When the bounty poster marked with 1.57 Billion Berries was scattered across the four seas by the morning News Coos, the Great Pirate Era felt as though a star-bomb had been dropped into its heart. A chain of hurricanes instantly swept across the previously silent surface of the world's oceans.
Marine Headquarters, Marineford.
In the Fleet Admiral's office, Sengoku's face was the color of ash.
"Garp! You old bastard!"
Sengoku grabbed the Transponder Snail on his desk and slammed it down, his roar nearly lifting the roof. "Robbing the Heavenly Tribute, defeating Zephyr, and now an awakened Zoan-type lies dead at his feet! He is leading a parade of monsters straight toward the Sabaody Archipelago! This is the grandson you promised was 'just playing around'?!"
Garp sat on the sofa, catching the vibrating snail with one hand. He didn't even stop crunching his rice cracker, merely picking his ear with a rogue-like expression.
"Puhahahaha! What does it matter, Sengoku? The kid is taking out Warlords who rob civilians. As for the lives of the Celestial Dragons... I don't have the spare time to worry about those snobs!"
"Bastard! You can't play dumb anymore!" Sengoku pointed at the whiteboard covered in grim battle reports, his hand trembling with rage. "A leader worth 1.5 billion! Two Logia subordinates who have both awakened Conqueror's Haki! Do you realize what that means? Their sheer number of Haki-users already rivals the monsters reigning over the New World! If they cause trouble at Sabaody..."
On the sofas flanking the office, the three Admirals looked on with unprecedented gravity.
Akainu pressed down on his Marine cap, scalding magma dripping from his fingertips and burning holes into the floorboards. "Lawless rebels to the bone... Burning them to ash before they set foot on Sabaody is the only path for Absolute Justice."
Aokiji crossed his arms, exhaling a thin trail of cold mist. "If this level of potential is left unchecked, the map of the New World will be overturned in an instant. What a headache."
Kizaru slowly clipped his nails, his voice carrying its usual sarcastic drawl. "Cripple Teacher Zephyr and spit on the World Government? He isn't a rookie anymore; he's a natural disaster. How scary~"
The sky was cloudless, and the Whitebeard Pirates were holding a banquet as they drifted across the sea. First Division Commander Marco sat on the deck, staring at a freshly printed newspaper. In his usually drowsy eyes, a rare flash of solemnity appeared.
The blurry photo on the page showed a silhouette with crimson-gold wings amidst a sea of dark red fire. Marco's breathing hitched.
"What's wrong, Marco? A rising star giving you trouble?" Third Division Commander Jozu walked over, lugging a massive barrel of ale.
"Something like that." Marco gave a bitter smile, tossing the poster onto the table. As the user of the rare Phoenix Fruit, seeing the description of the Vermilion Bird and that staggering 1.57 billion price tag made even the indifferent Marco feel a sting of bitterness. It felt as though he was already living in the kid's shadow.
Sitting on his massive throne and draped in IV tubes, Whitebeard merely glanced at the poster before looking away.
"The 'Outlier'? It has nothing to do with me." Whitebeard hoisted a bowl large enough to hold a hundred liters of liquor and let out a deafening laugh. "Let the brats mess with the Government! Gularalalala! As long as I have my foolish sons by my side, this is already the best sea in the world!"
"Pops!" The crew cheered, tossing the news aside.
But in the shadow of a barrel at the edge of the deck, a burly man with a mouth of missing teeth—Marshall D. Teach—clutched a cherry pie. His eyes lacked Whitebeard's calm; instead, they twitched violently with a jealousy that clawed at his heart like talons.
"Are you kidding me?" Teach bit into the pie, his rough hands scratching his legs in frustration. "These wet-behind-the-ears brats reach the top in months... while I've waited for thirty years! Where is my invincible fruit?! Once I have the Dark-Dark Fruit, whether it's the Vermilion Bird or the Lightning, I'll suck them all into a bottomless abyss!"
A blizzard swept through the coniferous forest. The Red-Haired Pirates' banquet had gone quiet. Shanks leaned against a snowdrift, his wine bowl untouched. He looked at the headlines, his usual smile fading into a furrowed brow of complex emotion.
"Hey, Shanks. Is this Ace the bloodline Roger left behind?" Benn Beckman puffed on his cigar, his voice deep.
"1.57 billion... what a shocking start." Shanks rubbed his temples. Captain Roger's son was alive, and he was tearing the structure of the sea apart with an invincible posture. As a former apprentice, Shanks felt he should drink to that Haki.
But then he thought of a certain boy in the East Blue, still shouting about becoming the Pirate King while having no reputation or strength.
"Luffy hasn't even set out, and Ace has already thrown the world into chaos," Shanks sighed. "Luffy's path ahead just got a lot harder."
"Wororororo!"
A wild, thunderous laugh echoed through the gloom of the castle. Kaido, reeking of alcohol, smashed his wine table with a single hand.
"The Outlier, Portgas D. Ace? When he was worth 50 million, he was just trash. In half a year, he's leaped over the Supernovas and stood on the 1.5 billion step?" Kaido's bloodshot eyes stared at the gold-fire wings on the poster, greed for a Mythical Zoan surfacing undisguised.
"Such a rare ability... it makes my mouth water!" He turned to King. "Where are our people in the Grand Line?! Combat power like this belongs in Onigashima as an All-Star! Tell Hanafuda to watch him. Capture him alive and bring him under the banner of the Beasts!"
Below the steps, Jack the Drought snorted. "A brat who's been out for six months is being hyped by luck. He beat a crippled old Marine and some Government watchdogs." He stepped forward, his gaze arrogant. "Boss Kaido, when he reaches the New World, I'll drag him to Onigashima myself!"
"Mamamama!"
Big Mom swallowed a massive mousse in one gulp. She wiped the cream from her mouth and stared at the posters. "A rookie worth 1.57 billion, a Mythical Zoan, and subordinates worth hundreds of millions? A top-tier specimen."
Her eyes flashed with possessiveness. "It would be a waste if the Marines killed him. Find the Eclipse Pirates! I want a marriage alliance. Pick a daughter to marry that Ace boy!"
"Once he's my son-in-law, no one can block the path of Totto Land! Mamamama!"
Perospero stepped forward, licking his candy cane. "Mama! They vanished after Water 7, but the route is the same. Their next stop must be the final hub of the first half—the Sabaody Archipelago!"
"Send people to wait!" Big Mom laughed. "Get that wedding invitation into his hands!"
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