Several days after the Going Merry left Twin Capes, the deck was noisier than usual.
"One hundred million?!"
"That's an enormous amount!"
Nami shouted while holding up a wanted poster, and Usopp, standing nearby, answered her.
The poster showed Luffy's face smiling with his teeth showing, golden eyes staring straight ahead, and beneath it was written his name and the fact that his bounty was 100 million berries.
"It's higher than my first bounty of 80 million berries, but considering how strong Luffy is, that's only natural. There's no reason to be surprised, Nami."
"This is absolutely something to be surprised about, Hancock! With a bounty that huge, Marine Headquarters officers and powerful bounty hunters are definitely going to come after us!"
"Luffy, don't just stand there and say something! It's your bounty!"
"If I had to give my honest opinion... it looks like the Fleet Admiral decided to screw me over, that's about it."
"Fleet Admiral! You mean the Marine Fleet Admiral?! That's even worse!"
"I didn't think it'd go as high as 100 million either... Hey, Usopp, why are you clinging to me like that?"
"Luffy... what if some really strong guys come at us all serious?"
"Even if it's fine for you and the others, the weakest one—me—would get cut down right away!"
"It's okay, Usopp. As a sniper, all you have to do is aim well at things like the enemy's eyes from the back."
"That may be true, but... Zoro, how can you still sleep in a situation like this?!"
Usopp, who had been beside Luffy, took a step toward Zoro, who was lying against the deck wall.
"I was trying to sleep, and you woke me up... Well, what's there to think so seriously about?"
"It just means the strong ones will come charging in to fight us on their own."
"Isn't it better if we don't waste time going out to look for strong guys to fight?"
"How is that a good thing?!"
"Usopp, Marimo's thoughts have always been short and simple."
"Says the pervert who only cares if there are women around?"
"Cooking matters too, you know?"
"You're both way too simple...!"
While the three of them were talking, Nami was facing a seagull wearing a hat, perched on the deck wall.
"The newspaper price went up again?"
"Kuu..."
The seagull, which looked to be about a meter tall, had a red satchel slung around its neck, and the ends of bundled newspapers were sticking out of it.
"If they raise it again next time, I'm never buying it again!"
"Kuu~!"
Nami said that and dropped some coins into the front pocket of the seagull's bag.
Right after that, the seagull took off into the sky, and Luffy, watching it, spoke up.
"It's from the World Economy News, so you can't not buy it, Nami. That paper's number one in information and influence in the world."
"For something like that, they cover unverified stuff way too sensationally, so I don't like it. And they hardly ever print anything that criticizes the World Government."
"That's because the editor gets money from the World Government and does information manipulation and reporting like it's nothing."
"That was true?"
"Anyone who knows anything knows it."
The main source of information in the world of One Piece, unlike in the twenty-first century where scientific knowledge is spread across many regions, is the newspaper.
Among them, the World Economy News, the major media outlet that deals with the World Government, has the greatest influence.
So even if the price of newspapers goes up, there's nothing to be done. And the ones delivering those papers are the trained seagulls known as News Coo.
"They just raised the price not long ago... Every time I see a News Coo, I get so annoyed I could die."
"What did they do wrong, Nami? Besides, if you hurt a News Coo, you won't even be able to buy the paper."
"Who said I was going to hurt it? I'm just saying it's annoying... But Hancock, can News Coo go to Amazon Lily?"
"No, Nami. The Calm Belt is a place where the wind doesn't blow, so they can't ride the wind there and come to Amazon Lily."
"For reference, I also know they don't go to non-affiliated countries."
"I really just have to pray the price doesn't go up anymore..."
"Kwak!"
"Karoo? Ah, you're done cleaning?"
Nami said that while looking toward the direction Karoo pointed with his wing: the center-left side of the deck.
There, Vivi and Mr. 9 were sprawled out with sacks and mops beside them.
"You both worked hard. You cleaned up all the snow that fell yesterday, after all."
"And this morning it was freezing, but now it's warm. Just like Mr. Crocus said, the weather here is way too unpredictable."
"That's just how the Grand Line is!"
"Mr. 9's right. You can't trust the waves, the wind, or the clouds."
"The only thing that never changes is the direction indicated by the Log Pose. And you call yourself a navigator without even knowing that..."
"Yeah, navigator! If you knew, then navigate properly...!"
Smack!
Hancock began swinging her sword, which had turned into a whip, at the two of them as they spoke.
"You're freeloaders! And yet you dare! To talk to Nami like that...!"
"Agh, it hurts, but why does it feel so good!"
"Shut up, Mr. 9!"
Watching Hancock whipping the two of them, Nami muttered, "They're right. It's true that the navigation techniques I've learned so far haven't worked here."
"I need to get my head in the game a little more..."
"If you get arrogant one more time, I'll tear all the flesh off and leave you nothing but bones!"
""Understood!!!""
As Nami muttered that, the two who had been knocked down answered Hancock's words as she finished whipping them, and in the middle of it Vivi whispered to the man beside her, Mr. 9.
