Chapter 57: The Skyrocketing Bounty

"Today's newspaper?" Yanliu picked up the freshly delivered paper with excitement, flipping it open eagerly.

"Whoa! Today's headline really is about Captain Ace! We're going to be famous all over the world!" he said proudly, showing it off to the rest of the crew.

"Where? Let me see!"

"Any news about me?"

"Idiot! Why would there be anything about you? You didn't fight an Admiral!"

"Let's see the bounty! Did Captain Ace's bounty go up?!"

In an instant, everyone swarmed around Yanliu, trying to snatch the newspaper from his hands. In the chaos, the paper got torn and reassembled into a barely readable pile on the ground.

"Hahaha! Good thing the bounty poster wasn't completely shredded!" Wores said cheerfully. He held up the bounty poster in the center of the scattered paper and added with a grin, "Captain Ace! Your bounty has skyrocketed!"

"Heh, that was to be expected." Ace, who had been standing off to the side trying to look calm, couldn't suppress the proud smile tugging at his lips.

After all, the commotion they caused in the Sabaody Archipelago was huge. He had fought not one, but two Admirals — and even forced Akainu to retreat. It would be strange not to have a massive increase in bounty after that.

Ace glanced over, tempted to check his new bounty, but hesitated, trying to maintain his cool captain persona. Still, he couldn't hold back and finally asked, "So? What is it now? What's my bounty?"

"Five hundred million!" Wores announced excitedly.

"Only five hundred million?" Ace frowned. "After everything that happened at Sabaody, it only went up from 355 million to 500? That's just a 145 million increase! That's barely worth the trouble of fighting two Admirals…"

You have to remember — just a year ago, after merely facing off against Aokiji in the Sabaody Archipelago, his bounty had increased by 200 million. This time, with both Akainu and Kizaru involved, only getting a little over 100 million felt insulting.

"What, no — it increased by 500 million!" Wores quickly clarified, handing the bounty poster over. "Your new bounty is 855 million berries!"

"Ohhh! So it went up by 500 million! Now that makes more sense." Ace looked at the poster with pride. "That's a fitting price for two Admiral appearance fees."

A bounty of 855 million — even in the New World — marked him as one of the top-tier pirates, just a step below the Four Emperors.

Kerra, meanwhile, was still staring at the reassembled newspaper scattered on the ground, dazed.

"Ace-kun… was chased by two Admirals at Sabaody… and actually escaped?"

"Not only that — he even forced Akainu to retreat?"

"Is that even possible?"

She glanced over at Ace, scrutinizing him with disbelief. Was this really the same guy who earlier drank through his nose and joked around like a fool?

After a long pause, she sighed. "Looks like even the World Government is starting to fall off…"

From her perspective, someone as young as Ace shouldn't be able to face two Admirals and escape unharmed. The only reasonable explanation was that those Admirals hadn't gone all out — perhaps they were ordered not to.

Given Ace's background, especially his connection to Vice Admiral Garp, it wasn't unthinkable that higher-ups had told them to go easy on him. That idea was more acceptable than believing a 19-year-old pirate could fight two top-tier Marines at once and come out on top.

Still, Kerra muttered under her breath as she looked again at the bounty:

"855 million berries… Maybe Ace really is stronger than he looks."

That amount of bounty — even among the Yonko's commanders — would place him in the elite tier, just under the Four Emperors themselves.

"Alright! To celebrate Captain Ace's skyrocketing bounty, and our return to the New World — let's have a party!" someone shouted.

"Yeah! A party!"

"Banquet time!!"

With the announcement, the Spade Pirates erupted into joyful celebration, their spirits high and the entire ship buzzing with festivity.

But their celebration didn't last long.

Suddenly, massive snowflakes began to fall from the sky — not regular flakes, but ones half a meter wide. The surrounding temperature dropped sharply, falling below zero in an instant.

In this bizarre weather, the banquet had to be canceled. The crew packed up quickly and set sail toward Burning Island, the destination Kerra had suggested.

Burning Island didn't belong to any major pirate crew, but it was very close to territory controlled by one of the Four Emperors — the Red-Haired Pirates. Kerra had already warned them: to get to Burning Island, they'd need to sail through an area within Shanks' influence.

"The Red-Haired Pirates, huh…" Ace muttered with a grin. "Perfect. I've been meaning to meet them. If we run into Shanks, that'd be great."

"Huh? Why would you want to meet the Red-Haired Pirates?" Kerra asked with a worried expression. "You're not planning to provoke them, are you?!"

"Relax. I just want to say hello," Ace said as he adjusted his hat, staring out toward the horizon. "Red-Haired Shanks is my little brother's benefactor. It'd be rude to pass through his territory without at least dropping in to greet him, wouldn't it?"

"Hmph, as long as you don't cause trouble…" Kerra sighed in relief. With Ace's recent fame — having just fought two Admirals and lived to tell the tale — she'd genuinely feared that he might impulsively challenge one of the Yonko next.

If that had been the case, she might've jumped ship herself.

"But wait," Kerra asked curiously, "this younger brother you're talking about… is he the same one you and Sabo swore brotherhood with?"

"Yup, that's him," Ace replied warmly. "He should be setting out to sea soon, if my math's right."

Ace had been 17 when he first went to sea. Back then, Luffy had only been 14. Now Ace was 19 and had been sailing for two years. Luffy would also be 17 this year — the same age Ace was when he started his journey.

In other words, the true protagonist of the Great Pirate Era — Monkey D. Luffy — was about to set out on his own path.

"Time really flies," Ace murmured, looking up at the sky. "I never wanted to compete with him for the title of Pirate King… but still, for the sake of pride, I've got to establish my own territory in the New World before that brat starts his adventure."

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