While Brook was teaching his children, over the past few days, everyone in the world had been stunned by a barrage of shocking news!
The Navy's three Admirals had all been replaced by three relatively unknown figures. Kong had been promoted to Fleet Admiral candidate and was starting to familiarize himself with various administrative duties, set to officially become Navy Fleet Admiral in a year.
Golden Buddha Sengoku and Black Arm Zephyr had been promoted to new Admiral candidates, while Iron Fist Garp, due to his D lineage and his unclear battle with the Roger Pirates, retained his original position—no promotion, no demotion!
But the real concern for all factions and the public was the complete disappearance of the two former Admirals and two Admiral candidates!
Moreover, people noticed that the bounty posters for the Rocks Pirates and the Hell Pirates had skyrocketed again, leading countless factions to speculate: Had some earth-shattering event occurred?
Had the Navy Admirals and candidates met with disaster? And had all information about it been erased?
After the World Economic News's official reports spread, Rocks, back on Beehive Island, showed no fear at all. He let his dark newspapers report on the God Valley War without restraint.
They directly broadcast news of Rocks decisively killing two Knights of God and Admiral Aokiba, constantly highlighting the strength of the Rocks Pirates while deliberately omitting the Hell Pirates' achievements.
After discussions between Morgans of the World Economic News and Brook, they finally decided on what to report. Brook was happy to let Rocks be the one in the spotlight, drawing the World Government's attention!
Though the World Government knew full well that Brook was just as guilty as Rocks, they were helpless against Rocks' bold claims. He wanted to take all the credit for God Valley, openly expanding his fame.
This forced the World Government to target the Rocks Pirates as the primary threat. If they didn't respond after Rocks had slapped them, the World Government would truly lose all credibility to rule the world!
After some beautification, the World Economic News's latest newspapers, complete with new bounty posters, began flying out to the world in endless streams!
[Shocking! The Darkness of God Valley! The Hell Pirates Bring Light to the Slaves!]
[Group Interview: The Tearful Accounts of Rescued Slaves!]
[A Peaceful Ideal for All Races: Totto Land Welcomes You! No Slaves! No Discrimination!]
[Born Human: Totto Land Defends Your Right to Live!]
...
The World Economic News was also deliberately downplaying the Hell Pirates' slaughter of Celestial Dragons and Navy forces in God Valley. Right now, Brook didn't need that extra notoriety!
In this God Valley War, the Hell Pirates had already feasted enough. Now, they just needed time to grow!
Let Rocks keep stirring up trouble and tangle with the Navy. Brook might even provide some help to Rocks, pushing him to the forefront to take the heat. He didn't mind yielding the achievement of conquering God Valley to Rocks!
Moreover, most of the Celestial Dragons had been slaughtered by the Hell Pirates, and Brook had even repelled the Celestial Dragons' "national treasure" once. Brook figured he was drawing even more attention from the Celestial Dragons and Imu!
If Rocks wanted the infamy now, then give it to him!
That way, the Navy couldn't bypass the notoriously infamous Rocks Pirates to bother the "well-behaved" Hell Pirates who were "liberating slaves"!
"Jihahaha~ This time, the bounties are really sky-high!"
Shiki the Golden Lion chomped on his cigar and laughed nonstop. Clearly, the God Valley War had thoroughly enraged the filthy-rich Celestial Dragons!
"Heh! After all, those were Celestial Dragons!!"
Redfield sneered. Though the Hell Pirates had butchered over a dozen Celestial Dragons this time, he'd been stopped by the Navy and ultimately hadn't gotten to personally kill even one!
"Gurarara~ Shiki, your bounty actually surpassed mine!"
Whitebeard Newgate could hardly believe it, but the World Government's bounty posters confirmed it. Was it because Shiki had hauled away so many Celestial Dragon palaces that they were giving him special attention?
"Yohohoho~ 4.5 billion Belly, that's really high!"
Brook laughed, while Kanna hanging around his neck, and Hades and Osiris on his arms, all looked at their father with admiration. One day, they too would become as strong as him!
"Jihahaha~ Isn't this the 2.05 billion Belly Whitebeard Newgate? When you see me, your 2.1 billion Belly Division Commander, shouldn't you greet me properly?"
Shiki the Golden Lion pulled out the latest bounty poster and laughed maniacally, nearly shoving it into Newgate's face, utterly smug!
Redfield quietly tucked away his own 2.2 billion Belly bounty poster, planning to paste it up in his room later—of course, he grabbed an extra one of Captain Brook's too!
"Well~ I hit 2 billion Belly too? 2.01 billion, to be exact!"
Charlotte Linlin felt like she'd only killed two Vice Admirals and plundered the lifespans of a few hundred Navy soldiers—nothing too standout—yet her bounty had risen so much!
"Mwahahaha! My bounty's 400 million Belly—almost enough to be a big-time pirate!"
Beast Kaido held his bounty poster and laughed loudly. After awakening Conqueror's Haki, the Navy was taking him even more seriously!
"Why is it like this!"
Fisher Tiger held his 100 million Belly wanted poster. It was impressive for the outside world, but compared to Kaido and Oden Kozuki, he felt way too inferior!
"I'm not convinced! I awakened king's aura too—why's mine so much lower than Kaido's?"
Oden Kozuki gripped his first bounty poster, totally pissed off. He wasn't that far behind, was he?
"Gurarara~ A first-time bounty of 120 million is already damn good. That's supernova-level piracy!"
Whitebeard Newgate sighed. These rookies were one freak after another. Back in the day, he'd been thrilled just to get a few tens of millions!
"No way! I can't let my bounty be lower than that bastard Kaido's. Newgate, take me on a conquest!"
Oden Kozuki suddenly had a new goal: surpass Kaido in bounty!
"Mwahahaha! Oden, you gotta call Newgate 'Newgate-san,' and call me 'Kaido-san' too!!"
Beast Kaido eyed Oden, this peer with talent rivaling his own, but Oden was a generation below him. Kaido planned to rub this in for life!
Who cares if he's Wano's young shogun?
"Damn it! I challenge you to a duel!"
Oden Kozuki had never taken this kind of crap. He'd rather get beaten than call Kaido "uncle"!
"Come on then—I was just itching to get familiar with my Azure Dragon Fruit!"
Without another word, Beast Kaido dragged Oden Kozuki off for a fight, ready to show him what a top-tier Mythical Zoan could do!
Brook watched Oden Kozuki's retreating figure. It was time to head to Wano and pull out the ancient weapon Pluton. Otherwise, dealing with the Celestial Dragons' suspected Uranus "national treasure" would be tough!
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Fanfic is finished 955 chapters in total on p@treon/tambeerg