"Hey, Morgans, remember that 'big news' I promised you last time?"
Inside the Rip-off Bar, Naruto was toying with the five newly acquired Devil Fruits while using a Den Den Mushi to contact an old friend.
After his battle with Golden Lion, Naruto's figure had been photographed by World News Service's news birds.
Leveraging his friendship with Morgans, Naruto successfully traded a promise of "big news" for the other party not revealing his frontal information, leaving only a silhouette.
Of course, this didn't really help much.
As always.
People who knew Naruto could recognize him from just a silhouette. Those who should know already knew.
And those who didn't know him would at most exclaim, "So many zeros!" after seeing his bounty poster, then continue with their business.
This was just to avoid frightening people when passing through ordinary settlements. After all, transformation jutsu got tiresome when overused, and Naruto still preferred the feeling of walking openly on the streets.
"Oh! Isn't this Naruto?"
Morgans on the other end, grinned widely.
He had always held great favor for Naruto, this big customer who could always provide news.
Not just because he made him financially prosperous.
Actually, Morgans' desire for money was far less than his desire for news.
Though he always called himself a "miser," it was almost impossible to buy this guy's silence with money.
"But if you're talking about the Sabaody Archipelago incident, I already know about it. That can't cancel out the news you owe me."
Hearing this, Naruto just chuckled lightly.
Making such a big scene with Akainu, and with Sabaody Archipelago being an important hub connecting several Grand Line routes with many people and loose tongues.
Never mind Morgans' pervasive photographer-reporters. Now you could grab any pirate on Sabaody Archipelago and they could tell you the details.
Things like Celestial Dragons being attacked and a Marine Admiral and criminal destroying an entire island.
The news had already spread.
"I know."
Naruto pulled out a Visual Den Den Mushi from his pocket. This was taken from Golden Lion, and unexpectedly it came in handy today.
"What if I said someone attacked Mary Geoise and killed a large number of Celestial Dragons?"
"..."
The voice on the other end suddenly stopped, with complete silence in the receiver.
Then Morgans let out somewhat harsh laughter.
"Hahahaha! That's so like you, Naruto! I knew it wasn't that simple!"
When it came to understanding Naruto in the pirate world, besides Roger's crew members, Morgans definitely ranked among the top.
He almost instantly grasped the deeper meaning behind Naruto's words.
Who was Naruto Uzumaki?
He was the iron-headed kid who had dared to wreak havoc in Mary Geoise over ten years ago. With his "cloning ability," he could naturally attack in two places simultaneously!
That's right! That's right!
"Quick! Tell me the details!"
There was a reason for Morgans' excitement.
His informants could be found throughout the seas, but only that holy land atop the Red Line was difficult even to approach.
News birds would be shot down directly upon approach, and his secret reporters couldn't infiltrate at all.
Or rather, it wasn't that they couldn't get in, but that they couldn't get out.
The best way to enter there was to be sent in as a slave.
And once slaves entered Mary Geoise, it was almost impossible for them to come out alive.
Even if his subordinates shared his personality of risking their lives for news, they needed to be alive to transmit information.
As for whether this would invite the World Government's hostility and threats, Morgans admitted he was taking a gamble.
At least he had to get this news out before the World Government applied pressure.
This was truly the biggest news in decades!
Asking him to keep it secret would be more painful than killing him.
"Have your people come to the Rip-off Bar. I'll give you the Visual Den Den Mushi directly."
"You even recorded it?!"
This was an even greater surprise.
Originally Morgans thought Naruto would only provide some attack details, which he would then relay with ambiguous language.
Using words like "allegedly" and "perhaps." Even if held accountable, he'd have something to say.
But now...
He was going all in!
Morgans' people quickly arrived at the bar.
They actually had people stationed on every island of the Sabaody Archipelago.
Handing over the Den Den Mushi that recorded his killing of God's Knights members to them, Naruto specifically instructed the person to be careful.
"Good..."
Nearby, Rayleigh and Shakky witnessed Naruto's bold move and looked at each other.
During the wait, they had already heard Naruto explain the whole story.
"So you directly faced that 'Imu'?"
Rayleigh was Roger's old crew member. He had actually known about the existence of the person behind the World Government long ago.
But precisely because of this, he was even more surprised.
"Probably..."
"Then you're really something, Naruto."
With that, Rayleigh raised his glass.
Naruto also clinked glasses with him, then both simultaneously burst into laughter and downed their drinks.
Aunt Shakky nearby could only sigh helplessly.
"Then you'd better leave quickly. The World Government should already be taking action."
"I was thinking the same thing. I came here to get my ship."
An ordinary shipwright would need at least three days to coat a medium-sized vessel.
But if it were some old hands who mastered special techniques, they could compress the time further.
Plus Naruto's Tempest was small, so the coating work was actually complete. Now they just needed to wait for the resin to harden.
This time couldn't be further shortened.
"About a few more hours."
Hearing this answer, Naruto wasn't surprised and then arranged the five fruits he'd casually picked up from Mary Geoise in a line.
He recognized two of them.
"Uncle Rayleigh, do you recognize these three fruits?"
He pointed to the other side.
"Hmm, not really sure."
After examining them for a long time, Rayleigh couldn't find relevant information in his memory.
This wasn't surprising. After all, the entire Roger Pirates only had one or two fruit users, and one of them had eaten their fruit by accident.
"I see. No problem."
Taking out a scroll, under their somewhat curious gazes, the three fruits were sealed within.
"Dog," "Bird," "Ink."
This was the limitation of the sealing scroll's cheat ability. It could only display the general attributes of Devil Fruits.
But at least he could confirm that two were Zoan types, while the other was Paramecia, most likely the Ink-Ink Fruit (definitely not the More-More Fruit). Speaking of which, what was this fruit's use?
Thinking this way, Naruto didn't underestimate it.
After all, as everyone knew, Paramecia fruits had the highest upper limits on the seas.
You never knew what abstract abilities their users could develop.
Hmm, but there was no need to gamble with Sasuke or Karin. What they needed more were fruits that could directly enhance combat power.
How about for Jiraiya-sensei?
Not mentioning Naruto's "happy troubles," Morgans had already begun writing the latest edition of the World News.
That Den Den Mushi was still on its way to headquarters, but Morgans knew without looking that this next big news would definitely shock everyone's eyeballs.
As for how long this news would be forced to "disappear" due to World Government pressure, that wasn't something he should consider.