The barbecue restaurant next door was bustling with activity.
The entire place was packed, even the aisles were filled with people.
At a glance,
it was full of muscular, trendy men dressed in metal punk style. They bit into the sizzling barbecue and gulped down beer, shouting and cheering one after another.
At first glance, it looked quite heroic.
But the premise is...
you have to ignore the bandanas embroidered with words on the heads of these muscular men, like fans of underground idol fan clubs—
"Lord Shano's Loyal Dog Club·Rogue Town Branch"
"Justice exists in the heart, not in form!"
"Follow Lord Shano to the death, the swordsman's soul will never be extinguished!"
"Under the command of the Fallen·Trainee Combatant (self-proclaimed) makes a grand appearance!"
...
The content was varied, but without exception, all of them were filled with fanatical worship of the Emperor of the Sea.
After three rounds of drinks, the atmosphere intensified. A Mohawk-clad officer leaped onto the table, glass raised high, and shouted at the top of his lungs:
"Hey! Guys, answer me loudly! Who is the best man in the world from the East China Sea?!"
"Big Brother Shano—!!!"
"And second?"
"Big Brother Barto—!!!"
"Oh, oh, oh, oh!"
The entire restaurant erupted in deafening cheers.
In a corner,
Bartolomeo burped, his face flushed as he laughed heartily.
"What? Didn't I tell you, every time you mention Big Brother Shano, don't immediately call me Big Brother? That would be disrespectful to Big Brother Shano!"
The Mohawk-clad officer agreed, raising his right arm high.
"Then change the name, guys! Answer me again! Who is the second best man in the East China Sea after Big Brother Shano?"
"Second Brother Barto—!!!"
"Hey! Calling him Second Brother is too much!" Barto roared in anger, his fangs snarling.
Boom!
At that moment, from the tavern next door, a sudden explosion erupted, accompanied by the wailing cries of two young men.
"If you want a fight, get out there!"
a cold, sullen woman's voice followed. "The loser goes to the hospital, the winner pays!"
Oh!
Something fun to watch?
Bartolomeo and his men perked up and turned to look.
Outside, they saw
a man in a freckled cowboy hat and a man with green hair being kicked out of the tavern. They grimaced in pain and rubbed their buttocks.
They turned simultaneously, glaring at each other, and with a roar, charged forward, engaging in a thud.
Bartolomeo and the others crowded at the doorway, watching with rapt interest, pointing and commenting.
"Haha, interesting, green hair!"
Ace dodged the blow and shouted with laughter. "I didn't expect that besides that Shano guy, there's a swordsman like you in the East China Sea. You're so strong! But it seems you're still no match for my fists!"
Buzz!
He clenched his right fist suddenly, and in an instant, his entire arm turned pitch black.
Zoro's pupils shrank slightly.
He had seen it on Brother Shano before. If I remember correctly, this is the power called Armament Haki, right?
Kuina also said that this kind of power is usually mastered by pirates who enter the New World, and the first half is rarely seen.
This guy looks very skilled. Should we say that he is worthy of being the one with the highest bounty among this generation of supernovas?
But...
"It's just Haki, don't be too proud! The swordsman's will is enough to cut through everything!"
Zoro snorted coldly, narrowing his eyes. "Also, show some respect to Brother Shano! After I chop off your thing, I can use it to offset the wine money, and by the way, I can even pay for the ship repair!
This time I'm going to change to a big ship, and when I meet that stinky curly eyebrow again, I must make him jealous!"
Swish!
The two swords were clenched again, and suddenly slashed at a speed that was difficult to distinguish with the naked eye.
"Two-Sword Style·Seventy-two Troubled Phoenix!"
...
On the rooftop not far away, there were also two figures with indifferent expressions, looking down at the battle from above.
"Another admirer of Shano."
Kidd sneered disdainfully, stretched out his index finger and tapped his temple, "These guys from the East China Sea, each and every one of them seems to have some problems with their brains."
Pirates go to sea to find ONE PIECE! Conquer this sea and become the new generation of Pirate King, right?
What about these guys, do they think they are chasing stars?
Captain Kidd will not worship anyone, he only believes in himself, his fist is the truth!
"After all, we are from the same hometown, it is normal to have admiration for the predecessors."
Kira was wearing a mask, and his expression could not be seen. He said lightly:
"In comparison, I care more about another point. Isn't it said that the East China Sea is the weakest sea? Why is it that there are a total of eleven supernovas in our generation, and the East China Sea occupies five seats? That's almost half."
