Chapter 114: The Aftermath of the Great Battle (Part 3)
"What, caught a cold?" Kurumi asked with concern, "Or is it that—some beautiful woman is thinking of you?" Her words, punctuated with each syllable, made Eric 's scalp tingle.
'Women are terrifying when they're too clever!'
At first, Granny New Boa had only casually glanced at the newspaper. A picture of the Celestial Dragon being stabbed in the heart by Eric caught everyone's attention. At that moment, Carlamagne Saint looked utterly miserable, his body so distorted that it was hard to tell he was a Celestial Dragon—only his hairstyle gave him away.
Even Esdeath's acts of torturing the Celestial Dragon were attributed to Eric , with Granny New Boa believing it was a command from Captain Eric himself.
Taking the newspaper back, Granny New Boa carefully examined the news. "The only thing certain is that Eric 's crew escaped safely. No, they actually left on their own. Even Admiral Akainu's power and the Buster Call from the Navy couldn't do anything to stop them."
Hancock, regaining her composure, nervously bit her thumb. From Granny New Boa's words, she could tell the situation had been extremely dangerous.
Hancock suddenly stood up. "I must set sail now, to find that man!"
The sudden statement shocked the other three present.
"Sister! No, you can't!" Her two sisters immediately protested.
"That's right, Snake Princess. If anyone sees you meeting with the man who committed such a great crime, you could lose your position as one of the Seven Warlords. Don't forget, our country, Amazon Lily, is protected by your title as a Warlord!"
"Ugh!" Hancock's nails were almost bitten off as she bent down. She hadn't yet cultivated the arrogance to think that whatever she did could be forgiven. "I understand."
She silently repeated in her heart, 'One day, I'll meet you, Eric ...'
...
Other Warlords of the Sea, whether sooner or later, all received letters from the government. Aside from Mihawk, who became somewhat interested in the strength of Eric 's pirate crew, the rest of the Warlords scoffed at the government's orders.
"Ahh, didn't expect something like this to happen. What a pity." The tall and lean Aokiji, who had recently met with Jinbei, had just returned to the Navy Headquarters when he learned of this great incident.
"I had high hopes for Esdeath, but I didn't expect her to brutally kill a Celestial Dragon in front of the world..."
"It's too late to say anything now. Kuzan, if you see them, capture them alive if possible. If not, kill them on the spot. We cannot let them escape." Sengoku said darkly. He had been scolded terribly by the higher-ups these past few days.
Although this wasn't his fault, he couldn't say that Carlamagne Saint was the one who insisted on leaving the Holy Land and going to Sabaody Archipelago to buy slaves.
"If we let these dangerous people go unchecked, they'll just cause more trouble!"
"Even so..." Aokiji scratched his head lazily and responded in a slow tone, "If someone like Akainu couldn't handle them, what can I do?"
"Hmm..." Sengoku sighed. The Admirals' strength was all fairly similar. Akainu couldn't get the upper hand, and if Aokiji or Kizaru went, it'd likely be the same.
Plus, Aokiji's "Lazy Justice" and Kizaru's "Ambiguous Justice" were both relatively slack—perhaps even less effective than Akainu going all out.
"How terrifying~" Kizaru, sitting nearby, commented, "To dare kill a Celestial Dragon in front of the world and then directly face Akainu, these rookies are too terrifying."
Sengoku's head throbbed. Just last year, a pirate crew that had been chased by Rear Admiral Spider had now developed enough power to face the Admirals and the Buster Call. If they kept growing this fast, what would happen?
They couldn't send one Admiral to deal with them, could they send two? And the Headquarters needed to have one Admiral stationed, especially since the New World was ruled by the three Emperors, and they also needed Admirals to deal with large pirate crews.
It seemed like they could only rely on the newly established Seven Warlords system, but the Warlords were all unruly pirates. They were people who had committed heinous acts—whether they would listen to the government's orders was uncertain. Forcing them to hunt down Eric 's crew, who had gone missing, wouldn't be easy.
Even if they didn't follow orders, they couldn't do much. The best they could do was use the communication bats to order a capture if they saw Eric 's crew or to contact Navy Headquarters.
