Bounty

The ice giant that had just formed on the sea was merely the most basic application of Locke's awakened Devil Fruit ability.

As for why it was an ice giant rather than something of another attribute, that was simply because ice had the greatest buoyancy on the sea. Although he could have controlled an illusion to fly over, there was no need to waste his stamina.

Locke waved at the miniature Deathwing in the distance. The creature had originally been terrifying, but after shrinking down, it looked rather adorable as it carried Annie over to Locke.

"Big brother, what is it?" Annie asked curiously as she sat atop Deathwing.

"Alright, Annie. You've played long enough. It's time to go read," Locke said.

"Oh! Okay." Annie reluctantly climbed down from Little Black's back, then slowly flew toward her room.

Little Black was the name Annie had given Deathwing.

After leaving Tomb Island, when Locke was assigning duties to everyone aboard the ship, Annie said she wanted to help him and insisted that he give her something to do. Left with no choice, Locke asked what she could do.

Annie told him that she could predict the weather in advance. Locke then gave her the navigator books he had brought aboard and told her to study them properly. From then on, she would be the ship's navigator.

At first, Annie had been very serious about it. She read during the day and went into Locke's dreams to play at night. But she was still a child, and no child could focus on one thing forever. So although Annie still read for a while every day, she was no longer as diligent as before.

If her time spent asleep was included, Annie was the oldest person among everyone on the ship. Even all the others combined were not as old as her. Yet in terms of maturity, Annie was the youngest, only around ten years old.

So whenever Locke saw Annie, he would think that if he had not traveled to this world, he should have had children in his old world by now. Thus, Locke treated Annie exactly like an old father treated his own child.

That was also why Annie and Locke got along best among everyone on the ship.

Watching Annie slowly fly back to her room, Locke smiled and shook his head before returning to his own room. He continued cultivating the nameless technique Yun Zhinnan had given him. It was truly remarkable. While cultivating it, not only did the True Qi within his body slowly grow, but his physical strength also increased continuously. Though the growth was slow, it was far faster than what Locke gained through training.

When Locke had trained alongside Zoro in Shimotsuki Village, he had discovered that despite training at the same intensity, his increases in stamina and strength were much slower than Zoro's.

By the time Locke left Shimotsuki Village, Zoro's stamina was already no worse than his. It was only because Locke's comprehension was stronger than Zoro's, who had not yet fully matured, that Zoro had failed to defeat him.

Furthermore, Locke had discovered that awakening was not the endpoint of Devil Fruit abilities as portrayed in the anime. He guessed there should be another realm beyond awakening, but he had no idea what it was.

Marine Headquarters, Marineford.

Fleet Admiral Sengoku was handling official business as usual when a knock suddenly sounded outside.

"Report!"

"Come in," Sengoku said without even raising his head.

"Speak. What is it?" Sengoku asked the messenger who entered while feeding documents to the goat beside him.

"Report, Fleet Admiral! We have just received a report from the East Blue 16th Branch. A pirate crew has recently appeared in the East Blue and slaughtered the residents of an island. During the Marines' attempt to capture them, four warships have already been lost, and all Marines aboard one of those ships were killed. The branch requests a bounty."

"Show me their photos."

The messenger immediately placed a photograph on the desk before Sengoku.

"What is this? I asked for photos of the people aboard the ship. Why did you give me a photo of their ship?" Sengoku roared angrily as he looked at the photograph.

"Report! According to the branch, their warships were sunk before they could get close to that ship, so they were unable to take any photos," the messenger hurriedly explained at the sight of Sengoku's fury.

"Trash. They're all trash! They couldn't even take a single photo, and they still have the nerve to request a bounty?"

"Then... I'll inform them immediately that their bounty request has been denied." Seeing Sengoku like this, the messenger grabbed the photograph and prepared to leave.

"Wait. Issue a wanted poster for them. Place a bounty on everyone aboard that ship, dead or alive. Let them see the consequences of challenging the Marines."

"What should the bounty amount be?"

"For the East Blue, set it at fifty million Beli for now. Also, send word to Smoker. Before he goes to Loguetown, have him visit the 16th Branch first. Tell him to find out exactly what kind of pirate crew this is."

"Yes, Fleet Admiral!" The messenger saluted and withdrew from the room.

"Hmph. These pirates are getting more and more arrogant," Sengoku muttered after the messenger left.

Three days had already passed since Locke dealt with those three warships. The Phantom was now only two days away from the Marine 16th Branch.

During that time, whenever Locke and the others spotted merchant ships or pirate ships, they went around them. They did not want others to learn their destination, nor did they want the Marines to be prepared.

Locke and the others were not afraid of the Marines, but what if the Marines prepared in advance and damaged their ship? There was no need to suffer losses that could be avoided.

"Captain, Captain..." Big Bear rushed excitedly into Locke's room.

"What is it?"

Locke slowly finished his cultivation, then opened his eyes and looked at Big Bear.

"Captain, we've been given a bounty." Big Bear handed a wanted poster to Locke.

"A bounty?" Locke asked strangely.

None of them had ever shown their faces in public, so how could they have been wanted?

Although the Marines on Bisi Island had seen them, they had all been dealt with. There was no way anyone had taken photos of them for no reason.

Could it have been the Marine reinforcements they encountered afterward? But he had sunk them from a great distance away. They should not have been able to see anyone aboard his ship. So how had a wanted poster been issued directly?

After picking up the wanted poster, Locke finally understood. It was a bounty notice for their pirate crew, but it only contained a photograph of their ship. A few people could still be seen aboard it, but they were too far away for anyone's face to be recognizable. The only thing clearly visible in the photograph was the word "Phantom" on the Phantom.

The ridiculous part was that the bounty beneath it was as high as fifty million Beli. Were they not afraid that someone would disguise a ship like this and claim the reward?