Human joys and sorrows are never shared.
Just as Buggy's crew and Bartolomeo's crew were celebrating the Straw Hats' new bounties…
The rest of the world was completely shaken by figures that shattered their very worldview.
East Blue, Syrup Village.
The same familiar trio.The same familiar village path.
But this time, the three of them weren't shouting or running around as usual.
Instead, they stood frozen in place, clutching a bounty poster bearing Usopp's portrait, too stunned to speak.
"Th-this… this bounty poster… is that really Captain Usopp?"
"I-It can't be wrong! The name and the photo match—there can't possibly be a second Captain Usopp in the world!"
"Yeah! And last time his bounty already broke one billion Beli. Even if it went a bit higher, that's no big deal…"
"When you put it like that… I guess you're right… hehehe…"
The usually lively trio let out a series of silly, dazed laughs.
Suddenly, Onion slapped his forehead as if he'd just remembered something.
"Oh! We have to tell Miss Kaya right away!"
The three of them snapped back to their senses, then hurriedly grabbed the bounty poster and dashed toward the mansion on the hill outside the village.
What they didn't know was—
The butler of the Kaya estate had already received today's newspaper before them and delivered it to Kaya.
At this very moment, Kaya and Merry, having just finished reading the paper, wore the exact same stunned, vacant expressions as the trio.
Merry's face was stiff as he stared at the bounty poster, his mouth opening and closing like a wind-up doll, producing a faint whisper:
"Th… three billion Beli?!"
"This… this has to be a mistake, right? Heh heh…"
When Merry saw the line specially marked on the poster—
[Responsible for the killing of multiple Celestial Dragons. Crimes are unforgivable. Dead or alive.]
—he began to wonder if he still hadn't woken up and was trapped in some bizarre, surreal dream.
Killing Celestial Dragons…And not just one—several.
Ever since the live execution of a Celestial Dragon, reports of attacks against them had been spreading across the world. But up until now, there had never been a confirmed case of multiple Celestial Dragon casualties.
Even Blackbeard, who had recently caused a global uproar, had only publicly killed a single Celestial Dragon.
But still—
"They attacked the Holy Land, Mary Geoise… and got away unscathed?!"
"Usopp and the others… aren't they way too terrifying?!"
Although this wasn't the first attack on Mary Geoise in history, anyone with even a shred of political sense could clearly see the difference in how the World Government treated the Straw Hats compared to Fisher Tiger.
One bounty soared straight to number one in the world.
The other was only 230 million Beli.
The gap between the two was enormous.
And it also showed, from another angle, that in the World Government's eyes, even though both were attackers of the Holy Land, the Straw Hat Pirates were far more dangerous than the Fish-Man hero of over a decade ago.
Usopp… really had made it big!!!
"Merry…"
At that moment, Kaya's soft voice suddenly broke Merry out of his thoughts.
"Yes? What is it, Miss Kaya?"
Merry immediately lowered his head, looking at Kaya's eyes, where something like icy crystals shimmered.
Kaya held the newspaper in her hands and looked up at him.
"Merry… Usopp and the others… their situation must be very dangerous now, right?"
"Huh?"
Still reeling from Usopp's massive bounty and his rise to greatness, Merry froze—then suddenly realized what Kaya meant.
People only care about how high you fly.Only those who truly care about you worry about whether you're tired.
In less than a year since leaving Syrup Village, Usopp had gone from a boastful village boy to one of the strongest figures in the world…
While much of the credit undoubtedly belonged to his incredible companions, Usopp's own efforts must have gone far beyond what anyone here could imagine.
…
…
At the same time, many others across the East Blue felt the same unease as Kaya.
The mayor of Windmill Village and Makino.Nojiko and Genzo of Cocoyasi Village.Koshiro of Shimotsuki Village.Zeff of the Baratie.
If Luffy and the others had followed the conventional pirate path—even if they defeated all four Emperors and became the Pirate King—no one would be this worried.
But to those who truly cared about the Straw Hat Pirates…
Luffy and his crew were like climbers who had taken a cable car straight to the summit.
