The moment Zoro stepped out of Morgan's office, he noticed the base courtyard was packed.
Almost every Marine stationed at Base 153 had gathered there, standing in neat formations and all staring toward the same direction.
Following their line of sight, Zoro saw a procession emerging from the prison entrance.
At the front were Admiral Kizaru and Vice Admiral Garp.
Behind them walked Smoker and Tina, and between the two of them—
was the Red Rabbit, Da Hong, still wearing heavy shackles and Seastone restraints.
Following closely behind were the four vice admirals: Momonga, Yamakaji, Onigumo, and Gion.
It was obvious that after witnessing Da Hong's strength firsthand, Garp had arranged the formation carefully.
Da Hong was being escorted at the very center of the group to prevent any unexpected incident.
Once they entered the courtyard, they did not stop.
The entire escort headed straight toward the harbor.
Their orders were clear: immediately transfer the Red Rabbit to Loguetown, where he would be publicly executed.
Watching the rabbit being personally escorted by admirals and vice admirals, Zoro tightened his grip on the briefcase holding the 500 million beli bounty.
If anything went wrong before he delivered the money to Droopy, the consequences would be unimaginable.
He quickly began heading toward the base gate.
Halfway there, he suddenly stopped.
Something made him glance back.
At that exact moment, Da Hong also turned his head.
Their eyes met.
Zoro did not even know what he was thinking in that instant.
Almost instinctively, he lifted the briefcase slightly in his hand.
When Da Hong saw the briefcase, his previously blank expression suddenly changed.
His eyes lit up.
For the first time since his capture, a sly smile appeared on his face.
Then he calmly looked away again, picked up his newspaper, and allowed Smoker and Tina to escort him onto one of the warships.
Zoro wasted no more time and walked straight out through the base gate.
The moment he stepped outside, his pupils shrank slightly.
From the corner of his eye, he scanned the opposite side of the street.
Two men in suits immediately turned away the moment his gaze passed over them.
Their reaction was quick—but not quick enough.
Zoro noticed the abnormal behavior.
He pretended not to see anything and continued walking forward with the briefcase, weaving smoothly into the crowd.
Soon he disappeared from that street entirely.
To shake off the surveillance, Zoro did not immediately head toward the forest where Droopy was waiting.
Instead, he wandered through the town streets for quite some time.
An hour passed before he even realized it.
By then, the two men tailing him were gone.
But standing in the middle of an unfamiliar street, Zoro suddenly realized something else.
He might have… possibly… maybe—
gotten lost.
"…Where the hell am I?"
Looking around at the unfamiliar surroundings, Zoro's forehead filled with black lines.
He had been so focused on shaking off the surveillance that he completely lost track of direction.
Now the pursuers were gone—
but so was his sense of where he was going.
Just as he was wondering which direction to try next, the air in front of him suddenly flickered.
The next moment—
the bustling streets of Shells Town vanished.
In their place appeared a forest.
Droopy stood there with his ears drooping lazily, already holding the briefcase Zoro had been carrying.
"Happy."
Droopy opened the case and looked inside.
Stacks of crisp beli notes and shining gold bars filled it to the brim.
A delighted grin spread across his face.
Then he casually tossed two bundles of cash at Zoro's feet.
"Pleasure doing business."
Zoro wasted no time.
He quickly picked up the money and stuffed it into his bag before cautiously asking,
"Droopy… are you planning to use your teleportation ability to rescue the Red Rab— I mean, Da Hong?"
It was the only explanation Zoro could think of.
Otherwise, why would Droopy betray his partner for five hundred million?
And why would Da Hong willingly accept that betrayal?
Droopy closed the briefcase slowly.
"Next time we cooperate again?"
"…Next time?"
Zoro blinked blankly.
Then his eyes widened.
"Wait—don't tell me you plan to rescue Da Hong and then have me turn him in again for another bounty?"
"You're half right."
Droopy sat on top of the briefcase and spoke with perfect seriousness.
"If I rescue him myself, the bounty probably won't increase much."
"But if he breaks out on his own after causing a huge scene, the bounty will definitely double."
Zoro's face twitched violently.
Using the World Government like a renewable bounty generator—
these two were insane enough to actually consider it.
They were basically planning to farm the Marines for bounty money.
"Interested in a long-term partnership?"
Droopy raised a single finger.
"If you join us, starting next time we split everything fifty-fifty."
"Goodbye."
Zoro did not hesitate even slightly.
He turned and walked away immediately.
He had not set out to sea to become some kind of bounty hunter.
He had left home to find and defeat the world's greatest swordsman, Dracule Mihawk.
More importantly—
he had already been placed under surveillance the moment he left the Marine base.
There was no way he was getting dragged into Droopy and Da Hong's insane scheme and becoming a wanted accomplice.
Meanwhile…
On the warship that had departed from Marine Base 153—
Da Hong remained bound tightly inside a metal cage created by Tina's Devil Fruit ability.
Earlier, when leaving the base, he had seen Zoro walking away with the briefcase.
That meant the bounty had already been paid.
But he had no intention of escaping just yet.
Droopy's plan required patience.
He needed to stay imprisoned for a few days.
Once the Marines and the World Government spread the news worldwide and the entire world's attention focused on his upcoming execution—
that would be the perfect moment.
When he escaped then—
his bounty would surely double.
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