And then—
As the viewers of the Bleach world gradually began to develop a deep interest in the One Piece world because of the scene that had just played…
On the transparent light screen, the video dimmed. This also meant that the first segment of the "Backer King" ranking…
had finally come to an end.
However.
It wasn't long before that.
Before the audience could keep arguing about it in full swing…
Very quickly,
after the transparent light screen flickered for a moment, it brightened again.
Immediately after that,
a new clip continued to play—
And this time,
in the second segment, the first thing to enter everyone's eyes was naturally the title subtitle:
"Another backer…"
"One of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, the Tyrant—Bartholomew Kuma!!!"
The subtitles appeared.
In less than three seconds,
they set off a huge storm across the entire One Piece world.
In that instant,
countless viewers were shaken—everyone was stunned!
"Holy shit?!"
"What the hell is going on? Tyrant Kuma… he's actually Straw Hat Luffy's backer too?"
"No way! Those two people have nothing to do with each other!"
"Don't tell me… Tyrant Kuma is Straw Hat Luffy's uncle, and he's connected to Revolutionary Dragon?"
"Or maybe in the future, after Straw Hat Luffy reaches the New World, Tyrant Kuma will join their pirate ship?"
All kinds of speculation like this—
no matter which possibility it was, to the viewers, it was absurdly outrageous, and it brought an enormous shock!
After all,
for so many years,
the impression Tyrant Kuma had given the outside world
had always been cold-blooded and ruthless—his ability and combat power unbelievably strong!
Anyone,
once they provoked Tyrant Kuma,
would be slapped away by those gigantic bear paws—
and then be forced into an uncontrolled "world tour," drifting around the globe!!!
At the same time,
the title of "Warlord"
carried terrifying deterrence on the Grand Line—like a walking trump card, someone everyone had to fear!
Precisely because of that,
the reveal of this ranking subtitle now was even more astonishing.
Why, exactly, did it make sense?!!!
Just having a father who was the Revolutionary Dragon, and a grandfather who was the Hero of the Marines, was already shocking enough!
And now even one of the Seven Warlords—
was also Straw Hat Luffy's support, one of his powerful backers?
That was ridiculously exaggerated!
Were they even going to leave any other pirates a way to live?!!!
———
And at this time,
in the real world,
on the deck of the Going Merry—
the Straw Hat Pirates were all completely dumbfounded, every single one of them frozen in place.
As the people directly involved,
the shock deep in their hearts was many times stronger than anyone else's!!!
"Huh?!"
Sanji was dumbstruck.
His mouth fell open in disbelief; the cigarette dropped to the deck, and he didn't even have time to step it out.
As for Zoro—
beneath his green hair, his eyes
were filled with sheer disbelief and deep suspicion.
Because…
back in the Florian Triangle,
on another Warlord's turf—Gecko Moria's domain—
they had once encountered Tyrant Kuma!
At that time.
That huge, terrifying monster—
was plainly there under orders to erase them, and he had nearly attacked Luffy!!!
"Damn it…"
"What the hell is going on?!"
"I absolutely don't believe Tyrant Kuma will become one of Luffy's backers in the future!!!"
Zoro gritted his teeth.
The more he thought about it, the more absurd it felt.
At the same time,
the moment Tyrant Kuma was mentioned,
the old injuries on Zoro's body began to ache faintly, dragging his mind back to—
that time.
On Thriller Bark,
when he had faced Tyrant Kuma alone.
The terror and crushing pressure that guy brought—
it was simply infuriating!!!
So,
toward the ranking subtitles,
Zoro couldn't help but grow even more doubtful.
From the bottom of his heart, he felt—
could it be that the ranking video had made some kind of blunder?
Otherwise,
something this outrageous—
how could it possibly become a real fact in the future?!
To the side,
Luffy himself.
Under the brim of his straw hat, his face was blank with confusion—he even calmly picked his nose.
"Hm?"
"Kuma… Tyrant Kuma, huh?"
"If I remember right, this guy's also one of the Seven Warlords—he's on the same level as Moria, right?"
As he said that,
Luffy clenched his fist.
He struck an eager, ready-to-fight stance…
and at the same time said, somewhat puzzled:
"I was just thinking about finding the next Warlord and beating them one by one!"
"So how could he become one of my backers in the future? That's really weird!!!"
Yes.
Even Luffy himself felt confused.
For one thing, he and Tyrant Kuma could be said to have never truly met face-to-face at all!
After all,
back then.
On Thriller Bark—
Luffy had been in a state of extreme exhaustion, and he had fallen completely asleep.
It was Zoro!
Zoro had sacrificed himself!
Using his own body to bear all the damage in Luffy's place!!!
Therefore,
for Luffy as he was right now,
Tyrant Kuma—this Warlord—was undoubtedly just a figure that existed only in rumors!
A guy he'd never even met—
how could he possibly get entangled with him in the future?
And not only that, but even become a powerful "backer," just like his father Dragon?
It was far too unbelievable!!!
However…
another crewmate, Nami—
with her optimistic personality, held the opposite attitude. Smiling, she deliberately reminded them:
"Luffy, Zoro, everyone…"
"I think we shouldn't think too much about it yet!"
"Even though this does sound really weird—don't forget…"
"The ranking footage can spoil the future! All the doubts will be revealed one by one in a moment!!!"
By the end of her words,
Nami's clear eyes returned to the screen.
Inside her gaze was a plainly visible, intense anticipation:
"It's the perfect chance to witness just how far our Straw Hat Pirates will reach in the future!!!"
And when the others heard that—
starting with Luffy, the entire Straw Hat crew's eyes instantly lit up!
Their gazes turned blazing hot at once!
And in their minds, bold dreams began to bloom:
Could it be…
that in the future, the overall strength of their Straw Hat Pirates
would surpass the Seven Warlords, completely stand above them—
and firmly gain a foothold in the New World?
Becoming one of the famous, powerful pirate crews
in the One Piece world?
(End of Chapter)
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