"Absurd!"
Sengoku shot to his feet.
"How is that possible?! You're Garp!"
"That's why I said he was terrifying."
Garp looked at Sengoku, his gaze utterly serious.
"Sengoku, that kid... is even more terrifying than Roger."
The air in the hospital room seemed to freeze.
"Roger wanted freedom and adventure. But that kid..."
Garp spoke each word slowly. "He has ambition! Enormous ambition! I can feel it. He wants more than the title of Pirate King!"
"What does he want?"
Garp fell silent for even longer before finally uttering a few words. "He wants... the entire world."
Sengoku's expression changed completely.
"Just like Rocks..."
Outside the window, the chants of drilling recruits drifted over from Marineford's training grounds.
The sun shone brightly, and seagulls cried.
But a heavy gloom settled over Sengoku's heart.
The East Blue... had actually produced a monster like this.
"His bounty..." Sengoku asked hoarsely.
"Bounty?" Garp scoffed. "Do you think a bounty still means anything? Anyone who can beat me deserves at least four billion. But even if you offered ten billion, what would that accomplish?"
"Who in the Marines can guarantee they'll take him down now? Kuzan? Sakazuki? Don't tell me you're counting on Borsalino."
"His subordinates would make more worthwhile targets."
Sengoku had no answer.
After a long while, Sengoku slowly rose.
"Focus on recovering for now." He headed for the door. "This matter... I'll need to discuss it with the World Government."
"Sengoku," Garp called after him.
Sengoku turned back.
"Be careful." Garp's gaze was solemn. "He's not an 'enemy' we can judge by normal standards. He could do anything... including things we'd never even imagine."
Sengoku gave his old friend a long look, nodded, then opened the door and left.
In the corridor, Gion leaned against the wall. Clearly, she had heard the entire conversation.
"Gion." Sengoku looked at her.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Sengoku." Gion lowered her head. "If only I'd been stronger back then..."
"It wasn't your fault." Sengoku patted her shoulder. "Even Garp lost... That Norton has already exceeded our original estimates."
He looked through the corridor window at the harbor, where warships stood in neat rows and coats bearing the word Justice fluttered in the wind.
"Make preparations. Soon... we may convene an emergency meeting of the Marine leadership."
"Yes, sir."
Far out at sea from Loguetown, beside the Calm Belt and near Reverse Mountain.
Through the gray mist drifting over the sea, a vast fleet could faintly be seen sailing slowly onward.
Most of the ships looked battered, and a few were so badly damaged that they could no longer sail, only drift slowly with the sea breeze.
It was Norton's fleet.
At the center of the clustered silhouettes, a three-masted sailing ship several times larger than the others was faintly visible. The towering statue of a girl holding a bird at its bow looked both sacred and eerie amid the surrounding mist.
In the conference room three decks below the White Pearl's helm platform.
Norton sat on the largest red velvet sofa with gold trim. Sanosuke, Nami, Funing, Kuro, and the other officers gathered around the enormous round table, listening as Funing reported their losses from the battle.
"In summary, we have only twenty-seven ships left that can still sail, and we've lost a staggering three hundred men!"
"That doesn't even include the wounded!"
"And some of those twenty-seven ships still need repairs before they can sail safely!"
"King! We need a doctor!"
Norton nodded as he listened to Funing.
"I understand. I didn't expect things to be even worse than I'd thought... I know how to find one, but we have to enter the Grand Line first," Norton said.
He remembered that a ship's doctor from Pirate King Roger's crew was on the other side of Reverse Mountain.
It would be ideal if he could bring that doctor into his crew.
"Looks like we'll have to ask everyone to hold on a little longer. If they're unlucky enough to die on the way, there's nothing else we can do." Funing sighed.
They had no choice. Although some crew members aboard the White Pearl knew a little medicine, they could only handle the simplest bandaging. The wounded suffered from all sorts of conditions; without a professional doctor, they couldn't be treated properly.
Especially now, while they were at sea. Every kind of resource was scarce.
"Our only option now is to enter the Grand Line as quickly as possible, then decide our next step." Kuro pushed up his glasses and interjected.
"Also, King," Kuro said, looking at Norton, "from what I understand, the currents of all four seas converge at Reverse Mountain. The waters are violent. Unless we reinforce the ships beforehand, I'm afraid many will break apart."
