Chapter 239 - 97

Chapter 97The transponder snail continued: "Please attend the medal-awarding ceremony on time."Tashigi advised, "Just accept it, Smoker. You know the consequences of disobeying orders from above."Smoker clenched the cigar between his teeth so tightly it seemed about to snap.If they had the capability to capture Crocodile, they would have done it long ago.It was precisely because they were powerless.And now, they were just taking credit? And taking credit from pirates, no less!A wave of nameless fury surged to the top of his head.He spoke coldly into the transponder snail, "Hey, do me a favor and pass a message to those old geezers in the upper echelons of the government."He took a deep breath and roared with all his might:"To hell with your damn pride! Go to hell!"*Click!*With that, he slammed the transponder snail shut, his chest heaving violently.At that moment, the Marine lieutenant commander brought over several newly delivered bounty posters.Smoker snatched them irritably.The lieutenant commander reported simultaneously, "Colonel Smoker, the Straw Hat Crew's ship has been spotted not far away. They've already broken through the blockade!"Smoker looked at the fresh bounty posters in his hand, his gaze especially complex as it lingered on the top one.He chewed on his cigar, his face dark as he remained silent for a few seconds. Finally, he waved a hand in annoyance. "Then what are you standing around for? Set sail!"But his tone and demeanor clearly lacked any real urgency to capture Luffy.Tashigi shook her head helplessly, plucking the topmost bounty poster—Luffy's—from Smoker's hand. She glanced at it, and her gaze instantly sharpened. "Two hundred million Berries? This man..."Just then, the young woman who had been standing quietly nearby all this time, holding an umbrella, walked over unhurriedly.She wore a gentle, curious smile, her voice clear and pleasant. "Colonel Tashigi, pardon the interruption. Are these pirate bounty posters? I wonder, could I take a look?""Miss Uta, are you interested in pirates too?" Tashigi asked, somewhat surprised.This young woman was none other than the famous songstress Uta, who had parted ways with Luffy in the East Blue, handled her own affairs, and also traveled along this route to Alabasta, only to seemingly arrive a step too late!Uta nodded with a smile, taking the bounty poster from Tashigi's hand.When she saw the familiar, yet now somewhat unfamiliar and unrestrained smiling face on the poster, along with the astonishing number, her eyes flickered slightly. Her fingertip gently brushed over Luffy's face in the photo:"Luffy, you've already come this far?Two hundred million Berries... It seems we'll meet again soon."Chapter 133: So You Only Snarl at Me, Huh?Inside the pristine cabin of a Marine warship, in a temporarily converted practice room.Instead of beautiful music, there was a sound of utter frustration, as if it had been pent up for a long time."How could Luffy get involved in a kingdom's rebellion? Are the World Government's intelligence departments all useless? How dare they publish such outrageous news?!"Uta put down the thick collection of bounty posters in her hand. "News really is just news, utterly unreliable... Teacher?""Shh! For heaven's sake, keep your voice down, my dear!"The practice room door opened softly. Gordon, with his graying hair and refined demeanor, entered carrying a tray of exquisite pastries and hot tea. Hearing Uta's complaint, he hurriedly made a shushing gesture, his face a mix of amusement and exasperation."We're surrounded by Marine ships. Be careful, walls have ears," he whispered, his tone a blend of helplessness and concern.Gordon had once been the king of a member nation.Though his country no longer existed, having once held a high position, he had accumulated some connections.This time, accompanying Uta back to the East Blueto handle some personal matters, he had utilized his World Government connections, using the World Government's flag and ships. Now that their business was concluded, through these same connections, they had contacted the World Government. A fleet led by Colonel Tashigi was responsible for escorting them back to the New World.Uta plopped down angrily, picked up a pastry, and took a fierce bite, as if chomping on the heads of those World Government bureaucrats."The problem is, this is just too ridiculous."After obtaining the bounty posters for Luffy and his crew from Tashigi, Uta had returned to the ship and bought various newspapers and bounty poster collections from the News Coo.She had originally thought