The Bounties Are Out

Three days later, aboard the Dreadnaught Sabre.

Pirate Hunter Zoro, Kuro of a Hundred Plans, and Gin the Man-Demon were teaming up to attack Daddy Babaya, while El Drago provided support from the side with his Sonic Cannon.

Daddy Babaya deliberately refrained from using the Barrier-Barrier Fruit. Trapped in this kind of siege, he kept honing his Observation Haki and Armament Haki, taking more than a dozen slashes and several cannon blasts in the process.

He continued to break through his limits with every crisis. Kuro and El Drago, in particular, showed no mercy, aiming to kill him at every turn.

But this kind of genuine training also helped Daddy Babaya make clear progress.

In the lookout atop the towering mast, Cat Burglar Nami watched their course. She was currently the navigator and lookout for the Big Daddy Pirates.

The Cat Brothers, Butchie and Siamese Cat, were sailors responsible for hauling and controlling the sails of the ship. The hypnotist Jango, who was also a dancer, doubled as the helmsman. All three had to follow Nami's orders and steer the ship.

Swordsman Gollas had been assigned to the kitchen. Reluctantly setting aside his murderous blade, he picked up a kitchen knife and started chopping vegetables, serving as the cook.

Iron Wall Pearl had become the lowest-ranking crew member, responsible for chores, assisting the others, and cleaning.

These wanted pirates, who would have been officers in their own crews, were the lowest-ranking trainees aboard the Big Daddy Pirates' ship, doing the same work as ordinary pirate underlings.

But they didn't dare rebel. They could only endure it in silence, because their captain was far too powerful.

Watching Daddy Babaya take on four officers by himself, they understood just how strong their captain was. After all, he hadn't even used his invincible Barrier-Barrier Fruit ability.

Captain Daddy Babaya was now training in the legendary Haki. The captain said it was the entry ticket to the New World, leaving these small-time pirates, who had never even been to the Grand Line, in awe.

They felt as if they'd hitched themselves to a powerful figure. Captain Daddy Babaya was a great man with grand ambitions.

Because of that, their uneasy hearts had finally begun to feel a little sense of belonging to this pirate crew.

Grand Line · Alabasta · Rain Dinners.

Miss All Sunday, vice president of Baroque Works, looked over the latest intelligence she had received from the East Blue.

"I've finally found you, Big Daddy Babaya!"

Nico Robin read the report on the Big Daddy Pirates, who had destroyed the East Blue Overlord Krieg Pirates. El Drago, the Sonic Cannon user responsible for Mr. 11's disappearance and death, had already disbanded his own crew and joined the Big Daddy Pirates.

Nico Robin quickly figured out why. And looking at Daddy Babaya's latest wanted poster, she knew that the young man on the other end of the Den Den Mushi that day was the bloodthirsty captain of the Big Daddy Pirates!

The wanted poster showed a blood-soaked grim reaper standing amid a mountain of corpses. His smile, especially, was as demonic as it was chilling.

[Big Daddy] Daddy Babaya, captain of the Big Daddy Pirates, bounty: 20 million Beli, dead or alive!

"He slaughtered a thousand or two of Krieg's men all by himself. What a bloodthirsty man!"

Nico Robin felt that 20 million Beli was definitely too low. But since this was the Weakest Sea, the East Blue, making it the highest first bounty in the East Blue probably meant the Marines were taking Daddy Babaya as seriously as they could.

Now she was simply wondering why this man from the East Blue knew her identity and what had happened at Ohara.

"With bloodlust like yours, you'll probably enter the Grand Line soon."

Nico Robin didn't think much of such a brutal pirate. She just wanted to find out where Daddy Babaya had gotten his information, and preferably eliminate him, so that her and Crocodile's identities wouldn't be exposed.

After all, their plan to take over Alabasta was still underway. They couldn't let Baroque Works' secrets come to light so soon.

She had already decided to take a team to Whisky Peak, the island at the entrance to the Grand Line, and intercept the Big Daddy Pirates before they became a threat.

Since it involved information about Ohara, she hadn't planned to report the matter to Crocodile.

In the East Blue, the release of the Big Daddy Pirates' latest wanted posters caused quite a stir.

Many pirate crews grew wary. This was a powerful crew made up entirely of elite pirates.

[Big Daddy] Daddy Babaya, bounty: 20 million Beli.

[Pirate Hunter] Roronoa Zoro, bounty: 1,800 Beli.

[Hundred Plans] Kuro, bounty: 1,700 Beli.

[Sonic] El Drago, bounty: 1,700 Beli.

[Fallen Swordsman] Gollas, bounty: 11 million Beli.

[Hypnotist] Jango, bounty: 10 million Beli.

[Cat Brothers] Tabby Cat Butchie and Siamese Cat, combined bounty: 8 million Beli.

Gin the Man-Demon, with his previous bounty of 12 million Beli, and Iron Wall Pearl, with his previous bounty of 8 million Beli, hadn't yet been identified as members of the Big Daddy Pirates. So they weren't included in this first update to the wanted posters.

Jango, the Cat Brothers, and Gollas had all received a million-Beli increase in their bounties. It seemed they hadn't accomplished many remarkable feats.

Kuro and El Drago had received the same bounty, which annoyed them both. El Drago was especially unhappy: his bounty had only gone up by 500,000 Beli, while Kuro's had risen by a million.

Kuro also wore a gloomy expression. He'd stayed hidden for two years, then emerged and wiped out the East Blue Overlord, only to get such a tiny increase. Did they think so little of him?

"Haha! Numbers three and four are tied? Why don't you two fight again and settle your positions?"

Mosshead Zoro laughed smugly. He'd finally gotten his wanted poster, and his first bounty was already higher than those of Kuro and El Drago, both former pirate captains.

From now on, Kuro wouldn't be able to use bounties to taunt him over the number-two spot.

He was the undisputed second-in-command!

Daddy Babaya wasn't satisfied with his bounty either. His starting bounty was somehow a whole lot lower than Straw Hat Luffy's.

Straw Hat Luffy had taken down the East Blue's strongest crew, the Arlong Pirates, and earned his first bounty of 30 million Beli, shocking countless people.

But there was nothing he could do about it. The Big Daddy Pirates' defeat of the East Blue Overlord, the Krieg Pirates, had spread far too quickly. If he waited until after taking down the Arlong Pirates, his bounty would be even higher!

Nami was already thrilled. Daddy Babaya's bounty was now the same as Arlong's.

And with so many powerful crew members, their chances of overthrowing the Arlong Pirates had already passed sixty percent.

"Daddy Babaya, I can't wait to wipe out the Arlong Pirates! I'm not satisfied with this bounty at all!"

A dangerous glint flashed across Kuro's gold-rimmed glasses. From now on, he wouldn't leave opponents for Mosshead to deal with.

He'd actually been mocked by a brat whose brain was half muscle!

"I'm in a really bad mood! What kind of nobody is Arlong, thinking he deserves the same bounty as me?"

Daddy Babaya issued an order, bare-chested. Even Zoro, his second-in-command, was sent to row and pick up speed as they raced full speed toward Cocoyasi Village.

Among the East Blue pirates, I, Daddy Babaya, am the boss!