Ever since the Great Pirate Era began, the words "bounty" had been mentioned more and more often.
They were the prices the Navy had set to suppress pirates, yet many people regarded them as a kind of "glory."
Bounties in the hundreds of thousands or tens of millions might still attract the attention of bounty hunters.
But once the amount reached a certain level, the meaning of "bounty" vanished entirely.
A bounty represented the degree of "threat" the person posed to the World Government!
The weak could not threaten the World Government.
In other words, the higher someone's bounty, the more it meant that the World Government acknowledged his strength!
As for exchanging those powerful people for bounty money, no one in their right mind would even consider it.
How many lives did they have to spare?
But today, a squad of Marines on a mission had been the first to have their eyes opened.
"That's right, it's been confirmed!"
Out at sea, a Marine squadron came aboard a warship.
The squadron commander led the way, holding a Den Den Mushi as he contacted Navy Headquarters directly.
The matter was too serious for their branch to handle, so they could only seek instructions from Navy Headquarters!
The squadron commander looked at the burly figure before him and said gravely,
"The man we just took into custody is indeed one of the Beasts Pirates' officers, King, the Flame Calamity!"
"..."
"Yes. We'll return to the branch at once, and we'll make sure to transport him in secret along the way."
"..."
Click!
After receiving instructions from Navy Headquarters, the squadron commander hung up the Den Den Mushi.
He looked up at the man before him and couldn't help swallowing.
King was covered from head to toe in Seastone shackles, while the ship's doctor tended to his wounds.
As for King himself, he had already exhausted his strength and passed out.
Who could have done it?
The squadron commander couldn't help wondering to himself:
Who had taken down King?
They had received a report from Alabasta saying that a powerful pirate had been defeated and asking the Navy to come capture him as soon as possible.
But they had never expected "powerful" to mean something so outrageous.
King, the Flame Calamity—
Even though he was stationed in the first half of the Grand Line year-round, the Marine squadron commander had heard of his fearsome reputation!
That man was absolutely terrifying enough to destroy a small country with ease!
Alabasta was indeed a superpower. Going to war with it head-on would be tantamount to directly challenging the World Government, so no pirate would dare provoke it.
But the squadron commander had never heard that Alabasta had anyone capable of matching King's strength!
Was Sand Crocodile stationed in Alabasta year-round?
"..."
"Forget it. I can't make heads or tails of it."
The squadron commander rubbed his head helplessly.
All he could remember now were the orders Fleet Admiral Sengoku had given over the Den Den Mushi:
"Listen carefully!"
Sengoku's voice had been grave as he said, "You absolutely must keep King's capture secret. Not a word of it can get out!"
Navy Headquarters.
"Phew!"
Sengoku hung up the squadron commander's call and couldn't help letting out a long sigh.
Beside him, Chief Officer Tsuru wore an equally grave expression.
After a long pause, they both said the same name—
"'Demon' Aiven Lindsey."
"..."
"Yes. It must have been him. There's no doubt about it!"
Sengoku furrowed his brows. "Sand Crocodile is cautious by nature. If the Demon weren't there, he'd never have fought King head-on!"
As the two great minds of Navy Headquarters, Sengoku and Tsuru had easily deduced what must have happened.
Tsuru spoke slowly:
"For some reason, that brat Doflamingo meddled in Drum Kingdom's internal affairs, trying to profit from Alabasta. But instead, he drew King there."
"But in the end, they both lost to the Demon..."
The two of them really were impressive.
Aside from the top-secret matter of the Poneglyph, everything else was almost exactly as they had surmised!
Tsuru looked over the report and shook her head helplessly.
"What a bunch of troublesome brats!"
She glanced at Sengoku, then said with a faint smile, "Sengoku, a billion is no small bounty."
"Don't tease me, Tsuru."
Sengoku looked out the window, his eyes filled with deep concern.
The Navy could afford a mere billion.
"The urgent matter now is making sure Kaido doesn't learn that King has been captured before he's transported to Impel Down!"
"If the news leaks, the Beasts Pirates won't let this go."
Sengoku rubbed his face and began making a plan with Tsuru to transport King, the Flame Calamity.
It bears repeating—
The two of them really were impressive.
Under Sengoku and Tsuru's meticulous planning, everything proceeded smoothly.
A week later.
Under the Navy's secret escort, King, the Flame Calamity, was finally locked away on the sixth level of the underwater prison, Impel Down.
