"Heh, shouldn't have done something like that?"
As soon as these words fell, before Luffy, who was pressing down his hat and lowering his head, could say anything, Sanji beside him flicked the cigarette in his hand and let out a light scoff.
Looking at Kouzuki Sukiyaki, he said in a calm tone, "You probably don't know what the name Ian represents. The sea praises him as the God of the Sun, the deity who controls the sun. He is the uncrowned king of the West Blue, the emperor of the underworld of the West Blue."
"With a single order, he can make the slave-catching groups and underworld forces of the entire West Blue run away with their tails between their legs. Even the World Government doesn't dare to provoke him easily. And yet your grandson had quite a lot of nerve, not only setting his sights on the princess of the Umbrella Corporation, but even on someone else's wife!"
Kouzuki Sukiyaki: "…"
"To be honest, the fact that Mr. Ian didn't come here personally to kill all of you already counts as him being very magnanimous."
Sanji ignored Sukiyaki's face, which kept alternating between pale and red, and continued coldly, "If his subordinates were to find out about this, the fleet of the Umbrella Corporation would probably already be at your doorstep."
"I…"
Hearing Sanji's words, Sukiyaki's face became even gloomier. He had never expected that the merchant of Artificial Devil Fruit's power would be so great that even the World Government did not dare to underestimate him.
In his heart, he cursed Momonosuke once again.
Why did that idiot have to provoke such a monster?
And even if he provoked him… it would have been fine if he had succeeded. But now, not only did he fail, he even brought such huge trouble upon them.
Looking at the Straw Hat Pirates in front of him, staring at him with unfriendly eyes, Kouzuki Sukiyaki felt a chill run through his heart.
Not only had the plan failed, but now they might even provoke this group of pirates?!
However, this was his only chance right now. No matter what, he could not give up. He hurriedly prostrated himself on the ground in a deep dogeza.
"I apologize for Momonosuke's rudeness. I'm sorry. I didn't expect something like this to have happened either. But please, you must save the Country of Wano. After this, I will certainly commit seppuku to atone—"
However, before Kouzuki Sukiyaki could finish speaking, at that moment, a bold laugh came from the doorway.
"Hahaha, so you're the Straw Hat Pirates, Mr. Ian's friends?"
This voice instantly attracted everyone's attention, especially Kouzuki Sukiyaki and Kouzuki Hiyori. When they saw that burly figure, their expressions immediately became even worse.
But before they could say anything, that burly figure had already walked over to Luffy, wrapped an arm around Luffy's shoulder, and laughed loudly.
"Mr. Ian already told the Governor about you. I didn't expect you to arrive this quickly. I've already told him about the Big Mom Pirates incident, too. Too bad I didn't see it with my own eyes. Otherwise, it would definitely have been very interesting. Eh? Looking at things here… it seems quite a lot has happened!"
Glancing at Kouzuki Sukiyaki and Kurozumi Orochi, who were prostrating themselves on the ground, his gaze then fell on the Straw Hat Pirates again. He grinned and said, "Forget it, let's not talk about that. I'm Jack the Drought of the Beast Pirates. Our Governor has already prepared a banquet and is waiting for you on Onigashima. Oh, right, our Governor also said he wants to personally see your strength, captain of the Straw Hat Pirates!"
As these words fell, the members of the Straw Hat Pirates looked at each other, their eyes full of disbelief. It seemed they hadn't expected the Beasts Pirates to actually invite them to a banquet.
Of course, they also understood that this was probably all because of Ian's influence.
However…
After a moment of silence, Sanji and the others all turned their gazes toward Luffy.
"Luffy…"
Before they could finish speaking…
Luffy took a deep breath and lowered his head to look at Kouzuki Sukiyaki.
"Uncle Sukiyaki, sorry. I'm going to attend the banquet. Looks like I can't help you. Also, Ian is my friend and my lifesaver. I don't want to hear you talk about him like that."
After saying that, he ignored Kouzuki Sukiyaki, whose face had turned ashen, and directly turned around.
Pressing down his hat, he grinned at his companions and said, "Let's go! We're going to the banquet!"
All the members of the Straw Hat Pirates looked at each other. Although Luffy had a grin on his face, they could tell that he was not in a good mood.
They didn't say anything about it and simply followed Luffy silently.
"W-wait, Mr. Luffy, everyone…"
However, no matter what Kouzuki Sukiyaki, whose expression kept changing, said, Luffy ignored him and walked outside without saying a word.
Only after Luffy's figure disappeared beyond the doorway did Kouzuki Sukiyaki have no choice but to accept… that these naïve pirates truly had no intention of helping them.
His face turned ashen as he roared angrily, "Damn it!"
But what he didn't know was that this was not yet the most despairing part.
Seeing that the Straw Hat Pirates had finally left, Kurozumi Orochi, who had been quietly standing by the side the whole time, could no longer hold himself back.
A sinister grin appeared on his face as he leaned toward Kouzuki Sukiyaki with a friendly expression.
"Sukiyaki, Gufufufu… it seems today is truly a wonderful day!"
…
Several days had passed since Vegapunk made that Den Den Mushi call.
Of course, after everyone discussed it, they all agreed to bring Vegapunk back.
Vegapunk's value was extremely high. After all, he was the world's number one scientist. As long as Vegapunk could join the Umbrella Corporation, the improvement to the Umbrella Corporation… would be enormous in every aspect.
Especially Wolf at the research institute and Myskina Acier, who had only joined recently.
After hearing that Vegapunk might come over, they were so excited that they couldn't sleep all night.
They could hardly wait to meet the number one scientist of this era. How could they possibly refuse?
As for whether bringing Vegapunk back would make the World Government unhappy, Umbrella Corporation didn't care.
At this point, the relationship between Umbrella Corporation and the World Government was already beyond the influence of a single person.
At most, they might need to be careful in case the World Government resorts to desperate measures.