The next morning.
In Cocoyasi Village's square, all the villagers and Luffy's group had partied all night to celebrate their freedom from Arlong and Captain Nezumi's rule. The banquet only ended when the sun rose.
What Luffy and the others did not know was that Marine Headquarters had issued their wanted posters the previous night, and News Coos were now distributing them across the seas.
A few more hours passed. On Cocoyasi Village's shore, Luffy and Sanji were carrying the various foods, seasonings, and kitchen utensils they had purchased.
Liu Qing went with Nami to transplant a few orange trees from the Orange Grove onto the bow of the Going Merry.
"Finally, everything's ready. Do any of you have anything else to bring? We're about to set sail," Sanji asked everyone.
"We still need to wait a bit. Nami went to say goodbye to her sister," Liu Qing said, lying on the deck.
Zoro looked at Johnny and Yosaku. "Are you two going to keep sailing with us?"
The two shook their heads. "No, Big Bro Zoro. We're planning to stay here. We know how strong we are. We wouldn't get far out at sea. We're planning to settle down in Cocoyasi Village and make our home here. We can protect Big Sis's hometown while we're at it, right?"
Zoro did not say much more. "Settling down here is fine, too. You really aren't strong enough to wander the seas."
After they waited half an hour, everyone in the village came to say goodbye to Nami.
Nami jumped aboard the Going Merry, then turned and waved goodbye to the villagers. "Goodbye, everyone! Take care of yourselves. I'm off to fulfill my dream!"
"Boss Liu Qing, Captain Luffy, and Nami's crewmates! You have to protect Nami!" Genzo shouted, his face full of concern.
Luffy thumped his chest loudly. "Don't worry, Genzo! As long as I'm still standing, I won't let anyone hurt Nami!"
"That's right, that's right!" Zoro, Sanji, and Liu Qing all nodded.
After bidding farewell to Cocoyasi Village, the Straw Hat Pirates raised their sails and continued their journey full of unknowns and adventure. Their destination was Loguetown, the place that represented beginnings and endings.
After sailing for most of the day, the ship made its way steadily across the turbulent sea. Sunlight fell on the deck, warm and gentle. Luffy, Zoro, and the other main fighters of the Straw Hat Pirates gathered together, enthusiastically discussing Armament Haki and Observation Haki.
Just as their discussion grew heated, a huge albatross suddenly flew down from the sky. Its wings were broad and its feathers white as snow. After circling once in the air, it slowly landed on the ship's rail.
Nami's sharp eyes spotted the newspaper-delivering albatross, and she immediately called out, "Hey, stupid bird! One newspaper over here!"
The albatross seemed to understand Nami. It rolled its eyes, then flapped its wings and flew over to her. It pulled a newspaper from the cloth bag on its chest with its beak and carefully placed it in Nami's hand, then gestured "100" with its wings.
Nami's eyes immediately widened. "What? Didn't it used to be 50 Beli? Why is it 100 now?" she grumbled in dissatisfaction, but still reluctantly took 100 Beli from her pocket and handed it to the albatross.
The albatross accepted the money in satisfaction, put it into its cloth bag, then spread its wings and flew away.
When Nami opened the newspaper, several wanted posters fell out. Puzzled, she picked them up and looked at them, and they immediately gave her a fright.
"This is bad, Luffy! We've got bounties!" Nami shouted to the others, who were still deep in their heated discussion.
"What? Really?" They appeared beside Nami in a flash and picked up the wanted posters to look.
Straw Hat Luffy-captain of the Straw Hat Pirates-bounty: 100 million Beli Thousand-Armed Zen Venerable Liu Qing-bounty: 700 million Beli Pirate Hunter Roronoa Zoro-bounty: 70 million Beli Black Leg Sanji-bounty: 60 million Beli Liar Usopp-bounty: 20 million Beli Cat Burglar Nami-bounty: 10 million Beli
"Ahahaha! I'm a big-time pirate worth 100 million Beli now!" Luffy laughed with his hands on his hips.
"Well, well, well! Curly Brows, look at your bounty. Only 60 million? Mine's 70 million, you know. More than yours." Zoro looked at Sanji mockingly.
Sanji gritted his teeth. "Damn it! Just you wait. Next time, my bounty's definitely going to be way higher than yours!"
Liu Qing tossed his head smugly as well. "Just what I'd expect of myself. Another 200 million Beli increase."
