The pathetic sight of the fleeing Marine fleet seemed small and ridiculous amidst the churning, blood-red waves of the Maelstrom Sea. On the Azure Dragon, the ecstatic joy of survival mixed with the intoxicating effects of alcohol erupted into a deafening celebration.
"Wahahaha! Did you see Sengoku's face? It was uglier than if he'd eaten an expired Sea King!" Gatz shouldered a giant barrel of rum he had just "borrowed" from a Marine supply ship, pouring the liquid into his mouth like a fountain, the alcohol flowing down his bronze chest.
"Gurararara! That guy's Buddha light is no match for Chef Ren's rice balls!" Newgate laughed just as heartily. He sat on a mountain of spoils of war, using his naginata as a giant barbecue skewer, roasting a leg from some unknown sea beast over a small flame from Prometheus.
Linlin let out a satisfied burp. Zeus and Prometheus, having eaten the steel and gunpowder of several warships, had both swelled in size and looked comically cute. She wasn't very interested in fighting right now, just staring eagerly at Ren, waiting for the next dessert.
Silver remained silent. He sat alone on the highest watchtower, carefully wiping his spear with a clean white silk cloth. There was a new, shallow scratch on the shaft, a mark left from a brush with the aftershock of Sengoku's attack. His gaze was sharper than ever before. This clash with the world's top powerhouses had deepened his understanding of strength to a new level.
And the most miserable person in this carnival was undoubtedly the shipwright, Dolum. He wandered around the deck and cabins of the Azure Dragon like a ghost, holding a small hammer and a stethoscope, knocking here and listening there. With every new piece of damage he found, another layer of grief was added to his face. He muttered to himself, as if mourning his lost youth.
"Seventeen fine cracks on the number three port side armor plate, caused by the aftershock of Lord Newgate and Sengoku's clash... This is memory alloy, self-healing memory alloy! It's about to lose its memory!"
"The energy shield generator at the stern is overloaded by one hundred and twenty percent. It's just a pile of scrap metal now! Miss Linlin's lightning burned its fuse to ashes!"
"The keel... my god, the three new cracks on the keel are deeper than the wrinkles on my face! That repulsive force blast from the Captain nearly blew a hole through our own ship's bottom!" Dolum hugged a broken railing, crying like a 300-pound child. "This isn't a pirate ship, this is a moving monster arena! Why did I ever get on this pirate ship!"
Ren walked over with a steaming bowl of calming soup and handed it to him. "Drink this. Then go and sort the captured Marine spare alloy plates. The repair work on the Azure Dragon begins tonight."
Dolum took the soup. Smelling the aroma that could calm the very soul, his sobs gradually subsided. He knew that complaining wouldn't solve the problem. Only by constantly repairing and reinforcing could this ship, which carried a group of monsters, avoid falling apart in the next, even more terrifying collision.
Just then, a News Coo, in a near-suicidal dive, shrieked and fell from the sky. It seemed to have been scared out of its wits by the few terrifying auras on the Azure Dragon that had not yet fully subsided. It dropped a stack of the latest newspapers and a few brand-new bounty posters on the deck, and then fled for its life at a speed three times faster than it had arrived, as if staying for another second would get it crushed into a meat paste by the terrifying pressure.
"Oh? New news?" Gatz curiously picked up the newspaper. When he saw the headline on the front page, printed in the most eye-catching and sensational font, his eyes widened like his anchor.
[WORLD SHOCKER! MARINE G-1 FLEET SUFFERS DEVASTATING BLOW! SENGOKU AND GARP BOTH DEFEATED!]
On the newspaper, a photo taken by some fearless war correspondent took up the entire page. The background of the photo was a burning ocean and overturned warships. And in the very center of the picture, Rocks's figure was floating in the air, looking down, his world-scorning posture and the arrogant smile on his lips filled with a demonic charm that could make the whole world tremble. Below the photo were several new bounty posters, which were somewhat blurry due to the emergency printing, but still exuded a domineering presence.
Without a doubt, the frontal defeat of the elite fleet led by the Marine Hero and the Great Staff Officer, a scandal that could be called the greatest in the hundred-year history of the Marines, had thoroughly enraged the World Government. Their bounty amounts had seen an unprecedented, explosive increase.
At the very top, naturally, was Rocks.
[Rocks D. Xebec: Bounty 4,000,000,000 Beli!]
[Crimes: Frontally defeating a Marine Headquarters Grand Fleet, seriously injuring Garp and Sengoku, openly declaring war on the World Government. Heinous crimes. To be captured or killed!]
"Wahahaha! Four billion! Looks like those old geezers at the World Government finally know what's what!" Rocks looked at his bounty poster and laughed in satisfaction. This number had already surpassed all the famous great pirates on the sea, catapulting him to the very top, making him the de facto most dangerous man in the world.
Following closely behind was Newgate. In his photo, he was shattering space with a single punch, his world-destroying presence seeming to leap off the page.
["Whitebeard" Edward Newgate: Bounty 3,500,000,000 Beli!]
[Crime: Core combatant of the Rocks Pirates, possesses the power to destroy the world. His danger level is second only to Captain Rocks!]
And Linlin's bounty poster was even more exaggerated. Her photo showed her directing Prometheus and Zeus, like a natural disaster descending.
["Big Mom" Charlotte Linlin: Bounty 3,200,000,000 Beli!]
[Crimes: A natural-born destroyer, can manipulate the weather. Her destructive power and danger level are inestimable. Leaves no blade of grass standing where she passes!]
Linlin tilted her head. Seeing the shockingly high amount, she smiled happily. "Wahahaha! With this much money, I could buy the whole of Totto Land!"
Even the bounties for Gatz, Silver, and Dolum had taken an astonishing leap.
["Giant Anchor" Gatz: Bounty 500,000,000 Beli!]
["Phantom" Silver: Bounty 480,000,000 Beli!]
["Iron Wall" Dolum: Bounty 200,000,000 Beli!]
And the most peculiar one was Ren's bounty poster. In the photo, he was standing calmly on the smoke-filled battlefield, holding a food box, completely out of place with the world-destroying scene around him.
[Head Chef Ren: Bounty 800,000,000 Beli!]
[Crime: The heart of the Rocks Pirates. Ability unknown. Suspected of possessing a Devil Fruit ability that can greatly strengthen his comrades through cooking. His strategic threat level—Extremely High!]
The total bounty of the core members of this newly formed rookie pirate crew had already surpassed the 11.7 billion Beli mark! This number was enough to make any other pirate crew turn pale.
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