"So what? At least I get to be on a wanted poster. Can you?"
"You..."
Sanji seethed with indignation, but he couldn't think of a comeback for the moment.
Nami, who was standing nearby, couldn't stand watching anymore and snapped at them:
"Do you think having a bounty is a good thing? It means we're going to have endless trouble from now on!"
"Do you even understand that?"
But Luffy and Usopp didn't give her so much as a glance, still amusing themselves over there.
Seeing this, Nami couldn't help sighing.
Ugh, this is exhausting!
But none of this was what worried her most. What concerned her more right now was...
Out of the corner of her eye, Nami glanced at Xia Chen, who was leaning against the ship.
"Hey, Xia Chen, is that a wanted poster too?"
Sanji asked after noticing what Xia Chen was holding.
"That's right!" Xia Chen nodded.
Hearing that, Luffy and Usopp stopped fooling around and crowded in front of Xia Chen.
"Xia Chen, how much is your bounty?"
"Well, I'm afraid you won't be able to handle it if I tell you. You'd better look for yourselves!"
Xia Chen handed everyone the wanted poster in his hand.
"Th-three hundred million Beli?"
The three of them sucked in a sharp breath, then shrieked.
"Hey, you're so loud!" Zoro woke groggily nearby and complained as he looked at them.
But all three had their mouths hanging open, paying no attention whatsoever to what he said.
Zoro slowly walked over. Seeing the wanted poster lying faceup on the ground, he couldn't help picking it up curiously.
Then...
The number of people with wide eyes and gaping mouths went from three to four.
The picture on the wanted poster showed Xia Chen after his demonic transformation. He looked pretty handsome!
But the title underneath was what pleased Xia Chen most.
Demon King Xia Chen!
That was the title the Marines had given Xia Chen.
For a moment, Xia Chen felt an inexplicable fondness for whoever in the Marines had suggested that title.
All he could say was that the person really knew what was what!
Luffy asked indignantly, "Why is your bounty so high? It's ten times mine!"
"No, no, no!" Xia Chen waved his hand, then said seriously:
"We need to be precise when we speak. It's not ten times, it's twelve times!"
"As for why the bounty is so high, I don't know either. Maybe they noticed the aura of a powerhouse about me~"
"After all, I'm not like certain weaklings with a bounty of only twenty-five million. Some of them don't even have a bounty at all!"
"It's embarrassing to even mention. If I were them, I wouldn't dare tell anyone I was a pirate."
"Without even a little bounty, calling yourself a pirate is an insult to the word pirate!"
Xia Chen spoke in an arrogant tone, his chin tilted slightly upward, his gaze filled with contempt as he looked at the few noobs before him.
(╬▔皿▔)╯!
Instantly, blazing flames flared in the eyes of all four men before him, and their gazes turned thoroughly hostile.
"Everyone..."
Zoro quietly began, and the other three, perfectly in sync at that moment, lunged at Xia Chen together.
Bang!
Bang!
And so an unfair four-on-one battle began.
"Hey, I never said I meant you! Why are you taking it personally?" Xia Chen protested indignantly.
But the only answer he received was their fists. At this, Xia Chen grew angry too.
"Goddammit, I'm a man with a three-hundred-million bounty! How could I let you guys bully me when your combined bounties don't even amount to the small change on mine?"
"Come here and die!"
Bang!
Bang!
Meanwhile, Luffy's and Xia Chen's wanted posters also became known throughout the world.
Somewhere on the waters of the East Blue.
Aboard a pirate ship bearing a heart-shaped skull, a red-nosed man gritted his teeth as he looked at Luffy's wanted poster.
As for Xia Chen's wanted poster beside it, he ignored it.
Three hundred million was a high bounty, but it had nothing to do with him. Straw Hat Boy was his enemy.
Buggy didn't recognize Xia Chen on the wanted poster at all. Mainly, the difference between Xia Chen's normal appearance and his appearance after his demonic transformation really was rather large.
It was understandable that Buggy couldn't recognize him.
"Damn you, Straw Hat Boy! If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have fallen this low! Once I find you, I'll kill you!"
"Was he the one who defeated you?" a beautiful woman with a shapely figure asked calmly as she emerged from the darkness.
"As luck would have it, he sent me flying too. I still remember that pain vividly!"
"Bastard, whose nose are you calling big?"
Alvida: ???
Had I just said that? Why don't I remember it at all?
"Buggy, if there's something wrong with your hearing, get it treated. I said Straw Hat Boy is our common enemy. If you're going after him, count me in!"
"Huh? I didn't expect you to have a grudge against Straw Hat Boy too!" Buggy asked in surprise.
Although he had already spent some time aboard this ship, he really hadn't known about what had happened between Alvida and Straw Hat Boy.
"Looks like Straw Hat Boy really is a troublemaker. He gets mixed up with everyone!"
"I think so too!" Alvida said, licking her vivid red lips.
"You actually called me Red Nose!!!"
In the waters near the island where the Red Hair Pirates were staying.
A small boat shaped like a cross slowly approached the island.
A few pirates on lookout suddenly noticed what seemed to be something on the distant sea and couldn't help raising their binoculars for a look.
Had they not looked, everything would have been fine. Once they did, they nearly had their souls scared out of them.
"H-Hawk-Eyes?"
Hawk-Eyes came ashore and ignored these small fry, heading straight toward the center. Before long, he reached Red Hair and the others.
Red Hair was a little surprised by Hawk-Eyes's arrival, then said listlessly:
"Hawk-Eyes, have you come to duel me? I'm not feeling too well right now!"
"I have no intention of dueling someone who's lost an arm!" Hawk-Eyes said calmly.
"I just suddenly remembered a pirate you mentioned before, so I came to show you this." As he spoke, Hawk-Eyes took out Luffy's wanted poster and held it out in front of Red Hair.
"Luffy?"
A smile immediately appeared on Red Hair's face, his gaze lingering on Luffy's wanted poster.
"It really has been a long time!"
Just as Red Hair was about to say something, a remark from Hawk-Eyes left him frozen in place.
"Oh, right. I also brought your nephew's wanted poster along this time, though he looks a little strange!"
"Huh?" Red Hair blinked.
He understood every word Hawk-Eyes had said, so why couldn't he understand them when put together?
"My... nephew?"