PIRATES: I WORK IN NAVY FROM NINE TO FIVE

"Wouldn't that make us all a bunch of grandkids?"

Jozu's innocent-looking face threw the entire deck into a dead silence.

At that very moment, just as Luo Yu was stepping back onto the warship's deck, he stumbled, nearly faceplanting.

Using his Observation Haki, Luo Yu had been carefully monitoring Whitebeard the entire time, ready to bolt the moment he sensed any killing intent.

But he hadn't expected to overhear… this kind of bombshell.

He'd already dropped the "Whitebeard as the dad" bomb, which was bad enough.

Now they were talking about a whole crew of grandkids?

Whitebeard looked around at his painstakingly adopted sons—his proud collection of deckful dry-eyed men—and now they were all somebody else's grandchildren?

A lifetime's effort… flushed away in an instant.

"You little brat! Get back here! I swear I won't cut you down!" Whitebeard's roar rolled across the sea like thunder.

Luo Yu chuckled and quickly took a swig of his cheap liquor to suppress it.

He prided himself on being able to keep a straight face, especially with jokes.

But some jokes... were just too good.

If he hadn't held it in, he'd be rolling on the deck like the others back on the Moby Dick.

"Captain… c-can we go now?" Lucky Roo stood behind Shanks, tears streaming down his face, clutching his half-eaten roast meat. "I'm gonna lose it, I swear…"

Even snot had started leaking out of his nose.

If not for the fear of being sliced in two by Whitebeard's naginata, he would've already burst out laughing.

At this point, not just Benn Beckman and the others—even Shanks' own face was twitching from suppressing his laughter.

With Whitebeard's murderous gaze looming, they could only force their expressions back to calm.

"Old man… should we chase him?" Marco finally asked with a helpless expression.

Just thinking about how they were suddenly all marked as grandsons was enough to make his brain knot itself.

The only solution now was to change the subject—fast.

The moment Marco said this, everyone tensed up again.

Everything that had just happened… was hard to forget.

But they had to admit—Luo Yu hadn't said anything untrue.

Still, would Whitebeard really chase him down over that?

"Gurararara! Marco, relax. I, Whitebeard, am a man of my word." Whitebeard let go of his naginata and sat down heavily in his chair, roaring with laughter. "Since I said he could leave alive, I won't change my mind."

"Besides, the fact that he came all this way over Ace's situation—just that alone… I can't hold it against him."

He turned his gaze.

"Atmos! What are you standing there fidgeting for? Out with it already."

"You brought that brat aboard without my permission—I'll let that slide. But don't just stand there, speak."

Atmos froze. His face twitched as he held the freshly received intelligence report. Bitterly, he muttered:

"Old man… can I not say it?"

"Not say it?" Whitebeard raised an eyebrow. "What could possibly be so bad you can't say it?"

"Relax. Even if the sky's falling, I can handle it. I never thought the Marines had such a sentimental brat in their ranks… Sengoku's lucky to have found him."

Whitebeard laughed heartily, echoing across the deck.

But Marco could see the unease on Atmos' face.

Before he could react, Jozu suddenly reached out and snatched the report from Atmos.

Marco's eyes narrowed.

"You diamond-brained idiot! I don't trust you with intel. Let me see that."

He intercepted the file and opened it up in one swift motion.

But the moment he read the first few lines—his expression froze.

"Marco, what did it say?" Jozu couldn't help peeking over—and immediately turned to stone.

The strange look on their faces caught everyone's attention. Even Whitebeard raised an eyebrow.

And then—

"YOU LITTLE BASTARD!!!"

Whitebeard's furious roar shook the sea again.

"So it turns out… you pulled this whole stunt for a measly ten million Berry bonus?!"

"You didn't just cozy up to me—you even kidnapped one of Kaido's mutts to extort him for cash! You called that 'sentiment'?! That dogshit loyalty is worth ten million?! Next time I see you—I will cut you down!!"

Far in the distance, the Marine warship had already pushed its speed to the limit.

From afar, they could still hear Whitebeard's blood-boiling roars and feel the ripple of his Conqueror's Haki slamming into the skies.

Everyone aboard had gone pale, soaked in cold sweat.

Watching Luo Yu safely return without a scratch felt like witnessing a miracle.

"What's wrong? I know I'm good-looking, but you're all staring a little too hard." Luo Yu took another sip of liquor and finally withdrew his extended Observation Haki after confirming Whitebeard hadn't come chasing.

After all that drama, Luo Yu figured that if he told people Whitebeard and Red-Hair were secretly allies, they'd probably believe him.

All he needed now was to report back to Sengoku—and the ten million performance bonus would be in the bag.

Then his Silver Ten-Consecutive Draw wouldn't just be a dream anymore.

"Admiral Luo Yu… only you could still crack jokes at a time like this." Gion sighed bitterly as she regained her composure.

"When the Fleet Admiral heard you had gone to meet with two Emperors for a bonus, it practically shook Marineford."

"He even proposed doubling your performance bonus to make you turn back—but you'd already set foot on the Moby Dick."

"Two million in performance bonus?" Luo Yu nearly choked on his liquor, feeling like he'd just missed out on a hundred-million Berry payday.

If he'd known there was such a good deal…

He wouldn't have had to go through the pain of being called "grandson"!

Still, a mischievous thought crept into Luo Yu's mind.

"Brat, I know what you're thinking!" Sengoku's roar suddenly exploded through the Den Den Mushi in Gion's hand.

"You made it back alive—don't you dare try and use this to blackmail me into raising your bonus again!"

"Performance bonus can't exceed twice your base pay. That's a hard rule! Even as Fleet Admiral, I can't change it!"

Everything that had just happened hadn't just shaken Sengoku—it had caused an uproar across all of Marine Headquarters.

They'd even been narrating it play-by-play across the base.

No one knew exactly what happened on the Moby Dick, but the fact that Luo Yu came back alive—and completely unharmed—was enough to leave them all in disbelief.

"Cough… Fleet Admiral Sengoku, you're overthinking it." Luo Yu awkwardly laughed as he took the Den Den Mushi.

"Me? Go around visiting every Yonko for some bonus pay? You think too little of me."

"But I did avert a global panic by preventing a clash between two Emperors. That has to count for something, right?"

"Shouldn't we at least talk about raising an Admiral's base salary?"