Four Hundred Million Bounty

The lookout post on this merchant ship was not very large, so as soon as the lookout called out to the captain, Captain Gill arrived at his side and asked, "What is it?"

"I just saw a blood-red humanoid creature in that direction! It might be a new type of sea beast!" The lookout pointed in a direction and said to the captain.

"Hmm?"

Picking up his binoculars, he looked toward the direction the lookout had pointed. However, Captain Gill did not see the red humanoid creature the lookout had described; he only saw a man wearing tattered shorts who seemed to have noticed them and was waving at them.

"It's just a castaway, where is this red creature you speak of? See clearly before you report next time!"

Captain Gill lowered his binoculars, looked at the lookout beside him with great dissatisfaction, and lectured him.

"Pass the word down: steer the ship toward that spot and rescue him. It'll be a good chance to add a bit more to our cargo!"

After reprimanding the lookout, the captain gave his orders.

"Yes! Captain Gill! I'll go notify them immediately!"

Watching the lookout slide down the rope to notify the helmsman, Captain Gill picked up his binoculars once more to look at the man who was waving.

He had felt a sense of familiarity when he first saw the man, but for a moment, he couldn't quite place where he had seen him before. Now that the ship was closing in, he could see him more clearly.

The more he looked, the more familiar Captain Gill felt. That face was definitely someone he had seen within the last few days, though it remained just out of reach of his memory.

"Quick, go get me the bounty posters the Marines issued a few days ago! Forget it, I'll go myself!"

As the ship drew closer to the man, the captain's confusion grew. Where on earth had he seen this person? Suddenly, as if struck by a thought, Captain Gill hurried down from the lookout post. He had intended to order a sailor to fetch them from his quarters, but realizing they might not know where he kept them and would only waste time, he simply sprinted toward his captain's cabin on his short legs.

"What's gotten into the captain?"

"Yeah, the last time I saw the captain like this was when we ran into that group!"

"Didn't the captain just mention bounty posters? Could that castaway be someone on one of them?"

"..."

Seeing the captain rush down from the lookout post in a panic and dash toward his room at a speed they had never seen before, all while muttering about wanted posters, the sailors nearby began to exchange confused whispers.

"It really is him, The Undying Chen Qiang!"

Back in his room, Captain Gill quickly found the bounty poster that had arrived with the newspapers a few days prior. He flipped through them rapidly before stopping on one.

On it was a photograph of a man with long hair and handsome features, bare-chested and covered in blood, standing in the middle of a battlefield. This man was Chen Qiang.

"The Undying Chen Qiang, bounty of 200 million Beli. Possesses a bizarre regenerative ability; no matter how severe the injury, he recovers quickly. Weakness: poison. Any poison can put him into a deep sleep, but the effective duration of each poison is very short, so special caution is required. This is currently the only known weakness. Marine Special Note: If captured and delivered to Marine Headquarters, the Headquarters will provide double the reward!"

Reading the information on the bounty poster, Captain Gill finally remembered where he had seen the man. It was indeed on this poster. Because the Marines had specifically noted Chen Qiang's abilities and weaknesses, and promised double the reward for delivering him to Marine Headquarters—unlike other posters which only listed a simple name and bounty—the information was very complete. Gill had looked at this poster several times, which was why the face had left an impression.

"No! I have to tell the helmsman to turn the ship around immediately. We don't have the manpower to deal with a 200-million-Beli criminal!"

After scanning the information on the poster, Gill prepared to order the helmsman to change course and stay away from the man. After all, they were in the first half of the Grand Line, and a 200-million-Beli bounty was already far too high for them to handle.

But just as Gill reached the door, he froze, looking at the bounty poster in his hand with a conflicted expression.

"Damn it! Four hundred million Beli! That's more than all the cargo in the hold combined! Won't I be struck by heaven if I just let this go?"

"No, no, this guy participated in the Summit War! He has a 200-million bounty, and another 200 million for the capture—someone like that must be incredibly strong. We can't possibly deal with him. It's better to stay far away!"

"No, no! Look at the poster, it clearly states his weakness! As long as we're careful, we can definitely capture him!"

"Give it up! No matter how much money there is, you need to be alive to spend it. If our operation is exposed, we'll lose our lives—what's the point of money then?"

"..."

Standing by the door, Captain Gill felt a black and a gray figure in his mind begin a fierce argument.

"Let's do it!"

He didn't know how long he had been struggling in his mind, but in the end, he gritted his teeth and stomped his foot, deciding to make a move to capture the man.

As the saying goes, the bold starve to death, and the timid die of hunger. Since there was 400 million Beli sitting right in front of them, they had no reason to let it go.

The captain's sudden exclamation startled Barque, who had come to report after finishing his tasks. He looked at his captain in confusion, not understanding what the captain meant by his words.

"Captain?"

"Barque, go call all the senior officers on the ship to the conference room. I'll be waiting there; I have something important to discuss!"

Without explaining the details to Barque, Captain Gill gave his orders directly.

"Yes, Captain!"

Although puzzled, Barque agreed immediately and hurried off to find the senior officers to call them to the conference room.

Soon, all five senior officers were gathered in the conference room. By the time they had all arrived, Captain Gill was already sitting in his seat, looking at the bounty poster before him with a grave expression.

"Captain! Everyone is here! Please, give us your orders!"

Barque, who had gone to fetch the others, was also one of the senior officers. Seeing that everyone had arrived and taken their seats, he spoke to the captain at the head of the table, his manner quite sycophantic.

"No rush. Take a look at this first!"

Captain Gill didn't rush to explain; instead, he handed the bounty poster to Barque, who was sitting closest to him.

"A bounty poster?"

Barque didn't know why the captain had suddenly given him a bounty poster, but he obediently read the information on it carefully before passing it to the others.

"You've all seen the information on it. Now, let's get down to business!"

When the bounty poster returned to his hands, Captain Gill surveyed the confused expressions of the others in the room and began to speak.