"I thought Luffy was a good person... but his first bounty is 100 million!"
"And on top of that, he's traveling with Boa Hancock, one of the Warlords of the Sea... We have to tell Whiskey Peak about all of this...!"
"Right, so once we get close to the island, we should..."
"I can see the island!"
At that moment, Nami shouted while looking ahead.
What lay there was an island with several large mountains that, from a distance, looked almost like cacti.
"There's a giant cactus."
"That doesn't look like a cactus... does it, Sanji?"
"Then what is it, Usopp?"
"It's too far away to tell from here. We'll have to get closer to know for sure."
"Hey, you guys, that's Whiskey Peak, isn't it..."
The moment Nami said that, Vivi and Mr. 9 were suddenly standing on the deck wall.
"Luffy, and everyone else, thank you so much for taking us all the way to our destination."
"However, we still have things to do on the island, so I think it's time we part ways."
"Then goodbye, everyone...!"
The two of them said that and leapt high toward the sea, and—
"Damn..."
"Waaah?!"
Luffy grabbed both of them by the neck, one in each hand.
"Damn it!"
He hurled the two of them back onto the deck, and in front of them stood Hancock with her sword turned into a whip.
"You little brats! We let you off easy, and you still don't know gratitude...!"
""We're sorry!!!""
"They must've thought that even though I can fly, I'd just let them get away."
"Even if she's a princess, it's a bit much to run off after getting free food and a free ride just for cleaning."
"Ah... I can't just stand here and watch Miss Wednesday get the right answer..."
"Then you should get hit too."
"Know what you're talking about, Marimo. Getting hit is a reward, so Hancock won't hit me anymore."
While that pointless conversation continued, the Merry was riding the river that connected to the sea and heading into the island's interior.
The ship arrived at a small town adjoining the harbor.
"Pirates!"
"Welcome to the Grand Line!"
"Whiskey Peak loves pirates!"
From the land on both sides of the river leading to the harbor, the townspeople were cheering for the pirate ship and its crew, welcoming them with open arms.
"Hahahahaha! See? Real pirates are like heroic adventurers who love excitement!"
"The people here know that, so they're welcoming us like this!"
While some of the others were bewildered, Usopp was thrilled by the townspeople's welcome.
And so the Straw Hat crew accepted the welcome, moored the ship at the harbor, and stepped into town, where the townspeople surrounded them in a circle and cheered.
Then, among them, a middle-aged man with platinum-blond hair curled into round loops on both sides stepped forward as their representative to greet Luffy's crew.
"Welcome, everyone. I'm the village chief here, Igarappoi."
"You may be surprised, but this is Whiskey Peak, a town famous for its alcohol and music. Welcoming guests even if they're pirates is the pride of our town."
The moment he said that, dozens of men and women alike raised guns or other weapons at Luffy's crew.
"W-What?! You said you welcome pirates, didn't you?!"
"From the perspective of us bounty hunters, of course we'd welcome you, you long-nosed bastard."
"If you had a huge bounty, we'd have gotten you drunk and caught you when you let your guard down, but guys like you with no bounty at all aren't worth the trouble of going that far."
"Hand over everything you've got. If you do, we won't touch your ship or your lives."
"...Looks like they haven't seen my wanted poster yet."
The original story had Arlong captured, and right after that a bounty of 30 million berries was placed on him.
So these guys were planning to get the main cast drunk and capture them that way.
"What are you going to do, Luffy?"
"What do you mean, what am I going to do, Sanji? They're telling us to hand over everything we've got."
"That's not what you idiot cook means."
Zoro answered on Sanji's behalf, staring at the people ahead with a sharp glare.
"Are we killing them, or not?"
"...!"
Hearing Zoro's words, Luffy looked around at the tense townspeople and spoke.
They weren't really asking what they should do.
His crewmates understood very well that there are no people who can be perfectly divided into black and white, and that you have to discern the color of the person standing before you.
That's why they were asking whether they really had to kill them all, just like they had done with other pirates.
As expected, our crew is all good people. That saying about one out of every five people being trash is nonsense.
"A bounty hunter saying he'll just take our stuff because we don't have a bounty... It's a little hard to justify killing them."
"But we didn't really do anything wrong. They're acting like this just because we're flying a pirate flag."
"Luffy, we're the ones who aren't normal for sailing around with a pirate flag even though we don't even have bounties."
"That's true, Usopp, but that doesn't mean we're not being wronged, does it?"
Luffy said that, then placed a hand on Zoro's shoulder with one hand and Sanji's with the other, leaning his head between them.
"So you two handle it."
"Since we can't kill them, you'll have to control your strength properly. This is the perfect situation to use what you learned from training with me."
"...I'll take the left side, Marimo. You handle the side with more women."
"Don't complain later that the side with more women would've been easier."
The moment the two of them brushed Luffy's arms off their shoulders and stepped forward, Luffy lowered his head slightly and muttered, "If I'd known this would happen, I should've just told Shanks I was only going to return his hat."
"I shouldn't have said I was going to become Pirate King."
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