Because they had essentially mugged the News Coo for its entire satchel of newspapers, every member of the Roger Pirates currently held a fresh copy of the latest news in their hands.
From their perspective, the great battle on Linderland Island had ended somewhat anticlimactically. It hadn't even gone on for long before that guy World was crushed and captured by two Marine Admirals.
Still, they had successfully obtained the Poneglyph without much trouble.
The only thing truly worth mentioning was Valthior's explosive growth in strength—awakening Conqueror's Haki and those bizarre new abilities.
According to Roger, Valthior had already touched the threshold of the sea's top-tier powerhouses.
This was a qualitative leap in strength. He still might not be a match for monsters like Garp or Sengoku, but he now had the qualifications to fight them head-on!
If one really had to compare, he could now be considered at the level of someone like Silver Axe.
Rayleigh and Gaban shared the same opinion. In their eyes, Valthior had already become someone they'd have to take seriously—and even then, they might not be able to bring him down quickly.
After all, Valthior's fundamentals were rock-solid. He had mastered all three types of Haki, with his Conqueror's Haki skipping the growth phase entirely and jumping straight to a high level. On top of that, he was a Mythical Zoan user, and his eyes possessed incredibly strange abilities.
With all those factors combined, Valthior was no longer the small fry from God Valley.
Using Figarland Garling as a benchmark, Valthior was confident he could beat him senseless now!
It was only because he had gone straight into a "top-tier match" against a monster like Garp that he hadn't seemed overwhelmingly dominant.
"Oh? Valthior, the newspaper's calling you the 'Strongest Rookie,' huh? Impressive!" Roger exclaimed with a strange grin as he read.
Although the Roger Pirates didn't think there was much worth praising about the Linderland Island battle—
In reality, its impact on the world was enormous.
First, what should have been a decisive clash between the Whitebeard Pirates and the Flying Pirates ended without a clear victor.
After Roger's crew left, Shiki and Newgate each led their forces into another fierce round of combat. The final result? Linderland Island was completely sunk.
However, because a massive Marine fleet had appeared on the outskirts of the battlefield, neither side pushed for a life-or-death conclusion.
After all, both of them knew that Sengoku, Garp, and Zephyr were watching from the outside—and they were still in peak condition.
If Shiki and Newgate insisted on settling things then and there, there was a real chance the Marines would swoop in and wipe them all out.
So after a brutal exchange that severely damaged each other's forces, both pirate crews ultimately chose to withdraw.
The World Economy News Paper labeled the outcome of this war as… a three-way loss.
Neither Shiki nor Newgate achieved their objectives—strategic failures for both.
As for the World Pirates, who had barged into the conflict—they were completely annihilated. The "World Destroyer" Byrnndi World was captured alive by Marine Headquarters, an undisputed crushing defeat.
Aside from those three losses, however, the Roger Pirates forcibly seized the Poneglyph, Valthior battled the Marine Hero, and the entire crew retreated unscathed.
In the eyes of the World Economy News Paper, that counted as a solid victory.
And perhaps due to some influence from the World Government—or simply because the Marines' tactical objective had been perfectly achieved—
Admiral Sengoku and Admiral Zephyr were credited with swiftly defeating Byrnndi World amid the chaos, capturing him alive, and withdrawing safely. They were even said to have forced the Roger Pirates, Flying Pirates, and Whitebeard Pirates to retreat, marking it as a rare and major Marine victory in the New World!
It had to be said—this move by the Marines truly shook the New World.
Striking decisively in the chaos to capture the World Destroyer, and making it appear as though they had driven off three major pirate crews—this greatly boosted Marine prestige and slowed the decline of the World Government's influence in the region.
The World Economy News Paper also speculated that since neither the Whitebeard Pirates nor the Flying Pirates achieved their goals, what was once thought to be the "final battle" had instead become the beginning of a fuse.
Following Linderland Island, the already chaotic New World would likely become even more unpredictable with the return of the Roger Pirates.
From this point forward, the rivalry between Shiki and Newgate would evolve into a three-way standoff between Roger, Shiki, and Newgate.
Who would ultimately become the overlord of the New World would depend on future clashes among these three titans.
After covering the Linderland Island events, the paper moved on to a massive wave of updated bounty posters.
The Whitebeard Pirates and Flying Pirates were fairly standard—their captains and officers all received modest increases, nothing particularly noteworthy.
But the Roger Pirates, who had been quiet for three years, experienced a massive surge!
Marine Headquarters officially declared that the Roger Pirates intended to investigate and locate the lost Ancient Weapons, aiming to use their terrifying power to conquer—or even destroy—the world. As a result, the entire crew was labeled extremely dangerous.
The World Government's propaganda arm quickly backed this claim, stating that the Roger Pirates posed a grave threat to world order. From here on, the World Government would go all-out in suppressing them and called on all parties to cooperate in eliminating this dangerous pirate crew.
Thus, Roger's bounty skyrocketed, reaching 1,247,000,000 Berries, making him the highest-bounty pirate—surpassing Golden Lion Shiki by a full 100 million.
First mate "Dark King" Silvers Rayleigh's bounty rose to 722,000,000 Berries.
Navigator "Mountain Eater" Scopper Gaban reached 596,000,000 Berries.
Scholar Spencer—deemed by the World Government to possess the ability to read ancient scripts—was assigned a bounty of 370,000,000 Berries.
Following them, the rest of the Roger Pirates also saw increases across the board. Even Doringo, the "babysitter," reached 130,000,000 Berries.
As for the other combatants, none broke the hundred-million mark.
Finally, there was the Roger Pirates' "Strongest Rookie"—Valthior.
He was now designated by the Marines as "Frost Axe" Jaygar Valthior, with a bounty of 280,000,000 Berries.
Ranked fifth within the crew!
"Damn it, 'Strongest Rookie' is fine—I can accept that title. But what the hell is 'Frost Axe'? Are they mocking me as some cheap knockoff of Silver Axe? That name sounds like garbage. Speaking of which, that bastard Silver Axe pisses me off just thinking about him. Back in West Blue, I even gave him a brooch worth billions of Berries, and this time he didn't show a shred of old friendship—came at me swinging the moment he saw me. Next time, I'm definitely chopping him down!" Valthior grumbled.
Clearly, he was very dissatisfied with the "Frost Axe" nickname.
As for the bounty itself, he didn't care much. Fifth place was fine—before this, he had been at zero anyway.
One noteworthy detail: Valthior was marked as "Only Alive."
Meanwhile, Spencer was fuming.
"Damn those Marines! This rumor started with them! Since when did I become a scholar?? I can't read a single word of that ancient crap! I'm just an intelligence guy—my strength's average at best. How the hell did my bounty suddenly jump to 370 million Berries?!"
"Isn't this just bullying an honest man?!"
Spencer truly wasn't a combatant. While he could fight, his strength was fairly average—roughly on par with Doringo. His previous bounty had only been around 80 million.
But now, with the World Government slapping the "scholar" label on him and claiming he could read ancient scripts—combined with their narrative about Roger seeking Ancient Weapons—he ended up taking the blame for everything. His bounty shot up to fourth in the crew, just below the three main powerhouses.
He was practically furious to death.
Watching Spencer's indignant outburst, Valthior scratched his chin awkwardly and chuckled.
"Well… don't take it so hard. If you want, I can start teaching you how to read ancient script today?"
"Forget it, forget it. For your sake, Lord Valthior, I won't bother arguing with them," Spencer sighed, waving it off.
After all, back at Sabaody Archipelago, Lord Valthior had gifted him so many luxury items.
Taking the blame now? Fine, he'd take it.