"Haha~"
"It's just Gild Tesoro. Do we really need to make such a fuss over him?"
"That fool Jialong really disgraced himself. He got taken out by a pirate with a bounty of 123 million. As a fleet captain, he hardly lives up to our status."
"Traca, Gild Tesoro's bounty is 567 million now."
"567 million? Is that supposed to be a lot?"
"Enough! Stop arguing!"
The banquet hall was in an uproar when a vicious voice suddenly rang out from the third row. A hideous, obese woman stood seven meters tall, with a centipede-like scar across her face. She glowered at the crowd, and her fierce gaze silenced everyone at once.
The captain of the 3rd Fleet, Empress Khel, was a Paramecia user who had eaten the Bone-Bone Fruit. Her bounty was 1.61 billion.
Though her face was fierce and ugly, she ranked third in combat strength among the Flying Pirates' twenty fleet captains.
There were two seats ahead of Khel, but both were empty.
They were presumably meant for Predator Axios, captain of the 1st Fleet, and Narwhal King Rubit, captain of the 2nd Fleet. After all, the banquet seats had been arranged according to rank.
"Gulp! Gulp!"
Khel picked up the bowl of wine before her and drained it in one go, then let out a breath.
How uncouth!
"I'll capture Gild Tesoro myself."
Khel might have seemed crude and vicious, but she wasn't a brainless fool.
She knew what the Golden Lion wanted.
Gild Tesoro's power was important to them. Anyone with a shred of sense could see that.
"He's only Gild Tesoro. There's no need for you to go yourself!"
Charming Idol Groot spoke from the fifth seat.
He was a handsome, well-mannered man with smooth golden hair and noble attire.
It was impossible to tell that he was a Great Pirate with a bounty of 1.556 billion.
"Gild Tesoro is quite handsome. Naturally, I'm the fairest of them all!"
In the eleventh seat sat a woman with multicolored hair tumbling over her shoulders. She wore a short Chinese-style jacket and hot pants, propping her chin on one hand as her bright eyes blinked and her cherry-red lips curved in a lazy smile. She was as alluring as a fairy, tempting people into sin.
Consort Xiang Jessica, captain of the 11th Fleet, was a bona fide beauty among pirate women.
Her bounty was 1.193 billion, and she was a Paramecia user who had eaten the Bubble-Bubble Fruit.
Her catchphrase was "This concubine."
Though she was beautiful, her personality was wanton and vicious.
She liked all kinds of handsome men. Usually, after spending a night of passion with them, she had them all killed.
The Flying Pirates had twenty fleet captains, and five of them were women.
Captain of the 3rd Fleet: Empress Khel.
Captain of the 8th Fleet: Black Widow Eliza.
Captain of the 9th Fleet: Jelly Queen Annie.
Captain of the 10th Fleet: Witch Roria.
Captain of the 11th Fleet: Consort Jessica.
Captain of the 12th Fleet: Cruel Queen Christos.
From their rankings, it was clear that these six pirate women were among the top members of the Flying Pirates.
They were in the upper-middle ranks.
But only four of them were in the hall now!
"Kyahaha!"
"There's no need to argue. Spand, the Golden Lion is yours to capture. I'm giving you ten days. I want to see Gild Tesoro here. Remember, I want him alive!"
The Golden Lion took a puff of his cigar and blew out a cloud of smoke before looking toward Lone Wolf Spand, captain of the 15th Fleet.
"Yes, Admiral!"
Spand, who had only one eye, stood up, drained the bowl of strong liquor, then strode out of the hall with the bearing of a dragon. He thought capturing Gild Tesoro would be a piece of cake.
Somewhere on a snowy island in the Grand Line.
In a town tavern, a man in a dark green cloak sat in a corner, his face hidden from view.
He was reading the newspaper.
"Gild Tesoro. The Gold-Gold Fruit!"
He muttered to himself, excitement in his voice. In the dim light, one could just make out that he had no eyebrows, which gave him a rather fierce appearance.
A breeze lifted the newspaper. The next moment, the man was gone.
