Makino held the wanted poster, her eyes red-rimmed, yet she could not keep the corners of her mouth from rising in excitement.
Leaning on his walking stick, the village chief looked at the boy in the photograph, now half a head taller than before, and suddenly remembered what he had said before setting sail: "I'm going to become the Pirate King!"
At the time, he had dismissed it as a child's reckless talk. Now it had become a declaration that gave even the Marines a headache.
The news seemed to sprout wings, quickly spreading throughout the East Blue.
Aboard the Buggy Pirates' ship, Buggy stared at the number in the newspaper and tore up his treasure map in a rage. "Why that idiot Luffy? How did he get a hundred-million bounty?"
Buggy had been bitter ever since Luffy defeated him, and now Luffy had actually beaten Sand Crocodile, Crocodile, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. How had that guy managed it?
Meanwhile, at a port in Alabasta, Crocodile was directing his men as they loaded the last of their supplies. When he saw the headline announcing Straw Hat Luffy's hundred-million-Beli bounty, the wineglass in his hand cracked in two.
"Bastard!"
He crumpled the newspaper into a ball and hurled it to the ground, his face twisted with anger. "I only went easy on him! How did that turn into me getting defeated?"
"And Ace was the one who did the fighting! How did Luffy get the credit?"
An agent beside him saw his boss's fury and stammered fearfully, "Boss, the Marines said, uh... they said you voluntarily abandoned Alabasta, which counts as... as retreating after a defeat!"
"Bullshit!"
Crocodile roared and kicked over a crate, sending the gold coins inside spilling across the ground.
**"I left of my