Not only the Emperor Kaido—at this very moment, the other Emperors also received the latest news almost at the same time.
Totto Land, Whole Cake Island.
The sweet scent of desserts filled the air.
Big Mom sat on a throne piled high with food.
She stuffed caramel cream puffs into her mouth, crumbs clinging all around her lips.
Perospero held a newspaper and walked up carefully.
"Mama, big news."
Big Mom stopped chewing, her huge eyes locking onto her eldest son.
"If it's bad news, I'll suck your lifespan dry."
Perospero shuddered and hurriedly opened the paper.
"It's about that Shinju. Morgans calls him the Fifth Emperor… and calls him a God-Emperor."
Big Mom narrowed her eyes.
She saw the photo.
And she saw that question-mark bounty.
"God-Emperor…?"
A strange, low chuckle bubbled out of her throat. Drool dripped onto the floor and sizzled as it corroded the boards.
"Mamamamamama! What a big mouth! Even Roger wouldn't dare call himself a god! Who does this brat think he is?"
She snatched the newspaper like it was a delicious cake.
But what she cared about wasn't the empty fame of "Fifth Emperor" at all.
What she cared about was Shinju's resources, power—and that special bloodline.
"And those people behind him… those are top-class collectibles! If I could turn them all into Homies, just how strong would Totto Land become?"
Pure greed.
Big Mom licked her lips.
"I heard this kid looks pretty good? Mamamama! If he married into my family and gave me a child… that child would definitely be the strongest monster, wouldn't it?"
Perospero wiped cold sweat away.
Strong, sure… but Mama was already this old, could she really still give birth?
Marry into the family?
Would the man who destroyed Marineford actually do that?
He didn't dare refute her. Even a hint of dissatisfaction, and even as her biological son, he'd still be drained of soul and lifespan.
"Go! Send that God-Emperor an invitation! Invite him to the Tea Party! If he doesn't come—mamamama! Then don't blame me for being rude! I'll rip his soul out and make him into the most delicious cake!"
A nameless deserted island.
The Red Hair Pirates were resting.
Shanks sat by the campfire, holding that newspaper.
Beckman sat across from him, wiping down the long rifle he never let out of his hands.
"This is trouble."
Beckman blew out a smoke ring.
"The balance is completely broken. A fifth Emperor appearing means territory gets redistributed. The New World was already cramped—now a dragon's moved in."
Shanks stared at Shinju's face on the paper.
That face was young, but there wasn't a trace of confusion in those eyes.
"It's not just territory."
Shanks laid the paper on his knee.
"This question-mark bounty… the World Government is afraid. They can't give a number, because any number would look weak. And that only boosts his momentum. Now every ambitious bastard on the planet will be staring at him."
Yasopp leaned over, glanced at the paper.
"Boss, back at the Summit War I already felt something was off. His haki was creepy. Now that Morgans is hyping him up like this, I'm scared countless people will go running to join him."
Shanks let out a sigh.
"Kaido will definitely go crazy. Big Mom will get greedy. The Navy will treat him like a thorn in their eyes. Blackbeard will be watching from the shadows."
Shanks stood up and dusted the ash off his pants.
"This sea's going to turn into a pot of boiling porridge. We need to be ready—at any time, a conflict bigger than the Summit War could explode."
He looked toward the far end of the ocean, expression heavy. This world was never that simple.
"God-Emperor Shinju… I hope you understand what kind of price you pay when you sit in that seat."
The New World—some violent stretch of sea.
A gigantic battleship flying a skull flag was cutting through the waves.
On deck, a pack of pirates crowded around the newspaper.
"Boss! Look at this!"
A lackey handed the latest paper to the man seated at the head.
The man stood three meters tall, face full of thick muscle, casually toying with a massive mountain-splitting axe.
He was Bonecrusher Barr—an infamous pirate with a bounty of 450 million belly. In the sea, a bounty was also a kind of recognition of strength.
In the New World, he counted as someone—though in front of the real monsters, he still wasn't worth looking at.
Barr took the paper and, after only one glance at the headline, his face immediately sank.
"God-Emperor? Fifth Emperor?"
That wasn't how jokes were told.
His first thought was that Morgans was stirring up hype—fake news.
He kicked the table in front of him over.
"Bullshit! This brat's only been around for how long? I've been slaughtering my way through the New World for twenty years and I still never dared call myself an Emperor! Why does he get to?!"
Jealousy twisted his face, almost stealing away his reason.
In the New World, strength was everything.
But he refused to believe some nobody could be that strong.
In his eyes, this was just Morgans' promotion—just that kid getting lucky and taking advantage of Whitebeard and the Navy tearing each other apart.
Barr lifted his mountain-splitting axe and slashed down hard through the air.
"Listen up, you brats!"
The pirates snapped to attention.
"Turn the helm! We're not hunting treasure anymore! We're going to hunt this God-Emperor!"
A vicious gleam flashed in Barr's eyes—like he wasn't looking at a powerhouse, but a fat slab of meat he wanted to bite into on the spot.
"As long as we chop off his head, I'm the new Emperor! That question-mark bounty will be mine!"
The pirates let out feverish roars.
Greed blinded their reason.
Someday he would regret today's decision—but he would never get the chance.
They only saw the wealth and fame behind that question mark, and forgot to ask themselves—
why even the World Government didn't dare fill in a number.
"Full speed ahead! Don't let anyone else get there first!"
The battleship turned its bow, sailing toward the direction where Shinju was rumored to have appeared.
Waves slapped against the hull.
As if mocking these moths throwing themselves into the flames.
At this very moment—
every corner of the world was shaking.
Mafia families in the West Blue held emergency meetings, discussing whether to pay tribute to this new Emperor.
Germa 66 in the North Blue analyzed Shinju's battle data, trying to find a way to counter him.
At a Revolutionary Army base in the South Blue, Dragon stared at the newspaper in silence, wind gathering around him.
On Fish-Man Island, King Neptune looked up at the sunlight above, worried about the sea's future.
The name Shinju—
on this day—
was branded into the marrow of this world.
Some feared his strength.
Some worshiped his tyranny.
Some coveted his position.
And some stupidly dreamed of becoming the one who would slay a god.
And at the center of it all
the man crowned with the title of God-Emperor
was standing on his flagship, looking down at the boiling sea stirred up by his existence.
Challengers?
Come.
Come as many as you want—I'll kill as many as you bring.
This crown was forged with blood.
If you want to tear it off my head
then be ready to leave your life behind.
(End of Chapter)
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