The Terror Ghost had just sailed out of an inexplicable, colossal waterspout, finally emerging onto a calm, endless expanse of sea. The crew could finally breathe a sigh of relief and take a short rest.
Before long, a flock of News Coo — the seagull deliverymen — passed overhead. One particularly opportunistic bird swooped down to the ship's rail, squawking a few times and gesturing with its wings toward the papers slung from its mailbag.
As Kuro passed by, he reminded Buggy:
"Don't forget to buy one and bring it to the captain's quarters."
"I know, you damn seagull…"
Buggy grumbled, reluctantly fishing a coin from his hand and tucking it into the little pouch strapped to the News Coo's chest. In return, he reached into the bird's other bag and pulled out the latest newspaper along with a stack of bounty posters.
It was an unspoken understanding between pirates and the News Coo.
The bird seemed to understand Buggy's tone, giving the clown's hand a sharp peck before letting out a strange cry, lifting off into the sky.
Buggy waved the rolled-up newspaper at it, shouting:
"Come down here and fight me, if you dare!"
The only answer was a splat of droppings from above — narrowly missing Buggy — before the seagull vanished into the horizon.
Still muttering curses, Buggy finally unrolled the paper and began to read.
The headlines were no longer about the "Reverse Mountain Sea Battle" — that was yesterday's news, hardly worth mentioning now. The real headlines came from the New World, where one major incident after another was shaking the seas.
This edition's top story was about a clash between two of the Four Emperors — the Whitebeard Pirates and the Big Mom Pirates — with a tantalizing unconfirmed report tacked on at the end.
Allegedly, the conflict had been sparked over the fate of Fish-Man Island. Currently under Whitebeard's protection, the island had long been eyed hungrily by Big Mom.
Fish-Man Island, huh? Buggy thought. The captain and Hachi will probably be interested in this.
He flipped the page — and saw the news about the unrest in the Kingdom of Arabasta.
Arabasta was one of the original twenty nations that had founded the World Government.
The royal family, the Nefertari line, had once been Celestial Dragons — the privileged World Nobles — but had left the Holy Land of Mary Geoise, voluntarily relinquishing that status.
The paper described the kingdom's recent, dire situation.
Just days ago, as the Terror Ghost set sail again from Cactus Island, tensions within Arabasta had boiled over into all-out war.
First, the royal army had launched a surprise attack on rebel territory — but after a counterstrike, large numbers of royal soldiers defected.
The rebel army's numbers swelled overnight, and they pressed the advantage, marching straight toward the royal capital of Alubarna.
None of them realized they were merely pawns in Crocodile's game — fighting a meaningless war.
On top of that, damning "evidence" had surfaced: claims that King Cobra had slaughtered civilians, and that his reckless use of Dance Powder had caused droughts in surrounding cities.
Especially incriminating were certain photographs, taken from angles that clearly showed much of the king's face — anyone familiar with him could recognize it.
"This King Cobra doesn't seem like much of a saint either…" Buggy muttered, shaking his head.
He didn't know that the real King Cobra had already been replaced.
Walking forward without watching his step, Buggy stubbed his toe on a barrel. The pain made him fumble — the newspaper and bounty posters spilling across the deck.
He crouched to gather them, and the first one he picked up happened to be Hachi and Moo Moo's posters.
"Ten million berries and five million berries?!" His shout drew the attention of nearby crew members.
"What's ten million and five million?" Alvida came over to help pick up the scattered posters. She happened to grab her own — "Bounty: 25,000,000 berries. Dead or alive."
Her face instantly soured.
For someone who often ran intelligence for Captain Davy Jones, bounty posters were a headache — the higher the bounty, the more likely people were to recognize her. She would need to start disguising herself from now on.
The rest of the crew drifted over, even Mikita — though still a prisoner — came to join the scene.
Both Mikita and Vivi were captives, but Mikita was far luckier. She had the freedom to walk the deck and was occasionally put to work, while Vivi remained locked in the ship's dark brig.
Hachi looked at his own bounty with a goofy grin, scratching the back of his head. The sun-shaped tattoo on his forehead was covered with a strip of tape — Buggy's suggestion.
That mark was the emblem of the Sun Pirates, founded by Fisher Tiger — itself branded over the "Hoof of the Soaring Dragon," the slave mark of the Celestial Dragons.
Better to hide it, Buggy had said — it could bring trouble from both directions.
"Kuro's bounty is 26 million," Alvida said, handing the poster to the sullen man in the suit. "Slightly higher than mine."
"The captain's is eighty million…" She paused, recalling. "I dug up some intel on Crocodile recently. Before he became a Warlord, his bounty was around eighty-one million."
"So that means he's about on par with the captain?" Hachi asked curiously.
"You can't compare it that way," Mikita finally spoke up from the side. "Boss… Crocodile's bounty froze when he became a Warlord. If he were wanted again now, it'd be at least ten times higher."
She forced a friendly smile, trying to blend in — hoping her treatment as a prisoner would improve.
"Ten times?!" Alvida's eyes widened. "Eight hundred and ten million? Unbelievable."
"A tempting price," Kuro said coolly, glancing at his own poster before giving a terse assessment of Crocodile's likely true bounty.
At that moment, Hachi noticed Buggy had gone quiet. Looking down, he saw the clown frozen in place, staring at his own poster as if turned to ice.
"Buggy, what's wrong?" Hachi peered closer — then saw the number. "Forty-five million! Wow, you're the second-highest bounty in the crew, after the captain."
"Yeah," Alvida said, leaning in with a sly smile. "My bounty's barely half yours."
"Quit rubbing it in!" Buggy snapped back, panic rising in his voice. "You and Kuro only went up ten million each — why did mine jump twenty million? That's not fair! I didn't even do anything!"
He said it, but his conscience twinged — he had a good guess why.
Someone must have remembered that he'd once been a cabin boy on the Roger Pirates — but couldn't make it public — so they'd quietly upped his bounty instead.
Kong? No… it must be that old fossil Garp! He recognized me at Reverse Mountain!
Buggy ground his teeth, but there was nothing he could do.
"Who knows? Maybe there's something about you the Navy finds threatening," Alvida said lightly, brushing her black hair back and walking away. She had a paper to deliver to the captain.
When Davy Jones received his bounty poster, he tossed it aside without a second glance, instead picking up the newspaper.
As he read, he asked:
"How far are we from Arabasta?"
"Very close," Alvida replied, glancing at the Log Pose pointing toward the kingdom. "If our course is right, we should reach the port city of Nanohana by tomorrow morning."
"Good." Davy Jones nodded. "Have everyone get ready."
"Yes." Alvida bowed and left — but once outside, she frowned slightly.
Get ready? For what? For handing Vivi over to Baroque Works? What's there to prepare for that?
Whatever the case, the Terror Ghost was drawing ever nearer to Arabasta.
PS: Access advance (100+) chapters at