They had reached the top, yes—but compared to those who climbed there on their own, their foundation might still be lacking.
What's more, judging from the news reports, the Straw Hat Pirates seemed to have done many things in Mary Geoise that the World Government could never tolerate.
A real danger was now looming over them.
…
…
"Vice-Captain & Trainer Red — bounty: 3.5 billion Beli…"
"Dragon Swordsman Roronoa Zoro — bounty: 2.08 billion Beli…"
"Flame Knight Sanji — bounty: 1.99 billion Beli…"
"Devil Child Nico Robin — bounty: 1.5 billion Beli…"
"Man of Steel Franky — 250 million Beli."
"Soul Walker Brook — 160 million Beli…"
"Colossal Beast Chopper — 300 million Beli…"
"Storm Witch Nami — 320 million Beli."
"Looks like everyone's bounty went up… except the Going Merry."
Fish-Man Island, Sea Forest.
Red sighed softly as he looked at the bounty posters spread across the ground.
"Hey, hey… isn't something about these numbers kind of off?"
Beside Red, the others leaned in. When they saw Luffy's bounty, astonishment filled their eyes, and their faces showed all kinds of complicated expressions.
The world's highest bounty until now—Whitebeard—had only been a little over 5.1 billion Beli.
Yet the World Government had directly priced Luffy's head at 5.5 billion Beli, while clearly stating that the bounty was so high because the crew had invaded Mary Geoise and killed Celestial Dragons—
In other words, they weren't being hunted for their strength.
It was easy to imagine that in the near future, powerful figures worth billions of Beli would inevitably turn their attention toward the Straw Hat crew, constantly challenging them in the name of pirate "honor."
But so what?!
"Two billion Beli, huh?! Looks like that old geezer really has good taste—he could tell I'm a bit stronger than that curly-brow cook!"
"Worth praising!!!"
Seeing that his bounty once again surpassed Sanji's, Zoro grinned so hard it looked like this made him happier than the bounty itself.
"Damn it!"
Sanji clenched his fists and shot Zoro a vicious glare.
"You're just riding on that 'defeated the God's Knights' achievement!"
"Take that away and my bounty wouldn't be lower than yours!!!"
Like a sore loser, Sanji began barking angrily.
Zoro, holding his bounty poster, stood proudly at the unassailable high ground. No matter how Sanji argued, he replied with just one sentence:
"My bounty is higher than yours."
Since his own bounty hadn't changed much, Chopper turned his attention to the others.
"Brook, it looks like your real identity still hasn't been recognized. The World Government even made you a brand-new bounty poster."
"Yohohoho~ seems so," Brook's soul flames flickered in his eye sockets as he joked. "Does that mean I'm a pirate who debuted with a hundred-million-plus bounty?"
"My bounty finally broke one hundred million too!"
Franky, once the only Straw Hat whose bounty hadn't reached that mark, felt genuine relief when he saw his new number.
Everyone knew bounties didn't define everything—but being the only one stuck at tens of millions still felt awful.
Nami and Robin picked up their posters, examined the photos, and smiled in satisfaction, silently giving the World Government's photographer a thumbs-up.
For a moment, the arrival of the new bounties brought the crew—who had been preparing to train—back together again.
Finally, upon learning that he was now the world's most wanted man, Luffy planted his hands on his hips and burst into laughter.
"Guys! To celebrate our new bounties, we—"
"—ARE THROWING A PARTY!!!!"
"YEAH——!!!"
Even though they had just finished dinner, everyone happily joined in without dampening the mood.
Only Sharkstar, who had delivered the news, stood there with a completely bewildered expression.
???
What was going on?
With bounties this high, shouldn't they be worried?!
Why… did these guys look so happy?!
"Hey, Sharkstar! What are you standing around for?!"
"Hurry up and go catch us a Sea King! We're running out of meat for the party!!!"
"Huh? O-oh…"
Startled by the sudden order, Sharkstar reflexively turned around and, still utterly confused, headed off in the direction Luffy pointed.
(End of Chapter)