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East Blue – Shimotsuki Village – Isshin Dojo
"Master, is it true? Did big bro Zoro really become a master swordsman?"
"I heard from the older students that you're the one who taught him how to cut through iron—is that true?"
Koshiro found himself once again surrounded by a group of chattering little brats, and he still wasn't quite used to the attention.
And there was really only one reason for it.
He adjusted his glasses and looked at the wanted poster in his hand—
[Iron-Cutting Swordsman] Roronoa Zoro — Bounty: 80,000,000 Berries
Marine Headquarters
After finishing his shift, Bran stretched out lazily.
Then he absentmindedly picked up the stack of bounty posters nearby.
When he saw the name and bounty printed on it, he shook his head and muttered:
"Bet you're pretty satisfied with this one, Mr. Bai Ye."
[Celestial Master] Bai Ye — Bounty: 125,000,000 Berries
Somewhere on the Grand Line
In the corner of a tavern, a man wearing a cowboy hat sat with a huge grin on his face, staring at the wanted poster in his hands.
"Luffy…"
"Looks like we'll be meeting real soon."
[Straw Hat Kid] Monkey D. Luffy — Bounty: 150,000,000 Berries!!!
"Hahaha! Bai Ye, I finally beat your bounty!"
Luffy slapped Bai Ye's shoulder with full force, laughing loudly.
"Yeah, yeah, you win. But could you stop hitting me so hard?" Bai Ye shot him a side-eye, looking completely done.
He knew Luffy well enough to know the guy wasn't rubbing it in on purpose.
But when Bai Ye glanced to the side, he couldn't help but laugh.
"Okay, that is definitely meant to be a dig."
Zoro was holding his own bounty poster, grinning from ear to ear.
"Sixty million berries? Not bad at all, you damn cook."
He said "not bad," but his expression said something else entirely.
Sanji looked like he was about to grind his teeth to dust, but he fired back quickly.
"You bastard."
"You only got that high because people felt sorry for how badly you got sliced up!"
"HUH?!" Zoro's forehead popped a huge vein. "You wanna die, you pervy kappa?!"
"Oh, bring it on, you moss-headed freak!"
While those two were busy with their usual love-hate chaos, Nami and Usopp had more practical concerns.
"Dang it, our bounties went up again," Nami sighed. "That means stronger enemies are gonna start showing up…"
But then her tone changed as she added,
"By the way, who came up with the name Thunder Witch? That sounds awful!"
Clearly, Nami still preferred her old nickname—"Cat Burglar."
"Well, can't really blame them, can we? I mean, Nami, you literally split the Rain Dinners building in half with a lightning bolt back then."
Usopp chimed in from the side.
And he wasn't wrong—out of all the elements, Nami clearly had a soft spot for lightning.
Then Usopp added,
"My class as an 'Elemental Gunslinger' doesn't even suit me. I'm supposed to be a sniper, damn it!"
He paused suddenly, like something just clicked. Smacking his palm with his fist, he said,
"That's it! Ever since I took that cleansing pill and got White Night's gift, I've been charging headfirst into everything!"
"This isn't sniper behavior at all!"
Once he figured that out, Usopp accepted the nickname a lot more easily.
Of course, not everyone was as quick to accept their new titles.
Take—
Chopper, for example, who looked like the color had drained from his face as he stared at his wanted poster.
"P-Pet?!!!"
He was crushed.
"I'm the ship's doctor! How am I a pet?!"
"And what's with 'Ship Doctor / Pet'? That makes it sound like people are more focused on the pet part!!"
"Also, fifty Berries?! That's not even enough for a newspaper!"
"Those jerks!!!"
Chopper was full-on trembling with rage and despair now.
Suddenly, a pair of soft hands picked him up.
Before he could react, he was pulled right into someone's arms.
"Ah—!! Mmph!!"
Chopper squirmed for a while before finally poking his head out of Robin's chest.
Robin's face was glowing with motherly warmth.
"It's okay, Chopper. You just didn't fight this time, that's all."
"I believe next time your bounty will be much, much higher."
"You're amazing, Chopper."
As she spoke, Robin couldn't help but lovingly pet Chopper all over again.
Hearing her words, Chopper started floating with happiness.
Even though he mumbled, "I'm not happy just because you praised me!" his face was completely red as he buried it back into Robin's chest.
Maybe it was all the excitement over the new wanted posters, but no one noticed—
A few navy warships had appeared around the Going Merry.
BOOM!!!
A cannonball suddenly exploded in the sea right next to the ship.
The blast sent up huge waves, rocking the Going Merry violently.
Everyone snapped back to reality.
Zoro reacted first and called out to the others,
"Navy. Five ships."
"What do we do, Luffy? Fight?" Sanji asked, lighting a cigarette.
Luffy pulled down the brim of his straw hat and looked at the approaching ships.
"No reason to fight. We'll just shake them off."
Hearing that, Nami quickly sprang into action as the navigator, giving orders to the rest.
Soon, the Going Merry raised its sails and sped off, trying to escape.
But the warships were clearly faster.
They couldn't shake them off right away.
White Night, meanwhile, spotted a familiar figure on one of the warships. After thinking for a bit, he suddenly remembered what part of the story this was.
At the same time, on one of those ships, two people were watching the Going Merry closely.
"Phew, that was close—we almost missed this historic moment."
An older woman with short purple hair and a marine headscarf spoke up.
Next to her stood an old man with golden hair, wearing a navy coat over a black tank top. He had just lowered his binoculars.
"Yep. That's the Straw Hat crew's ship, alright."
A marine soldier walked up, saluted, and reported,
"We've been firing warning shots since earlier, but they haven't stopped. We might need Major Pasqua to step in."
The golden-haired man took off his navy coat. Holding a coin between his thumb and middle finger, he aimed at the Going Merry.
This was his special move—he could sink a pirate ship just by flicking a coin.
But the next moment—
"Achoo!!"
The coin slipped and hit a nearby navy ship instead, instantly sinking it.
"Whoops! Missed. Oh well, not a big deal."
"NOT A BIG DEAL?!! MAJOR!!!" the marine soldier screamed in panic.
Using the confusion, the Going Merry slipped through the gap and escaped the encirclement.
"Alright, pick up any wounded and proceed to Rugaja Island as planned," the golden-haired man ordered calmly.
After issuing the command, he dismissed the soldiers.
Then the purple-haired woman spoke again,
"The wheel of fate is starting to turn."
The golden-haired man smiled,
"Yeah… history is in motion now."
He looked up, eyes fixed on the direction where the pirate ship had vanished.
"It's been a long time, Straw Hat Luffy… and White Night."
"....."