"What did you say? Barry, what's going on?"
Upon hearing this, Iceburg immediately frowned.
"I'm not entirely sure of the details, but it seems that the powerful 'Ship-Slicing Swordsman' led a large force of marines to surround the Franky Family's dismantling house, triggering a violent conflict. The news came from Kaku and the others."
Barry quickly relayed the information he had received while glancing toward Rorschach and his group.
"Hey, your rank seems to be higher than that of the Ship-Slicing Swordsman, right? Can you come with us and stop them? Water 7 is a peaceful and safe place. We can't have a fierce battle breaking out here—it could easily destroy buildings or even injure innocent people."
"Alright, let's go now."
Rorschach looked over at Iceburg.
Iceburg nodded, clearly anxious.
As the mayor of Water 7, he naturally took the city's security very seriously.
Not to mention, his relationship with Franky was as close as that of brothers.
Without hesitation, the group quickly made their way toward the Franky Family's location.
At the same time, Iceburg gestured for his secretary, Kalifa, to take out a Den Den Mushi.
He dialed a few numbers, calling some shipwrights from the Galley-La Company over. They might be needed to help control the situation.
"Lucci, could you and Kaku head to the Franky Family's dismantling house first? Yes, they're clashing with the marines. If possible, step in and stop them—preferably without any casualties."
After hanging up the Den Den Mushi, Iceburg noticed Rorschach and his group looking at him, so he explained, "Lucci and Kaku are some of the best shipwrights in our Galley-La Company. They're both incredibly strong. Don't worry, I only asked them to contain the situation. We'll decide how to handle things once we arrive."
He hesitated for a moment before turning to Rorschach and asking, "Rear Admiral Rorschach, do you know anything about what's going on?"
Rorschach glanced at Iceburg, knowing full well that he was already aware of Penn and the marines entering Water 7.
Even their small group had been under surveillance, so there was no way such a large force of over fifty people would have gone unnoticed.
With that in mind, Rorschach nodded.
"Penn and his team were acting under my orders to track down a thief."
"A thief? What thief?"
Upon hearing this, Iceburg, Barry, Kalifa, and the others all turned to look at him.
Hibari interjected, "The scoundrel who stole our money on the Sea Train."
"Money? How much did you lose that you needed to send out so many marines, even calling in the Ship-Slicing Swordsman?"
Barry asked bluntly.
"One billion Berries," Rorschach's cool voice echoed in their ears.
"What did you say? One billion Berries?!"
Barry nearly dropped his jaw in shock.
He stared at Rorschach in disbelief. "Hey, does being a marine pay that well? You actually had one billion Berries? Are you serious?"
"Of course. That was the bounty money we collected from Enies Lobby. We originally planned to commission a battleship from Galley-La Company..."
Before Hibari could finish speaking, Barry and Darios interrupted in unison.
The two men gaped in astonishment, stammering, "Y-You... What did you just say? You brought one billion Berries to Galley-La to commission a battleship? A battleship worth one billion Berries? Are you serious?"
"Of course. But we weren't planning to spend all of it. We also need to purchase a large amount of logistical supplies..."
Before Rorschach could finish, Barry and Darios cut him off again.
Barry and Darios were breathing heavily, their faces flushed with excitement as they turned to Iceburg.
"Iceburg! Did you hear that? Our Galley-La Company is about to take on a ten-billion-Berry shipbuilding order! By the gods of water, Laccura, we're going to be rich!"
As he spoke, his expression turned fierce, and he glared toward the distant street with a vicious look. "Damn Franky Family! They actually dared to steal money from our Galley-La Company—completely unforgivable! Darios, hurry up! We need to retrieve our money before they move it!"
"Hey, hey! That's our money!" Hibari huffed angrily.
Iceburg, however, frowned and said in a deep voice, "We can't jump to conclusions before the truth is uncovered. There's no proof that the Franky Family stole the money."
"Iceburg, stop defending those thugs.
There aren't many in Water 7 who would dare to steal such a massive sum on the Sea Train. Other than those Franky Family scoundrels, who else would have the guts?
Especially that Franky—walking around all day in nothing but underwear. He's a total pervert."
Barry had no reservations about slandering the Franky Family.
Darios grumbled in agreement, "That's right. Speaking of which, after we finished repairing the tracks at Enies Lobby during the day, Franky just disappeared.
Seems like he had his eyes on that huge sum of marine money from the start.
Iceburg, you should never have allowed them into the upper city. Those punks should have stayed on Scrap Island."
Iceburg sighed but remained silent.
The group picked up their pace.
Before long, they arrived at the Franky Family's dismantling house.
It was an open area—a large, empty lot.
At the center of the lot stood a crooked, haphazardly assembled large house.
At that moment, two groups of people were facing off in front of the house, both radiating hostility.
It was clear that both sides had already suffered some injuries.
Leading the Franky Family were several tall, oddly shaped men wearing diving goggles, along with two women with block-shaped heads.
On the marine side stood Penn, leading fifty marine soldiers.
Not far away, a pigeon-wielding man with his hands in his pockets and a long-nosed man in a hat were also observing.
"Penn!"
Rorschach called out loudly.
"Rear Admiral Rorschach!"
Penn immediately ran over and saluted sharply.
Rorschach returned the salute, cleared his throat, and asked in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear, "Penn, why did you lead your men to surround the Franky Dismantling House? And why did a conflict break out?"
Standing at attention, Penn responded in a loud voice, "Rear Admiral Rorschach! We have confirmed that the thief who stole the money is none other than the head of the Franky Family—Franky himself."
He pointed toward the furious Franky Family members, who were wielding heavy weapons and blocking the house's entrance.
"We attempted to enter the dismantling house to search for the money, but they stopped us. During the confrontation, some criminals attacked first, trying to ambush us and injuring several of our soldiers. That's when I decided to retaliate."
"Did you hear that? I told you Franky was the thief! That lazy bastard is a disgrace to Water 7," Barry fumed.
Iceburg's expression darkened. He took a deep breath and stepped forward to face Penn.
"Lieutenant Commander Penn, may I ask how you confirmed that Franky is the thief?"
"Because an eyewitness personally saw Franky carrying the chest containing ten billion Berries back to the dismantling house."
"An eyewitness? Who?"
Penn extended his hand and pointed toward the long-nosed young man standing nearby.
"Him."
(End of Chapter)
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