Chapter 124: 124. New Market
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"Boom!"
Sengoku suddenly stood up, the chair behind him shattered by the force.
His pupils got smaller violently, countless images flashing through his mind: the humiliation of the Marines being forced to act as enforcers for the World Nobles, 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 Marines no longer need to cater to the World Nobles, when justice can truly be served..." He paused on purpose, "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 drops of sweat came 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 Marines..."
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 Marines' 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 staying at Marine Headquarters for several days, Ron decided to leave.
In the early morning, he stood by the window of the Fleet Admiral's office. Sengoku had his back to him, his voice low: "Are you really not reconsidering staying?"
Ron shook his head, his figure disappearing 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 King," who was supposed to be waiting there, was nowhere to be seen.
"Little King? Where's Little King?"
Ron's pupils suddenly got smaller, and Conqueror's Haki was released suddenly. The surrounding sea instantly caved in, forming a huge vortex.
"This is impossible..." he muttered softly. Under the deterrence of his Haoshoku, Little King 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 shape on the distant sea surface caught his attention.
That outline... vaguely resembled Little King's dorsal fin!
Without a word, Ron used Moonwalk repeatedly under his feet, drawing a purple path 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 shape, the scene before him made him freeze.
He saw Little King carrying a group of Fish-men and mermaids, and standing at the very front was none other than Fish-Man Island's famous fashion designer—the starfish Pappag!
And when Pappag saw Ron, he was first startled, then immediately showed a look of pleasant surprise,
"Ron-sama!" Pappag, wearing his signature sunglasses, waved his short little hands, "I am extremely sorry!"
Little King, seeing its master, excitedly stirred up huge waves and let out joyful whimpers,
"You know me?"
Pappag quickly explained: "We can understand a little bit of the Sea Kings' language. Here's what happened..."
It turned out that Pappag 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 King 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 Pappag, tears of lingering fear still in her eyes.
Ron's anger instantly went away, 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 lovingly against its master's hand.
Pappag took off his sunglasses and bowed seriously: "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, Pappag 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!" Pappag 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 convince King Neptune to let us come ashore to purchase, but we didn't even wait for a single News Coo..."
Pappag 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 Fish-men 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."
Pappag'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 Pappag: "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 Economy Newspaper."
When Pappag took the phone, his short little hands were shaking.
Before Ron could even open his mouth to teach him how to use it, he saw that this starfish had already smoothly 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 shocked: "You... how do you know how to use it?"
Pappag 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 surprise and crowded around, asking Pappag 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!