Half a day later, Ray and the Straw Hat Pirates found themselves on a peculiar island.
Long Ring Long Land.
Everything here was stretched.
The grass blades were taller than a man, the trees towered into the clouds, and even the animals seemed to have been pulled like taffy.
"A horse like a giraffe... a dachshund with a body length of 100 meters... apple trees that scrape the sky." Luffy wandered through the elongated landscape, eyes wide.
"What a fascinating island."
Even after four hours, the crew was still discovering new oddities.
At the moment, they were gathered around a campfire, preparing dinner under the stretched shadows of the trees.
But they all knew very well that they were being watched.
Hidden in the grass about 100 meters away, three figures lay in wait.
They were so weak that the Straw Hat Pirates had collectively decided to ignore them, much like one ignores a buzzing fly.
There was a sleazy man with a split nose and a suspicious cleft chin, a snickering gorilla-man covering his mouth, and a beautiful woman wearing a sexy "bandit" mask, speaking in an exaggeratedly cutesy voice.
This was Foxy the Silver Fox, captain of the Foxy Pirates, along with his top subordinates, Hamburg and Porche.
At this moment, the three of them were being extremely cautious, completely devoid of the impulsive urge to challenge the Straw Hats to a Davy Back Fight as they had in the original story.
The reason was simple: they were terrified.
Foxy held a stack of bounty posters with trembling hands.
[Captain - Monkey D. Luffy: 450,000,000 Belly]
[Cold Prince - Ray: 450,000,000 Belly]
[Pirate Hunter - Roronoa Zoro: 110,000,000 Belly]
[Black Leg - Sanji: 99,000,000 Belly]
[Devil Child - Nico Robin: 81,000,000 Belly]
[Viscious Cat Burglar - Nami: 50,000,000 Belly]
[Sniper King - Usopp: 50,000,000 Belly]
[Pet - Chouchou: 100 Belly]
[Pet - Tony Tony Chopper: 100 Belly]
Total Bounty: 1,290,000,200 Belly.
This was the first time in over a decade at sea that Foxy had encountered a pirate crew with such an astronomically high total bounty.
Normally, Foxy would proactively seek out any crew to challenge their captain and steal their best members.
But this time, he chickened out.
He decided to lay low, follow the Straw Hats from a safe distance, and observe.
If they turned out to be all bark and no bite—overhyped rookies—then he would strike.
...
Around the Campfire.
Luffy and the others were still discussing the bounty amounts while Sanji cooked.
Chopper and Chouchou needed no explanation—ever since seeing the "100 Belly" on their posters, they had been acting half-dead.
The two little cuties lay on the ground, butts sticking up toward the sky in despair, completely uninterested in food.
Usopp and Nami could somewhat understand their increases.
They had openly declared war on the World Government—or rather, by being associated with Robin.
A raise to 50 million was terrifying, but justifiable.
Robin, too, accepted her slight increase calmly.
As for Zoro and Sanji, however, it was war.
"Moss Head! How come you're 11 million higher than me?!" Sanji raged, aggressively chopping vegetables.
"Why did you break 100 million while I'm stuck right at the threshold?! I can't accept this!"
He pointed a ladle at Zoro.
"Look at you! You can't even beat me, you're not as handsome as I am, and aside from playing with swords, you're useless! Why do you have such a high bounty? And don't get me started on that stupid green hair!"
Sanji's tirade was nonstop.
At first, Zoro would fight back, but by now he had grown accustomed to it, treating it as the envy of the weak toward the strong.
Occasionally, he'd shoot Sanji a look of pity that said, "You're just not good enough," which infuriated the cook to the point where he nearly threw his knife.
Zoro took a sip of sake and responded briefly.
"With that photo on your bounty poster, who could even recognize you? So your bounty amount doesn't really matter anyway. Ghost-man."
CRACK.
The ladle in Sanji's hand snapped.
This comment broke his composure completely.
Not only was his bounty lower, but his photo was still that ridiculously ugly hand-drawn sketch.
Yet, out of professional integrity, Sanji continued cooking, even as tears of frustration streamed down his face.
Meanwhile, Zoro turned to Ray.
"In the last three bounty updates, your bounty has been exactly the same as Luffy's. What do you think the Marines are thinking?"
Ray took a sip of tea brewed from wild island leaves, his expression calm.
"I'm not sure. Most likely, it's because of Luffy's position as captain."
Robin nodded in agreement. "In the eyes of the Marines, Luffy is the man Ray follows. If Luffy can command someone like Ray, he must possess something terrifying. Even if his raw strength is perceived as slightly lacking compared to Ray, bounty amounts factor in threat level and leadership. Luffy's ability to gather strong allies is likely why they share the same bounty."
"Besides," Robin added with a small smile, "I think, given our crew's current strength... the Marines have undervalued all of us."
Hearing this, even Chouchou and Chopper, still playing dead on the ground, perked up and nodded strongly.
Luffy's current strength was definitely worth more than 450 million.
Zoro and Sanji far exceeded their values.
And as for Chouchou and Chopper... their true bounties should reasonably be millions of times higher than the price of a cotton candy.
"In any case," Ray said, "since the Marines perceive us this way, it works in our favor. The forces sent to besiege us will likely be calculated based on these numbers. When the time comes, we can catch them off guard."
"Luffy," Zoro asked, glancing toward the bushes, "should we really ignore that pirate crew over there?"
Luffy looked completely unconcerned, chewing on a piece of extended apple.
Suddenly, an idea struck him. "How about we ask them if they want to eat with us?"
"Absolutely not!" Sanji refused immediately. "We barely have enough food for ourselves with your appetite."
Hearing that food supplies were tight, Luffy immediately abandoned the idea of hospitality.
Ray didn't make a move against the Foxy Pirates either.
It was like how a lion wouldn't bother swatting a fly unless it landed on its nose.
...
Three Days Later.
After living on Long Ring Long Land for three days to charge the Log Pose, the crew set sail.
As the Going Merry departed, Foxy returned to his massive ship, the Sexy Foxy, and ordered his crew to follow one kilometer behind.
The Straw Hat Pirates didn't pay any attention to them.
If they wanted to follow, so be it.
If they showed hostility, it would take one sword slash from Zoro to sink them.
If they continued following, they'd likely get caught in the crossfire of the inevitable Marine siege.
If they died, it would be entirely their own fault.
On the Grand Line, average Devil Fruit users like Foxy were no longer worthy of being "enemies" of the Straw Hat Pirates.
They were obstacles at best, nuisances at worst.
"If we ever need money, we can just cash them in," Nami muttered, eyeing the Foxy ship through her telescope.
Without realizing it, the crew had developed a terrifying confidence.
Those three months of training in the Demon Realm had changed them fundamentally.
They were no longer rookies running from shadows.
They were predators.
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