Chapter 90: A Billion Berry Bounty
In the waters near Dressrosa.
"Is this really okay?"
Eleanor said with a helpless expression. "These are the Seven Warlords of the Sea, sanctioned by the World Government. We can't interfere with them."
"It's fine,"
Momousagi said calmly. "I'm helping clear maritime hazards and secure the shipping lanes."
"Look."
As soon as the words left her lips, a small Sea King suddenly burst from the ocean. Its body, dozens of meters long, was like a moving mountain. With tremendous force, it crashed toward the Marine warship, which wasn't much smaller than the beast itself.
Whoosh!
A flash of silver light seemed to cut through the air.
The entire sky appeared to be split in two by this radiance.
Like a blade slicing through water, the light instantly cleaved the massive Sea King in half.
Crash!
Blood rained down like a crimson downpour, mixed with countless organs.
The Sea King let out a death wail and plummeted into the sea with a thunderous roar, sending towering waves that rocked the Marine vessel slightly.
But that wasn't all. After cutting through the Sea King, the streak of light continued its path, even splitting the thick clouds overhead!
It looked as if a single sword stroke had cleaved the heavens themselves!
Such concentrated sword intent—it seemed almost tangible!
Atop the palace, Doflamingo watched the scene from afar. His initial excitement gradually faded, and he silently abandoned any thoughts of personally pursuing Rhodes.
"This crazy woman..."
Trebol muttered, wiping sweat from his forehead.
If they had provoked the three current Admirals, they wouldn't have been afraid—those men weren't prone to impulsive behavior. They had their codes of conduct and wouldn't actively target a Shichibukai.
But Momousagi was different.
Women were inherently unreasonable.
Powerful women even more so.
As for a woman at the peak of her power...
Her willfulness was so extreme that even Doflamingo would have to yield. And he knew this woman's powerful connections.
She had a lifelong pursuer in Vice Admiral Chaton, a fellow Admiral candidate.
There was Chief of Staff Tsuru, who was practically like a big sister and had once hunted Doflamingo relentlessly.
Doflamingo's head ached just thinking about it.
He returned to his chambers in silence, deep in thought.
It was impossible not to retaliate—not to strike back.
The underworld valued prestige and reputation above all. If he showed no signs of revenge even after losing a top officer, everyone would look down on him, underestimate him, and it would affect his family's connections and trading networks.
But if he acted personally, Momousagi would likely level Dressrosa the next day and hunt him to the ends of the earth. No one could stop a Great Swordsman's killing intent.
"Go to the underworld and place a bounty on Rhodes's head."
Doflamingo pondered for a long moment, then addressed Trebol with a cold voice.
"One billion berries!"
His words startled everyone present.
One billion berries!
That was no small sum!
In these seas, bounties exceeding one billion were rare, reserved only for truly formidable figures.
For example, Charlotte Katakuri, leader of the Sweet Commanders, had a bounty barely exceeding 1 billion—1.057 billion to be exact. King the Wildfire, one of the Three All-Stars, also had a bounty of only 1.39 billion.
Even Doflamingo's bounty at his peak hadn't reached that level!
"With 1 billion berries, aside from the legendary 'Silent Death' who might not be interested, even top-tier assassins would be drooling over it,"
Trebol sneered, as if he could already see Rhodes's gruesome death.
The underworld's ace assassins were generally extremely powerful, and most importantly, their methods were cunning—mastering various assassination techniques, including advanced weaponry and deadly poisons. Some even possessed sinister Devil Fruit abilities, capable of assassinating even Marine Headquarters Vice Admirals.
Silent Death, the legendary world's greatest assassin known as the "Slaughter King," had even used his unique abilities to infiltrate the Holy Land of Marijoa, successfully assassinating a high-ranking World Government official and escaping unscathed, shocking the entire world.
The Five Elders were furious, but powerless—he was completely untouchable.
Sabaody Archipelago.
At the port.
Gates was directing sailors to load fresh water, food, and other supplies onto a large sailing vessel, making final preparations, but his eyes kept drifting to the scene nearby.
There, Rhodes stood with his hands clasped behind his back, gazing into the distance, lost in thought.
Beside him, a little girl who appeared no more than eleven or twelve years old stood perfectly upright. Her delicate face was flushed by the sea breeze, her small body trembling from the cold, but she showed no intention of moving even a step.
After a long while, Rhodes suddenly spoke, with a hint of exasperation in his tone:
"Do you even know how old I am? Why do you want to become my student?"
"Age doesn't matter. I just know you're strong."
The little girl looked up at Rhodes, her eyes firm and unwavering, her voice slightly hoarse from the cold.
"I want to become strong—as strong as you—so I'll never feel as helpless as I did that day."
If she hadn't been playing in a shop owned by her father's friend that day, she would have been reduced to ashes along with their ship.
Later, after hearing about her father's ordeal, her terror only grew, and the little girl's hunger for strength became unprecedented.
Rhodes felt somewhat irritated.
The girl was Gates's daughter, Yukiko. It seemed she had been deeply affected by that day's events. The moment they met, she demanded to learn swordsmanship from him, and no matter how he tried to discourage her, she refused to leave.
Suddenly, Yukiko dropped to her knees and declared firmly, "I know I'm not worthy of being your disciple yet. Being a servant is fine—as long as you can teach me swordsmanship."
"Servant? Can you wash clothes? Can you cook?"
Rhodes shook his head in amusement. The daughter of such a wealthy merchant serving others? She'd probably only ever been served herself.
Unexpectedly, Yukiko raised her small face and proudly proclaimed, "I can do all of those things!"
"My mom was the best chef in the West Blue, and I've been learning from her since I was little."
"From royal cuisine to simple grilled fish, I know dishes from all Four Blues. Oh, and Yukiko can brew sake too!"
"I promise, on our way back to the West Blue, I won't let Master eat the same dish twice!"
She puffed out her flat chest to demonstrate her confidence.
"Hmm?"
Rhodes blinked, swallowed hard, and nearly gave in.
But he had no experience teaching, so he simply said, "Stand up."
"Training is incredibly difficult work, and it requires natural talent..."
But Yukiko remained kneeling on the ground, her expression looking as if she might cry at any moment, or even refuse to get up entirely.
On the verge of a harsh refusal, a certain foodie nerve in Rhodes twitched slightly, and the words on his lips transformed into:
"How about this—I'll teach you some basics during our journey. You can be my apprentice-in-training. I haven't even established my own style yet."
"Yes! That's wonderful!"
Yukiko was such a clever little girl—she knew when to quit while ahead. She jumped up happily and bounced around excitedly.
In that moment, she truly looked like the child she was.
Rhodes shook his head. The journey would be boring anyway, so it wouldn't hurt to offer occasional guidance while organizing his own techniques.
The so-called "reviewing the old to learn the new" was exactly this.
At that moment, a group of people slowly approached from the distance.
The leader was a blonde man riding a white horse, holding a rose in his mouth. He was so flashy that it made people want to cut him down with a sword.
(End of Chapter)
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