In the dimly lit storage room, Robin pointed to the seven leather suitcases on the floor and said, "All the money I could get my hands on is right here."
"A total of two billion, four hundred and thirty-two million."
Luo Chen's eyes suddenly brightened.
Two point four billion?
Crocodile was truly wealthy.
Moreover, this was probably not all of his assets, only the portion that Robin had the authority to mobilize.
Robin asked, "Now that I've given you the money, Crocodile will surely not let me go once he finds out. Can you take out that seed?"
Luo Chen did not speak. Instead, he communicated with the system in his mind to make a deposit.
[Twenty-four billion, three hundred million Berries have been deposited, obtaining two hundred and forty-three thousand Cultivation Points.]
[Current Cultivation Point Balance: 257300]
[Current cumulative deposit has reached three billion. Reward issued: Hashirama Senju Version Sage Mode.]
[Next Cumulative Deposit Reward Tier: 7 Billion Berries.]
Several system prompts sounded in his ear.
A large amount of information about Sage Mode also flooded into Luo Chen's mind.
He took a long time to digest it before his dizzy head felt clear again.
'I should still be about two billion short of seventy billion Berries. Not too much.'
'In addition, I now have Sage Mode.'
Luo Chen's spirits were lifted.
He possessed all of Hashirama Senju's Wood Style ninjutsu, but there were two great Sage Art: Wood Style techniques that he had never been able to use.
Sage Art: Gracious Deity Gates!
Sage Art Wood Style: True Several Thousand Hands!
The former was a powerful sealing ninjutsu that Hashirama Senju had even used to suppress the Nine-Tails and the Ten-Tails.
The latter was Hashirama Senju's strongest offensive ninjutsu.
The summoned Guanyin statue's head alone was larger than the Wood Golem technique, and its overall height was nearly a thousand meters.
'Sage Mode can greatly enhance the power of ninjutsu and taijutsu.'
'Perhaps I now have the strength to contend with a Marine Vice Admiral.'
Luo Chen suppressed the urge to try out Sage Mode and returned his thoughts to reality.
He looked at Robin and smiled. "The seed was a lie. What I fed you was just a piece of dried fruit."
Seeing Robin's stunned expression, Luo Chen asked, "Haven't you used your fruit ability to check inside your body? There's definitely no seed."
Robin's hands by her sides clenched into fists. She glanced at Luo Chen with a blank expression, turned, and walked away.
No wonder she hadn't been able to find the seed in her stomach all this time. She had even thought that Luo Chen had used some special means to hide it in another part of her body.
As it turned out, she had been scaring herself.
With her back to Luo Chen, Robin gritted her teeth hard.
She had been wandering the seas for so many years, but this was the first time she had been bested twice in a row by a young man.
Luo Chen could feel a resentful aura coming from her. He smiled.
"Now that you've given me this money, you probably can't stay by Crocodile's side anymore, right?"
"Yes," Robin said calmly. "Crocodile and I only have a cooperative relationship. Luring the Straw Hat crew here was to use the chaos to get away from him."
Luo Chen smiled. "Are you interested in working for me? In my team, you won't have to worry about the Marines or the World Government."
Robin didn't turn her head. "Not interested. Although you have a bounty of two hundred and thirty million, Mr. Major, and have even killed a Rear Admiral, your bold claim of not needing to worry about the Marines and the World Government is still too hard to believe."
She wasn't foolish enough to cooperate with someone like Luo Chen who was so recklessly provoking the Marines. His strength was not great, and his status was not as special as Crocodile's. By provoking the Marines like this, he was bound to meet a disastrous end sooner or later.
Seeing her unwillingness, Luo Chen shook his head in regret and did not try to persuade her further.
Although he would need a smart person like Robin to help manage his pirate crew in the future, if she was unwilling, there was nothing he could do.
He figured that the impression he had left on Robin was probably not a good one.
Luo Chen smiled. "Alright. Forcing you to betray Crocodile, I guess I owe you one. I'll repay you when the opportunity arises."
