neck and took two steps back.
"By the way, speaking of making money, when are you going to settle the more than 200 million Berries you owe me? You're leaving tomorrow, who am I supposed to ask for it then?"
"I'll apply right away. You can come to the branch to pick it up in about a week."
T. Peng En smiled, withdrew his hand, and turned to walk towards his office.
Unfortunately, his smile didn't last long, and his expression quickly returned to its stiff state.
T. Penn sat ramrod straight at his desk, listening obediently to the scolding voice coming from the Den Den Mushi.
"What?! Two hundred and thirty million Berries! T. Penn, you do the math yourself. In the year you've been in the North Sea, how many times have you asked Marineford for money?!"
"I'll let bygones be bygones for now. If I remember correctly, the entire White Bear Pirates' bounty combined is about this much, right? Don't tell me all the pirates were captured by that bounty hunter!"
T. Peng wiped the cold sweat from his face, and even though he knew the other person couldn't see him, he still nodded subconsciously, "Yes."
He then shook his head, "Fifteen million of them were bounties from pirates that the black-robed hunters captured on a whim, not from the White Bear Pirates."
"What's the difference?! What are you good for?! I sent you to the North Blue to deal with the White Bear Pirates, and now you're telling me all the credit goes to outsiders, and you, a colonel, haven't done anything?"
A hearty laugh suddenly came from the other end of the Den Den Mushi:
"Hahaha! Don't be angry, Sengoku. It's only 200 million Berries. Headquarters doesn't lack that kind of money."
"If all else fails, I'll contribute my snacks from next year to help offset some of it."
"Shut up, Garp! Do I care about money? If pirates are all caught by bounty hunters, what will become of the Navy's reputation?!"
T. Penn couldn't help but mutter, "The result is good. The criminals were defeated, naval casualties were reduced, and we only paid a few Pelés."
"What did you say?!"
"Ahem... It's nothing. By the way, Fleet Admiral Sengoku, regarding the matter I reported to you before, concerning the Shichibukai Donquixote Doflamingo's alleged involvement in human trafficking, what are the results?"
"I have already sent people to Dressrosa, but don't get your hopes up too high; they will definitely clear up the evidence on their own initiative."
Garp interjected again, "What evidence do we need? Since we know it was that guy who did it, why not just go to his place, beat him up, and bring him back?"
"Shut up, Garp! Those are the Seven Warlords of the Sea; they won't allow us to act recklessly!"
After reprimanding his old comrade-in-arms, Sengoku turned to his subordinate far away in the North Sea and instructed him: "You must escort the White Bear to Impel Down as soon as possible and return to headquarters to report! Also..."
After a moment of silence, he continued, "Once you return to the Grand Line, don't focus all your energy on investigating the slave trade. We are the Navy; our primary duty is to capture pirates!"
"..."
T. Penn fell silent. What did he mean by not putting all his energy into investigating the slave trade?
Pirates are certainly enemies of justice, but aren't slave traders also heinous criminals?
"T. Penn?"
"Marshal of the Warring States Period, may I know why?"
"No! That's an order!"
Garp interrupted for the third time, "Don't blame Sengoku either. He was protecting you when you found out about those scum..."
"Shut up, Garp! T. Penn, will you obey my orders?"
"...Yes, ma'am."
T. Penn stared blankly at the wall opposite his desk, where the naval flag hung, its pattern of seagulls and scales clearly visible.
Seagulls symbolize the protection of the ocean, while Libra represents "absolute justice".
What is his sense of justice?
Meanwhile, Yelena left the naval branch and walked along the road into the town.
"It's the black-robed hunter!"
"Quick, hide!"
On the street, many people were strolling around, chatting with acquaintances, when suddenly they noticed a dark figure approaching.
The crowd was horrified and cried out as they hid inside the shop behind them, cautiously peeking through the windows.
Seeing that the dark figure did not linger on the street, the crowd finally breathed a sigh of relief and slowly walked out.
"Dad, who is that? Everyone's afraid of him. He looks so fierce!"
A little girl was grabbing her elder's arm and shaking it vigorously.
"Shh! Keep your voice down. Remember, if you ever see that person again, stay far away and never get close!"
Yelena shook her head slightly, already used to what was happening behind her.
Before she became famous, people thought she was mysterious and seemed unapproachable.
As she hunted down more and more pirates, her reputation spread throughout the North Blue, and she became a villain feared by all.
In the eyes of ordinary people, bounty hunters have a better reputation than notorious pirates, but only a slightly better one.
Nobody wants to associate with guys who trade other people's lives for money.
Unless there is a conflict of interest.
"Dear valued customer, it's been a very, very long time since you've sold stolen goods at our shop!"
Yelena walked into the weapons shop, and the owner, who had been dozing off, suddenly perked up and almost jumped to her side.
"Let me see, where are the guns and swords you brought this time... uh, what happened to them?"
The owner looked left and right, even running to the store entrance to peek around, but found nothing.
Did this person come empty-handed?
The smile on the boss's face gradually disappeared.
Life is tough.
His family runs a weapons shop, and most of their customers are pirates and gangsters.
Ever since the black-robed hunter appeared on Notis Island, the shop's business has been declining day by day.
The Black-Robed Hunter's reputation grew ever stronger, and pirates in the nearby waters either died or fled. Even the underworld brothers were terrified and dared not show their faces.
The biggest business he can do right now is to buy weapons at low prices and sell them in remote waters.
After all, they can't find a market locally.
The person in front of us is the culprit behind the store's drastic decline in business, and also a supplier for the weapons recycling business.
Few bounty hunters can wipe out an entire pirate crew and seize a large number of intact weapons like she can.
The other party hadn't visited for two months, and today, surprisingly, they didn't bring a large bag of weapons as before.
The boss's tears began to well up.
Does this mean they can't even do business recycling second-hand weapons anymore?
Yelena nodded in agreement, "I didn't bring it this time, I'll bring it next time."
There might not be a next time.
The battlefield of Spider Miles was cleaned up by the Navy, and the swords and guns also went to them.
Nowadays, Yelena no longer cares about those small benefits.
She's eating meat, but she'll at least let those errand-running sailors have some soup too.
Yelena took out her sword from under her cloak. "How much will it cost to forge four identical swords based on this design, and how long will it take to pick them up?"