Even Nelson noted that this was only for low-level bounties. For someone like Monkey D. Luffy, with a bounty of 30 million beli that appeared in News Coo, this simply did not happen.
Bill just shrugged at that. Nelson had become more open in recent months, but his cynical personality seemed unchanged.
Literally everything he explained painted the World Government in the most negative light. Every good deed Bill talked about, Nelson presented as manipulation.
Nelson believed Bill was naive because he had never been to an island outside of the Marine Corps, except for ones like Water 7.
Bill didn't like being laughed at, but after everything that had happened between them, he cut Nelson some slack. Besides, it was useful to have the knowledge of a man who had grown up in a noble family.
Sasha was of course also a noblewoman, but she had grown up in the Marine Corps, while Nelson had come straight from private life to the Marineford Cadet Academy.
Reflecting on the past few months, Bill stood on the main deck of the Victory and directed the helmsman.
Arriving at the magnificent natural harbour, he saw the newly built lonely pier and the spiral wood and stone towers of the new city.
With the last refugees on board, all the inhabitants had been relocated and the largely uninhabited island was now teeming with life.
He noted that the city as a whole was built according to plan, with the upper and lower levels of the island inhabited by people.
The small forests were almost completely cut down, except for one small grotto with a pond and a large willow tree under which Bill had once rested. It was sad, but Little Eastern Blue Island was too small to retain forest area.
Bill smiled but sighed as he saw the large crowd moving towards the new dock. He had hoped to surprise everyone with his arrival, but Boss Beetle had spotted the Victory and had come running to investigate.
The beetle had grown much larger since Bill had last seen it, almost the size of a small car, and when Bill saw Yoko, he swore he saw a smile on its face.
Yoko was also happy and, without being afraid, jumped on his back and rode him to her old secret base.
Bill couldn't help but be worried when he saw the girl flying on the bug and almost had a heart attack. He was more worried about her falling than he was when he fought the Revolutionary Dragon!
But as he watched them disappear behind the rocks, he resisted the urge to leap into the air and make sure that if she fell, he would be there to catch her.
"Well…" Bill thought, steering the ship to a stop and lowering the ramps.
"I could have gotten there myself even if she had fallen." That was how he reassured himself, and it was not just an exaggeration.
Bill has become very strong over the past seven months.
In addition to restoring his mind, he completely reconstructed his body, broke a mountain of iron with his bare hands, and took Nelson for walks twice a day.
This work was enormous in itself, but it was made even more difficult by the fact that Bill could specifically strengthen individual muscle fibers.
Remembering how he fought with Monkey D. Luffy, that skinny but incredibly strong guy, Bill thought that he would have definitely defeated him now if he had possessed such strength back then when they met.
The battle with Revolutionary Dragon would have gone differently, too. At least Bill was confident that he could have taken more than one hit.
He suspected that if they fought again, the deciding factor would be whether he could suppress the essence in the Dragon's shadow.
As Bill stepped down the gangway and greeted Mayor Fabre, Borodo, Akisa, Miyagi, and the chief engineers, he was absolutely confident.
"Well, it looks like you've been busy here!" he said, smiling broadly.
The group met him halfway and began to say that they heard that he himself was very busy.
After everyone greeted each other, Akisu couldn't help but ask:
— Is it true that the man you fought is the most wanted criminal in the world?
Nodding his head, Bill laughed and replied:
- Looks like it!
Hearing this, Akisu looked surprised, but only for a second before he spoke again:
- Where is Yoko?
This made Bill laugh again. He had been worried about the boy before, but he wasn't worried now. So he replied that Yoko had ridden on Boss's back to their secret hideout, and the boy had said goodbye right away.
After he left, Bill, Rance and the others began helping the old people off the ship and head to their new homes.
There were no celebrations except for those of families who were reunited. It was decided that the island would mark the moment when the city was built.
Now, after meeting various people, Bill was brought to the barracks and shown his new office.
It was a cozy room, and he immediately realized that it had been designed on the model of Aramacchi's office.
On one side was a heavy oak table, and on the other was a seating area large enough to accommodate about a dozen people his size.
A snail-communicator was installed on the table, and behind the commander's chair there were empty cabinets for documents.