It began as a wind.
A wind blowing outward from the final island, Laugh Tale.
At some point, rumors had quietly begun spreading across the seas during recent days.
The rumor claimed that the Roger Pirates had accomplished an unprecedented feat. They had sailed around the entire Grand Line and discovered the legendary final island.
Some people believed the story wholeheartedly, passionately telling everyone around them about this incredible achievement.
Others dismissed it entirely, convinced that no such final island even existed and that the whole thing was nothing more than exaggerated gossip.
Yet while the entire world argued heatedly over the rumor, the World Government suddenly released an official announcement.
"According to verified intelligence, the Roger Pirates, led by Gol D. Roger with Silvers Rayleigh, Scopper Gaban, and others as core members, successfully reached the final island of the Grand Line in February of the Year 1490 of the Sea Circle Calendar. The crew has named this island 'Laugh Tale.'"
The moment the World Government itself confirmed the news, the entire sea exploded into chaos.
Countless people could not understand why the World Government would effectively validate the Roger Pirates' achievement. Logically speaking, shouldn't they be suppressing the momentum and reputation of pirates instead?
Even if the Roger Pirates truly had discovered the island and sailed around the world, the World Government should have denied everything based on its own political position.
But most people were not thinking that deeply.
Instead, they became completely fascinated by the legendary final island, Laugh Tale.
What secrets existed there?
Did the island hide some shocking truth?
Or perhaps unimaginable treasure?
However, before the public could even fully digest the World Government's announcement, Marine Headquarters released another piece of news that completely detonated the already boiling atmosphere and sent the world into true upheaval.
The newest bounty orders were officially issued.
Marine Headquarters had abolished Roger's old title of "Gold Roger." After unanimous discussion among the Marine high command, Gol D. Roger was formally recognized as the Pirate King!
Immediately afterward, the latest bounty posters spread throughout the seas.
The Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, once again reached the absolute peak bounty of the era, surpassing Shiki once more and widening the gap between them to an almost impossible distance.
5,564,800,000 Berries!!!
Right after him, the "Dark King" Silvers Rayleigh was officially titled "The Pirate King's Right Hand," and his bounty rose to 4,732,000,000 Berries!
"Mountain Eater" Scopper Gaban was recognized as "The Pirate King's Left Arm," and his bounty increased to 4,377,000,000 Berries!
"Demon Scholar" Spencer, known as "Pathfinder of the Pirate King," saw his bounty rise to 2,652,000,000 Berries!
Combatant Grand Officer "Wrath of Winte" Jaygo Valthior's bounty climbed to 2,164,000,000 Berries!
Helmsman "Deep Sea Current" Sunbell's bounty rose to 620,000,000 Berries.
Ship Doctor "Phoenix" Douglas Bullet's bounty increased to 362,000,000 Berries.
Combatant "Little Devil" Doringo's bounty rose to 335,000,000 Berries.
Then came Eye Dragon, Nozdon, and the rest of the Roger Pirates.
Every single member received a massive bounty increase.
Aside from the apprentice brats Buggy and Shanks, who still had no official bounty, every named member of the Roger Pirates had crossed the 100 million Berries mark.
It meant that every official member of the Roger Pirates — all thirty-four active crewmen — carried bounties exceeding one hundred million Berries.
The combined total of their bounties almost completely overwhelmed the cumulative bounty value of the other great pirates across the New World.
After all, Whitebeard was still hovering somewhere in the low billions, while Shiki himself had only just crossed the two-billion mark.
Within the Roger Pirates, neither of them would even make it into the top five.
Valthior, who sat at the very bottom of the crew's two-billion-tier rankings, would already stand as the highest-bountied pirate on the seas if considered separately from the Roger Pirates themselves, surpassing even Shiki and Whitebeard.
Such absurdly inflated bounty figures sent shockwaves across the entire world.
No matter how arrogant and domineering Rocks had once been, no matter how he had been hailed as the overlord of piracy, even his crew had never reached the terrifying heights the Roger Pirates now occupied.
