Chapter 140: Is This Uta?!
Several days later, in the depths of the New World.
A News Coo, carrying a satchel, streaked across the azure sea, flying directly toward the dragon-headed galleon flying the flag of a skull backed by crossed swords.
Under the watchful eyes of a group of pirates, the News Coo landed directly on the deck railing and made a sound, attracting the attention of the pirates who were in the middle of a heated discussion.
The arrival of the News Coo caused the pirates to swarm forward. In the bird's terrified eyes, they nearly snatched its satchel of newspapers and bounty posters completely clean. After robbing it, the pack of wolf-like pirates scattered at light speed and began to rapidly flip through the papers.
The News Coo looked at its satchel, which now contained only a single, lonely bounty poster. A look of anger appeared in its small eyes. It then took out a camera, aimed it at the insignia on the sail, and snapped a few pictures. It was preparing to add this group of unruly pirates to its blacklist when it returned.
Just then, a hand holding a high-denomination Beri note appeared before the News Coo. The bird looked up and saw a man with slicked-back hair, dressed like a common grunt, squatting in front of it, a somewhat apologetic look on his face.
The News Coo merely glanced at him, stuffed its camera back into its bag, completely ignored the Beri the man was offering, and turned to leave. However, the next moment, the man took out another high-denomination note and stuffed it into the News Coo's cap. With a faint smile, he then slowly placed the first Beri note into the nearly empty satchel.
"!!" The News Coo was taken aback for a moment. Then, its attitude did a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn. A human-like, fawning expression appeared on its bird face.
Just then, a series of gasps came from behind the man, causing a vein to pop on the forehead of Beckman, who had just handled the crisis of nearly being blacklisted by the World Economic News Agency. After smilingly sending off the News Coo, he turned around, a cigarette dangling from his lips, ready to let them have a taste of a beating from the first mate.
However, his crewmates' uproar made him pause.
"How is that possible?!"
"Louis... he's actually surpassed us in such a short time!"
"Not just Louis! Yelena and the others are amazing too!"
"Hm? Is the incident already over?" A look of shock appeared in Beckman's eyes as he squeezed his way into the crowd. He then took today's newspaper from the hands of a bewildered rookie and began to preview its contents, a cigarette still in his mouth. Soon, a strange light appeared in his eyes, and he didn't even notice that the cigarette had nearly burned down to the end.
After a long while, Shanks, with his short red hair and a black cape, walked out of the cabin.
Yasopp saw him, and his eyes lit up. He grabbed a few bounty posters and walked toward Shanks, stammering, "Hey, Boss! The business with Louis and the others is over! They've surpassed us!"
Shanks heard him and froze on the spot. "It's over already?" he asked subconsciously. Then, he realized something was wrong. "Surpassed us?" A strange light appeared in Shanks's eyes. He reached out with his remaining arm and took the stack of bounty posters from Yasopp's hand. He sat down on an empty barrel on the deck and began to look through them.
The first thing that entered his sight was a photo of Louis clad in gold and red armor, with his wings spread high, holding a sword and spear.
Below it was written:
"Archangel" Louis.
Bounty: 3,764,000,000 Berries.
Dead or Alive.
Shanks immediately rubbed his eyes, his own filled with disbelief. But when he opened them again, he accepted the fact. A meaningful smile appeared on his stubbled face. "Just as I expected, Louis. You've already surpassed me."
After a brief moment of emotion, Shanks heard Hongo's complaint. "What the hell! They made Yelena look so ugly!"
"Yelena—ugly?" Shanks recalled Yelena's outstanding appearance, a hint of strangeness in his eyes as he flipped to the next poster. However, with just one glance, Shanks fell silent.
On the bounty poster, the photo that had previously hidden her appearance had been replaced with one of Yelena in her hybrid-beast form. Her skinless face was incomparably ferocious. In the deep sockets, her scarlet eyes radiated a chilling light. Her pair of antlers were grotesque and terrifying, like gnarled demonic hands hanging with tattered human skin.
The epithet on the poster was still "Nation-Destroyer," but the bounty had changed to 1,470,000,000 Berries.
"..."
"Well, you can't say it's ugly... just a little scary," Shanks finally said after laughing awkwardly for a moment. But gradually, his laughter faded, because he saw the new members of their affiliate crews trembling slightly as they looked at Yelena's photo. It was clear that in the eyes of most people, this photo was more than just "a little scary."
After helplessly calming the rookies, Shanks continued to flip through the other bounty posters.
"The Killer" Daz Bonez.
Bounty: 400,000,000 Berries.
"Giant God Soldier" Hajrudin
Bounty: 450,000,000 Berries
"Iron Rose" Gerd
Bounty: 246,000,000 Berries
"Shield Mountain" Goldberg
Bounty: 267,000,000 Berries
"The Navigator" Road
Bounty: 170,000,000 Berries.
"The Swordswoman" Kuina
Bounty: 130,000,000 Berries!
Seeing this, a sudden feeling of emotion rose in Shanks's heart. "Louis and the others... did they finally get a navigator?!"
Just then, the other members of the crew also gathered around, complaining.
"Louis's crew has a lot of members now!"
"They even have a famous assassin and four powerful giants!"
"Too strong!"
Suddenly, someone else said, "Louis is even stronger than the boss now. Uta must be really safe with him, right?"
The group heard this, and a look of longing appeared in their eyes. "Uta..."
"She must have become an outstanding musician while traveling the Four Seas!"
Just then, the sound of flapping wings was heard, attracting everyone's attention. "Hm?" The group looked and saw that the News Coo that had flown away had returned. It dropped the last bounty poster that was left in its satchel from the sky.
Shanks saw it and subconsciously reached out to catch the poster. His eyes looked past it. In an instant, a look of disbelief appeared on his face, and he let out a gasp of surprise.
"U—Uta?!"
"Uta?" The group was taken aback. They never expected that their gentle Uta would also get a bounty.
Curiosity guided them to look at the poster clenched in Shanks's hand.
On the poster was a beautiful mermaid girl of city-overthrowing beauty and perfect posture, standing on a glacier in a performance pose, wielding a slender sword and a greatsword. Her face was incredibly familiar to them. The red and white hair, the purple eyes—they were all the features of their daughter, Uta. It was just that the small wing-fins protruding from her hair, the colorful scales on her face, the wing-like fins on her lower back, and the pink fishtail all added a touch of exotic charm.
A look of shock appeared in the eyes of the Red Hair crew. The next second, a huge gasp of surprise echoed on the Red Force. "This—is this Uta?!"
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