Watching the five of them awaken the Haki they had struggled to cultivate for years in less than three minutes...
Who wouldn’t want to be pinned to the deck for that?
If Lucas asked for volunteers right now, even Crocodile—one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea—would probably nod without hesitation.
For a moment, silence fell across the deck.
The five Marines had awakened Haki in only a few minutes.
Compared to that, nearly being crushed to death moments ago hardly seemed worth mentioning.
"Admiral Lucas... is this really Haki?"
Ain finally snapped out of her daze, her face still filled with disbelief.
Koby, Smoker, and the others were no different.
They had indeed wandered to death’s doorstep in a haze.
Yet in less than three minutes...
They had awakened the Haki they had trained so hard to obtain.
The result felt almost like a dream.
"It’s still pretty weak, but yes—it barely qualifies as Haki."
Lucas adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses.
"That’s the good news."
"Now for the bad news."
"The bad news?"
Ain paused before hurriedly saying,
"Admiral Lucas, we were only able to awaken Haki so quickly because of your help."
"I originally planned to request a transfer after we returned and step down as this ship’s navigator."
"But to repay your kindness..."
"I’m willing to stay aboard this warship."
"And I’ll do anything for you, Admiral Lucas."
Do anything?
Lucas raised an eyebrow before breaking into a warm smile.
"Ain, I like the sound of that."
"You said you’d do anything for me."
"You won’t take it back?"
Ain’s passionate declaration instantly lost all momentum.
Especially after noticing Lucas’s gaze wandering over her, an absurd thought flashed through her mind.
I spoke too soon...
Is he... asking me to do the sort of things described in those romance books?
But backing out now would be rather embarrassing...
"A-Admiral Lucas..."
"I... I really am willing to do anything..."
"But... not that."
Before she could finish, Lucas flicked her forehead.
"Ouch!"
"Women really do have dirtier minds than men."
"Relax."
"I’m not interested in you like that."
"But since you said you’d do anything..."
"Koby, you all want to repay me too, right?"
Everyone nodded instinctively.
"When I helped awaken your Haki just now..."
"I accidentally used a little too much force."
"And... I destroyed the warship."
"So, for the sake of my performance bonus and salary..."
"You guys can handle paying for it."
"Thanks."
After saying that, Lucas waved casually without looking back.
His figure disappeared into thin air.
The next instant, he reappeared aboard Crocodile’s warship.
Watching his departing figure, Ain stood there in complete disbelief.
She instinctively glanced down at her rather respectable figure.
...Am I really less attractive than a performance bonus?
I was practically prepared to sacrifice everything...
And you’re telling me Berries are still king?
If she hadn’t witnessed it herself, Ain would never have believed that she—one of the Marine Academy’s beauties—
Couldn’t even compare to 500,000 Berries in Lucas’s eyes.
"Watch out!"
"The ship’s breaking apart!"
Koby suddenly shouted.
Only the five of them remained on the battered warship.
Everyone else had already transferred to another vessel.
As soon as Lucas left, the deck—already covered in cracks—finally reached its limit.
With a thunderous roar, the entire warship began to collapse.
Seeing this, Koby and the others immediately fled for the nearby ship.
By the time they boarded safely...
Most of the heavily damaged warship had already sunk beneath the sea.
Only its skeletal frame remained above the water.
"What terrifying Conqueror’s Haki..."
Hina quietly put away the cigarette she had just taken out.
"It actually shattered a specially built warship."
"The fact that we survived at all... Hina considers herself very fortunate."
She had intended to take a deep drag to calm her nerves.
But remembering how she’d been pinned to the deck simply for smoking indoors...
She reflexively tucked the cigarette away instead.
Only after making absolutely sure Lucas had gone somewhere else to slack off did Hina suddenly remember something important.
"Wait..."
"Does anyone know how much a warship like this costs?"
"Hina has a very bad feeling we’ve been tricked into a huge debt."
Smoker and the others froze.
Although each of them commanded their own warships...
They had never made a habit of destroying them.
Naturally, they had no idea what one was worth.
Everyone turned toward Ain.
As one of Zephyr’s top students, she was the obvious expert.
Feeling everyone’s gaze, Ain suddenly understood why she had lost to a performance bonus.
"This..."
"This is a special Admiral-class warship capable of crossing the Calm Belt."
"According to Instructor Zephyr..."
"It costs approximately..."
"300 million Berries."
"If our salaries are combined..."
"We’ll probably have around..."
"Twenty months’ worth of pay deducted."
Twenty months?!
Koby and the others nearly coughed up blood.
Their Marine salaries were already modest.
Now they were about to lose nearly two years’ worth of income.
This was basically being rubbed against the edge of poverty all over again.
Only then did they realize...
Lucas had dug this pit for them from the very beginning.
Smoker sighed helplessly.
After exchanging glances with the others, Hina finally couldn’t help saying,
"Admiral Lucas..."
"According to Marine regulations, Admirals enjoy certain liability exemptions."
"As long as you report the incident truthfully to Fleet Admiral Sengoku..."
"Hina believes the cost of this warship would be fully reimbursed."
"Ask old man Sengoku to reimburse it?"
Lucas suddenly emerged from a nearby corner, adjusting his gold-rimmed glasses.
"I’ll pass."
"I just blew up part of Marine Headquarters not long ago."
"I’m still hoping to earn my next performance bonus."
"I don’t want Sengoku using this as an excuse to withhold it."
"I prefer performance bonuses that actually make it into my pocket."
"So..."
"I’ll leave this one to you guys."
"Oh, right."
"When you submit your report..."
"Lead with the good news before the bad."
"If Sengoku’s in a good mood..."
"He might deduct a little less from your pay."
Hina and the others froze like statues.
They looked at the yawning, lazily stretching Admiral before them.
No matter how they thought about it...
How could a mere 500,000-Berry performance bonus possibly be more valuable than a warship worth 300 million Berries?
Then again...
By Lucas’s logic—
A performance bonus you actually received was indeed more valuable than money you might never see.
Of course, they only grumbled inwardly.
After all...
Thinking back to how they had awakened Haki so effortlessly in just a few minutes...
Everything they had suffered today...
Had been more than worth it.