Chapter 57 – Failed recruitment

Extra chapter~

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"10 million Berries?"

Garp shook his head.

"1 million Berries?"

Garp continued to shake his head.

"100,000 Berries?"

Garp still shook his head, saying, "It's about 10,000 Berries, how about that, quite a lot, right? Haha."

"Heh, I see now, you're joking with me, aren't you, Vice Admiral Garp?"

"How could that be, I'm sincerely offering."

"Sincerely? What a joke."

Arton placed his hands on Uta and Carina's shoulders, seriously stating:

"I have the top two songstresses in the world."

"Besides, I have many great songs here."

"Once I release an album, that's easily a million Berries."

"And you're telling me you only save 10,000 Berries a month?"

"And you want me to join the Navy with that salary?"

"I might as well starve."

Carina, hearing this, also nodded in agreement.

Given Garp's spending and saving habits, saving only 10,000 Berries a month truly shocked Carina's worldview.

Back when she was a notorious thief, one job could net her tens to hundreds of millions of Berries.

Under such circumstances, she wouldn't want to be a broke Navy member either.

"It wouldn't get to the point of starving, at worst, I'd treat you to donuts?"

Garp laughed, offering a bag of donuts he was holding towards Arton.

Arton didn't hesitate, taking three donuts from the bag and passing two to Carina and Uta.

Arton was aware that Garp had once embarked on a continuous donut-eating spree for days and nights, which also became one of the reasons for his injury during the transport of the Axe-Hand Morgan.

Arton was curious about what kind of donuts could hold such allure.

"Hmm, not bad."

Arton nodded in approval.

"Right?! If you and your crew join the Navy, I could treat you to even more donuts."

Garp smirked, climbing up the conversation with Arton's response.

"Skip the donuts, I'm not about to be bought over with sweets."

"Besides, if there's nothing else, I need to take my crew and leave," Arton waved off, addressing Garp.

Although neither he, Carina, nor Uta were wanted, there was still Jango on the island with a bounty on his head.

Under such circumstances, Arton had no intention of staying in Oak Town any longer than necessary.

"Hey, no rush, can't we talk a bit more?"

"No time, I've got important matters to attend to."

"Making your music band world-famous isn't something urgent, right?"

"That may not be urgent, but I have other pressing matters."

"Other matters? Mind sharing?"

"It's nothing much, just some folks who sank my ship. I plan to find them soon and have a... discussion about compensation," Arton shared casually.

"That happened? With your strength, to run into such an incident... were they tough pirates? Need help?"

"Help's not necessary, I've vowed to personally deal with them. Plus, I didn't have my current strength back then. And they aren't pirates, so as a marine, you can't really help, can you?"

"So, you got stronger specifically to negotiate with those people?"

"Exactly!"

Arton nodded emphatically, continuing:

"Imagine this, Garp. You've spent a fortune to rent a ship for a sail."

"Enjoying yourself at sea, eating hotpot and singing songs."

"Then suddenly, your ship gets robbed... no, sunk."

"How would you feel about that, could you just let it go?"

Garp scratched his head, "If it were me, I'd probably be furious."

"Right? So, I'm determined to personally use my power to make them 'apologize' properly."

"For that, I've been training hard to gain this strength."

"So don't even think about offering to help."

Garp nodded, giving Arton a deep look. As a Marine Vice Admiral, even though he often appears laid-back, it doesn't mean he's foolish. Sometimes, he's sharper than anyone else. Hence, after seeing Arton exhibit Conqueror's Haki, he wanted to test Arton thoroughly. 

Unbeknownst to him, Arton remained in a calm state, where his mind was lucid and bright, easily manipulating his expressions and emotions as he pleased. Thus, Garp couldn't detect the lies in Arton's words. Slowly, he began to believe that Arton indeed wanted to form a world-renowned music band and also had an adversary he wished to confront personally.

"Let's go, Carina, Uta," Arton said, seeing Garp quiet down, ready to leave with Carina and Uta.

Carina was naturally happy, but Uta shook her head at Arton: "Arton, I have a friend at the tavern. I need to say goodbye before we can go."

Hearing this, Arton nodded: "In that case, let's go together."

After hearing his agreement, Uta made a face at Garp and then took Arton and Carina toward the tavern she had come from.

Garp watched them leave, scratching his head with a chuckle. "Just like Luffy, such a mischievous kid. Too bad she has no intention of joining the Marines. I'd love to see Red Hair's face if she became a Marine."

"That Arton kid and Carina seem quite promising too. What a pity."

Garp mused, shaking his head.

"Vice Admiral Garp, should we report to Fleet Admiral Sengoku about Red-Haired Shanks having a daughter?" 

At this moment, his aide, dressed in a suit with a round hat and a long sword at his waist, approached him.

***

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