Chapter 26: Loguetown – Wanted Posters, Orange Trees, and a Pirate King's Legacy
On the Going Merry's deck, the sea breeze blew gently. Nami stood with hands on hips, locked in fierce "business negotiations" with a News Coo.
"Hey! Last week it was clearly 80 Berries—why's the price up again today?" She narrowed her eyes, jabbing the newspaper with her finger like a shrewd merchant. "Is this paper gold-plated or what?"
The News Coo tilted its head, black beady eyes impassive, wings stubbornly extended in a classic "take it or leave it" stance.
"Tch…" Nami gritted her teeth, finally slapped 100 Berries onto its wing. "Swindler! Next time you raise the price, I'm complaining to your news company!"
The bird looked relieved, flapped its wings, and shot into the clouds like it was fleeing for its life—as if one more second of Nami's nagging would sink it.
Usopp, sitting on the railing stuffing chili oil into bullet casings, couldn't help but comment. "It's just one newspaper—do you really need to be that serious?"
"You don't get it!" Nami snapped the paper open with a flourish, face full of pain. "Twenty extra Berries a day is 600 a month—7,200 a year! And Sol barely has any savings."
She facepalmed and sighed. "Keep this up and we'll be the broke pirate crew!"
"Okay, okay—I get it! Shut up for a second!" Usopp was sweating nervously. "This is a critical moment—once I shoot this into an enemy's eyes, they'll never open them again!"
Usopp knelt on the deck, carefully using a thin dropper to fill a bullet shell with chili oil.
Bang!
A human cannonball suddenly flew in and slammed into Usopp's back!
"Waaah—!" Usopp's hand jerked—the entire tube of chili oil splashed across his own face.
"Aaaaah! My eyes! My eyeeees!!" He instantly turned into a lit firecracker, rolling wildly on deck clutching his burning eyes. "Water! Water! I'm going blind!!"
The culprit—Luffy—sat up innocently, rubbing his head. "Sanji! I only ate one orange—why'd you kick so hard?!"
"Shut up!" Sanji, cigarette dangling, planted a foot on the railing and jabbed a finger at Luffy's nose. "Those are Nami-san's precious oranges! Touch one more and tonight all your meat turns into green peppers!"
Sanji crossed his arms, stance firm. "Don't worry, Nami-san—my love defense line is impenetrable."
Nami didn't even look up from her newspaper. "Thanks, Sanji."
On the training area, Zoro—currently sparring with Sol—couldn't resist commenting. "That guy's way too easy to boss around. Completely wrapped around her finger."
Sol blocked Zoro's strike and glanced at Sanji. "Can't be helped. His chivalry makes him obey women unconditionally. Though deep down he's just a horny cook."
Nami flipped a page and suddenly her eyes lit up. "Look! Luffy and Sol's wanted posters!"
Her shout instantly drew the crew. Luffy snatched his poster and laughed wildly. "Hahaha! We got bounties! 30 million Berries!"
Sol snorted proudly and slapped his own poster onto Luffy's face. "Open your eyes and look properly, Luffy!"
"It's just 10 million, right?" Luffy pouted.
Usopp—freshly washed of chili oil—squinted at the numbers, then his eyes bulged. "Wait—Luffy! You missed a zero!"
"O… one hundred million Berries?!" Luffy's jaw hit the deck. "No way! Why's yours so high?!"
Nami's eyes instantly turned to Berry symbols. She hugged Sol sweetly. "Darling~ how about I take you to the Marine base and cash you in?"
Sol pinched her cheeks helplessly. "Hey hey—your face changed way too fast!"
Sanji grabbed his hair in frustration. "Damn it! I made such a cool entrance—how come I don't have a bounty?! This is unfair!"
Usopp held up Luffy's poster toward Sanji. "Look—I'm on it too! We're famous now."
Sanji slumped on deck gloomily. "What's there to brag about? It's just the back of your head."
Luffy slung arms around Usopp and Sanji's shoulders, shouting excitedly. "Don't worry! Once we reach the Grand Line, everyone's getting bounties! And then mine will be higher than Sol's!"
"Ohhh—!" The three linked arms, cheering with burning spirit.
At that moment, Zoro narrowed his eyes toward the horizon and pointed. "Hey—look over there… there's an island. Wanna check it out?"
Nami snapped out of her Berry fantasy. "Wait—there's an island. Luffy, do you want to go? That's Loguetown—the Town of Beginning and End. The place where Pirate King Gol D. Roger was born and died."
"I'm going, Nami," Luffy said, staring at the distant island.
Once they landed, everyone received spending money from Nami. Sol declined her shopping invitation and headed straight toward the distant Marine base.
Luffy wanted to see the execution platform. Usopp planned to visit the material market for supplies. Sanji had heard about a cooking competition with an elephant trunk tuna as the prize.
Zoro wanted to find a weapons shop to buy two suitable replacement swords. The crew temporarily split up.
Meanwhile, on an island somewhere in the New World, Hawk-Eyes Mihawk walked through a crowd of terrified pirates toward the island's interior.
"Don't make noise in front of me. I'm not here for you. Is Shanks inside?" Mihawk held two wanted posters and looked at the heavily drunk Shanks. "Camping on an island like this—you really are carefree."
"Rare guest, Mihawk. Here to spar?" Shanks rubbed his head, clearly not fully sober.
"No point dueling a one-armed man now. I found an interesting crew—it reminded me of some things you once told me." He tossed the wanted posters over.
"That's Luffy! Looks like he's finally started his adventure!" Shanks and his crew grinned happily—then froze at the second poster. "This guy—first bounty at 100 million Berries? Who is he?"
"That kid who used to hang around Garp years ago," Mihawk explained. Unlike these pirates, as a Warlord he occasionally attended meetings and had recognized Sol instantly.
"That monster kid… never thought he'd go pirate too—and as Luffy's vice-captain," Shanks sighed, memories surfacing.
Garp had chased him relentlessly through the New World for years, blaming him for leading Luffy onto the pirate path. For a while, Garp really did have a boy following him—one far stronger than Shanks had been at that age.
"Whatever—let's party!" Shanks quickly shoved the thoughts aside, grabbed Mihawk, and called his crew to restart the feast.
--------------------------
Support us on patreon (+Gain access to 100 chapters in advance)
patreon.com/inkshield