In an instant, a streak of golden light appeared beside the two of them, and photons gathered as the figure of Admiral Kizaru slowly materialized.
"Wait! Archangel!" As soon as he appeared, Kizaru hurriedly said, "About the information on the ancient weapons you mentioned—can you sell it to us, the Navy?"
He shot a glance at him, frowning. "Why are you here instead of arresting the fleeing pirates?"
"They escaped," Kizaru's expression was grim. "The captain of the Lance Pirates is a Blood-Blood Fruit user, very skilled at hiding and escaping. I only injured him and didn't have time to stop him."
The entire Lance Pirate Crew had 13 members—Captain Lance and the vice-captain had fled, leaving only 11 crew members subdued by him, including Baroque.
If he hadn't sensed the presence of Shiki, Kizaru was planning to pursue, but clearly, Shiki was more urgent.
He never expected that upon arriving, he would hear about "ancient weapons," which startled him greatly.
The Phantom Organization actually possessed intelligence about the ancient weapons—this was a nightmare!
After hearing this, Vladimir was silent for a moment. "That's your problem. Their escape has nothing to do with me. The reward I owe—nothing less than what's agreed."
Whether Lance escaped or not, he didn't care much. He only cared about the reward.
When he first discovered Lance' ship emerging from the darkness space, he was the first to notice and also threw Kizaru over. But he didn't expect that Kizaru, that fool, would actually let someone escape.
"…No problem!"
Kizaru gritted his teeth, acknowledging his mistake. "Let's not talk about that now. As for the ancient weapons, I'll have Marshal Sengoku tell you."
He took out a Den Den Mushi and dialed.
Soon, the call was answered, and Sengoku's voice came through.
"Kizaru, what's the situation on your end?"
Kizaru briefly summarized the matter of the ancient weapons, then Sengoku fell into silence.
After half a minute, Sengoku spoke in a deep voice. "Archangel, what intelligence do you have on the ancient weapons?"
"Testing the waters?" Vladimir remained calm and steady. "I know what the Pluton is, and I know where its blueprints are. Your Navy has been working tirelessly on this recently, isn't that why?"
The Navy had some intel about the location of Pluton, but they had yet to succeed.
Hearing this, Sengoku's expression changed visibly, and his tone lowered. "Besides Pluton, what about Poseidon and Uranus?"
"Poseidon has already been bought out," Vladimir said playfully. "Our Phantom Organization has always valued credibility, so any information related to Poseidon will not be sold again."
"What!?"
Sengoku's face darkened. Being bought out meant someone already knew Poseidon's whereabouts, and secretly, they had already mastered the Sea God—this was bad news for the World Government.
The same went for Shiki. He never expected that someone would beat him to it.
"Archangel!" At this moment, Shiki quickly said, "I'm willing to pay any price you're satisfied with—tell me the locations of Pluton and Uranus!"
"Wait!"
On a warship outside Cake Island, Sengoku's face was grim and heavy as he spoke. "Our Navy is willing to pay any price to buy all the intelligence about the ancient weapons!"
Poseidon had been bought out; Pluton and Uranus must not fall into others' hands. Otherwise, it would be a catastrophe for the world government.
This was a crisis capable of overthrowing world power—much more troublesome than the current chaos of the New World pirates!
"Hahaha…"
The Navy was panicking, but Vladimir couldn't help but laugh. "You want to buy? Sorry, I won't sell to you. Selling to you would be keeping it to deal with us, the Phantom Organization."
Hearing this, Sengoku's face darkened even further.
"I swear as Fleet Admiral that I will never use the ancient weapons against you! We obtained them only to seal them away. These things are too dangerous. Once they appear, the world will fall into chaos, endless war!"
"Sengoku, your nickname is 'The Strategist,' but I think it should be changed to 'The Idiot.'"
Vladimir rolled his eyes. "Do you really think I believe your promises?"
"Hahaha!" Shiki laughed loudly, looking quite pleased. "That's right—nothing the Navy says can be trusted. Archangel, why don't you just sell to me? I'll buy them all! The price is up to you!"
With the ancient weapons, he could conquer the world and become its ruler. What price could he not afford?
Vladimir seemed to consider seriously for a moment, then said with a smile, "Not bad, Shiki. You're quite on the ball. I think it's very suitable to sell to you."
Shiki was overjoyed by these words, his heart swelling with pride. "Archangel, I propose once again—let's join forces! Then we can split the entire world!"
"Hold on!!"
Sengoku roared, his heart fluctuating.
"Hmph, I already said I wouldn't sell to you. What more do you want to say?" Shiki snapped angrily. Things were going well here, but the Navy was insistent on interfering.
Once he got the ancient weapons, his first move would be to destroy the Navy Headquarters.
But Vladimir wasn't in a hurry. Instead, he waited with amusement for the other side to speak.
Taking a deep breath, Sengoku ignored Shiki and spoke with a slight tremor in his voice.
"Archangel… No, Phantom Organization! You've won!" He gritted his teeth, humiliated and humbling himself.
"I'm willing to pay any price, but I don't want to know the whereabouts of the ancient weapons. Just buy your… silence!"
Buy your silence!
In other words, a hush fee.
Shiki was stunned. Was Sengoku crazy?
Vladimir was completely unfazed, as if he'd been waiting for this moment.
If Big Mom were here, she'd understand. She was scammed like this once before—spending 10 billion to buy "your silence!"
Now Sengoku was in the same situation, paying a huge price just to prevent the Phantom Organization from leaking the intelligence.
"Buy your silence!" Sengoku said bitterly again. "Do you agree? No, this is the situation you wanted, right? You're ruthless!"
"Hahaha…"
Vladimir chuckled softly. "Don't act like I'm so evil, Sengoku. This was all your idea."
Hearing this, Sengoku nearly spat blood in anger.
He had seen shamelessness before, but this was beyond anything he'd imagined!
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