On this sea, the greatest danger was often the sea itself.
"Mm." Norton nodded slightly. "Funing, I'll leave the reinforcement work to you."
He turned to Kuro and ordered, "Kuro, check on the wounded and write me a detailed report. That'll help the doctor understand their conditions when we find one."
"Yes." Kuro nodded.
"Norton! I think we should stop here and make repairs first! Reinforcing the ships takes time. Otherwise, we can't ensure a safe passage into the Grand Line!" Nami tapped the table.
"Then we'll do as you say." Norton stood and stretched.
"Zeff, what about the food I asked you to prepare? Is everything ready?"
"It's ready. Are you eating now? I'll tell the kitchen to serve it." Zeff stood on his wooden prosthetic leg.
That essentially concluded the meeting. Nami took a black cashmere coat from the nearby rack and draped it over Norton's shoulders. Norton swaggered out of the conference room and followed the passage to the deck.
On deck, the Shipwright Crew was repairing the White Pearl's bulwarks and decking. A few veteran shipwrights directed pirates to work aboard the other pirate ships.
After battling the Marines' ten warships, almost every pirate ship in the fleet had suffered some degree of damage. There were far too many repairs for the shipwrights to handle alone.
Fortunately, most of the work was relatively simple. With a little instruction, the pirates could learn it quickly. And manpower was the one thing the Norton Pirates had in abundance.
At Norton's command, the rank-and-file pirates began working like a massive machine, repairing the fleet's ships at a visibly rapid pace.
Norton stepped onto the White Pearl's bulwark and jumped down to the Baratie, then walked straight to the restaurant's largest table and sat down. Hearing him arrive, the kitchen began bringing out the prepared dishes one after another.
Oysters, fish balls, swimming crabs, sea urchin sashimi, sandworm congee, crab-fried rice noodles, stir-fried lamb, roast lamb, five-spice lamb...
Dish after delicious dish was placed before Norton!
With Nami and Funing attending to him, Norton put on his napkin and began eating.
His movements looked leisurely, yet he ate astonishingly fast. His knife and fork cut up dish after dish and delivered the food to his mouth, where he chewed twice before swallowing!
Around ten minutes later, Norton had single-handedly polished off the hundreds of dishes covering the table!
The cooks rushed out of the kitchen and stared at Norton in shock. They had seen big eaters before, but never one on this scale!
Nami was stunned too. She reached over and lifted Norton's shirt.
"Hm? What's wrong?" Norton looked at Nami.
Nami poked Norton's stomach, finding nothing but solid muscle.
"That's so unfair! You ate all that, and your stomach isn't even swollen!" Nami complained. How did this guy keep eating without getting fat?
"Because I've already digested it." Norton moved Nami's hand aside while Funing wiped the sauce from the corner of his mouth.
His battle with Garp had drained a considerable amount of stamina. That was why Norton, who hadn't eaten on such a massive scale in a long time, had asked the restaurant to prepare so much food.
The food was digested as soon as he ate it and broken down into energy. His body perfectly absorbed every nutrient without wasting any of it.
As for the waste...
"Uh, you must be hungry too, right? Go ahead and eat. I'm going to the bathroom."
Just as Norton entered the restaurant's bathroom, a News Coo flew into the restaurant.
"Coo-coo-"
"Is that the new paper?"
"I'll take a look..."
Nami walked over and took a newspaper from the pouch on the News Coo's chest, her expression turning disgruntled. "What?! The price went up again!"
She tossed a hundred-Beli coin into the pouch in front of the News Coo.
"If you raise the price again, I'm not buying!"
The News Coo scratched its head, looking wronged and troubled.
"So what if the price went up? You're rich anyway," Zoro said from nearby.
Nami instantly flew into a rage and grabbed Zoro by the collar. "You bastard! You still haven't paid back the money you owe me!"
Zoro wiped her spit from his face and said sheepishly, "I'll pay you back... I'm working hard to make money!"
Nami snorted. No longer interested in dealing with Zoro, she sat in a nearby chair and unfolded the newspaper.
Funing, Kuro, Zeff, and the others gathered around too.
"Huh?!"
Everyone suddenly cried out.
Bounty posters fluttered out from between the newspaper's pages.
"Ninja" Sanosuke, bounty: 18 million Beli!
