chapter 83

"Now you're talking my language," I replied with a smirk. "But let me hear what you want me to do and how much you're willing to offer first," I added.

"There is a marine ship on its way to west blue with a marine vice admiral guarding it," Sabo with a smile. "I need you to attack and sink that ship if you can," he added, still smiling.

"Now listen here, blondie," I remarked with a scowling expression. "You can't just suddenly open your mouth and ask someone to attack a fucking vice-admiral without at least giving a warning at least," I said, pushing down the urge to throw the blonde into the sea right here and now.

"Why not?" Sabo asked with a smile. "You've shown that you have no qualms about breaking the law, and you do not lack the strength to fight a vice-admiral," he added with a smug smile.

"You did fight Don, Chinjao, and beat him, after all," he concluded, causing me to reconsider indulging in the urge I had earlier.

"In the first place, why do you want me to attack this ship, and why don't you and your people do it yourselves? I asked, not bothering to comment on his earlier words.

"We have plans in motion in this area of the sea, and a vice-admiral appearing out of nowhere is bound to mess some of them up," Sabo explained. "We don't want to do it ourselves because we can't oppose the marines directly, not yet anyway," he added with a complicated expression, heaving a sigh.

"So my superiors are hoping that sinking their ship will delay them long enough for us to complete our plans," he concluded, shaking his head and smiling again.

"I've almost forgotten how passive you people can be," I said while shaking my head. "Still, what you're asking is very difficult," I concluded with a blank expression.

"I didn't hear you say no," Sabo replied with a smug expression.

In truth, I have been thinking of attacking this ship since I heard about it coming to west blue from Laffite. It's about time for us to raise a black flag and turn into full-fledged pirates. And what better way to make it official than taking down a ship guarded by a vice-admiral as our first prey?

The ship will most likely have many supplies that we might need in the grand line, like log poses, eternal poses, maps, and even sea stones. A proper fight with a marine vice admiral is precisely what Wilson and Laffite need to awaken their hardening Haki as well, and now the revolutionary army is even offering me money to do it.

"No, you didn't," I said with a sigh, turning around to look at my companions. "What do you guys think?" I asked my companions with a smile.

My companions showed different reactions to my question. Wilson and Laffite were eagerly showing their approval, while Kozue and Bob didn't seem to care either way.

Byron and Elly, on the other hand, smiled while nodding, telling me that they would follow whatever I thought was the best course of action.

"You heard my friends. Now tell me how much you're willing to offer," I said with a smile as I turned to look at Sabo again.

"Fifty million Berries," Sabo stated in a confident tone as he raised five fingers in front of his face. "I say, blondie, do I look like a beggar or an idiot to you?" I asked with a bemused expression, raising an eyebrow at his first offer.

"A pirate with the same strength as a vice admiral will at least be worth three hundred million, and you're offering me fifty," I added with a scowl, crossing my arms in front of my chest.

"That's right, but he isn't a pirate, and there aren't other people offering you money to fight him, is there?" He asked with a smile.

"Even if there aren't other people offering bounties for fighting vice admirals, that doesn't mean you can rip me off like that," I replied, shaking my head. "Two hundred and fifty million, or do it you self,"

I kept going back and forth with Sabo for the next thirty minutes, only stopping when we agreed on the final price of one hundred and twenty-five million berries, with sixty million paid upfront.

"This all the information we have on the vice-admiral and the course his ship will take," Sabo stated, handing me a piece of paper. "I'll come back tomorrow with your upfront payment," he added as he turned around, jumping into the docks and disappearing within the crowds.

"Laffite, take these and make sure they're accurate," I said with a smile as I turned to look at my navigator. "I'll also be counting on you to set up the best course for us to intercept the marine ship," I added as I handed him the papers Sabo gave me.

"Consider it done, captain," Laffite replied with a smile of his own, tipping hat as he began looking through the paper.

"You and Wilson will take care of the vice-admiral while the rest of the crew of everyone else, when the time comes," I added, causing him to look up from the papers shooting me a confused look.

"A fight with a strong Haki user like a vice admiral is precisely what you and Wilson need right now to awaken your Haki," I explained with a smirk. "So I'll leave it to you two and watch from the sidelines unless there's a need for me to act, of course," I added.

"But I don't think there will be a need for me to act," I concluded with a confident smirk, causing Laffite to smile, nodding his head.

"Of course you won't, Johnny. Who the hell do you think we are!" Wilson exclaimed from the side with a smirk. "If anyone is going to be needing help, then it will definitely be that vice admiral," he added while flexing his biceps with a predatory smile on his face.

-0-

Another day had passed, and I was in my favorite spot on the black pearl's deck, sipping whisky while gazing at the night skies, deep in thought.

'One of the best things about coming to this world is definitely gazing at the stars,' I think while looking at the countless glowing stars lighting up the night skies.

'I have never seen a sky so clear and filled with stars in my past life, because of the artificial lights and ungodly amount of pollution. Even the air here is at least ten times more pure and refreshing than it was back there,'

"Laffite is back, captain," comes Elly's voice from the side, causing me to stop thinking about my past life as I turn to look at her, nodding with a smile and making my way towards Laffite.

"How did it go, Laffite?" I ask, still smiling as soon as I reach my navigator. "The information the revolutionary army provided us is mostly accurate," he replied with a frown.

"But there are some things they might have missed or purposefully left out of their report," he added while shaking his head.

"Oh, do explain?" I remarked with a raised eyebrow. "A vice-admiral called Momonga is guarding the ship, along with several more marine officers, the highest-ranked of them being a rear admiral," Laffite explained, causing me to nod, urging him to continue.

"The revolutionaries mentioned in all of this in their report, but they failed to mention that the rear admiral, rear admiral Bastille, is due for a promotion soon," Laffite stated, his frown becoming more pronounced.

"This means that he is qualified to become a vice admiral in both strength and merit. So we'll be fighting two individuals with the strength of vice admirals since Bastille is merely tagging along with Momonga to gain experience," my navigator concluded while shaking his head.

"Whether they didn't know or hid this information doesn't matter. I will remember this," I replied with a blank expression. "At any rate, this doesn't change our plans. I will take care of this rear admiral when the time comes, and you guys can take care of the rest," I concluded.

"As you wish, captain," Laffite replied. "Now, I only need to plan the best place to ambush them, and we can go after them tomorrow," he added with an eager smile.

"You do that, Laffite," I replied with a smile. 'I'll give that shameless yellow turd, Sabo, a piece of my mind later,' I think to myself as I return to my favorite spot at the black pearl's prow.

(Author's note: discord gg/sEtqmRs5y7 <—- the link to my discord server. It already has a couple of awesome guys with memes and constant discussions about one piece)