Sengoku suddenly remembered, "Also, notify the Navy divisions to be cautious of Eric 's warship. According to reports from the soldiers involved in the Buster Call, that ship has no sails, but its speed is over twice that of a regular Navy ship, and its cannon range and power far exceed ours."
"Akainu also said he fired on them when they were out of his sight, but he didn't see them until the cannonballs they shot were the same as the ones he had intercepted before. That's when he confirmed it was their fire."
"Hmm~ How did they find Akainu? It's really suspicious." Kizaru spoke lazily, but Sengoku had gotten used to his tone.
"According to Rear Admiral John Jandor (the giant Admiral), the cannonball that wounded him was much faster and invisible to the naked eye, causing his right shoulder to be pierced."
"I really don't want to deal with these guys~ So scary~"
"Also!" Sengoku turned to his adjutant and said, "Tell Morgans to stop writing random reports! 'Fourth Emperor of the Sea'? This will only cause more chaos among the people!"
"Yes, sir!" The adjutant saluted.
...
After two days of continuous sailing, Eric , who had been staring at the sky, finally saw the news bird approach.
He casually bought several newspapers and handed them out to the crew members around him.
"Whoa!"
Taking out the eagerly awaited bounty posters, Eric counted the zeros at the back, "Ten, hundred, thousand... million! Hahaha..."
Although he had already received a notification from the system, seeing the new bounty posters still made him very excited. This was proof of the great deeds he had accomplished, showing he had not wasted his time in this world.
The new bounty poster showed Eric 's new photo, which was much more imposing and heroic than the previous one. Lightning crackled around him.
If the photographer were there, they might as well add a drumstick to his hand!
"Notorious Pirate" Darin Eric ! Bounty: 658,000,000 Berries, dead or alive!
"Ice Queen" Esdeath, bounty: 596,000,000 Berries, dead or alive!
"Magic Spear" Scáthach , bounty: 330,000,000 Berries, dead or alive!
"Dual Guns" Tokisaki Kurumi, bounty: 250,000,000 Berries, capture alive only!
"Ghost Princess" Perona, bounty: 100,000,000 Berries, dead or alive!
Seeing her own bounty, Perona covered her cheeks and yelled, "Why am I on the bounty list too?! And why is it so high?! Over a hundred million?! What's going on?! I just showed up and used a Negativ Ghost!"
In fact, Perona's bounty wasn't originally that high, but Akainu didn't see it that way. He blamed her for the Negativ status and her kneeling behavior, so he increased her bounty with his own funds.
"Hunter" Akame, bounty: 123,000,000 Berries, dead or alive!
Akame didn't do anything particularly impressive in the battle with Akainu, but she still performed well enough that people watching thought she was strong. Since she wasn't involved in the Celestial Dragon's torture and death (only Eric and Esdeath appeared in the broadcast), her bounty wasn't increased too much—just a hundred million.
"Sagittarius" Chiron, bounty: 130,000,000 Berries, dead or alive!
Chiron didn't do much in this battle, only shooting a few arrows at the Navy Generals, which left them frustrated from missing.
As for Da Vinci, Porche, and Kurikei, they remained hidden on the Eternal Fear. Only two Navy Lieutenants—Smoker and Akame—had seen them together, but they hadn't mentioned them in their reports, only that Esdeath had joined Eric 's crew. Therefore, the Navy Headquarters didn't know who the other members were, and they didn't adjust their bounties.
"It's so annoying. Our crew is clearly called 'Dawn,' but we're still referred to as Eric 's crew. I'll give Morgans a call..."
"By the way, why is my bounty different?" Kurumi immediately noticed hers stood out from the others. While everyone else had "dead or alive" on their bounty, hers was marked "capture alive only."
Her words made Eric stop in his tracks.
"Probably because your last move—freezing Akainu completely—piqued the government's interest in your abilities."
"Indeed, even Akainu couldn't stop you. If the Navy had someone with your abilities, they could easily capture other ability users."
"Mm... but they won't catch me, right? Eric -~" Kurumi smiled at Eric , her unpainted pink lips immediately catching his attention.
"Enchanted by beauty, it seems my training is lacking. Come on, let's head to the training room and focus on eliminating useless thoughts."
Scáthach said, grabbing Eric by the collar and pulling him toward the cabin.
Only the sound of "Nooo!" echoed from the cabin.
(END CHAPTER)
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