**Chapter 6: As Expected Of The Seed Of Vice Admiral Garp**
Looking at the dense rows of numbers on the purchase list, Sengoku couldn't believe his eyes.
"This... how is it possible... the old man must have been too tired during this time and didn't have a good rest..."
"Well, it must be so."
He took off his glasses in disbelief, rubbed his eyes, and put them back on, but the numbers on the list clearly remained the same!
Especially the long string of "0" after each number made him speechless.
A high-voltage stun gun costs 500,000 Baileys.
A portable rocket launcher costs 1 million Baileys.
A flamethrower costs 800,000 Baileys.
A medium-sized ballistic missile that can be loaded on a warship, the kind that sank Byrnndi Waldo's last pirate ship with one shot, costs 8 million Baileys!
This is just the price of a missile!
As for the cost of refitting the warship... Sengoku was even more stunned and couldn't help but curse.
Darren, this prodigal... used 100 million Baileys to transform the keel of a medium-sized warship!?
Even 100 million Baileys can build two warships of the same size!
Sengoku thought for a while and came to a conclusion that made the corners of his mouth twitch:
In the crusade against the Ward Pirates, the North Blue fleet dispatched ten warships and about 2,000 elite North Blue Marines. The cost of building this fleet was at least 2 billion Baileys!
This does not count the goods and ammunition destroyed in the battle.
But Byrnndi Waldo... his bounty is only 400 million Baileys...
Sengoku covered his face with his hands in pain.
To put it bluntly, the victory of that operation was achieved by Darren abruptly smashing Bailey!
"That brat Darren... where the hell did he get so much money!?"
Sengoku gritted his teeth suddenly.
He wouldn't admit that jealousy made him grim.
As the Admiral of Headquarters, a candidate for the next Marshal of the Marine, Sengoku knows better than anyone else how to allocate military expenditures to Naval Headquarters.
What kind of concept is 2 billion Baileys?
That is equivalent to a quarter of Naval Headquarters' military expenditure!
You know, the 2 billion for Naval Headquarters includes the daily repairs of bases, forts, guns, and warships, the payment of military salaries, and so on.
If these "daily" expenses are deducted, the military expenditure that the headquarters can spare in one quarter and can be freely dispatched is less than 300 million Baileys!
And most importantly, the fleet's equipment costs so much.
Judging from Darren's tone, he seems to have the intention of continuing to expand in North Blue and increase the size of the North Blue fleet in his next plan.
"Crazy... really crazy..."
Sengoku muttered.
...
"So is it true?"
The moment the door of the base chief's office closed, the warm smile on Dragon's face suddenly disappeared, replaced by deep seriousness.
His eyes were fixed on the young Marine Commodore in front of him.
"The biggest talker in the North Blue underground world, the leader of the Don Quixote Pirates, Doflamingo... is your man."
Darren raised his eyebrows and suddenly smiled:
"To be precise, Joker is my godson."
"Godson?" Dragon frowned, somewhat puzzled.
Darren lit a cigar and sat down on his desk without a gesture.
"It's a North Blue tradition. We North Blue have a saying..."
"'This world is too dangerous. A child must have two fathers.' Joker is a very poor child. He lost his blood parents at a young age and was neglected in discipline."
"After coming to North Blue, he did make a lot of mistakes, but I have already punished him, and he has fully realized his mistakes and decided to change his mind and start a new life."
"As a Marine, we can't just sit and watch a gifted child go astray, right, Dragon?"
Dragon frowned even tighter.
"So you mean, Doflamingo admits you as his... 'godfather'?"
Darren spread his hands and smiled:
"That's right."
"Do you know his true identity? He is not just a 'gifted child.'"
Darren laughed and said nothing.
Dragon narrowed his eyes and quietly looked at the calm Marine Commodore in front of him.
Darren wasn't in a hurry; he just smoked his cigar with a smile on his face.
He didn't intend to hide too much about Doflamingo. After all, it was impossible to hide it from everyone.
Especially after the crusade against Byrnndi Waldo, anyone with a little brain could follow the clues of that "deal" and find out the relationship between himself and Doflamingo and the Donquixote Family.
Among other things, Darren was convinced that Sengoku, the old fox, would be able to guess anything.
That's where it gets interesting.
Sengoku left North Blue two days ago, and logically he could have confronted Darren directly.
But he didn't.
Instead, the headquarters sent over to "communicate" with him was the Rear Admiral, the headquarters of Dragon.
In a way, this sent a signal of goodwill.
Dragon's rank is not yet considered Marine's core executives, which means this is not a serious conversation.
And as the biological son of Marine hero Vice Admiral Garp, he has an influence that no one else has.
This represents the respect of the department for itself.
In general, it's a good thing that the person you're talking to is Dragon.
If the headquarters wants to settle accounts after the autumn, I am afraid that the person who came is not Dragon, but Staff Crane who is in charge of the supervision work.
The base chief's office became quiet.
A needle drop could be heard.
Until a certain moment—
"Hahahahaha!!"
Dragon burst out laughing, put his arms around Darren's neck enthusiastically, and patted his shoulder vigorously.
"It's yours, Darren!"
"Being the father of Celestial Dragons is all you can think of!"
"Hahahaha!! What a joy!! Well done!!"
Darren looked at Dragon in front of him who was blushing with excitement, and the corner of his mouth twitched.
What are you excited about?
"I have long disliked those guys!"
Dragon waved his fist, his face full of slaps.
Immediately, he seemed to realize that he had said the wrong thing and quickly waved his hand.
"Ah, no, treat what I said just now as if I hadn't said it, so I withdraw it."
Wait!
Darren looked at Dragon in front of him and suddenly felt a kind of stupid aura coming from this guy who exuded charm and leadership a moment ago.
That feeling... like a person.
Darren sighed helplessly.
"Dragon..."
"Um?"
"You are truly the son of Vice Admiral Garp."
"Oh."