"The number of people is the most unimportant thing."
Kidd didn't care about it, grinning coldly, "Most of them are just trash anyway, and their bounties are not even as high as yours, right? But this pockmarked guy, huh, is really bold, his bounty is actually higher than mine, I have to defeat this kid fair and square in front of everyone!"
"Let the title of the strongest supernova return to me!"
...
"Those two ugly guys have been standing there posing on the roof for a long time, are they done? What are they looking at, so engrossed?"
On the second-floor balcony of a high-end restaurant, a handsome and picturesque blond young man, while sipping black tea elegantly, frowned and glanced at the rooftop opposite.
What a sight to kill.
As a man of unparalleled grace, he was actually listed as a supernova alongside these people, and was even overshadowed by those with the highest bounties. What a shame.
But it didn't matter.
Sabaody is too close to the Marine Headquarters to cause a conflict. If they meet again after entering the New World, he will prove everything with his strength.
The other ten supernovas...
just kill them all, hehe.
...
In the sea dozens of kilometers away, a small boat was speeding towards this side.
"Shampooland is just ahead. It will take at most half an hour to get there."
Chopper wiped the sweat off his forehead, turned around, and looked at the group of people on the ground with concern. "Once we get to the island, I can replenish medicine and help you heal. How's it going, Sanji, are you still holding on?"
The reason why it is called a "group"
is because Sanji is now curled up into a ball, his eyebrows even curlier, his arms tightly hugging his head, as if to seal himself up and isolate himself from the outside world.
"Sanji? Hello, Sanji?"
"Don't call me, Chopper..."
Sanji finally raised his head weakly, waved his hands with tears in his eyes, "Please leave me alone... I feel uncomfortable just hearing my own name now, sob..."
What the hell is going on?
Chopper was a bit confused. Suddenly, he noticed something and picked up a pile of newspapers from the ground beside Sanji and flipped through them.
It seemed that reading this had caused Sanji to become like this?
"The eleven supernovas who have arrived recently, or are about to arrive in Shampooland..."
Chopper scratched his head. Ugh, I haven't paid attention to this for a long time. Speaking of which, what is the current bounty for him and Sanji?
It slid its gaze downwards, and the newspaper headlines listed the photos of eleven people, with introductions next to them in order:
\["Black Fist" Portgas D. Ace, bounty of 330 million berries]
\["Captain Slaughter" Eustace Kidd, bounty of 300 million berries]
\["Surgeon of Death" Trafalgar D. Law, bounty of 200 million berries]
\["Samurai Killer" Killer, bounty of 165 million berries]
\["Pirate Nobleman" Cavendish, bounty of 159.99 million berries]
\["Fallen Major General" X. Drake, bounty of 150 million berries]
\["Dual Swordsman" Roronoa Zoro, Captain of the Dual Blades Pirates, bounty of 121 million berries]
\["Green-Headed Turtle" Bartolomeo, Captain of the Barto Club, bounty of 111 million berries]
\["Slant-Eyed Swordsman" Tashigi, bounty of 107 million berries]
\["Hyena" Bellamy, Captain of the Bellamy Pirates, bounty of 100 million berries]
So there we have ten people.
The last one, if I'm not mistaken, must be Sanji, right?
After all, last month, he followed Sanji and did something incredible!
—Not only did he stand up for justice and beat up a tyrannical king of a member nation, but he also fought hard to repel the invading navy fleet.
You know, the leader of this fleet is a vice admiral of the Navy Headquarters!
This record should be enough for Sanji's bounty to exceed 100 million, right?
But the result...
"Eh hey hey?!"
Chopper looked like he was about to cry, and his hoof trembling, he pointed at the newspaper, "Why, why is this happening!"
He saw the wanted poster at the bottom, and it was his own photo!
The accompanying text description is—
\["Poison Doctor" Tony Tony Chopper, doctor of the Chef Pirates, bounty, 166 million berries]
So the last supernova is actually me!!!
How is it possible? Why is the bounty so high?
In this battle, it was just responsible for containment. That vice admiral was defeated by Sanji alone with great difficulty!
It's over, it's over!
Although I don't know what the Navy Headquarters is doing, but the bounty is too high, it's not good, right?
Will they send a stronger navy to capture me?
How can I cope with this level of pursuit with my strength!