Luffy had defeated some famous pirate, causing his bounty to skyrocket. But then they tell her he kidnapped the princess of Alabasta, and that's why his bounty is so high?"Indeed, he doesn't seem like that sort of person," Gordon nodded.Could Luffy be considered half his student?In a way, music could reflect a person's character. In Gordon's eyes, Luffy had the potential to become a great musician in the future, perhaps even more suited than Uta, because Uta's music had always carried a certain problem—extremism.The exact details of what happened were a matter of public speculation. The version officially released by the World Government was, naturally, polished.However, what was certain was that Luffy and his crew were deeply involved in Alabasta's internal conflict and had defeated the former Shichibukai, Sir Crocodile.And Princess Nefertari D. Vivi was indeed now on their ship.Gordon, with his own connections, was able to gather quite a bit of information. In the pirate world, having money was often enough. He paused, then added, "As for whether the princess was kidnapped or went willingly, only those involved know for sure.""Hmph..."Uta slapped the table angrily, making the stack of newspapers jump.Luffy and his crew's new bounty posters were prominently displayed, especially Luffy's, with its amount soaring to two hundred million Berries. Next to it, an attached report contained the shocking news that Princess Nefertari Vivi of Alabasta had been kidnapped by Straw HatMonkey D. Luffy, with a bounty of five hundred million Berries.Her chest rose and fell, clearly indicating she was very upset.She knew Luffy too well. That Rubber-brained idiot whose mind was only filled with meat, adventure, and his crew—how could he possibly instigate some kingdom's rebellion? When they last met after a long separation, she felt Luffy had changed somewhat, but in Uta's eyes, Luffy probably couldn't even be bothered to learn how to write the word 'rebellion.'"I refuse to believe Luffy would do such a thing!"Uta grumbled, lowering her voice a bit. "I know perfectly well how the World Governmentoperates. Distorting facts and turning black into white is their specialty, to cover up the truth or achieve some goal."The current Uta was no longer the naive little girl she once was.As a famous singer who had rapidly risen to worldwide fame, she had released multiple best-selling albums. With her unique uta uta no miabilities and her captivating performances, she had won over countless fans globally, becoming a regular feature in many entertainment newspapers.The World Economic Journal wasn't the only newspaper in the pirate world, though all major events seemed to be reported by it, making it the more authoritative source.Newspapers were one of the few forms of entertainment in this world, so there were quite a few so-called 'entertainment' newspapers.Unlike the World Economic Journal, which focused on reporting major events affecting the world's pattern, these entertainment papers were more Passionate about digging up Various scraps and gossip. Their content was often less serious, filled with Various speculations and rumors, yet they had Extremely high level of discussion.Normally, if Uta released a new song, she could easily occupy the front-page headlines of these entertainment papers.However, this issue, several entertainment papers had their front pages dominated by a pirate—specifically, Luffy.The headlines were sensational:*Straw Hat Luffy: The Mystery Behind the Skyrocketing Bounty! A Forbidden Love-Hate Saga with a Fallen Princess?**The Scandalous Affair of a Two Hundred Million New Star: Uncovering the Truth Behind the Kidnapping of Alabasta's Princess!**Is This a Distortion of Human Nature or a Collapse of Morality? On the Untold Story Between Straw Hat and Alabasta's Princess Vivi.*...The articles went to great lengths in Making a fuss, offering Various analyses and Imagine on why Luffy's bounty had increased so rapidly, linking it in every possible way to the incident of Princess Vivi's kidnapping. They even published some Outrageous comments from enthusiastic readers.Things like:"I bet the princess fell in love with the pirate and betrayed her country!""Straw Hat must have used some underhanded method!""Two hundred million Berries? More like he got lucky and used the princess incident to grab attention!""Stay tuned for the Subsequent of the forbidden love between pirate and princess, the true face of the Evil Pirates..."And so on.Reading it made Uta furious, while also giving her a faint sense of The dazed feeling of time flying by.How long