Tremors

A day later, East Blue.

The Straw Hat Pirates sailed on as usual.

The blazing sun hung high overhead, and the Merry felt as if it were about to catch fire.

Fortunately, drops of sweat fell onto its deck.

Though sweat was hot too, the moisture still gave the Merry a slight sense of security.

As for where the sweat came from...

At that thought, the Merry's sheep figurehead seemed to make a comical expression.

On the deck.

"Ah, that hurts!"

Sanji clutched his knee, his face twisted in pain.

But when he saw the others ahead of him, he found a little comfort.

Luffy was covered in bruises and had already been beaten unconscious.

Zoro's eyes had rolled back, and all the alcohol he had drunk last night had been beaten out of him.

Usopp had lost consciousness and was twitching on the ground, seemingly having an epileptic seizure.

Even Chouchou was lying belly-up, tongue hanging out so far that he looked like he was about to die.

Only Sanji had yet to lose consciousness.

"Can Yue, what's wrong with you today? Why are you hitting so hard?"

Sanji strongly suspected that Can Yue was in a bad mood today and taking it out on them.

Can Yue let out a soft sigh. His cold, stern face showed not a trace of joy or anger.

Then he spoke icily.

"Stop talking. Keep going. If you can't kick me, you'll end up like them."

Cold sweat immediately broke out on Sanji's brow, but seeing how serious Can Yue was, he knew he had to give it everything today.

Sanji instantly leaped to Can Yue's right side, raised his left leg, and kicked toward Can Yue's face.

"Hard-boiled!"

Can Yue lightly tilted his head aside and easily dodged the kick.

But immediately afterward, Sanji used the instant Can Yue evaded to spin his body. Bracing himself with his right leg, he unleashed a roundhouse kick.

Hmph, the time you took to dodge was enough for me to launch this kick.

At that thought, Sanji wore a proud expression.

"Take this, White-faced Steamed Bun Quick Kick."

Unfortunately, Can Yue flashed sideways and easily evaded the kick.

Then Sanji went down.

"Get up. Continue."

Sanji rubbed his throbbing head and let out an encouraging roar at himself.

(╬?益?): "Ahh~ I'll fight you to the death!"

In less than a few dozen seconds, Sanji jumped up—hit the ground—stood up—fell down—climbed up—collapsed—pushed himself up—fell again.

After repeating that several times, he finally passed out, ass in the air and consciousness fading.

Just then, Nami walked out of the bedroom, intending to pick an orange from the deck.

The moment she stepped outside, her eyes met Can Yue's, and her body instantly stiffened.

Can Yue's gaze made Nami panic.

She stammered, "Um... I'll go back and get some beauty sleep?"

Can Yue did not answer right away. Instead, he grabbed the large wooden club beside him.

"Come here!"

Seeing that her fate was sealed, Nami gathered her courage and shouted at Can Yue.

"Bring it on! I'll smash your ass to pieces later!"

Then she headed toward the deck at the bow.

After pulling out her Weather Stick and taking her stance, she looked at the twitching people sprawled across the deck and the dying dog. The courage she had painstakingly gathered immediately deflated again.

Pouting, she said pitifully, "Big Brother Can Yue, go easy on me later..."

In a stretch of sea more than a hundred kilometers from the Merry.

A pirate flag bearing a clown emblem fluttered above the mast in the wind.

On deck, a beautiful black-haired woman with a lovely figure and smooth skin sat beneath a parasol, reading a newspaper.

Looking at the latest news, Alvida felt rather helpless.

"Captain Buggy, why did you have to be so high-profile? The Marines have already discovered that your ability awakened. With such a high bounty, it's dangerous."

"Hm? Ka-hahaha! I told you, after making such a splash, my bounty was bound to soar."

Clown Buggy jumped down from the lookout and walked toward Alvida.

He leaned his head over with a curious look. "How much did it go up to?"

Alvida sighed. "Two hundred million! Buggy, do you know what that means?"

Buggy glanced sideways, wearing an expression caught between laughter and tears.

"Only two hundred million? I thought it'd at least be five hundred million. That's the baseline for a great pirate."

Buggy was deeply dissatisfied. Were the Marines looking down on him that much?

"And here I thought I'd prepared them such a big gift."

Alvida looked at Buggy's feigned disappointment and barely concealed delight, feeling nothing but contempt.

