[You chose option 3, reward: +1 "Fishing" experience]
As the Chief of Staff of the Revolutionary Army, Sabo's intelligence was certainly sharp.
He could see that Vivian had already figured out his intentions.
He could also hear that Vivian was making a promise to him.
Vivian didn't want to clash with the Revolutionary Army, or see another large-scale war break out, so he was telling Sabo this to persuade him to stop his reckless actions.
Yes, in Sabo's own eyes, his insistence on going to the Navy headquarters to search for the Flame-Flame Fruit, despite Dragon's objections, was indeed reckless.
Just like two and a half years ago, when Ace, to avenge Thatch, ignored Whitebeard's objections and set out on a path of revenge alone.
If only Ace had met someone like Vivian who could have stopped him back then...
But it's too late to go back now...
Sabo bowed sincerely to Vivian, put his hat back on, and without saying another word, leaned back against the side of the ship.
About two hours later.
The warship landed on an island not far from the G1 headquarters, and the refugees were escorted into the town by the marines.
Since they were only out on patrol, the warship carried enough food for about two to three days, which made Vivian abandon his plan to cook a meal for the refugees. Instead, he took them to a restaurant in town and paid for a big meal out of his own pocket.
After the meal, he used a Den Den Mushi to call for a small warship from headquarters that could carry about 500 people, and had Jinbe escort the refugees back to their hometowns.
Seeing this, Sabo's opinion of Vivian changed a bit more.
Although he still didn't know if Vivian was trustworthy, at least he had calmed down.
Standing on the deck of the warship, looking at the island gradually disappearing from view with the refugees, Sabo crossed his arms and let his thoughts drift.
At that moment, Jinbe suddenly approached and asked Sabo, "You were the one at Ace's grave, right?"
Sabo turned to look at Jinbe and nodded.
The two had actually met over a year ago.
At that time, Jinbe had escaped from Impel Down and went to pay his respects at Ace's grave, where he found Sabo grieving.
Having lost his memory due to the Celestial Dragons' attack at his childhood, Sabo had only recently remembered everything about the Goa Kingdom and Windmill Village after learning of Ace's death.
At first, he couldn't accept it and was consumed by guilt.
He hated himself for forgetting his best brother and for not being there when Luffy and Ace were fighting at the execution platform.
So, tormented by guilt for the past year and a half, he made the drastic decision to sneak out of the organization and go to the Navy headquarters to steal the Flame-Flame Fruit.
Fortunately, before reaching the G1 headquarters, reason finally overcame his impulsiveness.
"You were Ace's friend, right?" Jinbe continued, "Actually, Ace and I were also close friends for many years."
Not long after Ace set out to sea, the two became close friends after a five-day, five-night battle.
"Another friend of Ace's..." Sabo thought to himself.
"Perhaps you hate Captain Vivian because of the Marineford War, but in reality, he is an excellent Marine."
Jinbei said, extending his fish-man hand to pat Sabo's shoulder in a friendly manner. "Go find Whitebeard. He might tell you the whole story and the Captain Vivian's secret."
…
A few days later.
"The bonus has been issued."
G1 Headquarters Town.
Domino excitedly carried a money bag to the door of Vivian's house.
She had just returned from the base's treasury, collecting the hefty bounty for Vivian for taking down the "strange merman" Nicolette a few days ago.
According to regulations, 30% of the bounty is given as a reward for capturing pirates. With a bounty of 330 million, the bag contained… 99 million Berries!
99 million! Such a large sum of money was more than ten years of her salary at Impel Down.
"A bonus?"
Vivian, with a cigar in his mouth, sat up from the sofa, looking at Domino's slender figure carrying the oversized money bag and her excited expression. He couldn't help but laugh, "You look out of breath. Put the bag down and have a drink. I'll have someone distribute the money to the marine officer who participated in the voyage later…"
"Oh."
Domino nodded, just placing the bag on the ground when she immediately reacted and hugged the bag tightly again, "No, you can't give it to them!"
"Why?" Vivian asked.
"Nicolette was taken down by you alone… well, at most with Jinbei and Uncle Issho. The bonus should be divided among the three of you. What does it have to do with those officers…"
"How can you say that? They also contributed a lot during the capture… helping to rescue the refugees."
"But… but…"
"No buts."
Vivian pulled Domino to the sofa and sat her down, just about to give her a couple of pats to make her obedient, when suddenly.
"Vivian!"
Outside the door, Aili, dressed in a Navy uniform, hurriedly ran into the house.
"What happened?"
Vivian also pulled Aili to the sofa and handed her a freshly made juice. After Aili caught her breath and burped, she excitedly said, "Vice Admiral Tsuru wants you to go to her office. She said the World Government has a reward for you."
"The World Government?" Vivian raised an eyebrow.
What reward could they have for him at this critical moment?
He thought the credit for finding Joker's true identity and destroying the underworld had already earned him a permanent promotion to captain.
While he was puzzled.
"I've heard that the higher-ups have unanimously decided to distribute the Devil Fruits obtained from the Kingdom of Dressrosa to some of the more capable young Marines. Maybe they want to give you a Devil Fruit too?"
Vivian: ???