Amon had not expected Garp and Sengoku, these two shameless old men, to be thinking along these lines, trying to rope him into the Marines as part of some so-called Inspector Group.
No wonder Sengoku had been too embarrassed to say it himself and had shoved the job onto Garp.
After all, they had come charging in looking fierce, demanding answers, and then, after a series of twists ended up issuing instructions like this.
Anyone would feel too awkward to open their mouth after that.
Still, Amon did not respond immediately. He just stared at the two of them with a half-smile, as if he were watching something funny.
Under Amon's gaze, Garp was fine. That man's skin was thick enough to stop cannon fire. He did not care at all.
Besides, he had not arrived on bad terms with Amon in the first place.
Sengoku, on the other hand, felt his scalp go tight.
If there had been a hole in the ground, he would have wanted to crawl into it. This was humiliating.
And the ones suffering almost as much as Sengoku were Rat Major's remaining subordinates.
Their emotions had been like a roller coaster.
First, Amon had smashed them into the abyss. They thought they were finished.
Then Marine Headquarters reinforcements finally arrived, and not just anyone. It was two legendary figures, Garp and Sengoku.
They thought salvation had come.
But after an unbelievable chain of events, Amon did not just walk away unpunished. He was about to become a Marine Inspector Group officer?
Seriously?
They wanted to cry. They really did. But they could not even manage that.
Amon's pressure was still crushing them, making it difficult to even breathe.
If anyone in the crowd was feeling relief, it was Belle-mère and the people of Cocoyasi Village.
She had been terrified that once the Marines arrived, they would turn on Amon.
Who could have imagined that Amon not only knew Marine legends, but seemed to be on familiar terms with them?
She could even sense it. There was a faint note of coaxing in Garp's voice when he spoke to Amon.
It made Amon even harder to understand.
And she could not even remember how many times today she had felt that same confusion.
From Arlong's arrival, to Nami opening Jars, to Rat Major showing up, and now to how Garp and Sengoku were treating Amon, the entire day felt like one shock after another.
Nojiko was staring at Amon too, stunned. The hands she had raised to shield him slowly lowered.
It seemed Mr. Amon's influence was far greater than she had imagined. He did not need her protection at all.
That realization left a strange emptiness in her chest. She had thought that after drawing those Jars, she could finally help Amon.
The disappointment made her feel a little sad.
"Well? Amon."
Garp saw Amon staying silent and assumed he was agreeing to become an Inspector Group member.
"So, are you happy? Feeling grateful? Want to thank me properly, hm?"
Those words made Amon look at him with pure disdain.
Grateful my ass.
Amon had absolutely no intention of joining the Marines. If he had wanted that, he would have joined long ago when the Revolutionary Army invited him.
They had offered him far more than this too, basically the second seat in the organization. Compared to that, the Marines' so-called Inspector position sounded like a job where you worked yourself to death and got hated for it.
More importantly, he did not want to be restrained. Freedom was great. The world was enormous, and he still wanted to travel properly.
He had not even finished touring East Blue yet.
And he still had to sell Jars. Why the hell would he become some Marine Inspector?
No, joining the Marines was impossible. This life, next life, any life, he was never joining the Marines.
He had no interest in domination. Being a traveling merchant, roaming the seas, sounded perfect.
Meeting some of the people from the original story, sparring now and then, fishing, sightseeing, teasing cute girls. How was any of that less fun than being a Marine?
So he immediately snapped back, no patience at all.
" Garp, who told you I'm going to be a Marine Inspector? I was wondering why you came in acting friendly, greeting me, saying you forgot to bring me good booze. Turns out you were aiming for this the whole time!"
"Fine, then. Say it. Are you joining the Marines with me or not?"
"Speaking of it, I still owe you a massive favor!"
"That Aikido… ahem."
He glanced at Sengoku, and when he saw Sengoku's gloomy face, Garp laughed and immediately changed the topic.
"Forget that. One sentence. Are you joining or not?"
Amon's mouth curled slightly.
"Heh. I need to discuss it with my wife first."
"What?"
Garp's eyes bulged.
"When did you get a wife? Makino? That's not right. We investigated you, you don't have a wife!"
The more Garp thought about it, the more confused he became.
According to their information, Amon should not have any wife at all.
Amon's presence in the world was almost like he had appeared from thin air. The only record of him was from Foosha Village to Cocoyasi Village.
Before he showed up in Foosha Village, there was no trace, history or information of him.
That was also one of the reasons Sengoku had been willing to compromise. He believed Amon was likely from some hidden, secluded family and did not want to provoke him.
"Exactly."
Amon looked at him with a playful expression.
"So there's nothing to discuss."
"Pff. You brat, you're playing word games with me!"
Garp finally realized Amon was messing with him.
"But if you don't join our Inspector Group, then this becomes hard to handle!"
Garp's mind was so straight that for a moment he had seriously been trying to figure out who Amon's "wife" was, and whether he should send someone to ask her opinion.
Amon just chuckled.
"Then that's your problem…."
"Besides, the Marines are the ones who were wrong first. If you can't even handle that properly, won't it chill people's hearts?"
He looked at Garp calmly.
"...Garp"
Amon was unconcerned by Garp's so-called threat.
And he was certain Garp and Sengoku were not stupid enough to escalate things.
This started with the Marines being in the wrong. If they still came after him, that would just be them inviting disaster.
Unless they had absolute confidence they could take him down.
But clearly, they did not.
If they did, they would not be standing here politely trying to "discuss" it with him.
That was exactly why Amon was so unafraid.
In the end, it was simple.
He was not joining the Marines. Not ever.