A 500 million bounty?!
Hancock stared at the wanted poster in her hands, utterly shaken.
Shadow Wraith. The mysterious man shrouded in darkness she had met just the night before.
She'd never heard of him before, let alone seen him on a bounty poster issued by the Marines.
"A first bounty… and it's already 500 million?!" she murmured in disbelief. "What exactly did he do...?"
After all, even her own first bounty had only been 80 million, and to this day, it hadn't changed.
A vague suspicion flickered in her heart, but Hancock couldn't bring herself to believe it.
"Could it be that he already... assassinated that Celestial Dragon?"
Her rosy lips parted slightly, but for a long time she was at a loss for words.
The idea just seemed too absurd. The target was only locked in yesterday evening, could the assassination already be done by midday today?
Even with the fastest ship, it would take five full days to travel from Amazon Lily to Mary Geoise!
["You can rest easy. Killing Celestial Dragons to me is like slaughtering pigs and dogs."]
His voice echoed in her mind, and Hancock couldn't help but smile bitterly.
He hadn't been bluffing after all.
"Dream Phantom Pirates"… what a terrifying group. To assassinate a Celestial Dragon without hesitation, and in just one day no less, and the assassin, Shadow Wraith, isn't even one of their officers…
Aside from assassinating a Celestial Dragon, Hancock genuinely couldn't imagine what kind of monstrous crime would be enough for the Marines to instantly issue such a high bounty.
There were plenty of infamous pirates in the world with bounties over 500 million, but all of them had built up their amounts over time. A bounty like Shadow Wraith's, starting at 500 million right out the gate? As far as Hancock knew, this was a first.
"Should I ask Sea Dragon about it?" A sudden wave of curiosity welled up inside her. "He must be a member of the Dream Phantom Pirates, he might even be one of their officers…"
The thought quickly passed.
Hancock shook her head. Even if Yato was their Guardian Deity, she wasn't about to go out of her way to ask him anything.
She set the bounty poster aside and gave a soft command:
"Treat the Guardian Deity with care."
"Yes, Lady Empress!"
Meanwhile, Yato was in his cabin, immersed in physical training.
Though he possessed transformation abilities, his true body was still that of an ordinary person. And in this strange, unpredictable world full of bizarre powers, a moment's carelessness could be fatal. Strengthening his base form was a must.
One hundred pushups, one hundred pullups, fifty squats…
After half an hour, Yato was soaked in sweat.
"This kind of training is way too inefficient... Maybe I should find someone to teach me? At least learn some basic martial arts, maybe the Marine's Six Powers or Haki?"
He seriously considered the idea, though for now, it wasn't feasible.
In the Grand Line, Devil Fruit users were common, but true masters of physical techniques were much rarer.
"…Guess I'll stick to my own training for now. Once things settle down, I'll look into it."
With that, Yato drafted a personal training plan. Inefficient as it was, it was still better than doing nothing.
The Kuja Pirate Ship sailed boldly through the Grand Line, flying its Jolly Roger. Any vessel that spotted it would give a wide berth.
By the afternoon, Yato had already noticed this pattern.
Hancock seemed utterly uninterested in small merchant ships. She didn't even bother to order an attack.
The entire day, the Kuja Pirates seemed to be patrolling a specific part of the sea, lying in wait, like a snake coiled to strike.
"What's going on?" Yato asked as a crew member brought him dinner that evening.
"Pardon me, Guardian Deity. Are you asking why we aren't intercepting the merchant ships?"
"Yeah, we've been patrolling this area and already passed up three or four small ships."
"That's per the Empress's orders," the crew member said with a smile. "Those small ships aren't worth the trouble. Even if we raided them, we wouldn't get anything valuable."
"I see…" Yato nodded, intrigued. "So what, are we waiting for bigger prey to pass through?"
"Exactly. This stretch of sea connects several island trade routes. One of them leads to the rich Sabaody Archipelago. We often get large merchant fleets here. Some of them even carry 'Heavenly Tribute', offerings bound for the Celestial Dragons."
Yato instantly understood.
"I got it. You may go now. Don't disturb me unless necessary."
"Yes, sir."
After the crew member left, Yato returned to his meal.
Whether it was a jinx or just fate, the next morning the Kuja Pirates indeed spotted a massive merchant ship on the horizon. It bore the Celestial Dragons' insignia, a Heavenly Tribute transport, serving the World Nobles directly.
Judging by its size, the ship was two to three times larger than the Kuja's warship.
"Intercept them!"
Hancock stepped out of her cabin and ordered the twin sea serpents to give chase.
With their powerful propulsion, the Kuja ship surged forward like a torpedo.
In less than fifteen minutes, they had caught up. But the merchant vessel didn't intend to surrender. On its deck, cannons were being mounted in preparation for a fight.
"Drop anchor and surrender!" one of the Kuja crew shouted. "We are the Kuja Pirates! Hand over your cargo and every jewel you're hiding!"
The moment the name "Kuja Pirates" was shouted, a wave of unrest broke out aboard the merchant ship.
A moment later, a rotund, middle-aged man waddled onto the deck, furious.
"Kuja Pirates! I've heard of you! Do you have any idea what you're doing?! This is a Heavenly Tribute vessel! Everything on this ship belongs to the Celestial Dragons!"
"Celestial Dragons?" one of the buff Kuja warriors scoffed. "We don't care who you serve. Surrender your ship, or we'll slaughter everyone aboard."
The two ships floated about a hundred meters apart. No need for signal flags; they could just shout at each other.
Yato sat casually along the railing, thoroughly entertained.
He was content to just watch the show, until Hancock turned her gaze toward him.
"Guardian Deity. You've been freeloading long enough. You couldn't even teach a few warriors properly. It's time for you to prove your worth."
"…Huh?" Yato blinked. "You seriously want me to do something?"
Her gaze didn't waver.
"That ship belongs to the Celestial Dragons. Are you… scared?"
"…Pfft." Yato laughed. "Little girl's trying reverse psychology on me, huh?"
He had already made up his mind. After this, he was going to loot that ship dry and disappear from the Kuja Pirates entirely.
"Well then, if you insist, allow this dragon to show you what he's made of."
As soon as he finished speaking, a thunderous dragon's roar echoed across the waves.
In a blinding flash of white light, a massive Sea Dragon took form, stretching across the sky.
"A d-d-dragon?!"
Everyone on the merchant ship froze in terror.