You Pay Fifty Billion Beli, and I'll Make You an Honorary Member of the Roger Pirates

Cobra had originally thought Vikengam was just an ordinary pirate in the Roger Pirates.

But he was actually a Celestial Dragon? Did that make any sense?

"You're also a descendant of the Twenty Kings!?" Cobra asked in astonishment.

Clearly, although he did not consider Celestial Dragons particularly noble, he had always taken pride in his ancestors and in his identity as a descendant of the Twenty Kings!

"I don't think anyone would pretend to be a Celestial Dragon. Besides, your father, Wadiye, should know me. When he attended the Reverie in Mary Geoise last time, I was young, but I did speak with him a little," Vikengam said with a curl of his lip.

"Huh?" Cobra was even more shocked. After a moment, he could not help asking, "Then why has a dignified Celestial Dragon like you become a pirate?"

"What's wrong with being a pirate?" Vikengam said irritably. "It's not like I ate your rice!"

"I mean, you did," Jaba teased from the side. "Did you forget how we robbed that noble family's merchant ship at Rapeseed Flower Port? We bought plenty of rice with that money."

Vikengam's cheek twitched twice. Ignoring Jaba's teasing, he continued, "I am a cultural worker, so naturally I must be cultured. While exploring culture, I discovered that the World Government seemed to be concealing an enormous darkness. I also sensed a terrifying power in Mary Geoise. Just as I guessed earlier, perhaps my ancestors were controlled by that terrifying power and forced to do many things they did not wish to do, which led the world to become the mess it is today. As a glorious descendant of the Twenty Kings, I have a duty to uncover the hidden secrets of my ancestors and seek the truth of this world, don't I? During that process, I discovered that the Roger Pirates could help me, so I joined them. What's wrong with that?"

That was all nonsense. In truth, Vikengam was simply extremely curious about the so-called history of the Void Century.

As for the glory of being a descendant of the Twenty Kings... well, when necessary, he did not mind claiming it. When it was unnecessary, he did not care.

Roger and the others were obviously hearing him mention this for the first time. Yet considering his background, they actually felt there was nothing wrong with it.

"So that's how it is. I was wondering why a Celestial Dragon like you insisted on hanging around with us. Turns out you wanted to find the truth about your ancestors. Then it makes perfect sense," Roger said, smacking his lips.

"You've got ambition." Rayleigh gave him a thumbs-up.

However, Vikengam could not be bothered with them. He looked at Cobra instead. "What about you? As Queen Lily's descendant, you make no effort to seek the truth about your ancestors or unravel these mysteries. Instead, you keep calling yourself a descendant of the Twenty Kings all day, treating it like some great honor. Aren't you ashamed? If Queen Lily knew she had a descendant like you, who knew what she would think?"

Vikengam's barrage shattered Cobra's defenses. Flustered and angry, he said, "I didn't know about any of this before! Now that I know, how could I possibly remain indifferent?"

"Then what are you going to do?" Vikengam asked.

That question completely shut Cobra down again. He was only a fourteen-year-old prince. He had come today to pay respects to his ancestors with reverence, only to suddenly find his family tomb dug up. These bastards had even brought him into an underground palace he had never known existed and revealed part of the truth from eight hundred years ago. His mind was already in utter chaos.

And at a time like this, Vikengam was asking what he was going to do?

How was he supposed to know?

His mouth opened several times, but Cobra could not force out a single word. After a long while, he finally asked timidly, "Then what do you think I should do?"

"As a fellow descendant of the Twenty Kings, for the glory of your ancestors, of course you should support the great adventure of the Roger Pirates. We're risking execution to help you uncover ancient secrets. Shouldn't you show some appreciation for the sake of your identity? Let's not talk about anything else. Prepare fifty billion Beli for us to use as adventure funds. If that isn't enough later, I'll ask you for more..." Vikengam said shamelessly.

"Huh? Fifty billion Beli!?" Cobra cried out. "Who do you take me for? Where would I get that much money?"

"You're the prince of a country with ten million people. What's this little bit of money? Back when I was living the good life in Mary Geoise, fifty billion sometimes wasn't even enough for me to spend in a year..." Vikengam boasted smugly.

After a brief pause, he put on a charitable expression. "Fine, after the Roger Pirates accept your sponsorship, we'll count you as an 'honorary crew member,' all right? Once we uncover the history of the Void Century, if we publish any books, we'll even put your name on them. Your name will be remembered for generations, kid. How about it? Generous enough, right? Captain, what do you think?"

Roger rubbed his nose somewhat awkwardly. "Fifty billion... that could work."

"Have you no integrity at all? Can our crew membership be bought with money?" Rayleigh could not help complaining.

"That's fifty billion! Aren't you tempted?" Roger glared at Rayleigh through gritted teeth.

Rayleigh felt guilty for a moment, then said, "Ahem, I was just saying. You're the captain, so you have the final say."

Listening to them go back and forth, Cobra could not help saying, "I really don't have that much money..."

"Then how much do you have?" Vikengam asked again.

"I... if I go back and sell the rewards my father has given me over the years, I might be able to scrape together seven or eight billion Beli?" Cobra said somewhat embarrassedly.

They were both descendants of the Twenty Kings. The man before him had just said he could spend fifty billion Beli in a year, while Cobra could only scrape together seven or eight billion even if he gave it everything he had. It made the young Cobra feel deeply ashamed.

Obviously, the young man did not know that this was actually fairly decent among royalty. After all, that miserable place Dressrosa had a king so poor he could not even gather ten billion Beli. He was practically eating dirt.

Still, as the prince of a country with ten million people, Cobra's money was indeed somewhat shabby. Yet it also reflected the fine family values of the Nefertari Family.

"Seven or eight billion? Forget it, keep some for yourself. Go back and prepare fifty billion Beli, then send it to Rapeseed Flower Port. Our ship is there, and someone is watching it. Consider it a token of goodwill from you as a descendant of the Twenty Kings. On behalf of the Roger Pirates, I thank you," Vikengam said, patting Cobra on the shoulder.

Cobra froze, then could not help asking, "What about my honorary crew member status?"

"You want this and that for fifty billion? If not for the fact that we're both descendants of the Twenty Kings, would I even accept this little money from you? Don't push it. Once you have money in the future, you can keep sponsoring us. When the full fifty billion Beli has been paid, we'll give you that honorary crew member title," Vikengam said disdainfully.

After Vikengam berated him, the young Cobra agreed in a daze and somehow ended up burdened with a fifty-billion-Beli debt.

Soon, Rayleigh made a rubbing of the Poneglyph, then said, "All right, the important business is done. Shall we go to Alubarna and see the prosperity of this thousand-year dynasty?"

"Let's go, let's go! I've been digging sand here all day. I can't take it anymore. If I don't get a drink soon, I'll die!" Roger said without hesitation.

After they left the underground palace, they saw that the ice encasing the guards had begun to melt under the blazing sun. Vikengam had indeed held back and had not truly intended to kill them.

After telling Cobra not to touch anything and assuring him that the people inside would be fine once the sun melted the ice after a while, Roger and his crew swaggered out of the family tomb and headed toward Alubarna.

Poor Cobra was left alone in the desert, staring blankly at his ice-statue guards and his ancestral tomb, which now had a huge hole dug into it.