But she did not say it aloud, because Buggy really was terrifying now. At the very least, his presence was ridiculously powerful.

The acrobat Kabaji walked over to Buggy with a fawning expression.

"Captain, with the gift you prepared, I think raising your bounty to at least eight hundred million won't be a problem."

Buggy was greatly pleased to hear that.

"Of course. Your boss here prepared two whole islands for the Marines of Loguetown. Ka-hahaha!"

As Buggy finished speaking, every crew member, including Alvida, looked toward the sky behind them with a touch of fear.

Dozens of massive, square chunks of islands floated in the air, closely following the pirate ship as it moved forward.

Beneath those island fragments, the pirate ship looked like a mouse standing before a giant tiger. The visual impact was overwhelming.

Even though those huge fragments had followed them for a long time, they were still shaken every time they saw them.

However, Buggy did not keep the islands floating all the time. Whenever he got tired of showing off, he restored the island fragments.

The members of the Buggy Pirates could even hold banquets or take breaks on the islands.

This was also why the Marines had discovered Buggy's awakening.

He was simply too high-profile.

"Captain, there's new information about the Straw Hat Pirates in the newspaper."

"Oh? Can Yue and the others? Let me see!"

At the same time, people all around the world received the latest Bounty Posters for the Straw Hat Crew and the Buggy Pirates.

East Blue, Foosha Village.

Village chief Woop Slap discovered that the entire village was happily celebrating.

When he arrived at the bar, he learned the reason from Makino, the bar owner.

The chief was so angry that his beard bristled and his eyes widened.

"Chief, everyone's happy that Luffy's bounty increased."

"Hmph, fifty million. Our village produced a fifty-million-berri big criminal. That's worth more than six Higgses, sigh."

Makino smiled gently, picked up Luffy's Bounty Poster, and placed it before the village chief.

"Don't be upset. Look how happy Luffy is."

"Hmph! That brat, who knows how Garp raised him."

Though he said that, the corners of the chief's mouth still lifted slightly against his will.

Sea Restaurant, Baratie.

The chefs celebrated the Straw Hat Pirates' increased bounties.

"Hahaha, as expected of that Can Yue. Sixty-five million—terrifying."

"Boss, what was your bounty back then?"

Zephyr's face darkened at the question, and he smacked Paddy on the head.

"I forgot long ago! Finish celebrating and get ready to receive customers."

Paddy shrank his neck, then ran to the next table and continued partying.

"Even the Pirate Hunter has thirty million, but that kid Sanji didn't even get mentioned. Tsk tsk."

"Exactly. He's an embarrassment to our fighting restaurant. Yahahahaha!"

Zephyr looked into the distance, concern showing in his eyes.

"With bounties that high, the Marines must have their eyes on you. Be careful, Sanji."

Cocoyasi Village.

Village policeman Gen was at Nojiko's house, bristling with anger.

"Ah, look at this picture! Showing her stomach on a pirate ship, lifting her shirt, shaking a wallet downward.

What kind of image is that?

How will she ever get married in the future?"

Nami's wanted poster picture was somewhat unusual. It happened to capture the moment she left Cocoyasi Village, boarded the Merry, lifted her shirt, and shook out the villagers' wallets.

Nojiko smiled as she watched Gen's agitated appearance.

"You want Nami to get married?"

"No..."

"Then what are you worried about? Maybe Nami can become a star in the pirate world thanks to this picture."

Nojiko chuckled.

Then she lowered her head and looked beneath the table.

Can Yue's Bounty Poster had been deeply imprinted in her mind.

No wonder he wears a mask. He's way too handsome.

Excited, Nojiko rocked back and forth in her chair. But she became so absorbed that she slammed her head into the corner of the table.

Orange Town.

Thanks to Buggy's ability, it had now been restored for the most part.

All that remained was to spend money on materials and slowly finish the rest.

At that moment, all the townspeople held Bounty Posters of the Straw Hat Crew and Buggy, loudly gossiping together.

Looking at Can Yue and the others' Bounty Posters, Pig Butcher could not help falling into his memories, a happy smile appearing on his face.

"Benefactor, thank you for letting me meet you."

That night, however, he discovered that his wife had secretly collected Can Yue's Bounty Poster.

"Benefactor, I fucking regret meeting you."

The extraordinarily high bounties of these two pirate crews naturally caused controversy far beyond East Blue.

They created quite a stir in the other three seas and even in the New World.