In another sea region, shortly after setting sail, Miss Buckingham Stussy relied on her stunning beauty and her identity as a researcher to successfully infiltrate many research institutes and laboratories.
Again and again, she stole and robbed valuable items from these institutes and labs, earning herself the title of "Science Robber" in the underworld.
Large numbers of furious scientists and the wealthy backers behind them issued dark-gold bounties in the underworld to hunt down this damned woman.
Feeling a bit of pressure, Stussy saw the news and intelligence regarding the Rocks Pirates and Elysium Island, and decisively decided to head there to lie low for a while.
She also wanted to see if she could find an opportunity to join the Rocks Pirates.
If she could gain the protection of the world's strongest pirate crew, then in the future she could steal whatever she wanted.
And she wouldn't have to worry about retaliation!
Most importantly, she thought this great demon, Ignis, was quite handsome and powerful!
··...
Meanwhile, Captain John, the treasure collector who had just entered the New World, couldn't even obtain a permanent Log Pose to Elysium Island.
He could only continue down his path of plunder, following the Log Pose as he adventured onward, continuing to spread his great name.
At this time, Byrndii World was still rampaging through Paradise, the first half of the Grand Line.
Relying on the powerful abilities of the More-More Fruit, his reputation was growing louder and louder.
Even the World Government had already taken notice of this newcomer.
Especially because, within the World Government's historical records, there had once existed a super powerhouse who possessed the abilities of the More-More Fruit.
This caused the World Government to decide from the very beginning to snuff out this arrogant pirate before he could fully develop, secretly dispatching CP agents to infiltrate the World Pirates.
After seeing all kinds of news about the Rocks Pirates, Byrndii World could no longer wait to enter the New World and prove his own strength!
What "world's strongest pirate crew"? Sooner or later, he would blast them to pieces with one cannon shot!
Even the World Government itself would be destroyed by him.
He alone was the strongest pirate!
At this moment, the increasingly inflated Byrndii World was even more arrogant than the future iron-headed Captain Kid.
If Rocks dared to rob the Heavenly Tribute, then Byrndii World dared to do the same!
His title of "World Destroyer" was stronger and more domineering than Rocks' title of "Overlord of the New World"!
··...
Above the Skull Castle on Elysium Island.
Ignis's room had already been drowned in an endless flood of love letters.
The honest Sambel enthusiastically helped Ignis receive all kinds of letters, piling them up inside Ignis's room.
"Tsk tsk, who would've thought I'd become this world's incubus before Shakky, the succubus of this repressed era."
Although Ignis spoke with a bit of disdain while looking at the mountain-like pile of letters, the smile in his eyes could not be hidden.
He had already become the number one superstar of the pirate world, with fame even surpassing Rocks himself.
Now it wasn't just Shiki and the others who were jealous of Ignis, even Rocks himself was dissatisfied.
All the spotlight had been stolen by Ignis!
Was being handsome really that impressive?!
This was a world where strength reigned supreme!
"Vice Captain, now all the women in the world are captivated by you!"
"I heard that in the underworld, female Celestial Dragons have already offered 2 billion to capture you alive!"
Sunbell chuckled foolishly as he handed over several secretly taken photographs of Ignis that had spread everywhere.
In the photos, Ignis wore a white robe with a white wolf-fur cloak floating behind him in midair.
His silver hair, under the crescent moon mark on his forehead, made him appear exceptionally handsome and aloof.
Wasn't this basically Sesshomaru brought to life?
Another photo showed Ignis dressed in crimson noble attire, spreading demonic bat wings, exuding the elegant handsomeness of a vampire aristocrat.
These two completely different styles caused noble ladies with all kinds of tastes to fall for Ignis's appearance.
"This paparazzi skill is pretty good. They deserve a reward."
To be honest, even Ignis himself was amazed by how handsome his own photos looked.
He never expected the Moonlight Fruit and Vampire Fruit abilities to also provide appearance-enhancing effects.
Boom!!
"Ignis, hurry up and train!"
"Otherwise those female Celestial Dragons are going to capture you and make you a gigolo!"
The half-open door to Ignis's room was violently kicked off its hinges by Rocks, crashing into the mountain of letters and sending countless envelopes flying everywhere.
Rocks grabbed Ignis and dragged him away without another word, refusing to let this little brat who stole all the spotlight "indulge" himself in love letters.
After all, he had just learned that four female Celestial Dragons had jointly offered 4 billion Beli to capture Ignis alive.
Rocks was both jealous and worried!
Ignis's bounty in the underworld had already surpassed his own.
Rocks was extremely unhappy about that!
But he was even more worried that such an outrageous bounty would cause countless pirates and bounty hunters to target Ignis.
Therefore, Ignis had to become stronger and gain better means of self-protection!
...
As Ignis was forcibly dragged to the training grounds by Rocks, Shiki, Kyo, and the others all looked at Ignis as though they were staring at a treasure.
"Jihahahaha! 4 billion! Ignis, you're worth 4 billion Beli now!!"
Shiki floated beside Ignis, his large hands trembling as he tried to touch Ignis's body.
If he captured Ignis alive and sold him to those crazy female Celestial Dragons, he would become instantly rich.
"Tsk tsk, Ignis, I'm really afraid I won't be able to resist making a move against you."
A trace of greed and fanaticism flashed beneath Kyo's sunglasses.
Who could've imagined that this pretty-boy Ignis's underworld bounty would already surpass even Rocks, the "most evil pirate" in the world.
It was nearly ten times greater than his own.
Those female Celestial Dragons really were rich!
"Thanks to the nonsense from those female Celestial Dragons and the hype from the newspapers, your fame has grown even higher. More and more female pirates are flooding toward Elysium Island."
Newgate looked at the newspaper and felt the world was becoming unreal.
'How did Ignis's popularity suddenly exploded like this?'
He even suspected that Ignis intentionally allowed those reporters and paparazzi to take those secret photos.
Otherwise, how could they look so perfect and handsome, more beautiful than actual celebrities?
"Get lost!!"
Ignis kicked away Shiki, who was trying to get handsy.
Ignis himself had no idea his photos would become so wildly popular. He had merely been cosplaying Sesshomaru and a vampire noble for fun and to admire himself a little.
Who knew that before the Great Pirate Era, this world had actually been a massively repressed era?
No wonder the future Kuja Pirates could become world-famous celebrity pirates, and Shakky could become the supreme grade succubus capable of making the world economy stop for an entire week.
This era truly was an age of extreme boredom and repression!
Ignis had only displayed himself slightly, yet he had already become the pinnacle of this repressed era.
"Ignis, I heard your physique is the only mutated body in the world capable of handling multiple Devil Fruit abilities."
"If someone had children with you, would every child inherit a body capable of multiple Devil Fruit powers?"
Charlotte Linlin's eyes sparkled as she looked at Ignis. At this very moment, she realized that Ignis, this good friend of hers, not only possessed immense strength and the ability to foresee the future, but also had a mutated physique capable of bearing multiple Devil Fruit powers.
If Ignis's multiple-fruit mutant physique combined with her own Iron Balloon mutant physique, what kind of monstrous offspring would they produce?
Thinking this far, Charlotte Linlin unconsciously began drooling...