In later years, many scholars in fields such as sociology and cultural studies would come to regard the Roger Pirates' ascension to the throne of piracy — their achievement of becoming the Pirate King's crew — as the true beginning of the great bounty inflation era among pirates.
From that point onward, over the next twenty to thirty years, any top-tier pirate who went around saying their bounty had not yet exceeded two billion Berries would practically be too embarrassed to introduce themselves.
Only those whose bounties had reached the four or five billion level would truly be acknowledged as the giants capable of commanding the seas and shaping the pirate world.
As for the old standard where a bounty exceeding one hundred million marked someone as a "great pirate," that threshold rapidly declined into nothing more than the benchmark for a "super rookie."
A bounty over one hundred million simply meant you were a newcomer worth paying attention to. If you could not even reach that standard, then in the New World you were little more than background decoration — cannon fodder — the sort of nobody responsible for pouring tea when the real monsters gathered around the table.
...
New World, Merveille.
Not long ago, Shiki had finally completed the construction of his sprawling palace complex upon this island. The architecture carried strong influences from the Kano Country of the West Blue, resembling the grand imperial palaces of ancient dynasties from Valthior's previous world.
Because of this, Shiki had been in an exceptionally good mood these past few days, convinced that his majesty and authority had risen to yet another level.
The subordinates flocking to join him in the New World often entered the palace complex only to stare in astonishment and admiration, and every such reaction secretly delighted the glory-loving Shiki to no end.
Earlier, when rumors first spread that the Roger Pirates had likely reached the Final Island, Shiki — Roger's most devoted rival-fanboy — had naturally heard about it immediately.
And he had believed it without much doubt.
After all, during their last encounter in Elbaf, the Roger Pirates had already been carrying out the final stages of their preparations. Given their capabilities, it made perfect sense that they would succeed before long.
So Shiki had not questioned the rumor.
But immediately afterward, the World Government's official confirmation, followed by the Marine Headquarters' proclamation crowning Roger, completely stunned him senseless.
Pirate King!?
A bounty of 5,564,800,000 Berries!?
Roger?
Shiki reread the newspaper over and over again, turning it sideways, upside down, even tearing it apart to inspect it, before finally confirming that he had not misread anything.
"What kind of joke is this!?" Shiki exploded in fury, slamming the paper onto the table as he roared in utter rejection. "Those bastards only found the finish line — they didn't reach the summit! On what basis are they being called Pirate King!? What the hell does the Marines know!? Even Rocks was only called the overlord of pirates back then!!!"
To Roger, the title of Pirate King represented the ultimate glory.
But to every other great pirate — especially ambitious monsters like Shiki who dreamed of standing at the top of the pirate world — the title felt like an outright humiliation.
Damn it, the Roger Pirates merely found some so-called Final Island, so how the hell did that make him Pirate King!?
Did he defeat me?
Did he defeat Whitebeard?
Or what — did he destroy Marine Headquarters? Scatter the ashes of the World Government into the sea?
None of that happened!
Then what right did he have to call himself Pirate King!?
Not far away, Silver Axe Kyo clicked his tongue while reading the paper as well.
"Damn... Lord Valthior's bounty has already reached 2.164 billion. That's more than double mine, and even a full hundred million higher than yours. And honestly, that's only because the World Government pinned the 'scholar' label onto Spencer instead. Otherwise Valthior's bounty should've been the one sitting at 2.6 billion."
"Rigged!" Shiki became even angrier at the mention of it, cursing loudly. "This is absolutely rigged! Their crew has a damn Celestial Dragon on board! Valthior probably arranged this whole stunt with the Marine just to save face! Roger being named Pirate King was decided from the start, and all their bounties are inflated garbage! Anyway, I refuse to acknowledge any of it!"
"At least from a public opinion standpoint, whether you acknowledge it or not doesn't really matter," Silver Axe replied with obvious amusement in his voice. "On my way here, I heard plenty of our own men already referring to Roger as 'the Pirate King.' A lot of them seem pretty fascinated by the Roger Pirates now."
Clearly, although Silver Axe was currently cooperating with Shiki — even serving as his second-in-command — he still took great pleasure in watching Shiki suffer a humiliating setback whenever the opportunity presented itself.
...
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