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The grand hall fell silent again.
A no-name brat… actually made Lord Imu take action?
What kind of joke was that?
Not even the Four Emperors or Dragon had ever received that kind of "honor."
If this ever got reported, Imu would probably wipe out the entire room first—and call them useless trash before doing it.
"Don't tell me you want the entire Navy Headquarters to mobilize… just to hunt down a rookie who barely set out to sea?!" the blond Elder grumbled.
Aside from a full encirclement, he really couldn't think of a better plan.
But he immediately shook his head. "Pointless. Logan isn't stupid. If he can't win, he'll just run. The moment he teleports away, we'll just be wasting our time."
"So we can't do this, can't do that… what, we're just gonna let that brat run wild?!"
The curly-haired Elder slammed his cane down. The sheer force punched a crater into the floor.
"We can always make someone else do it for us," the bearded Elder said suddenly.
"Oh?" The others looked at him. "Explain."
He swept his gaze across them and spoke slowly:"We raise Logan's bounty. Make the Yonko take interest. With their personalities, a clash is inevitable."
"Meanwhile, we have the Navy closely track every Yonko's movements."
"When they start tearing each other apart… we pick up the pieces."
Kaido?!
Big Mom?!
At his words, the images of those two immediately flashed through the others' minds.
Whitebeard only cared about his sons—everything else was irrelevant.
Shanks almost never looked for trouble.
That left only Kaido and Big Mom.
Kaido worshiped strength and wanted to recruit every strong fighter into the Beasts Pirates.
Big Mom… well, she couldn't survive without men.
Logan: handsome, strong, ridiculous stamina…Excellent "genes."
The blond Elder's frown slowly eased. "If Logan can't threaten Garp's life, then letting Kaido and Big Mom handle him isn't a bad idea."
Kaido and Big Mom were the same type as Garp—walking fortresses.
Logan wouldn't be able to do much to either of them.
"But they probably can't do much to Logan either," the sword-wielding Elder said, shaking his head.
At best, both sides would get battered. And if Logan wanted to escape, nobody could stop him.
"Doesn't matter," the bearded Elder waved dismissively. "Our goal is to spark conflict. Don't forget—Logan's our enemy, and Kaido and Big Mom are too. Let them kill each other."
His eyes flashed with a vicious glint.
No matter who died, the winner would always be them.
"Not a bad idea," the mustached Elder nodded. They could just sit and watch tigers fight on the mountain.
The rest quickly agreed.
Standing nearby, Sengoku carefully asked, "Then… what bounty should we set? And what reason?"
The news of the Navy's defeat absolutely could not get out.
Every newspaper the Navy released was carefully edited. Anything that made them look bad was minimized—or completely erased.
They had to limit the damage to the Navy's image as much as possible.
If the public learned that Logan cut off Kizaru's arm, the Navy's prestige would collapse overnight.
A Navy Admiral losing to a rookie pirate?How were they supposed to protect anyone after that?How were they supposed to uphold "justice"?
The people wouldn't even need the Revolutionary Army—they'd start questioning the system themselves.
And Kizaru's injuries were severe. He'd need a very long time to recover.
By the time he reappeared, nobody would connect his missing arm to Logan—as long as they kept their mouths shut. And if anyone asked… just make up something.
The Sea King in East Blue had bitten off Shanks' arm.Was it really that strange if another giant creature bit off Kizaru's?
Perfectly logical.
"What's Logan's current bounty?" the sword Elder asked.
"500 million berries," Sengoku answered truthfully.
"Raise it to 3 billion."
"Three… billion?!" Sengoku blurted out.
Three billion berries. Second only to the Yonko.
Even many long-established Yonko commanders didn't come close.
And the scariest part—this 3 billion was based solely on Logan's combat ability.
Normally, bounty calculations considered a lot more than strength.
For example, in the original timeline, Luffy's bounty rose to 3 billion after defeating Kaido.
But Kaido's bounty was 4.5 billion—much higher.
Because the Beasts Pirates controlled huge swaths of the New World, with countless secret dealings.
Logan? Aside from collecting women, he had one flying ship.No territory, no holdings, nothing.
