The Summit War was over.
This battle, one that could be called the most luxurious in lineup, the most complete in process, and the most overwhelming in both quantity and quality of top-tier fighters in recorded history, would be spoken of across the world for a very long time.
And among all the names discussed most intensely,
the one that drew the most attention
was none other than that man whose figure had vanished from the world's sight for decades, yet whose legends had never once faded.
For the first time ever, because of a certain shift in stance,
the Marines once again posted that bounty poster whose amount had not changed in decades, and whose circulation had long been rare.
Photo: a screenshot from the live broadcast of the Summit War, showing a towering figure standing within black mist, scarlet light blazing from his eyes.
Bounty Poster:
Black Spear Ozz Dotor
Paramecia-type Teleport-Teleport Fruit user
Possibly Awakened
Top-tier master of all three forms of Haki
The World's Strongest Sniper!!!
Bounty: 6,068,000,000 Berries
Dead or Alive. Extremely dangerous.
Reports about him shook the entire sea in an astonishingly short amount of time.
The World's Strongest Monster!!! One Man Crushes an Emperor!!!
The Origin of the Seven Warlords' Name? The Identity of the "King" Revealed...
The Highest Bounty in History!!! An Unbeaten King Who Has Suppressed One Era After Another!!!
Across the world, whether in the Four Seas, Paradise, or the New World,
countless people learned that the war had ended on that very day, and received that bounty poster, one so extravagant and terrifying it hardly seemed real.
Some civilians were overcome with fear.
"You've got to be kidding me??? In the East Blue, there aren't even many pirates worth tens of millions. What kind of concept is six billion?!"
Some kings and nobles, after seeing that familiar name and that terrifying bounty amount, had their pupils tremble violently.
"So that's it... It was that Black Emperor-sama, the one we once pledged ourselves to twenty years ago."
"If it's that man, the one even the World Government was forced to give way to, then this bounty makes perfect sense."
In the Calm Belt,
a small boat drifted forward at an unhurried pace.
An old man sat at the edge of the boat, fishing while reading the newspaper in his hand.
"What is it, Roger?"
Another old man walked over holding a bottle of liquor and plopped down beside him.
"Rayleigh, it's a report about Ozz."
"He really turned out something special. That bounty is the highest I've ever seen. It even surpasses Rocks back in the day."
Rayleigh only smiled when he heard that.
"I'm used to it by now. That guy has been turning the seas upside down every so often all these years."
"Is that so?! Hahahahahaha!!!"
As the two old men chatted while crossing the Calm Belt, they occasionally swept the surrounding waters with Conqueror's Haki, and not a single Sea King dared approach.
As for how such a tiny pirate boat had enough power to cross the Calm Belt...
"Boom boom boom..."
At the stern, a massive humanoid flamethrower kept firing continuously.
Who else could it be but Ace?
"Oi!!! Why am I the one pushing the boat?!"
Sharp-tongued as ever, Ace complained while his lower body transformed into flames, blasting fire nonstop to provide propulsion.
"Hahahahaha!!!"
Faced with Ace's grievance, both old men laughed heartily.
"Old men have weak bones. Bear with us a little. Besides, using your Devil Fruit like this is pretty convenient, isn't it?"
Rayleigh said with a grin.
"Exactly. Back in the old days, whenever the Oro Jackson ran aground or something, it was always Ozz who shoved the ship back out."
Roger used Ozz as an example, and that was enough to make Ace stop complaining.
Several days had already passed, and Ace had slowly begun to emerge from his grief.
Besides, Pops surely would never have wanted him to stay trapped in sorrow forever.
"Hey... what about Luffy and Sabo? How are they?"
Even though he knew they were no longer in danger, Ace still could not help asking.
They were his brothers.
"The boy wearing the straw hat I gave Shanks, and that blond young man?"
Roger thought for a moment, then continued,
"The blond kid was taken away by those people calling themselves the Revolutionary Army. As for the straw-hat boy, he left with the fish-man named Jinbe and was taken away by submarine."
"I see..."
Ace roughly understood what kinds of people those were.
"Oh, right. Ozz said something before he left too!"
Rayleigh seemed to remember something and spoke while holding his bottle.
"Ace, you probably won't be able to be a pirate anymore."
"What?!"
"He said it's punishment for your recklessness. Rouge has been very worried about you."
Ace instantly panicked.
"What do you mean? You mean I'm not allowed to go to sea anymore?!"
"More or less. At the very least, you won't be allowed out for the next two years. Even after that, if you can go, there's no way you'll be allowed to appear on the seas as a member of the Whitebeard Pirates."
"The truth may be hard for you to accept, but the fact is this."
"The era of Whitebeard has already passed. This era is called Ozz."
"Tch..."
"What if I sneak out to sea anyway?"
"You can try."
Hearing that, Ace's expression turned ugly at once, and cold sweat ran down his forehead.
Roger looked at his son meaningfully, then merely smiled.
"At least for now, stay with your mother in my place."
"After all... I'm nothing more than an old man who can't really do much anymore."
And so,
the two "useless old men" successfully crossed the Calm Belt and entered the waters of the East Blue.
That little pirate ship sailed forward openly and without fear.
It had no navigator and simply charged wherever the Log Pose pointed.
Before long, it drew the attention of the Marines.
"Report, sir! The lookout has spotted a pirate ship ahead!"
At that moment, a Marine fleet that had just returned from the Summit War and was sailing back to the East Blue received the report from a messenger.
"Pirates from East Blue? What scale are we talking about?"
"Uh... visually, it seems to be only two or three people."
"A pirate crew that small needs to be reported to me? Sink them immediately!"
The officer gave the order on the spot.
"Yes, sir!!!"
The cannons of several warships instantly turned toward the fast-approaching little vessel.
"Looks like the Marines have blocked our way, Roger."
Rayleigh tossed a few bullets in his hand and smiled easily.
"Hahahahaha!!!"
"We're really being underestimated!!!"
Facing the incoming cannon fire, old Rayleigh crossed his legs, gave his wrist a flick, and the bullets shot out instantly, detonating the cannonballs midair.
That one move left the Marines on those warships completely stunned.
"That's no small-time pirate crew. All of you, fall back."
At that moment, a burly old man with white hair stepped forward, and the Marines immediately retreated.
"Vice Admiral Garp!!!"
The old man strode forward laughing, one hand rubbing his shoulder.
"Hahahahaha!!!"
"I've caught you again, Roger!!!"
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