Bounty in the Underworld

Becky slowly exhaled a thick ring of cigar smoke. Behind the haze, his gaze was sharp and calm.

"Join forces?"

"Forget it. I can't trust you people, and I don't think you'd feel safe turning your backs to me either. If you ask me, holding this meeting is a complete waste of time. Meaningless."

He paused, straightened his burgundy suit jacket, and concluded,

"We're better off doing our own thing. Whoever has what it takes to seize it gets it."

After voicing his opinion, Becky headed straight for the warehouse doors. The men he had brought immediately followed, guarding his sides with the clear attitude that they had no intention of associating with those who walked a different path.

Watching Becky's departing back, a barely noticeable gloom flashed through Magadino's eyes behind his lenses.

He turned back to the remaining two and spread his hands.

"So, what about you? What do you say? Are you interested in joining forces?"

A sharp glint flickered in Liliana's eyes. She had no desire to see her own forces suffer losses in a head-on clash.

She lightly flicked away some ash and made a suggestion.

"I think we could try another approach. A joint operation carries too much risk. Just as Becky said, we lack even the most basic trust between us. I suggest... placing a bounty on that brat."

"A bounty?"

Vincent and Magadino both looked at her.

"That's right."

Liliana's red lips parted slightly.

"Put out a bounty across the entire Underworld. Make the amount high enough. Then plenty of assassins who care about money more than their lives will come swarming in.

We won't need to act personally or waste our valuable manpower. That brat named Dawn will very likely die without even a grave."

As the one with the greatest visible assets among the four, yet relatively weaker armed strength, she naturally favored this method of killing with a borrowed knife.

An alliance was fundamentally unreliable. In the Underworld, what leader did not dream of becoming the sole ruler? Given the chance, she herself would not hesitate to stab a so-called ally in the back.

Vincent stroked his chin in thought for a moment, then nodded.

"True. A joint operation has too many variables. A bounty... that's a good idea. We won't have to sacrifice our own men."

"Besides, if we let assassins handle it, we won't need to worry about them becoming a new problem after taking Hadebein Island."

In his view, killing people and running an organization were two entirely different things, requiring completely different talents.

Magadino put on a show of pondering for a moment, inwardly cursing Liliana's cunning and Vincent's shortsightedness. His original plan had been to trick the two into joining forces, then stab them in the back at the crucial moment and seize their organizations. It seemed that plan had died before it was even born.

He had no choice but to nod in agreement.

"Then let's do it. We'll split the bounty amount proportionally?"

"Fine."

"No problem."

The three quickly settled the details of the bounty. A killing plot aimed at Dawn quietly began to unfold across the Underworld.

Several days later, Grand Line, inside a hidden building.

At dawn.

Within this complex hidden in some unknown corner of the Grand Line, the atmosphere was even more sinister than the night.

Many people of different builds, their faces concealed by hoods, masks, or high collars, silently moved through the narrow, damp corridors.

They paid no attention to the various human organs soaking in unknown liquids inside the alcoves lining the halls. Clearly, they had long grown accustomed to the sight. Their destination lay in the deepest part of the building.

This was an important sub-base under Piekro, the "Great Funeral Director," one of the rulers of the Underworld.

Piekro, a major figure in the Underworld, openly ran a corpse disposal business. In truth, he was one of the largest organ traffickers on the seas.

At the same time, he ran a vast assassin brokerage business. The assassin organization under his control was one of the most feared forces in the dark world.

Deep within the building was a hall resembling a tavern, though its atmosphere was incomparably oppressive. Staff members were posting newly arrived bounty notices onto a massive bulletin board. Unlike the World Government's official versions, these bounty notices were not only more exquisitely printed, with mostly color photographs, but also thoughtfully included some basic information about the targets.

All kinds of assassins gathered before the bulletin board, silently searching for suitable targets. Every one of them carried, to some extent, the stench of blood that could never be washed away. When so many gathered together, the mixed odor was enough to make an ordinary person vomit, yet no one present seemed uncomfortable.

At the top of the bulletin board were almost all renowned figures of the seas. The uncrowned queen of the current Underworld, "BIG MOM" Charlotte Linlin, held the top position with an astonishing bounty of three billion Beli.

Right behind her was "Hundred Beasts" Kaido, who had risen fiercely in the arms industry, with a bounty of two billion Beli.

Further down were the "Loan Shark King" Du Feld, the "Shipping King" Umit, the "Storage King" Giberson, Piekro himself, and even "Garuda" Vinsmoke Judge, among others.

As for why the owner of this place had a bounty on his head, the answer was simple. In the Underworld, having a bounty placed on you was not entirely a bad thing. Especially when ranked highly, it was, to some extent, a symbol of strength—a "medal of honor" in the dark world.

The World Government's bounties and the Underworld's bounties were two parallel systems that sometimes overlapped. In theory, killing a target wanted by both could earn two rewards. However, those who dared to do so and succeeded were exceedingly rare.

Most assassins habitually skipped over the legendary names at the top and turned their attention to the middle and lower sections. Those were the targets they might actually be able to take down.

"Look! That brat from the Donquixote Family in North Blue, Doflamingo—his bounty went up again! It's reached five hundred million!"

A hoarse-voiced assassin pointed at one bounty notice. It depicted a young man with short blond hair, pink sunglasses, a black shirt, and a red tie, wearing an arrogant grin.

"What the hell are those North Blue idiots doing? They actually let some rookie brat build such a big name for himself? And this bounty is even higher than the official bounty the World Government gave him!"

"Heh, looks like the North Blue lot have been driven into a corner. A brat like this would be easy prey if I made a move. I'll head to North Blue later. This money is meant to be mine!"

The assassins discussed the bounty notice animatedly, most of them carrying contempt for North Blue and disdain for the young. On these seas, the belief that age was proportional to strength was deeply ingrained in the minds of most people.

"Huh? There's an even younger one here!"

Suddenly, another assassin in the crowd pointed at a freshly posted bounty notice and shouted. Everyone's eyes immediately focused on it.

The brand-new notice showed a blond boy with an extremely youthful face. His eyes were as blue as the sea, and his features were handsome. Though still young, there was already a faint, unmistakable sharpness between his brows.

The photograph appeared to have been taken secretly from afar, but his striking features could still be clearly seen. Beneath the notice, bold lettering stated—Bounty: 300 million Beli.

"Is this for real? What's wrong with those guys in West Blue? They can't even handle a brat in his teens?"

"A kid who hasn't even grown all his hair yet is worth three hundred million? Are Beli really this worthless now?"

"West Blue... what kind of decent experts could come from a weak place like that? The trash from the Five Families must just be too useless."

This high bounty immediately sparked widespread discussion and doubt among the assassins. In common perception, the Four Seas were synonymous with weakness and had never been known for top-tier fighters.

Amid the doubts and restless excitement, several assassins confident in their own strength or desperate for money had already turned toward the reception desk, preparing to accept what they considered an "easy and highly rewarding" mission.

They had already begun calculating how they would squander the three hundred million Beli after receiving it. As for the possibility of failure? It had never crossed their minds.

Instinctively, they refused to believe that the Four Seas could produce an aberration that defied common sense and required them to take seriously. Monsters like that should be found on the Grand Line, especially in the New World.

Among the assassins heading toward the reception desk was a tall, thin man dressed in tight leather. His tongue was abnormally long. He stuck it out, cruel and excited ferocity gleaming in his eyes.

To be continued