It was a prison from which escape was considered impossible. To date, only one person had ever escaped.
Therefore, even if Kaido of the Beasts discovered what had happened to King, the Beasts Pirates would be powerless to do anything!
And just like that, another month passed.
At the beginning of Marineford Calendar year 1507,
a wail of grief rang out from the Beasts Pirates' expeditionary camp in South Blue.
"King!"
Kaido of the Beasts sat on the ground, his massive frame hunched over a huge bowl of wine as he drank away his sorrows.
He had only just uncovered King's whereabouts and learned that King had been defeated and captured, but by then it was already too late.
Still, Kaido wasn't overly distressed.
So what if the Navy had captured him?
Kaido of the Beasts was a pirate who had been defeated seven times, captured eighteen times, and sentenced to death a full forty times!
As for King, his Lunarian Tribe heritage was exceptionally rare. Combined with the fact that he had eaten an Ancient Zoan Devil Fruit, the World Government wouldn't execute him.
And with the Beasts Pirates around, King could never leave Impel Down. There was no way they'd make him undergo human experimentation again, either.
The most likely outcome was that he'd be locked away on Impel Down's lowest level, never to see the light of day.
"Worororororo!"
Kaido was already mercurial by nature, but now, under the influence of alcohol, he burst into laughter instead.
"King, just you wait! I'll get you out of there, no matter what!"
The Beasts Pirates had their own intelligence network, and of course they had also found out what had happened.
"Sengoku, and that Demon who defeated King—I'll remember this!"
"You just wait until you're tearing your hair out!"
Almost at the same time, Kaido's words came true.
Sengoku really was tearing his hair out.
The capture of King, the Flame Calamity, had only just been settled, and now another shocking "major incident" had occurred!
What was it?
In Marineford Calendar year 1507, the Mary Geoise Raid Incident broke out!
Fish-Man Hero Fisher Tiger climbed the Red Line and went on a rampage through Mary Geoise all by himself, freeing countless slaves!
That day, the "Holy Land" went up in flames, shocking the entire sea.
Before that blazing inferno, Tiger threw back his head and roared, unleashing all the resentment and fury he had held inside for years!
Countless slaves were freed and fled in all directions. Among them were even people who would one day become famous across the seas.
"Hey, fish-man!"
A young man with gray-green hair spotted Tiger, who had rescued him, and called out,
"I won't forget what you've done for me! My name is Gild Tesoro. One day, I'll repay you!"
Gild Tesoro—the future Golden Emperor.
"..."
Meanwhile, three young girls stumbled away from the flames, only to accidentally bump into Tiger.
"Ah!"
The girl leading them tripped. With the other two helping her, she got back to her feet.
Seeing Tiger covered in blood, the three human girls couldn't help trembling.
"It's all right."
Tiger bent down to comfort the girl with long black hair, then asked softly, "What's your name, child?"
"Hancock."
The girl looked up, her bright eyes fixed on him as she tried to memorize the face of the person who had saved her.
She continued, "Boa Hancock."
"..."
"—And that's more or less what happened to me in Mary Geoise."
"Compared to life in hell, it's nothing worth mentioning, right?"
Alabasta, the royal capital of Alubarna.
Study.
Lindsey opened the letter Tiger had sent him and read it in silence.
He sipped low-alcohol fruit wine, a tender smile on his face and his eyes narrowed into slits.
"I rounded up a whole bunch of troublemaking kids from Fish-Man District and started the Sun Pirates. Maybe you've already heard of me!"
"..."
Tiger's letter was full of longing for his old friend.
"I wanted to come visit and catch up, but these troublemaking kids are such a handful that I have to take care of them first!"
"Oh, right, there's one more thing—"
"I heard from the sea beasts carrying messages that you were looking for something related to 'ancient' things. I happened to find this in Mary Geoise."
"I asked a reliable sea beast to deliver it to you. I hope it gets there safely."
"..."
Lindsey glanced to the side.
There, an old book lay on display. It was the thing Tiger had found in the Holy Land of Mary Geoise.
Knock, knock, knock!
Just then, there was a knock at the study door.
Crocodile walked straight in and looked at Aiven Lindsey, puzzled. "Why did you call me over?"
"Want to hear a fairy tale?"
Lindsey smiled, picked up the old book, and began to explain leisurely:
"It's about 'music' and the 'Great Demon King'..."
"..."
Come on, we're going to a concert!
Before you continue