[56] : The Bounty!
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Arthur soared into the clouds, checking the wooden boxes and identifying the four Devil Fruits within.
It was like the excitement of playing online games in his past life, as if he could unearth some rare treasure.
"This familiar feeling, how nostalgic," Arthur chuckled wryly.
"Hmm? A Zoan, Sheep-Sheep Fruit, Alpaca Model?" He opened one of the wooden boxes.
He had no interest in such a fruit. He tossed it directly from the high altitude. Whoever picked it up would be lucky.
"A Zoan, Dog-Dog Fruit, Husky Model? What the hell?" Veins popped out on Arthur's forehead.
His good mood was completely ruined.
Husky? Whoever wants it can have it.
He threw this fruit out with all his might. Based on his calculations, it should fly into the Calm Belt.
"A Zoan, Bear-Bear Fruit, Koala Model? Can we get something normal!" Arthur was enraged by the fruits his unlucky hands had pulled out. He threw it away again, turning it into a shooting star in the sky.
There were very few Devil Fruits at sea.
Usually—encountering one was considered good luck. Otherwise, they wouldn't be sold for the sky-high price of 100 million Belly each. Powerful fruits were even more priceless. Yet Arthur disdained them.
He couldn't imagine how to develop these fruits.
It wasn't until the fourth box that he finally found the purpose of his trip — the Door-Door Fruit!
The Door-Door Fruit was green and had eight flat surfaces. It was extremely well-proportioned, identical to the one recorded in the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia. This finally put Arthur in a better mood.
He tucked the Door-Door Fruit into his clothes, placing it together with the Castle-Castle Fruit. Arthur nodded in satisfaction, searching for a seaworthy ship.
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Marine Headquarters, Marineford.
In the Fleet Admiral's office, a stocky man with a mohawk and an M-shaped beard, wearing the standard Marine "Justice" coat over his casual clothes—Fleet Admiral Kong—was quietly sitting at his desk, dealing with a pile of documents.
Beside him, the Den Den Mushi, which was fast asleep, suddenly started spitting out its tongue.
"Buruburuburuburu!"
"Buruburuburuburu!"
Kong put down the documents, rubbed his throbbing head, and casually picked up the receiver. "Moshi moshi? This is Kong. What's the matter?"
"The Heavenly Tribute transport ship has been robbed! It was done by that Rumble-Rumble Fruit user from the West Blue—Seabury D. Arthur! He must be severely punished. You handle this matter yourself. The only requirement is to make the world understand the majesty of the World Government."
The person on the other end of the Den Den Mushi finished speaking and immediately hung up.
"What?" Kong's expression changed drastically when he heard this.
The Heavenly Tribute transport ship carried the belongings of the Celestial Dragons. In the past few decades or centuries, this was the first time it had been robbed.
Kong felt like his head was about to explode. He had just returned from pursuing Red Count Redfield and hadn't had a good rest when he encountered this.
The attitude expressed in the Five Elders' phone call just now was very clear: it must be handled severely.
"That bastard! Didn't Zephyr say he had no hostility towards the World Government for the time being?" Kong gritted his teeth, wishing he could put down his work and personally chase after Arthur.
"Boom!!"
Furious, Kong punched a hole in the wall of his office. Then he calmed his mood and pressed the alarm.
The alarm instantly sounded throughout Marineford. Hearing the sound, all the Admirals and Vice Admirals put down their important tasks and rushed over immediately.
In a short while, Admiral Sengoku, Zephyr, Tsuru, Sakazuki, Kizaru, Kuzan, Yamakaji, Momonga, Onigumo—and other powerful figures all arrived.
Even the rarely seen Vice Admiral Monkey D. Garp, as well as Chaton and Momousagi—arrived at the same time.
For a time, the high-ranking officers of Marine Headquarters were, unusually, all present.
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"Kong, what's the matter? I was about to break my record for eating donuts!" Garp complained.
He picked his nose and ate donuts at the same time. It was unimaginable how he managed such a high-difficulty action. Besides him, probably no one in Marine Headquarters dared to speak like this.
Garp, who had not yet embarked on the path of revolution, was far less calm than he would be in the future. He retreated a step, distancing himself from Garp.
"Vice Admiral Garp is so cool!" Kuzan, as Garp's number one fanboy—looked at Garp with admiration.
"Be quiet, Garp!" Tsuru kicked him in annoyance.
Kong's face was gloomy.
He crossed his arms and looked at Zephyr, saying, "Just now, the Five Elders called. They said the Heavenly Tribute transport ship was robbed in the West Blue. The perpetrator is that Seabury D. Arthur. Admiral Zephyr, explain to me, what does it mean that he won't be an enemy of the World Government for the time being?"
Zephyr was about to speak when Garp interrupted, picking his nose. "Who can blame anyone for that? Those parasites' ships don't even conceal their movements. I told you long ago that sooner or later something would happen!"
Among the Marines, there were actually three factions: the loyal dogs of the World Government, the firm adherents of justice, and the neutral faction.
Garp was a representative of the firm justice faction.
If the World Government ordered him to do something that violated his sense of justice, he would refuse without hesitation.
For this, he often taunted the Five Elders.
But there was nothing they could do. Garp's prestige in the Marines was very high. If they were to deal with him, it would definitely cause dissatisfaction among most of the Marines.
And Garp knew this, so in order not to make things difficult for the World Government, and for a bit more freedom, he had refused promotion to Admiral countless times.
"Garp, shut up!" Sengoku roared at the unrestrained Garp.
This friend of his was really oblivious to other people's feelings.
He always had only one word in his mind–confront–and he didn't care about the occasion.
Kong clearly knew that Garp wasn't wrong. He took a deep breath. "The Five Elders demand that Arthur be apprehended immediately!"
"Fleet Admiral, Arthur is a Rumble-Rumble Fruit user. It's very difficult to capture him." Zephyr's expression was grave.
Even Kizaru, who had suffered a loss at Arthur's hands, nodded in agreement.
The other Vice Admirals remained silent, unwilling to express their opinions.
The most aggressive, Sakazuki—also remained indifferent.
The cramped office, filled with people, fell silent.
"The matter of capturing him will be handled by CP0 themselves. We only need to provide sufficient support at critical moments!" Kong said, putting down his arms and tapping the table.
"Issue a bounty. You all decide on the amount!"
He looked around, glancing at the silent Vice Admirals.
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