had it been since she and Luffy parted ways?How had this guy managed to cause such a huge stir and attract so many women around him?!Uta's fingertip traced over the Blurry capturefigures of Nami, Vivi, and even Robin in the newspaper. Her heart felt like a Five Flavors Bottlehad been overturned.If she could, she'd immediately contact Nami, grab her by the collar, and demand:"Are you even capable? If not, step aside already! Weren't you so tough when you confronted me back in the East Blue?"And then what?One after another, all these a woman of inexplicable reason like an archaeologist and a kingdom princess had boarded the ship.Based on Uta's understanding of Luffy, the kidnapped Princess Vivi was most likely someone who wanted to join the crew herself. In other words, she was a partner acknowledged by Luffy!A kingdom's princess... The pressure that Identity brings was indeed different from that of an ordinary girl.Chapter 134: Uta: Damn it, Nami's UselessAfter their brief interaction, Uta felt she understood Nami's character.That woman was shrewd, money-loving, but deep down very Acting on emotions. It was unlikely she'd easily surrender in a compete just because the other party was a princess.But... Uta's expression turned strange. Given Nami's miser nature, was it possible she'd been bribed by the princess with an astronomical sum of Treasure?The thought was so vivid she could almost picture Nami's eyes turning into Berry symbols, hugging a money bag and smiling welcomingly at Vivi."No way," Uta murmured to herself, then shook her head vigorously. "Nami loves money, but she probably wouldn't go that far, right?"Or would she?What if there was a just in case?What if, during her absence, that A simple-minded, slow-witted guy Luffy had been won over by a more They are proactive and more likely to play direct. princess?The thought made Uta feel restless.She had practically been felt up all over by that guy Luffy!Even though it was for treatment, a specialsituation, could such a thing just be casually dismissed?Moreover, in Uta's view, that woman named Nico Robin was the The real dangerous person.She had that mature older sister vibe!Both she and Nami, and Vivi too, had the temperament of pretty young girls, each with their own merits at best.But Nico Robin was different. She was a Mature and charming, An intellectual and elegant older sister. Mysterious, A sense of insight beneath the languidness... That kind of woman was the best at deceiving people!Deep thoughts, many means,For a juvenile in his Adolescent restlessness, she was practically a Fatal Temptation!Who knew if that Single-celled organisms Luffywould be completely fooled by her? He might even help her count the money after being tricked.Uta abruptly stood up and began pacing back and forth in the elegantly decorated practice room, as Anxiety as a cat whose dried fish had been stolen.A phrase in her hometown accent almost escaped her lips: "Damn it, Nami's useless, looks like I have to take matters into my own hands." Fortunately, she managed to hold it back, only stamping her foot forcefully."Achoo!"At that moment, far away on the open seas beyond Alabasta, aboard the going merry basking in warm sunlight and a refreshing sea breeze, Namisuddenly sneezed loudly for no apparent reason."Who's thinking about me?"She rubbed her nose, looking around suspiciously.The weather was clear, The sky was cloudless.. The going merry had completely left Alabasta's waters and was sailing towards the next destination guided by the log pose.The atmosphere on board was Relaxed and enjoyable, as if the gloom of the previous great battle had been blow away by the sea breeze.Vivi and Nami were sitting side by side in the shade on the deck, holding a stack of the latest newspapers and bounty posters. Heads close together, they were whispering and whispers, occasionally bursting into silvery laughter, seemingly discussing some Interesting gossip.At the bow, Usopp and Chopper were enthusiastically engaged in Fish Research in the Grand Line—basically, fishing. Little Merry floated beside them, occasionally pointing a small finger at the sea, A whispered hint where School of fishwere gathering.On the other side, however, the atmosphere was slightly more Popular.Sanji and Zoro had somehow locked horns again. Electricity seemed to crackle between them, as if a samurai duel was about to erupt.The trigger seemed to be Zoro, after mastering Armament Haki, He spoke with a smug, arrogant tone., shouting at Sanji: "Number Five, where's your Haki?"That one remark had It was completely ignitedSanji's anger.