Yamato unsuspectingly signed for the letter and asked Dragonite why it was in the delivery business.
After Dragonite's explanation, she still didn't quite understand, but thought it was meaningful. After all, it was arranged by Arceus, so it had to be useful.
"Is this letter for me also part of your test? Sounds like you guys are really impressive, but isn't calling more convenient than writing letters..."
After signing, Yamato quickly opened the envelope and then in a blink, put the letter back before Dragonite could react.
"Uh... Let's discuss this. How about you pretend you didn't find me?"
Dragonite's small claw pulled out a slip of paper from its pocket again, it was Yamato's Life Card. Seeing the paper inching closer to herself, Yamato understood that this was clearly impossible.
Failing to find someone with a Life Card in hand would mean Dragonite should consider resigning as a courier, not to mention she had already signed the receipt...
Now she regretted signing for it.
There wasn't anything special in the envelope, just an ordinary letter, but the sender... was Kaidou.
[Return to Ghost Island, there's a surprise.]
Such a short sentence pressured down on Yamato like a mountain. Whatever Kaidou's surprise was, it surely wasn't going to be anything good.
[The master said to give him a call after you receive the letter.]
Dragonite's words reignited a glimmer of hope in Yamato; maybe things weren't as bad as she thought.
After Rotom connected to Ghost Island, Yamato directly asked Arceus: "Godfather, what is this letter about?"
"Just a little test, where exactly are you now?"
"Uh... On an island in East Sea, not too far from Inverted Mountain, I guess."
"Is that so? That's a pretty good speed. No other issues, but the Navy has been quite active lately, so take care of yourself."
"Wait, godfather, what does the letter's content actually mean?"
The test had ended, and Arceus wasn't planning to chat further, but Yamato stopped him before he could hang up.
"Content?"
"Yeah, godfather, you don't know its content?"
"I don't know. I originally thought of writing something random, but it seems your father had new arrangements."
The last hope was dashed. She knew Kaidou would definitely find ways to target her. She was already envisioning what kind of terrifying attack Kaidou would concoct.
But Yamato didn't sink into despair; what should come will come, there's no escaping it, worrying endlessly is pointless and would just waste her leisure time.
This was the lesson she had summarized from past experiences.
"Phew... Let's go, Page, Ulti, and enjoy the rest of the trip."
"Your words are off, Kaidou the idiot is targeting you, why make it sound like Page and I are in for bad luck too?"
"Because I'm dragging you guys along, aren't we friends?"
"Don't bring up friendship in such weird contexts! Who wants to suffer with you!!"
"Nicely done, Ulti, you're not even denying the friendship, nor minding the way I call you. That's a big step forward."
"Enough already! Can you be a little smarter at critical times and stop thinking in such weird ways!"
For some reason, Ulti always felt that Yamato could see right through her defenses, invisibly piercing all her armor.
"Alright, alright, time to set out, let's first get an Eternal Pose for Alabasta. If I remember right, the specialty of the next island is Whirlwind Potato Tower."
After Yamato and the others decided on their next destination, Dragonite also prepared to leave. This was originally just a speed test for it and it didn't intend to linger further, but before leaving, it handed them a stack of newspapers, which conveniently included their new wanted posters.
It had bought these from a News Bird, which was so spooked it didn't even dare to take the money before hastily flying away.
Legend had it that Dragonite was a typically gentle Pokemon, and it had evolved from Dragonair to have hands capable of helping others.
However, the News Bird didn't know any of this. To the News Bird, the hefty dragon following it was a terrifying top predator.
Thanks to their activities in East Sea, Yamato's bounty successfully broke through 2 billion, making her currently the fourth highest bounty in the Hundred Beasts. Ulti and Page One's bounties received a slight increase as well, though they didn't really care about such things.
On the contrary, some people found themselves breaking into a sweat over their bounties.
...
On the Golden Merry, Nami was currently venting at the News Bird.
"Why does today's newspaper cost 200 Belly! This is malicious pricing! I want to complain about you!"
Even with a gold mine at home, her greedy nature hadn't been improved; it was a habit formed long before discovering the gold mine.
The News Bird, looking resigned, flew away; it's just an employee, what could it do if the boss hiked the prices?
This price increase was worth it though, besides the usual news, the paper included a special comic and an extra wanted poster.
Usopp was initially interested in the comics, but the next moment, he plopped down to the ground in shock.
"What's wrong Usopp? What did you see? Get up and steer!"
"Bounty... Bounty..."
Looking at the fallen Usopp, Nami was just about to mock him when she saw the bounty, instantly joining Usopp in forming a shivering duo.
Page One and Ulti's bounties were still beneath, but the top-most wanted poster had already shattered their worldview.
Ghost Princess - Yamato - Bounty 2 billion 470 million Belly.
"Two... Two billion..."
"Luffy! Luffy! Come have a look! That person... that woman is a total monster!"
Sitting at the ship's bow, Luffy came over and instead of feeling scared at Yamato's bounty, he smiled.
"She's really strong, but with that being the case, if anyone's going to be the Pirate King, it's gonna be me! I'm definitely going to beat her..."
"Snap out of it!!"
Nami's "Iron Fist of Love" landed heavily on Luffy's head, using it as an opportunity to vent her fear.
"Your bounty isn't even a fraction of hers! And she even has a father, that guy must be more terrifying... Why choose such people as rivals... I regret it, is it still not too late to turn back?"
"What are you saying, Nami? We're already here, there's no turning back now. Even if her dad's super strong, I'm not going to lose."
Luffy was brimming with confidence, but a word from Heracles dealt a critical blow.
[Her father is a monster stronger than even your grandpa.]
Though nothing was initially said, everyone noticed that Luffy's legs seemed to tremble a bit. They didn't know what Heracles said, but it was enough to give Luffy a rare moment of fear.