So a 3-billion bounty was pure, raw strength.No fluff.
And honestly… at least 2 billion of that was because of his teleportation.
"As for the reason…" the sword Elder paused. "Tell the world he destroyed Enies Lobby."
Enies Lobby was always an awkward place.
Though it was technically one of the three major institutions alongside Impel Down and Marineford…its defenses were the weakest, and it had no real powerhouse guarding it.
Any strong pirate could destroy it—they just didn't dare, because Marineford was right behind it.
And there was no reason to, unless you had a death wish.
"This…" Sengoku hesitated. "Will they really believe that?"
Destroy one Enies Lobby and suddenly the bounty jumps to 3 billion?!That was insane.
The blond Elder shot him a freezing look. "Who's 'they'? Pirates or civilians?"
"If it's pirates—do we need them to believe it?"
"If it's the civilians—what the hell do they know? Sengoku, your only job is to carry out our orders and protect the Navy's image."
"Don't speak unless spoken to."
Sengoku clenched his jaw. His face twitched.
In front of the Elders, even a Fleet Admiral was treated like a dog.
"…Understood," he said, lowering his head.
"Good. Now go." The bearded Elder waved him away, irritated.
Sengoku didn't need to be told twice—he practically ran out.
This damn place—he didn't want to stay a second longer.
The Navy moved fast.
Under Sengoku's push, the new bounty posters went out within a day.
The first to receive the news, of course, was Morgans, president of the World Economic News—the ultimate professional.
And when he learned Logan had "destroyed Enies Lobby," Morgans nearly went insane.
"Hurry! Hurry up!!! Move it, all of you!!!"
In his office, he was screaming at everyone.
"This is the biggest story in years! I want overtime from everyone! Triple pay! And once this is over, you all get a one-month vacation!!!"
"OOHHH!!"His exhausted staff erupted with joy and immediately dove back into work.
A whole month off? Glorious.
"Hahahaha! I'm gonna let the whole world know! I'm gonna be rich again!"
Morgans rubbed his hands, pupils already turning into berry symbols.
But after the excitement, he began to feel something was off.
The story… didn't add up. Not even close.Full of holes.
A 3-billion bounty could barely be justified—Enies Lobby was a major government symbol, after all.
But why would Logan even do this?There was no motive.No reason.Nothing.
Did he destroy it just to show off?
To tell the world how strong he was?
…Well.
Not impossible.
Morgans nodded to himself.There were countless pirates. Maybe Logan was just the type who went overboard for fun.
Shame he didn't have any reporters there—he would've killed to film the entire thing.
The next day.
Under Morgans' hype, waves of news birds flooded the sky, sending papers across the world.
A boulder had hit calm ocean water—the world exploded.
[Logan – Captain of the Logan Pirates. Bounty: 3,000,000,000 berries. Dead or alive.]
[Logan's madness—Enies Lobby destroyed!]
[Defying the Navy! Unforgivable criminal!]
[Scum of the sea!!][Destroyer of peace!!!]
[Logan declares he'll challenge the Yonko!]
[Yonko in crisis?!]
One explosive headline after another.
And of course, the Navy made sure to stir up trouble between Logan and the Yonko.
The world buzzed.Rumors spread like wildfire.Within hours, the entire globe was in uproar.
Land of Wano – Onigashima
"Uororororo! The Navy is as dirty as always—trying to pit us against that brat?!"
Kaido stared at the newspaper headlines and snorted with disdain.
"Kaido-sama… don't you think something's off?"King—the first of the All-Stars, wearing his demon mask—spoke up quietly.
Kaido gave him a sideways glance. "Speak."
"Destroying Enies Lobby alone wouldn't raise a bounty by 2.5 billion," King said firmly.
"If it were that easy, Jack would've gone there ages ago."
Jack the Drought stood off to the side, laughing like it was all a joke. "Hahaha, who cares? Lord Kaido, what do you think of that kid?"
"If you're satisfied with him, I'll head out right now and bring him back myself." He thumped his chest, full of confidence.
A guy who raised his bounty by flattening Enies Lobby? Please. That didn't scare Jack at all.
