High Bounties!

At this moment.

At a Marine base.

Numerous Marine officers sat solemnly on either side, listening intently to a speech by a fellow high-ranking Marine officer on the platform while looking at the pirate bounty posters pasted on the wall.

Upon closer inspection, those bounty posters belonged to enemies Luffy and the others had defeated: Buggy the Clown, worth 15 million; the pirate admiral Krieg, worth 17 million; and the fish-man Arlong, worth 20 million.

"In the East Blue, where the average bounty is only three million, Straw Hat Monkey D. Luffy's ability to defeat these major pirates proves he is undoubtedly a threat to world security. Therefore, a bounty of 30 million is more than justified!"

The many Marines below nodded one after another, but when the man produced another bounty poster, they all cried out in surprise.

"No way, 50 million Beli!"

"50 million Beli? How can it be that high?!"

"..."

Faced with the rising chorus of doubts, the Marine officer said nothing. He merely pressed his hand downward. Once the room had quieted, he slowly said, "Zero, code name Executioner, a member of the Straw Hat Pirates. One reason he has been classified as a pirate worth 50 million is that he once fought one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, Mihawk, and the two ended in a draw!"

Before anyone could react, he added, "More importantly, this man may possess the rare—Conqueror's Haki!"

The moment those words fell, the room sank into a strange silence. Only after quite a while did it erupt again.

"What did you say? Conqueror's Haki?!"

"He fought Mihawk to a draw and possesses Conqueror's Haki? Just who is he?"

"I heard that Red-Haired Shanks, one of the Four Emperors, possesses Conqueror's Haki too. We must keep a close eye on this man! I'll go back and print more bounty posters immediately!"

"Yeah, yeah, exactly!"

"..."

Since they had not been there, they did not know under what circumstances Hawk-Eye Mihawk had fought him to a draw. Their attention remained fixed on Zero's Conqueror's Haki. After all, it was the aura of a king, something only one person in a million had a chance of awakening!

While they continued arguing, the neighboring room was far quieter by comparison.

A Marine was reviewing official documents. He wore frog-shaped glasses, his chin beard braided into twists, and even had a seagull—the symbol of the Marines—perched atop his cap.

Not far from him, another man kept eating snacks from a bag. The gray streaks in his hair and his powerful physique both showed that he was a man of considerable seniority.

These two were the Navy's current top-tier forces—Fleet Admiral Sengoku the Buddha and Vice Admiral Garp, who had once pursued the Pirate King!

"Garp, don't you have a mission today?"

Faced with Sengoku's jab, Garp burst into laughter.

"Hahaha! Pirates can never be caught completely. Catching them sooner or later makes no difference!"

"Hmph. I heard your grandson has gone off to become a pirate too. No one in your family knows how to behave. You're supposed to be a hero of the Marines, after all!"

When Sengoku mentioned his grandson, Garp's snacking paused slightly, and his expression darkened with anger. "That little brat... he really did become a pirate in the end?"

"Mm. And it seems one of his crew members is quite extraordinary. He has not become much of a threat yet, but a pirate is still a pirate. Sooner or later, he will affect the World Government!"

Garp fell silent and continued eating the snacks before him, his eyes vacant as though he were lost in thought.

Sengoku looked up at him. He did not know what to say about Garp's family. After all, Garp himself represented the Marines, his son had gone off to join the Revolutionary Army, and now his grandson had become a pirate. It would be hard for anyone to bear!

As their conversation ended, the entire room fell silent once more.

Aboard the Going Merry.

Everyone had received the latest bounty posters as well. When they saw Zero's bounty, every one of them was shocked.

"Executioner Zero, bounty: 50 million Beli!"

"No way! It's actually 20 million higher than Luffy's! Zero, you're amazing!"

"Ah, I'm so annoyed! I'm the captain! Zero, next time I'll definitely surpass your bounty!"

Zoro, who was sitting on the deck sunbathing, also noticed Luffy and Zero's bounty posters. He was even more indignant. "Hey, why do all of you have bounties while I don't?"

"Don't I not have a bounty either? If even I don't have one, why would you, Moss Head?"

"What did you say? Say that again, shitty cook!"

"What did you say?"

Seeing the two start arguing, Zero spread his hands, indicating that there was nothing he could do about the bounty the Marines had assigned him.

But that code name bothered him a little. Why Executioner? Didn't he just like using Conqueror's Haki to clear out fodder? It did not seem to have anything to do with being an executioner. Compared to that, wouldn't something like Master of Unrivaled Combat sound much better?

Despite grumbling inwardly, Zero said seriously to everyone, "Everyone, now that Luffy and I both have bounty posters, it means we've entered the Marines' sights. We'll have to be careful of their pursuit out at sea in the future!"

Usopp and Nami cried out in fear after hearing that, while Luffy, Sanji, and Zoro alone did not care about being pursued by the Marines.

To make them take it seriously, Zero thought for a moment before saying, "The Marines we've encountered so far have not been very strong, but that's only because there aren't many high-ranking Marine officers stationed in the East Blue. On the Grand Line, the three Admirals are figures even the Seven Warlords of the Sea fear, and there are even stronger Marines above them!"

Only then did the three put away their flippant attitudes.

Luffy's face was full of fighting spirit, while Sanji lit a cigarette and exhaled a cloud of smoke.

Zoro tightened his grip on Wado Ichimonji. He was calculating that he had to buy swords the next time they landed on an island. After all, two had broken during his battle with Mihawk, and it had affected his strength quite a bit.

At that moment, Sanji suddenly said, "Zero, you mentioned this thing called Haki before, right? I'm pretty interested. Can you teach me?"

Seeing the eager expressions on everyone's faces—even Nami, lying in the deck chair nearby, had perked up her ears—Zero nodded and replied with a smile, "Of course, if you want to learn!"

"Really? That's great!"

Usopp also asked somewhat uncertainly, "Zero, can I learn too?"

"You can. Your bullets are weapons too, just like Zoro's swords. Once coated in Haki, they can deal greater damage. It's just that learning it will be more difficult."

Usopp thought of when he had faced the fish-man officer. Although he had won in the end, luck had played a major role. If he could learn Haki, perhaps victory would no longer be so difficult.

He did not hesitate, declaring firmly, "I want to learn! Please teach me Haki too, Teacher Zero!"

And so, under Zero's deliberate and unintentional influence, the future enemies of the Straw Hat Pirates had no idea that their opponents had already set foot on the path toward awakening Haki!