"What's this?" Luffy tilted his head, looking completely puzzled.
The moment he caught sight of the picture of himself grinning broadly, he immediately became interested and leaned in for a closer look.
"It's a wanted poster. I've been put on the wanted list," Cain said smoothly. "And not just me—you're on it too."
Smiling, Cain flipped the wanted posters over to show Luffy, but his little brother paid no attention to Cain's.
He only stared at his own picture as his eyes shining with pure excitement!
When Nami heard that their goofy captain had actually become a wanted man, she immediately unfolded the newspaper in her hands and started reading the report aloud.
"Monkey D. Luffy has successively defeated the pirates Buggy the Clown, 'Admiral' Don Krieg, and Saw-Tooth Arlong, all of whom carried bounties exceeding ten million Beli. He is extremely dangerous!"
"Huh? Why is the credit for defeating Arlong being counted under Luffy?" Nami pointed at the paper, her brow furrowed in deep confusion.
By contrast, the contents of Cain's wanted poster were incredibly brief, containing only a single, ominous line: Brutally attacked Marine Branch 16.
"Because I think that, with Luffy's strength, he would've been able to defeat Arlong anyway," Cain smiled as he answered.
The photo on the wanted poster was actually one he had personally sent to Garp, and joining the Straw Hat Pirates was something he had told the old man in advance.
Besides, the achievement of freeing Cocoyashi Village should have belonged to Luffy in the first place, Cain had merely stepped in ahead of him to test the waters.
Only then did Luffy finally glance over at Cain's poster.
The moment he saw it, he immediately started protesting in dissatisfaction.
"NO FAIR, CAIN! YOU'RE CHEATING!"
As he yelled, he threw himself backward and rolled around on the deck, letting the wanted posters flutter to the floor.
Zoro leaned down, picked one up, and looked at the 30,000,000 Beli bounty printed across the bottom.
"Thirty million is a pretty high amount for a first bounty. What's the problem, Luffy?" Zoro asked, unimpressed by the tantrum.
"ONE OF THOSE ACCOMPLISHMENTS WAS CAIN'S!" Luffy shouted from the floor. "He was the one who took care of Arlong! I didn't even do anything, so why is my bounty so much higher than his?!"
Luffy scrambled up and snatched Cain's poster out of his brother's hand.
Printed clearly on it was a modest amount: 10,000,000 Beli.
"Because that bounty was supposed to be yours to begin with," Cain stepped forward and gently placed a hand on Luffy's shoulder.
"But... but..." Luffy grumbled, still clearly unhappy.
Even though he cared a lot about getting his own bounty, he felt this was deeply unfair to his brother.
Cain quickly cut him off. "Aren't you going to become the Pirate King? For the future versions of us, this little amount of money is nothing at all. When you become strong enough to truly defeat me someday, just pay me back this portion of the bounty then."
"This is a promise, Luffy."
Luffy looked up at Cain, and the knot of frustration in his heart gradually loosened.
He broke into his usual, bright, ear-to-ear grin.
"Then it's settled, Cain! Someday, I'm definitely going to surpass you and give this portion of the bounty back to you!"
"And as for me joining your pirate crew..." Cain raised a hand and pressed his own wanted poster down onto Luffy's head, forcing him to look at the fine print.
"Huh? I haven't even agreed yet, so how could that—"
When Luffy saw the words Straw Hat Pirates officially written on Cain's poster, he looked utterly stunned and immediately shook his head in objection.
"That's not up to you anymore, Luffy. Right now, the Marines have already decided I'm one of your crew. Whether you accept me or not, it doesn't matter," Cain said, his tone firm.
Then, his expression softened, and he changed tack.
"That said, I'll just be an unofficial member of the crew. I have a lot of things I need to handle on my own, so I won't be able to go on adventures with you all the time. I might leave the ship at any moment, and I might come back aboard at any moment too."
"So let me be selfish just this once. Okay, Luffy?"
Luffy stared blankly at Cain's wanted poster for a long moment.
He thought back to how Cain had been when they were children—always reading or training rigorously, yet he would still make time to cheer Luffy up, not to mention forge heavy metal toys for him to play with.
Cain had always looked after him, no matter what.
Luffy smiled broadly. "Sure. I mean, you're in Cain."
"GREAT! THIS IS GREAT!"
The ones even more excited than Cain were Usopp and Nami.