Only Nami and Usopp were trembling in fear as they shouted, "We're done for! We're doomed! With bounties this high, people are definitely going to target us!"
Meanwhile, people in the Straw Hats' hometowns also smiled as they looked at the Straw Hat Pirates' bounties.
In Makino's tavern in Foosha Village, the old village chief and the drinkers all laughed heartily as they looked at Luffy's bounty. "That brat Luffy's finally made a name for himself! To celebrate Luffy getting a bounty, nobody leaves sober today!"
In the swordsmanship dojo in Shimotsuki Village, Koshiro looked at Zoro's bounty with a gratified expression. "You're finally moving toward your dream, Zoro."
In the villa district of Syrup Village, Kaya looked at Usopp's wanted poster and murmured to herself, "Keep it up, Usopp. You'll become the bravest warrior of the sea."
In Cocoyasi Village, Genzo held Nami's wanted poster and shouted through the village, "Our village has produced a big-time pirate, too! Nami's got a bounty now! Hahaha!"
In the New World, aboard the Red Force, someone called, "Hey, Captain! Come take a look! There's big news!"
"Oh?" Hearing this, everyone came over to look.
Benn Beckman took out Luffy's wanted poster and said, "Haha! Captain, that kid from back then is a big-time pirate now."
Red-Haired Shanks looked at Luffy's wanted poster and smiled with gratification. "Not bad. A 100-million-Beli bounty right off the bat."
Then he turned to Dracule Mihawk. "Mihawk, this Zoro is the swordsman you've got your eye on, right? He's doing well, too. Already at 70 million Beli."
Yasopp, meanwhile, stared blankly at Usopp's wanted poster. After a while, he said, "Hahahaha! He must be my son, right? He definitely is! I never thought my son would head out to sea, too, and on Luffy's ship at that!"
"A bounty of 20 million Beli? Not bad for Yasopp's son." Everyone gathered around to take a look.
Dracule Mihawk, however, looked at Liu Qing's bounty and said to Shanks, "This is the young man who fought me. He's terrifyingly strong. I think you might not be able to beat him. With him around, the Straw Hat Pirates won't face any life-threatening danger before the New World. What a lucky crew."
Shanks waved dismissively, pulled Dracule Mihawk over to the drinking table, and shouted, "Brothers! To celebrate Luffy and the others setting out and getting their first bounties, let's have a banquet! Let's party!"
Back with Luffy.
After fooling around for a while, everyone went back to their own business.
Another day passed.
It was now June 6, 1520 of the Sea Circle Calendar, and two days had passed since Luffy and the others left Cocoyasi Village. According to Nami's judgment, they would reach Loguetown around noon the next day.
What no one had expected was that Luffy and the others had begun to develop rudimentary Armament Haki. They could already coat half a fist with it, and at least now they could just barely land attacks on Logia users.
They had made no progress with Observation Haki so far. Liu Qing told them that Observation Haki was easier to grasp in battle, or they could blindfold themselves and dodge attacks.
Luffy and the others said they would strengthen their Armament Haki first and learn them one at a time.
In the blink of an eye, it was noon on June 7, 1520 of the Sea Circle Calendar.
The Going Merry finally docked at Loguetown's harbor. Everyone had their own things to do, so they planned to split up.
"Nami, give me five million Beli. I need to replace my weapons." Zoro went straight up to Nami to ask for Beli.
"Me too. I need some things for experiments, including the materials to make your weapon." Usopp also went to Nami for money.
Luffy ran straight over. "Nami, I want meat! Give me two million Beli to buy meat!"
Nami said expressionlessly, "Two hundred thousand Beli each. If it's not enough, figure something out yourselves. I don't have any more."
Then she gave each person two hundred thousand and prepared to go shopping on her own.
Liu Qing hurriedly stopped Nami. "Wait. I promised your family I'd protect you. I'll have a clone protect you. Take it shopping with you."
With that, he created a clone to follow Nami. "All right, off you go."
Then he looked at Luffy and the others. "Where are you going?"
Luffy immediately said, "I'm going to see Roger's Execution Platform."
Usopp said, "I'll just have a look around."
"I'm going to buy two weapons," Zoro said.
"I'll go buy ingredients," Sanji said.
"Since you're all going, I'll wait aboard the Going Merry for you to come back, so no one damages it."
"Sure." Everyone nodded in agreement, then turned and headed toward their respective destinations.
Before you continue