"A grandson?"
Lucas rolled his eyes.
During the voyage here, he’d heard Garp say those exact words no fewer than a hundred times.
It seemed the seas didn’t just have Whitebeard, who loved taking in sons.
The Marines also had the Hero of the Marines, Garp, who was obsessed with adopting grandsons.
"Mastery of all three forms of Haki... and monstrous talent in physical combat." Sengoku finally recovered from his shock. "It seems fortune truly favors Marine Headquarters."
Looking at the "field of corpses" sprawled across the plaza, he knew he would have flown into a rage if anyone else had been responsible.
Yet somehow...
He couldn’t help feeling rather pleased.
Originally, Sengoku had worried that Lucas’s appointment as the Marines’ Fourth Admiral would be difficult for everyone to accept.
But now, Lucas had demonstrated not only extraordinary mastery of the Six Powers and high-level Armament Haki—
He had also awakened the incredibly rare Conqueror’s Haki.
Even the current Three Admirals didn’t possess the qualities of a true conqueror.
Winning everyone’s recognition should no longer be a problem.
"Akainu," Sengoku said, glancing over at him. "You don’t have any further objections, do you?"
Akainu merely snorted and remained silent.
Seeing that, Sengoku secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
"Good. Garp, stop fooling around."
"I’ll report Lucas’s nomination as Admiral to the Five Elders as soon as possible. There shouldn’t be any issues."
"As for military achievements..." Sengoku continued, turning back to Lucas. "I happen to have a special mission for you."
"A mission?"
Lucas blinked.
He hadn’t even put on the Admiral’s justice coat yet, and he was already being assigned work.
As expected of Sengoku.
The Fleet Admiral really knew how to throw people straight into the deep end.
"What?" Sengoku raised an eyebrow with a laugh. "Don’t want it?"
"No, Fleet Admiral."
Lucas adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses.
"I was just wondering..."
"Does this special mission come with a bonus?"
The moment those words left his mouth, everyone’s faces twitched.
Who became an officer at Marine Headquarters for the salary?
What truly mattered was military merit.
A special assignment like this was the perfect opportunity to build one’s record.
Anyone else would have been thrilled.
"You really can’t stop thinking about money, can you?" Sengoku glared at him in exasperation before finally waving his hand helplessly.
"Fine. Don’t worry. This mission comes with a bonus equal to one-tenth of your monthly salary."
"Consider it a little welcome gift from Marine Headquarters for your appointment."
"As for anything beyond that, don’t even think about it."
"You and Akainu just finished tearing the place apart. I’m already getting a headache figuring out where to find the funds to repair Headquarters."
"Otherwise, the next time you come back, you won’t even have an office to sit in."
Seeing Sengoku looking as though he was about to blow a fuse, Lucas wisely decided not to push his luck.
One-tenth of an Admiral’s monthly salary...
That was at least 500,000 Berries.
Half a Silver Treasure Chest.
Just asking one extra question had earned him an unexpected windfall.
That was more than satisfactory.
Of course, Lucas had considered hunting down high-bounty pirates to build up his capital more quickly.
Unfortunately, after a year of testing, he had already confirmed that his system was a 9-to-5 Check-In System, not a pay-to-win system.
Only salaries and bonuses earned through official check-ins counted as System Currency.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have spent an entire year just to complete the One Million Salary Achievement.
"Hahaha!"
"Lucas, Sengoku’s right."
Garp laughed as he changed the subject.
"Repairing Headquarters will cost at least several hundred million Berries. You should know when to quit while you’re ahead."
"But Sengoku..."
"What’s this special mission?"
The surrounding Marine officers also became curious.
What kind of assignment required the newly appointed Admiral to handle personally?
"Not long ago," Sengoku began, pulling out a prepared mission file, "the Straw Hat Pirates defeated one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, Crocodile, in Alabasta."
"To preserve the World Government’s authority, we’ve officially announced that Smoker from Loguetown and Marine Headquarters Captain Tashigi were responsible for defeating him."
"However, I’m concerned someone may try to attack the transport ship along the way."
"So I want you to personally escort Crocodile to Impel Down."
Escort Crocodile?
Lucas was genuinely surprised.
He had expected something far more troublesome.
Apparently, he had been overthinking things.
Ever since Red-Haired Shanks became one of the Four Emperors six years ago, creating the balance of power in the New World, large-scale conflicts across the seas had become increasingly rare.
Had Luffy not defeated Crocodile...
Major incidents on the seas would have been almost nonexistent.
"What is it?" Sengoku asked. "Do you have another question?"
Coming back to his senses, Lucas shook his head.
"No, Fleet Admiral."
"I was just surprised the mission is so simple."
"Now I almost feel guilty accepting that bonus."
"Hahaha!"
"You don’t need to."
Sengoku laughed heartily.
"This is only the beginning."
"I actually have another assignment waiting for you."
"We just don’t have reliable intelligence yet."
"When the time comes, you’ll probably have to venture straight into the tiger’s den."
"By then, you’ll think this bonus wasn’t nearly enough."
Lucas could only sigh helplessly.
The old fox really had everything planned out.
Just then, watching Akainu preparing to leave, he suddenly remembered something important.
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku."
"I remember an Admiral’s starting monthly salary is five million Berries."
"Future raises depend on military achievements and strength evaluations."
"So..."
"I just sent an Admiral flying."
"Does that qualify me for a raise?"
Everyone froze.
Several meters away, Akainu nearly stumbled flat on his face.
What had started as an ordinary evaluation match...
Had somehow become the greatest stain on his career.
Sending an Admiral flying was the sort of feat anyone else would brag about for the rest of their life.
Yet in Lucas’s mouth...
It had become nothing more than an excuse to negotiate higher pay.
The prestige of the accomplishment had completely vanished.
The more Akainu thought about it, the more violently his shoulders trembled.
The magma within him erupted once again.
"Lucas!!"
"You little brat!"
"My dignity isn’t even worth a few lousy Berries to you?!"
"Come on!"
"Let me teach you how to respect your seniors!"
"Name the place!"
"I’ll duel you with my honor on the line!"
Towering magma burst into the sky like an erupting volcano.
Watching Akainu completely lose his temper, everyone present silently prayed...
Please don’t let Lucas ask how much his salary would increase if he won again.
Instead, Lucas glanced at the time.
"I’ve been on duty for an hour."
"It’s time for my bathroom break."
"If there’s nothing else..."
"I’ll be going."