At almost the same time, countless people around the world were reading newspapers.
As for the man at the center of the news, Chaos was currently in Grove 66 of the Sabaody Archipelago.
Groves 60 to 69 were home to a Marine base and the government's entrance, among other things.
They were considered the safest and most peaceful part of the Sabaody Archipelago.
Yet Chaos was sprawled openly on a rooftop terrace above a tavern, sitting in a chair and sipping coffee as he read the newspaper.
The most dangerous place was the safest place.
So after escaping last time, Chaos had cautiously doubled back to the Sabaody Archipelago from a different direction. Fortunately, Garp hadn't considered him worth a second thought. The moment his warship had been coated, he'd hurried off to Fish-Man Island to pursue the Roger Pirates.
Looking closely, Chaos still looked somewhat pale. His injuries clearly hadn't healed yet.
"When did I ever say I was going to take the Golden Lion's head?"
"567 million. That's reasonable!"
Chaos looked at the newspaper in his hands and curled his lip at the articles inside.
He could feel the malice oozing from them!
The Marines were out to get him.
They hadn't just dug up every last detail about him; they were also hyping him up to the point of setting him up for a fall.
There was no doubt that people all over the world had their eyes on him now.
The articles claimed that whoever managed to control Gild Tesoro would become the richest person in the world.
They even said he was going to take the Golden Lion's head.
No matter how he looked at it, these stories were designed to draw hatred his way. The Marines were trying to kill him with a borrowed knife!
Chaos rubbed his chin instinctively. He didn't actually dislike this kind of coverage.
In a way, he was a hot commodity now, known to practically everyone on the seas.
He'd certainly made a name for himself.
Next, he'd have to deal with all kinds of hunters. His difficulty setting had gone straight from hard mode to hell mode.
In the end, he'd still set out on the path of an emperor opposed by the whole world.
Then let the storm rage even harder!
After reading the newspaper, Chaos leaned back in his chair, crossed his legs, and took occasional sips of coffee as he watched the crowds on the street in the distance. All kinds of thoughts clashed in his mind.
His brief clash with Garp had made Chaos realize just how far he was from the strongest fighters.
Especially when it came to the Armament Haki Garp had used.
It had crushed his attacks and defenses almost effortlessly. Compared to Garp's Armament Haki, Chaos's was simply too pathetic to look at.
"I need to improve my Haki as soon as possible. Or awaken Life Return and the Gold-Gold Fruit."
A sense of urgency gripped Chaos, especially now that it seemed the whole world was against him!
Who knew how many people in the world wanted to enslave him?
He'd caused a bit too much of a stir this time.
He'd stolen the spotlight completely.
And the trouble that came with it wasn't small, either.
But it was thrilling!
And exciting.
For the next two days, Chaos kept a low profile. Whenever he went out, he disguised himself!
But once his injuries healed, things would be different.
He felt like he was back in fighting shape.
Grove 5 was mainly home to human-trafficking shops, auction houses, and lawless districts!
A bubble car rolled leisurely down the street. Chaos wore an open-necked white shirt that showed off his firm, powerful six-pack, along with a pair of colorful beach shorts.
A pair of little golden sword earrings dangled from his ears, and he'd dyed his spiky hair gold.
He also wore sunglasses and had a cigar between his lips.
At first glance, he did look a little different from the photo in the bounty newspaper.
For instance, he'd replaced the little knife earrings with little sword earrings. His black spiky hair was even easier to change: he only had to partially use Goldenization to lighten the color a bit, and it was as good as getting his hair dyed.
Sunglasses were everywhere on the streets, and Chaos had taken up cigars over the past couple of days.
In his past life, he'd smoked, though he hadn't been much of a heavy smoker.
These past two days, he'd returned to his old habit, upgrading from the ordinary cigarettes he used to smoke to cigars.
With that look, he had the air of a nouveau riche and a big shot.
His style was on point!
It was tacky.
But paired with Chaos's handsome face, golden-ratio physique, and arrogant, disdainful air, it didn't look tacky at all.
Before you continue