"Three-Sword Style" Roronoa Zoro, bounty: 19 million Beli!
"Hundred Plans" Kuro, bounty: 20 million Beli!
"Clown" Buggy, bounty: 20 million Beli!
"Demon" Gin, bounty: 15 million Beli!
"Iron Wall" Pearl, bounty: 12 million Beli!
The "Nyaban Brothers," Sham and Buchi, bounty: 9.9 million Beli!
"Red-Leg" Zeff, bounty: 30 million Beli!
"Hypnotist" Jango, bounty: 10 million Beli!
"Beast Tamer" Mohji, bounty: 5 million Beli!
"Acrobat" Cabaji, bounty: 5 million Beli!
"Black Leg" Sanji, bounty: 10 million Beli!
"Shrimp Cannon" Patty, bounty: 8 million Beli!
"Cat Burglar" Nami, bounty: 8 million Beli!
Finally, there was Norton's bounty poster...
"Silver-Haired" Norton, bounty-
"1,000,000,000."
"One billion Beli!!!"
A bounty of that magnitude only ever appeared in the New World!
"Almost every major officer in the crew is now wanted." Kuro pushed up his glasses.
"Why is my bounty so low?!" Sanji curled his lip. "Even that Moss Head got nineteen million!"
"Because this is your first bounty. People without a prior record usually don't get particularly high bounties. Ten million Beli is already impressive," Zeff explained.
As a veteran who had once spent a year in the Grand Line, this wasn't his first bounty. That was why his had reached thirty million.
"Bounties don't mean anything. Keep working hard, and you'll surpass me, pervy cook!" Zoro smugly patted Sanji's shoulder, then looked toward Sanosuke in the shadows.
"Right, gloomy ninja?"
Sanosuke snorted and turned his head away, ignoring Zoro.
He was deeply displeased that his bounty was lower than Zoro's!
"But King actually has a billion-Beli bounty! That's far more than all of ours combined!" Funing exclaimed.
"That's only natural. King defeated Garp the Hero, after all!" Zeff said.
Just then, Norton came out of the bathroom after washing his hands and found everyone discussing the bounty posters.
"What's going on? You're all so excited."
"Oh! You're finally out!" Zoro looked at Norton with burning eyes. "Let's do it today! King... no, Norton, I challenge you!"
Everyone froze at his words.
"There's no way you could win, no matter how you look at it, Moss Head." Sanji stubbed out his cigarette.
"You think you can beat me for sure now?" Sanosuke stepped in front of Zoro and drew a kunai. "I never thought a bounty just one million Beli higher than mine would give you this much confidence!"
Zoro grinned and drew a sword. "My confidence has never come from my bounty! It comes from the swords in my hands! Of course I know I'll lose, but I can't stand not trying!"
As the blade's cold gleam reflected across their faces, everyone realized Zoro was serious!
"Then let's head to the deck," Norton said, not particularly concerned. "Consider it some exercise after a meal."
But Sanosuke refused, blocking Zoro in a tense standoff.
"King! Unless he beats me, I won't let him attack you!" Sanosuke said coldly.
"Then you two fight first." Norton shook his head helplessly.
As far as he could tell, Sanosuke was no longer a match for Zoro.
After this battle with the Marines, Zoro's strength had undergone a transformation. He had also acquired two new weapons, making him probably the strongest person aboard this ship besides Norton himself.
Besides, Sanosuke had never been as talented as Zoro.
Sure enough, Zoro swiftly defeated Sanosuke in their ensuing duel!
Sanosuke looked disbelieving and deeply shaken.
But he no longer stood in Zoro's way.
"Here I come, Norton!"
His confidence soaring after defeating Sanosuke, Zoro drew his swords and slashed at Norton! He opened with his strongest attack, Oni Giri!
Norton couldn't be bothered to dodge. He threw a punch, and Zoro's three swords fell onto the deck.
"Wha...!" Zoro was speechless. He hadn't even been able to follow Norton's movements!
Norton patted Zoro on the shoulder. "Keep training. You can get stronger still."
With that, Norton ignored Zoro, who stood frozen in place, torn by an inner struggle, and walked into the cabin without looking back.
Sanosuke called out to stop him. "King!"
"What is it?" Norton looked back.
"I want to eat it! That Devil Fruit!" Sanosuke raised his eyes, burning with the desire to grow stronger!