37 million berries.
17 million more than Arlong, almost matching the collective bounty on the entire Arlong Pirates.
Carina beamed at the stunned Nami. "I win."
Nami came back to her senses, bit her lower lip, and pressed a hand to her racing heart.
She gave a small nod. "You win."
She had to admit Carina's eyes were sharper, yet the truly unbelievable one was still Hiroto. He'd already surpassed Arlong's bounty, even equaling the whole Arlong Pirates.
Too outrageous, too incredible—Nami had never seen anyone like him.
But… this was good, absolutely good.
Even though she'd just lost to Carina, she wasn't the least bit upset. Instead, excitement bubbled up uncontrollably.
Like a drowning person grabbing a straw—no, a lifeline that could save her future.
For a moment, Nami felt every emotion at once.
"What's all the shouting about? Marine Base 153 can't be here already."
Hiroto pushed open the door with Zoro and looked at the crowd gathered on deck.
His first instinct was to scan the sea—nothing.
Chance!
Nami drew a deep breath and went full actress mode. She put on what she believed was her prettiest smile.
In a deliberately sultry voice, she held out the bounty poster. "Captain, your wanted poster."
"You gone crazy?"
Hiroto took the poster, eyebrow raised, and stepped back half a pace.
Nami: "..."
This insufferable man!
"37 million berries... pretty wild."
Beside him, Zoro glanced at the figure. Professional instinct made his eyes flick to Hiroto's neck.
That head's worth a fortune!
'It jumped this high because of the flying slash? Tch, showing off really does draw lightning… though I needed to flex a bit for Nami's sake. Whatever. It's part of the plan. A higher bounty makes things easier.' Hiroto's brows knit, then relaxed.
He already had a plan. If it ran smoothly, the problem wouldn't snowball.
First step: signal goodwill to the Marines—one reason he hadn't wiped out Morgan's men.
Anyone who knew the One Piece World understood the Marines were the real top dogs. Their bases dotted the globe, you ran into them everywhere.
And they were relentless—beat a grunt and a Captain shows up, beat a Captain and an Admiral follows.
Guys like Garp, Sengoku, the three Admirals—he wasn't ready to face them yet.
Given the choice, Hiroto preferred to farm pirates for experience.
That linked to step two: flaunt his strategic value and rake in a fat bounty. Once his strategic value was high enough, everything else would fall into place.
Though Marines and pirates were mortal enemies, the Warlords of the Sea were different. They were pirates the Marines didn't chase, enjoying all sorts of perks. The only headache might be Marineford later. But by then, Hiroto would already be fully geared up.
The downside: pirates would brand him a traitor but Hiroto loved targeting pirates anyway.
Even if he kept hitting them, no one would come swarming. The Four Emperors, the top pirate powers, didn't stick their necks out for small fry.
For him, it was the perfect position.
As for how to become a Warlord...
Strictly speaking, a golden opportunity already existed.
Through daily papers and recalled plot points, Hiroto had noticed something.
There was a vacant seat among the Seven Warlords!
The seat was open because, less than a year before, Ace had defeated the former Warlord Hanafuda.
Stripped of his title, Hanafuda was later killed in revenge attacks, dead men don't come back.
According to the storyline, the World Government should now be asking Ace to fill the empty seat—an offer Ace would refuse.
Right now, Ace had just entered the New World and hadn't yet gone to Wano. But it would happen sometime this year.
Checking the current Warlord roster and what he knew of the plot, if nothing interfered, the next substitute would be Bartholomew Kuma.
In the original, around the year 1518, Caesar Clown developed poison-gas bombs that turned Punk Hazard into a dead zone. That forced Vegapunk to relocate the lab and under Dragon's instructions, Kuma approached him.
He struck a deal with Vegapunk: provide blood as the Pacifista gene source in exchange for treatment for his daughter Bonney's Sapphire-Scales.
Later, one of the Gorosei—Jaygarcia Saturn—eavesdropped.
The leak left Kuma no choice but to accept Saturn's terms and become a new Warlord and the Marines' human weapon.
The timing fit.
"Not a bad start." Hiroto murmured.
"So that's the sort of number that impresses you?" Zoro followed up, wanting to understand his Captain better.
To him, 37 million was already sky-high.
"The man who'll one day captain the World's Strongest Swordsman aims higher than that. To make me even temporarily satisfied, I'd need at least a seat among the Seven Warlords." Hiroto folded the poster away and calmly stated his short-term goal.
"You want to become a Warlord?!"
Johnny and Yosaku blanched. The Warlords were the legendary third power alongside Marine Headquarters and the Four Emperors.
Though the group had recently lost members, its prestige showed how vital the title was.
This terrifying man actually targeted a Warlord seat?
"Warlord of the Sea… what terrifying ambition."
Carina felt her Captain met every requirement she had for someone worth following—strength, ambition, character, quality: flawless.
Nami pondered.
A man like this shouldn't need to fear the Arlong Pirates, right?
"Aiming for that really is a solid start." Zoro grinned.
After learning Hiroto wasn't a swordsman, he'd felt oddly let down. Now he thought that as a Captain, Hiroto wasn't a bad bet—a man worth following, at least until he himself surpassed him.
"Alright, back to work everyone."
Hiroto waved them off and went to train on his own.
After days of rest, the after-effects of his Berserk state had mostly faded.
When he'd hypnotized himself, he'd been clumsy, only doubling his output. If he improved, the multiplier might climb higher.
Of course the backlash would also spike. Without a healing method it was best not to cross the line.
But he couldn't ask too much of Hypnosis—it was only a green entry.
More importantly, Hiroto had something else to focus on: the effect of the orange entry [Effort King].