The bounty posters hit the docks by noon.
Rolled scrolls, red ink, and the Marine eagle crest stamped clear.
Villagers stared. Whispers swirled like sea breeze. Children ran through the alleys with paper in hand, shouting the names now etched in the eyes of the world.
> WANTED: Kairos "The Swap Devil" – 55,000,000 Berries
Zoroko "North Blade" – 38,000,000 Berries
Jinx "Mad Mirror" – 26,000,000 Berries
Lokk "The Living Catapult" – 15,000,000 Berries
Compass Pirates: Known threat to East Blue stability. Engaged in conflict with licensed bounty hunters. Suspected of Devil Fruit activity.
It was official.
They were pirates now — truly.
---
The Weight of a Number
Kairos stood alone on the ship's crow's nest, the sea stretching endlessly beneath him. The bounty poster flapped lightly in his hand.
Fifty-five million.
It was surreal. Not long ago, he was just a kid reborn into this world, flailing to understand the strange and terrifying Swap-Swap Fruit that felt more like a curse than a gift.
He remembered the first time he'd used it — swapping a papercut from Jinx onto a cow. It had seemed laughable.
Now he could trade gravity and strength. War and mercy. Fear and courage.
And it had a price.
A real price.
He wasn't just hunted now.
He was seen.
---
Crew Reactions
Back in the galley, the others pored over their new titles.
Lokk was grinning. "Fifteen million! That's more than I'm worth in muscles alone!"
Jinx shot him a look. "They must've added ten million for property damage."
Zoroko didn't speak. She just stared at her poster.
Her face, inked in shadow. A look of icy resolve. But her eyes… wavered. Just for a second.
Kairos stepped in.
"You okay?"
She folded the paper and slipped it away. "I'm fine."
He didn't believe her. Not entirely.
But he didn't press.
Some wounds were too deep to swap away.
---
Old Wounds, New Voices
As they prepared to set sail, an old woman from Syrup Village approached, carrying a basket of spiced fruit and dried fish.
"For you," she said to Kairos. "And your crew."
He looked surprised. "You're not afraid of us?"
She smiled sadly. "Fear is expensive. You gave us back our peace. That's worth more than the bounty on your head."
Kairos bowed slightly. "Thank you."
"Just remember," she added, placing a hand on his wrist, "power that protects is noble. Power that destroys… invites ruin. Be careful, young man."
He nodded.
But in his heart, he already knew…
The line between the two was thinning.
---
Searidge Ahead
That evening, the crew gathered around Jinx's updated chart. A new mark glittered red across the parchment.
Searidge.
The next Compass Point.
A harbor ruled by smugglers, weapon runners, ex-Marines, and the broken-hearted. A place where deals were made in silence, and debts were written in blood.
"That's where Bonney is?" Zoroko asked.
Jinx nodded. "If she's alive. Rumor says she escaped the World Government's Omega Lab. Eats enough for ten and doesn't sleep."
Lokk laughed. "Sounds like my kind of woman."
"Don't flirt with government experiments," Kairos muttered.
Jinx leaned closer to the map. "Also, a Cipher Pol agent is stationed there. Disguised. Watching for a rogue Devil Fruit user."
The crew went quiet.
Kairos straightened up.
"Then let's not give them time to find us first."
---
Nightfall Warnings
As darkness fell over the Moment, Kairos stood once more at the rail, holding his poster in the moonlight.
Power wasn't free.
Each new ability came with something lost — clarity, safety, innocence.
He could swap lives. Swap destinies. Even swap who wins in a fight… if he was clever enough.
But he couldn't swap out consequences.
A crew of strangers had trusted him.
Now their fates were entwined — and hunted.
He looked up at the stars and whispered a name no one on the crew knew yet.
The name of the one who brought him into this world.
"Imu."
Somewhere, someday… they'd meet.