"Hey, Sanji..." Chopper's forehead was covered with cold sweat, and he turned to look at Sanji, "How much is your bounty?"
Sanji curled up even more when he heard this, and whimpered in pain: "Look behind you, is there any mention of me..."
Eh, is there?
Chopper searched left and right, searching for a long time before finally finding this line in the far corner of the article introducing himself:
\["Prince of Curly Eyebrows" Sanji, Captain of the Chef Pirates, bounty 50 berries, capture only alive]
Chopper was even more shocked this time, his mouth wide open, his jaw dropping to the ground.
50 berries?
Hey, hey, hey, are you kidding me, Marines?
What's going on? How could anyone have such a low bounty?
"Is there someone behind this, deliberately mixing up our contributions?"
Chopper stammered. "Even if that's the case, it shouldn't be only 50, right? Did the newspaper misprint your bounty..."
"Stop it, stop it, Chopper!"
Sanji leaped up, snatched the newspaper, and tore it to shreds. "You don't understand. A low bounty doesn't matter, but we're just off to Shampooland. We're about to see that green-haired idiot! He'll definitely laugh at me when he sees my bounty!"
The thought of that green-haired idiot's arrogance filled him with agony.
Kill me!
How can anyone possibly survive this?
"So that's what you're worried about?"
Chopper sighed in relief, standing on tiptoe and patting him on the back.
"Then I don't think it's anything to worry about. Didn't you say that Zoro is a directionally challenged guy? We haven't even reached Shampooland yet, so how could he possibly have gotten there before us?"
"Eh?"
That's right.
Sanji was stunned, then realized what was happening and laughed, hands on hips.
"What? I guess I was fooled by the newspaper reports about supernovas gathering in Shampooland. That's right! That guy might still be in Reverse Mountain right now. We can't possibly run into him here!"
As long as they didn't meet for a while, let him endure the humiliation and enter the New World first, making a name for himself there.
His bounty would soon be adjusted, and then it would be his turn to show off to the green-haired guy!
With this realization, Sanji felt refreshed. He whipped out his lighter and lit a cigarette.
"We're almost there, Sanji."
Chopper glanced ahead, "Grove 39, let's dock at the pier over here."
"Yeah, whatever you say."
Sanji waved his hand, happily imagining the day he would meet Zoro again in the future.
Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a black-haired female swordsman with a high ponytail on the next pier, with her arms folded, staring coldly at him...
"Wow!"
Sanji was so frightened that his face turned pale, and he was scared to death. As if by reflex, he threw the cigarette butt to the ground, crushed it hard with his leather shoes, and raised his hands in surrender:
"Big sister Kuina! Don't get me wrong, I really don't have a lighter, no, I didn't even bring a cigarette lighter, uh, not..."
"Huh?"
The female swordsman with a high ponytail looked up blankly as if waking up from a dream, "Is someone calling me?"
With that, she hurriedly turned away, bowing slightly to the deserted sea beyond. She spoke awkwardly and politely,
"I'm sorry, I wasn't looking at you, and I didn't hear you clearly. Could you please repeat it?"
Looking at the idiotic girl's back...
Chopper and Sanji stared at each other blankly, blinking, then suddenly remembering something. Their gazes turned to the scraps of newspaper on the ground, stunned for a moment.
No way?
How could they be so similar?
...
"Have the last three supernovas finally arrived at this island?"
In a clearing beneath the red mangroves, a muscular man in a blue captain's hat sat on a bench with his legs spread apart, speaking in a deep voice.
"Yes, Captain Drake."
The cadre in front of him said with a smile, "According to your instructions, we have sent people to focus on those followers of Shano. Do you want to meet with them?"
"Of course, and prepare a gift for the meeting."
Drake raised his head, expressionless:
"Loyal dogs who follow their masters often have sharper noses than ordinary people. If you build a good relationship with them and act together, your chances of successfully joining the Fallen will be higher, right?"
"Understood, I'll do it right away. It seems that Captain, you have made up your mind to turn around and join the Fallen."
The trusted cadre sighed, "I thought that after entering the New World, what you most wanted to join was the Beasts..."
"People will change."
Drake shook his head, his right hand gently stroking the Den Den Mushi in his pocket, his eyes solemn, and said coldly:
"Mr. Shano's reputation is getting higher and higher, and naturally more and more people will be convinced by him, right? Anyway, I have been his most fanatical follower since last month."
(End of this chapter)