Actually… no. Aside from Kaido and the other two Calamities, he wasn't afraid of anyone.
Forget Logan; even if Kaido told him to march straight into Marineford, he wouldn't even frown. Otherwise, he wouldn't be Jack.
Kaido shot one glance at his overly eager subordinate and shook his head. "No need. Once he enters the New World, I'll grab him myself."
The Grand Line was huge. Finding Logan now would be like hunting for a needle in the ocean.
But the New World was different. Still big, sure, but Kaido's intel network reached everywhere. His connections ran deep.
Unless Logan went into hiding, all Kaido needed was a single call, and he'd know exactly where the kid was.
"Speaking of which, what's Yamato doing?" Kaido suddenly changed the subject.
One of the Flying Six, Ulti, scratched her head with a helpless look. "Young Master Yamato's… role-playing again."
Kaido's face darkened. That damned Kozuki Oden again. Would that ghost ever go away?
He stood up at once, grabbed his kanabo, and stormed out of the hall.
Whole Cake Island.
"You idiots! Why didn't you tell me earlier he was such an outstanding man?!"The shrill roar shook all of Totto Land.
BIG MOM glared down at her gathered ministers, flames flickering in her pupils.
Below her, the ministers trembled so hard they barely breathed.
They all felt painfully wronged. It wasn't like they didn't want to tell her—it's just that BIG MOM had been acting like she'd hit a second spring lately.
Nonstop… exercise, followed by endless feasting.
And she refused to let anyone bother her. Didn't want to hear about anything. She said it ruined her "food mood."
So things had been delayed until now.
BIG MOM rested her enormous cheeks on her palms, staring dreamily at the photo of Logan on the table.
Handsome.Courageous—he destroyed Impel Down.Strong—he killed Crocodile.Hires only female crew—how exciting.And most importantly, healthy.
This… this was perfect.
Every single point hit her right in the heart.
After all these years, none of her husbands had truly satisfied her.
But fate clearly had its own plan.
Logan was her destined prince.
She clutched the newspaper with both hands, eyes going hazy as she looked at his picture. Her voice warped with excitement. "Everyone, go find Logan. I don't care what it costs. Bring him to me!"
Katakuri and the rest of the ministers all twitched at the corners of their mouths as they backed out with grim faces.
Great. Just what they needed—another dad.
New World, second half.
On the Moby Dick, the main ship of the Whitebeard Pirates.
"Hahahahaha… pops, today's rookie pirates are way braver than we ever were. They even dared smash Enies Lobby," Diamond Jozu said, laughing as he read the paper.
"Hahaha… Logan probably thought killing Crocodile wasn't enough, so he went looking for an even bigger way to make a name for himself," Vista the Flower Sword shook his head, speechless.
Fearless kid.Once an admiral's chasing him across the sea, he'll learn the meaning of regret soon enough.
The commanders burst out laughing, half teasing, half mocking.
They'd seen plenty of bold pirates over the years, but someone like Logan? This was a first.
He destroyed Enies Lobby for no reason at all.
How was that different from taking a dump on the World Government's head?
"Pops, doesn't anything feel off to you?"Only Marco, ever the careful thinker, frowned a little.
Whitebeard sat grandly in his chair, completely uninterested. He tossed the newspaper aside.
Whether it was the truth or something shady, he honestly didn't care.
What he cared about right now was—
"Any news about Ace?"Whitebeard downed a bottle of rum in a few gulps and looked at his sons.
The smiles on every commander's face vanished instantly. They all shook their heads.
They'd already sent people searching, but there was still no trace of Ace.
And they hadn't found any sign of Blackbeard Teach either.
Shanks' warning echoed again in Whitebeard's mind, filling him with a heavy unease. He suddenly stood up and barked:
"Sons, pass the order. Tell every allied captain of the Whitebeard Pirates—use every connection you have. No matter the cost, find Ace!"
"Yes, pops!"
"Yes, pops!"
The commanders shouted in unison, each pulling out their Den Den Mushi to contact the other crews.
Whitebeard stared out at the sky as storm clouds gathered, worry gnawing at him.
"....."