Chapter 175
Hey guys! This one's a chaotic chap, so please do point it out if you find me tripping here. Adios!
____________
Ever since the Marineford war, ever since Edward Newgate's valiant death, the world has been dominated by a wild storm greater than any other.
And today, upon a countless number of people having received the newest batch of the World Economy Newspaper, such storm has reached its peak—swirling more violently than it ever did.
The three Emperors of the New World, along with the malicious Blackbeard—all four's deaths have been announced simultaneously.
After the initial shock, the people began to question.
Who is it then? Who is the rightful owner of the New World then? Will the World Government and Marine be the new conqueror of such a sea?
Then they realized. On the title page, there stood one man. His eyes blazed in a furious dark red, and around him stood the infamous pirates.
'Grimheart' Rowan!
He was a man of many names. The 'Demon of the East Blue,' the 'Emperor of the Paradise,' and now, the 'Conqueror of the New World.'
People trembled in fear. Many imaginary fairy tales regarding him came to birth. Sometimes, Grimheart was a scary ghost that will eat the children when they didn't listen to their parents' words. Sometimes, Grimheart was a mad doctor's creation.
And in no time, his name swarmed over the entire world. The World Government and Marine's violent reactions only served to increase the degree of fear, and some people even began to call Rowan the rebirth of Gol D. Roger!
However, this was just the beginning.
*BOOOM*
A war has started—the one in which the whole world was involved.
"FIRE!!!!"
*BOOOOOOOOM*
Buster Calls. One after the other, the World Government would evacuate the royalties and their valued servants. Then, the Marine will initiate the Buster Call—erasing the whole kingdom off of the history.
"Help!!!!!"
"Ahhhhhh!!!!"
The people's pleas were ignored. There only existed one purpose behind the actions of the World Government: to exterminate the Revolutionary Army.
"What is right... and what is wrong?!! Is this true justice?! Is this something that we, the Marine, should be doing?!"
Some marine soldiers even began to question themselves. It wasn't the sense of justice that filled them, but a pang of heavy guilt. Something wasn't right.
It was only 6 hours after the newspaper was released.
___________
[New Marineford, New World; December 31st, 1522]
"Sakazuki!!!"
One burly man with afro hair, Sengoku, barged into the room with an enraged expression.
"Are you out of your mind?!!!"
Sakazuki didn't respond. Instead, sitting on the chair of the Fleet Admiral, Sakazuki inhaled the smoke from the cigarette with his eyes shadowed by his marine cap.
"Haa..."
Then, as Sakazuki exhaled the smoke, he saw a shadow looming over him.
"Stay out of this matter, you old-timer." Sakazuki growled in a low tone, "And Sakazuki? It's 'Fleet Admiral' Sakazuki to you, Sengoku."
"Sakazuki!!!"
Sengoku, with bloodshot eyes, gripped onto Sakazuki's hem of the shirt,
"How can the Marine behave like the pirates?!! Is this your justice, Sakazuki?!! Massacring the innocents, and following the orders of the World Government like a dog?!!"
"Shut up!!!!!" Sakazuki raised his head and met Sengoku's eyes with his own. Raising his hand up, Sakazuki thrashed Sengoku's clenched hand away from him.
"You have no right to say that, you afro-junk of a marine!!!!!" Sakazuki shouted with an evident fury, "Your soft justice achieved nothing!!! Absolutely nothing but to grow the mere rookies into the worst calamities of the world!!! If only I could've done this sooner, the world would've become cleaner than ever!!!"
Sengoku's hands clenched tightly. Sengoku felt a cold sweat on his back, and he couldn't help but stare at Sakazuki in disbelief.
"H-ha... hahaha..." Then, Sengoku let out a hollow laughter, before looking up to the ceiling with lifeless eyes,
"...is this the end of the Marine?"
Sengoku couldn't help but mutter.
"No, it's just another beginning." Sakazuki adjusted his cap as he slowly walked over to Sengoku,
"With Kaidou, Big Mom, and Shanks dead, there only remain two threats that prevent true justice: Grimheart and Dragon. If those two can finally be erased from this world, all sacrifices are worth it."
"All will be lost, Sakazuki!!! Your twisted sense of justice harms the innocents that we should be protecting!!! Look at what happened in the South Blue!!! Look what you've been doing in the New World!!! Judging by the acts alone, the Marine has proven nothing but the fact that they are worse than Grimheart himself—"
Sengoku couldn't continue his words, as he found the strength sipping out of his body.
*Thud*
With a Seastone cuff on his wrists, Sengoku fell to the ground. He weakly turned around, and saw,
"...Kong...san...?"
It was the former Fleet Admiral of the Marine and now the Commander-in-Chief of the World Government—Kong.