With someone that terrifyingly powerful officially joining their ranks, the two cowards—who had just been hyperventilating about becoming wanted criminals—instantly felt as though they had been injected with a shot of pure reassurance.
Most of their lingering fears vanished into thin air.
"Oh, right, Cain... what's that thing strapped to your back?" Nami asked curiously, pointing at the massive bundle.
"This? It's a weapon I forged myself. I have the descendant of a legendary master swordsmith to thank for helping me with it."
As Cain spoke, he untied the long, bandage-wrapped staff from his back.
It was roughly the same height as he was. When he unwrapped it, he revealed a hollow long staff, pitch-black from end to end, with a tail end shaped like a section of heavy pipe.
The metal gleamed with a unique, multicolored folded-steel pattern that was incredibly eye-catching.
"SO COOL!" Luffy's eyes turned into literal stars. "Cain, how did you make that?!"
"It's a special forging technique. If you fold and forge different kinds of steel together under extreme heat, you get this kind of pattern. And just between us..." Cain lowered his voice. "When I forged this weapon, I melted down two famous Meito blades and added them into the mix."
That offhand remark instantly darkened Zoro's expression!
Using two famous graded swords just to make a blunt staff like this?
Granted, the pattern on the metal was exquisite, and the forging skill looked excellent.
If the steel had been forged into a sword, it would probably have become a famous blade in its own right.
But this staff... it was simply a criminal waste of precious material!
But Cain naturally had his own strategic reasoning.
In his human form, this weapon could be used perfectly normally as a bo staff.
Once he transformed into his towering Human-Dragon form, its length was just right for his new proportions—acting as a proper, custom-made club.
And since the shaft was hollow, Cain had already planned years ahead.
Someday, when he reached Wano, he could insert a rod of Seastone straight inside it.
That would definitely produce some devastating, unexpected effects against other Devil Fruit users.
Even Shimotsuki Koshiro himself had acknowledged that, with this novel forging method and the addition of two Meito blades, the weapon's quality was already on par with a standard Great Grade Blade, despite Cain's inexperienced technique.
The only pity was that this thing was not actually a sword—otherwise, it would have easily qualified for a ranking.
Seeing the sheer curiosity on Luffy's face, Cain directly handed the heavy staff over to him to admire.
"By the way, Cain, that extra stuff over on the deck—that's your luggage, right?" Usopp had noticed while tidying up the equipment that morning that some new belongings had appeared on the Going Merry.
They clearly weren't Sanji's or Nami's, so he casually pointed them out.
"Yeah. I brought some clothes and gear."
Only then did everyone notice that a pile of luggage was stacked neatly in the corner beneath the ship's stairs.
Zoro casually glanced over—and his gaze was instantly caught by a long sword resting among the baggage.
Its scabbard was decorated with a distinctive, high-quality pattern.
As a swordsman whose current blades had been shattered by Mihawk, he naturally wanted to pick it up and take a look.
"Oh? Interested in that sword? I forged that one too. If you want it, I'll give it to you."
Noticing where Zoro was looking, Cain spoke casually, already laughing to himself on the inside.
It was a well-proportioned katana in a classic style, beautifully decorated, and some of its details were exactly the same as Wado Ichimonji's.
Zoro slowly drew the blade.
Although he thought the blade's thickness and shape were somewhat different from an ordinary katana, he did not dwell on it.
Just from the folded-steel patterning—so similar to Cain's own weapon—he could tell it was no ordinary piece of metal.
But the instant the blade came fully out of the sheath, Zoro's face darkened into a scowl.
The blade itself was only the length of a finger.
That's right—this was the tiny pocketknife Cain had forged from the leftover scraps, intending to give it to Zoro all along!
"CAN THIS THING EVEN COUNT AS A SWORD?!"
Staring at the weapon's full-sized hilt and absurdly short blade, Zoro simply could not help shouting his complaint.
If he really tried to use this thing in combat, there would be no way to even start swinging it.
In an instant, Mihawk's brutal mockery during their duel flashed through his mind.
Zoro gave a small, awkward cough, silently slid the tiny blade back into its sheath, and stiffly muttered.
"It's a good sword. I'll take this one."
Everyone burst out laughing at once. Zoro's face turned bright red, and he glared furiously at the crew.
"HEY! THAT'S ENOUGH FROM ALL OF YOU!"
As he yelled, he stomped over to ask Usopp for some tools, planning to remake the tiny knife with a new handle and sheath so he could wear it around his neck like a pendant.