With that, Luo Chen activated the Flying Thunder God mark on Nami, and his figure disappeared from the room.
Robin sensed that there was no more movement behind her. She turned to look and saw that Luo Chen was gone.
She saw the seven chests of money on the floor, untouched, and stood there in a daze.
'Luo Chen left? Why didn't he take the money? What does this mean? Will he be back?'
Robin's face was full of confusion.
As for Luo Chen's words about repaying the favor, she didn't take them to heart at all.
To expect a despicable pirate to keep his promise... Robin felt that she wouldn't have been so naive even when she was eight.
...
In a corner of the Rain-Dinners casino.
Nami was waiting alone.
Beside her, a figure flashed, and Luo Chen appeared out of thin air.
He smiled. "It's settled. We'll leave the money here for now and get it later."
Moving seven large suitcases was bound to attract attention.
Rain-Dinners was Crocodile's base of operations. If he were to be discovered, it would inevitably be troublesome.
Luo Chen planned to go back and increase his strength first.
Only then could he swagger back and take Crocodile's money with confidence.
Over two hundred thousand cultivation points.
It would definitely be enough to raise his taijutsu by another level.
Although Nami was curious about Luo Chen's plan, she didn't ask much. As long as he returned safely, that was all that mattered.
The two of them did not linger at Rain-Dinners. They left directly and found a hotel nearby to stay in.
"I'm going into seclusion for a few days. If you're bored, you can go out and look around, but be careful," Luo Chen instructed.
This time, he was going into seclusion to improve his taijutsu and learn Observation Haki. It would take at least three days, maybe even longer.
He doubted Nami could stay cooped up in a room for three days.
"Don't worry. I've stolen from many pirates, hehe," Nami said with a sweet smile.
She and Luo Chen each returned to their rooms.
Their rooms were next to each other, so they could meet up at any time.
Just in case, Luo Chen left a Flying Thunder God mark in Nami's room.
...
In his room, Luo Chen sat cross-legged on the bed, closed his eyes, and sank his mind into the [Taijutsu Training Space].
It was the same familiar, small, green planet.
The woman in the leather suit stood in front of him, her features cold and stunning. Her red lips parted slightly. "Back so soon?"
Luo Chen smiled and nodded. "How many cultivation points do you think it would take to raise my taijutsu to the level of a Vice Admiral?"
"Around two hundred thousand."
Hearing this, Luo Chen's eyelids twitched slightly. "That's too expensive. Can't you make it cheaper?"
The woman in the leather suit said nothing, just looked at him calmly.
Luo Chen knew it was a lost cause. He got down on the floor and began to do push-ups with practiced ease.
Two hundred thousand cultivation points.
That was two billion Berries, worth half a Yonko.
And it would only raise his taijutsu from Rear Admiral to Vice Admiral.
The cost-effectiveness was extremely low, but the only good thing was that it shortened the time to a few days, unlike ordinary people who had to train hard for years or even decades.
'It's not bad. The remaining fifty thousand cultivation points will be for me to learn Observation Haki.'
'Once my taijutsu level is raised to that of a Vice Admiral, combined with Flying Thunder God, Wood Style, and Sage Mode, there will be few opponents among the Vice Admirals who can match me.'
A glint appeared in Luo Chen's eyes.
He had finally reached the strength level of a Vice Admiral.
He no longer had to worry about being pursued by Onigumo. If the man dared to come after him, he was confident he could take him out.
'A Marine Vice Admiral is a mainstay of the Marine forces. The strength of each Vice Admiral varies.'
'The weaker ones are probably at the level of a three or four hundred million Berry bounty.'
'The stronger elite Vice Admirals, like Momonga, Onigumo, and the other Buster Call Vice Admirals, or Vergo, and Smoker two years later, should be over five hundred million, comparable in strength to the elite officers of a Yonko crew.'
Some of the Tobi Roppo of the Beasts Pirates, and the weaker Warlords like Gecko Moria, were roughly at the level of an elite Vice Admiral.
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]