East Blue Cocoyasi Village
" Nojiko! Look at the newspaper! Your Uncle Vic is on the front page again! And you'll never guess who he's with this time!"
Bellemere had just returned from shopping in the village, still holding today's newspaper in her hand, and waved it at Nojiko in the Orange Grove.
Although Bellemere is quite strong now, she doesn't have any other way to make money. She still grows oranges, just like in the original story, except that she is no longer afraid of pirates coming to rob the village.
Her life is now relatively peaceful and stable. When pirates attack, she can catch a pirate with a bounty and exchange him for money at the Marine Base to improve her life. However, even so, Bellemere's frugal nature remains unchanged. She is reluctant to buy newspapers and instead asks for the ones she has already read from the village policeman Genzo.
"Huh? What? Is there any news about Vic? Let me see it!"
Upon hearing news of Vic, Nojiko, who was fertilizing the orange trees, became uncoordinated, frantically taking off his leather gloves and rushing to Bellemere's side to snatch the newspaper and read it!
The mother and daughter are now most concerned about news of Nami went to sea and her savior Vic. Whenever the two are in the newspaper, they will cut out that issue and keep it to look at from time to time. They even keep the bounty posters.
"I've told you so many times, you have to call him Uncle Vic! Why can't you change?"
"Wow! It's Straw Hat Boy! Nami's captain! I didn't expect him to be with Vic. What's going on? Fire Fist Ace is Straw Hat Boy's brother? And who is Vic to them?"
Nojiko ignored Bellemere's correction and continued to call him "Vic" as she pleased. When she saw Luffy in the newspaper photo, she immediately recognized him as the despicable guy who took Nami away to become a pirate!
However, remembering the genuine smile on Nami's wanted poster, she forgave the Straw Hat Boy. After browsing through all the news articles, she focused her attention on Vic's photo...
Shimotsuki Village of the East Blue
"Teacher! Thunder God Vic was also an apprentice who came from the dojo, right?"
Uh! I guess so!
"Teacher! So, between him and Zoro, who Three-Sword Style, who is stronger?"
" Vic is probably the better one!"
"Teacher! But Pirate Hunter Zoro, is even more famous in the East Blue!"
"Perhaps Vic has been away from the East Blue for too long, and his reputation has been buried by time!"
"Teacher! These are the bounty posters for both of them. I'm a little confused about numbers; which one has a higher bounty?"
"Count them yourself; the more numbers you have, the higher the bounty!"
"Teacher!..."
"Get out of here and practice your sword..."
Grand Line Alabasta
"Father! It's Mr. Vic and Luffy!"
"Sigh! Vic has become a pirate again. There are no good people left among the Shichibukai! It seems we must propose abolishing this system at the next Reverie!"
"Yes, Mr. Vic is such a good man. We misunderstood him before. If Pell hadn't seen that face clearly before he fainted, we would never have known that Vic was in the capital at that time. He saved Pell and countless civilians!"
"But why doesn't he show himself?"
"Judging from his relationship with Luffy, there must be some hidden story behind it!"
"Maybe so, but his bounty is so high now, almost as high as that of the Emperor of the Sea. Could he be the next Emperor of the Sea? Even when Red-Haired Shanks first became the Emperor of the Sea, he didn't have such a high bounty. This is too strange. What exactly is the World Government trying to do?"
" Mr. Vic was already Shichibukai before, is there a problem with him becoming Emperor of the Sea now?"
"I don't know what the problem is either, but something feels off. Vic's bounty already exceeds the entry-level standard for the Four Emperors, so why doesn't the World Government just designate him as Four Emperors? If we knew what Vic did back then, we could probably figure it out. Right now, we have too little information..."
Sabaody Archipelago the Grand Line
"This time, the Straw Hat Boy really stole the show; his bounty even surpasses mine! Hey! Killer! Get the men ready, we're heading to the New World now! I'm going to pull off a big heist!"
"Going now? Isn't that a bit too hasty? You saw the Marine Headquarters ' live stream, it was full of monsters! Those people are active in the New World! Kid! Think it over carefully!"
"Stop talking nonsense! They're just taking a little longer to get to sea. I'll catch up soon enough. Who says I can't be one of the Four Emperors? Go and get ready!"
"I was originally planning to go and support the Straw Hat-ya, but I didn't expect that Shichibukai would actually make a move. Even Akainu was no match for him. Could the rumors be true? Did he really defeat Four Emperors Big Mom? If he makes a move, Doflamingo should be powerless to fight back. But how do we persuade someone like him?"
"Captain! Are we heading to the New World? The Kid Pirates are already preparing to depart!"
" Bepo! Even pirates need to use their brains. Kid, that reckless brute, will get what's coming to him sooner or later. We're not in a rush. If we want to take down Doflamingo, we need to plan carefully. Straw Hat-ya! Straw Hat-ya! It seems the key still lies with you..."
"Captain Hawkins! Should we leave? Several Supernovas have already left!"
"Leave now, and your survival rate is 30%; stay, and your survival rate is 100%. We're not in a hurry to leave!"
"Are we just going to watch them get there first?"
"Leaving now means there's a 0% chance of seizing the One Piece. Now is not a good time!"
"When will we leave? Can you figure that out?"
"I'll leave the day I figure it out!"
"Forehead..."
"It seems I'm the only real undercover agent. Thunder God's power wouldn't allow him to be an undercover agent; otherwise, what kind of powerful figure would he be after!"
"Captain Drake! What are you muttering about? Several Supernovas like you are already preparing to leave. Shall we go?"
"Oh! It's nothing. In that case, let's go and find the coating craftsman..."
New World Titan Island
"It's been over a decade! Vic's bounty has finally increased, that's great!"
"Hey! Rebecca! The bounty going up isn't a good thing. A lot of people will be eyeing us, and it seems we've become the villains with bounties on our heads again!"
" Wendy! What does it matter? Anyone who sets their sights on us can try. I'll show them that life is so wonderful, why deliberately seek death? Besides, we've always been villains in the eyes of the world, okay? Even if Vic has the title of Shichibukai, it doesn't change the fact that we're pirates!"
" Rebecca is right. Now that we have bounties on our heads again, does that mean Vic will be back soon?"
"Hmm! Ain understands me best. Vic should be here soon!"
"Is our next step to replace the Whitebeard Pirates and become the new Four Emperors crew?"
" Barnett! If you're so eager to know, why don't you contact Vic and ask him about our future plans? We're always disappearing; we don't look like a pirate crew at all!"