"Hm, Sengoku..." Kong stared down at Sengoku with a firm expression, "Don't make a wrong statement and waver the minds of the soldiers. Your perspective is flawed, and it was due to your timid point of view that the Marineford war ultimately ended up in Marine's loss."
"Soldiers!!!"
On the other hand, Sakazuki called in an oppressive manner, to which two marine soldiers entered the room strictly.
"Send away the former marine Sengoku."
One among the two asked, "To where?"
Sakazuki's reply was immediate,
"To Impel Down."
"S-sir!" The second marine froze up, before shaking his head in refusal, "But the former Fleet Admiral Sengoku hasn't done anything wrong! Isn't this an abusement of your authority—"
The brave marine couldn't speak anymore, for he found a huge fist of magma penetrating his whole midriff.
"Insubordination… is an indication of rebellion."
Sakazuki, with crazed eyes, turned to the first marine soldier, who gulped while sweating profusely.
"Sir, yes, sir!"
The sole marine soldier lifted up Sengoku from his spot before carrying him away from the room.
'Garp...' Sengoku couldn't help but think as he closed his eyes in resignation, 'Don't come back here...'
Sakazuki, after watching as Sengoku was pulled out of the room, turned his attention to Kong with narrowed eyes.
"Why are you here, Kong."
Kong crossed his arms, unfazed by Sakazuki's blatant question,
"Cold as always, eh, Sakazuki."
Kong sighed before continuing,
"It's about Grimheart's bounty. There has been an order from the above."
___________
[Delta]
Under the blue sky, there lied the ruined island. All buildings and structures were demolished into fine grains, and in the middle of the now-barren plane, the leftovers of Big Mom pirates and Beast pirates were tied and kept at one side.
If they wanted, the capable members of those two pirates could escape—rope is far from enough to fully restrain them. However, none of them dared to do so, knowing that such an act will bring a gruesome consequence.
On the other side, there stood Rowan and his alliance. Whether eating food, enjoying the party, or genuinely relaxing, everyone was mingling by.
And at the center of the group, the leaders of each group were surrounding the stacks of bounty posters that sat on the ground.
"The updated bounties—here they are."
Law exclaimed as he lifted up the first poster, his own.
"...How did they take this picture of mine?"
Law couldn't help but mutter in an inquiry. Within the picture, his gaze was headed in a left-ward direction. His hand was outstretched, and his overall posture indicated that the picture was taken when he used his signature move: Room.
<'Surgeon of Death' Trafalgar Law. Wanted Dead or Alive. Bounty: 350,000,000 Beli.>
"Tell me about it." Nami nodded in an agreement as she took her updated bounty poster as well.
"Regardless of how they managed to take the picture," Nojiko found her jaw dropping as she saw her bounty poster, "this sure is a huge increase from before."
<'Cat Burglar' Nami. Wanted Dead or Alive. Bounty: 125,000,000 Beli.>
<'Cat Swindler' Nojiko. Wanted Dead or Alive. Bounty: 155,000,000 Beli.>
"Seems like I win this time, Nami." Nojiko, with a grin, held her palm out.
Nami pouted before taking out a coin from her pocket and handing it to Nojiko.
"Hey, Jewelry Bonney." Law, with an annoyed expression, lifted up Bonney's bounty poster and spoke up to Bonney, who was busy eating.
"Huh? My bounty? Eh, whatever!"
Bonney, on the other hand, simply dismissed her bounty poster, "I'm too busy eating right now!!"
"Tch... just what is that woman made out of?" Law clicked his tongue before taking a look at Bonney's bounty himself.
<'Big Eater' Jewelry Bonney. Wanted Dead or Alive. Bounty: 214,000,000 Beli.>
Then, another hand reached for the stack of bounty posters, before taking one out.
"And now, the moment of truth...!"
It was Ace, whose eyes were closed in anticipation.
"Three, two, and one... now!"
Ace opened his eyes and took a careful look into his updated bounty.
<'Iron Fist' Portgas D. Ace. Wanted Dead or Alive. Bounty: 932,000,000 Beli.>
"S***!!!" Ace's face turned into a frown, "Still didn't pass a billion?! Are you kidding me?!!"
"Can't complain, Ace." Marco said with a lazy smile as he gazed into his bounty poster as well, "Our works weren't that impactful compared to the others."
<'Phoenix' Marco. Wanted Dead or Alive. Bounty: 1,474,000,000 Beli.>
"Marco,"
*CLANG*
Ace then slammed his fists together as his eyes burned comically,
"Here and now, let's have a spar! I swear, why is my bounty so much lower in comparison to you—ow!!"
Marco, with a tickmark on his forehead, slammed Ace's head,
"What are you, a kid?!"
Next to them,
"...Sounds good. No problem here. Yeah, it's safe to come here now. Come get your people."
Rowan was seen to be conversing with someone through the Den Den Mushi—within the noisy environment.
"Who's captain talking to?" Urouge, with his usual grin, asked Carina.
"Kyros and King Riku from Dressrosa. They were in Runelight, watching out for any potential strikes from the Beast pirates and Big Mom pirates."
Carina stated astutely,
"And now that the war is over, they've been discussing the next step."
"Hm, I see." Urouge scratched the back of his head, "Sounds boring."
"Guahahaha, will you look at that!"
Uninterested in what Rowan was occupied with, Cavendish laughed boisterously as he held up his bounty poster.
<'Pirate Prince' Cavendish. Wanted Dead or Alive. Bounty: 1,412,000,000 Beli.>
For defeating Kaidou's right-hand man, Cavendish received a huge increase in his bounty.
As for Dan,
"Huh, just this?"
<'Black Mask' Dan. Wanted Dead or Alive. Bounty: 1,468,000,000 Beli.>
The raise was underwhelming in comparison to Cavendish.
"Hmph…"
Carmen too was looking at her bounty poster, with a snort.
<'Flame Empress' Carmen. Wanted Dead or Alive. Bounty: 896,000,000 Beli.>
For defeating Charlotte Cracker, her bounty too leaped by a great amount.
<'Devil Child' Nico Robin. Wanted Dead or Alive. Bounty: 210,000,000 Beli.>
<'Mad Monk' Urouge. Wanted Dead or Alive. Bounty: 715,000,000 Beli.>
Urouge's bounty too jumped by a huge amount, due to him not only defeating Charlotte Snack, but also facing Ulti for a brief moment.
"Hey, Robin, Urouge! Aren't you interested in your bounties?!" Dan shouted at the two of them, who simply smiled.
"No thank you." Robin went back to reading an old-looking book in her lap.
"Seriously, Dan," Urouge shook his head, "If there is one thing that I don't understand about the blue sea, it's that bounty system. The only existing bounty hunters here are weaklings anyway! What's the point?!"
"Mhm, you aren't wrong, monsieur Urouge." Alfred nodded as he adjusted his monocle. In his other hand was his bounty poster, which he was reading intently.
<'Maniacal Butler' Alfred. Wanted Dead or Alive. Bounty: 632,000,000 Beli.>
"Hehe, yet you still bother to take a look at yours." Carina, whose arms were crossed, chuckled with a bright grin.
Then, with curiosity, she too walked to the stack of bounty posters. After scuffling through them, she finally found her poster,
<'Phantom' Decarine. Wanted Dead or Alive. Bounty: 1,736,000,000 Beli.>
"These don't give me as much excitement as they used to." Carina sighed while placing the bounty poster back, "Maybe because,"
Carina then smiled,
"we are now far richer than what these numbers indicate!! Ehehehe, I've lost count of the total amount of wealth that we possess!"
"Hey, captain!!!"
Cavendish cried out to Rowan, whose call ended just now.
"Did you see your bounty yet?!"
"Bounty?" Rowan raised his eyebrow, before grinning as he stood up from his spot, "No need to see."
"What?" Cavendish frowned, for he never expected such an answer from Rowan.
Just then,
"H-h-h-h-holy cow!!!!!! 9 billion?!!!!!!"
"…Oh." Cavendish muttered as he heard someone crying out in disbelief; Rowan simply saw the future beforehand, "W-wait—"
Then he realized,
"—9? Did someone just say 9?!" Cavendish found himself repeating what was already spoken.
<'Grimheart' Youchiha B. Rowan. Only Dead. Bounty: 9,000,000,000 Beli.>
A bounty that surpassed even that of Gol D. Roger's by an incredible margin. 9 billion… it was an astronomical number for one human being.
Such a number was born out of the Celestial Dragons' fear upon learning the return of 'Vasilia,'
Katakuri, who was sitting along with the other remnants of two Emperors' pirates, couldn't help but drop his jaw in shock.
'9... billion...?'
"World-class, eh?" Dan exclaimed excitedly, "Man, I still remember when I met the captain. His bounty didn't even reach 100 million back then."
"…You make it sound as if 100 million is a small number." Nami said with a downcast expression, "Maybe I should eat a devil fruit as well…"
At one corner, one muscular horse, Farul, was seen to be standing with a depressing aura all over him.
'N-neigh...'
At this point, he had to admit—he didn't receive any raise in his bounty.
"NEIGHH!!!!!!!!"
Farul, unable to hold his anger back, cried loudly before running into Prominence, which lied on the ground nearby.
"Eh?" Carina, then found one bounty poster that was lying face-down. Lifting it up, she found that it was none other than Farul's,
<'Flying' Farul. Wanted Alive. Bounty: 30,000,000 Beli.>
"Wow, Farul... you are the legend." Bepo whispered in amazement, "You aren't even a mink, and yet... receiving a bounty this high... just wow."