45. Excessive Bounty! Ninety Million Berries!

The Overlord of Chu and the Straw Hat Pirates eventually left Cocoyasi Village and set sail once more.

As they parted ways, Nami left the stolen one hundred million Berries behind in Cocoyasi Village, taking with her only a few orange trees plucked from the orchard just as they were about to ripen.

The next day.
Clear blue skies, white clouds, and a gentle ocean breeze.
A news-coo descended and landed on the railing of the Going Merry.

Out on the vast ocean, communication was extremely inconvenient.
The primary channel through which people obtained information was the newspaper.
The news-coo was the sole messenger of news across the seas.

Never underestimate this news-coo.
It hailed from the mysterious World Economy News Paper! The World Economy News Paper controlled the public opinion of the entire world, holding the most cutting-edge intelligence and information. Its backing was not to be taken lightly.

The pressure of public opinion, to a certain extent, symbolized the will of the people!
As long as it was utilized properly, it could trigger earth-shattering upheavals across the entire pirate world.

"Eh? Is the newspaper going up in price again? Isn't this a bit too expensive? If you raise the price again next time, I won't buy it!"
Nami nagged at the news-coo's large head like a market woman bargaining for vegetables.

News-coo: "......"
This was the first time it had ever encountered such a bizarre customer.
It was just a newspaper; did she really have to be this stingy?

Usopp squatted in a corner, repairing the damage to the Merry, and muttered under his breath, "Isn't it just a newspaper or two? Do you have to be so petty?"

Nami arched an eyebrow in displeasure and snapped, "Hmph, you have no idea how hard it is to run a household, completely devoid of conscience! Are the big bone-in meats I buy for you every day fed to the dogs?!"

Hearing the keyword "big bone-in meat," Luffy instantly snapped out of his sleepwalking state and began jumping up and down frantically:
"Meat! Where is there meat? I want to eat meat!"

Zoro: "......"
Sanji: "......"
Usopp: "......"
In truth, the little miser Nami had her own little schemes.
She wanted to save up a bit more money so that she could bring her own dowry when she eventually got married!

Just as Nami began sinking into fantasies of "post-marriage" life, a pair of large hands stealthily crept toward the transplanted orange tree...

Thud!!

Nami delivered a merciless punch, and a large pink bump instantly swelled up on Luffy's shiny forehead.

Luffy was on the verge of tears: "I was just eating an orange, why are you hitting me again?"

Sanji, a cigarette dangling from his lips, scanned Luffy with an unkind gaze: "Luffy, stay away from the orange tree from now on. This is an orange tree specially transplanted by Nami-san for Lord Baba, and I won't have you stealing from it."

Sanji had thoroughly awakened.
He now understood who the real heavy-hitter on this ship was!
In order to learn those dazzling and unimaginably powerful peerless kicking techniques, Black Leg Sanji was walking further and further down the path of sycophancy...

Zoro glanced at Sanji with utter disdain, clutching the Wado Ichimonji as he retreated into the shade. "Tch~ That's what you get for swallowing your pride too late to become a disciple. You scoffed and sneered when I became an unofficial disciple back then; do you know what regret feels like now?!"

Fortunately, yours truly is far-sighted and shamelessly forced a connection, successfully becoming a disciple of the Overlord Baba.
Nowadays, my swordsmanship has progressed by leaps and bounds, advancing like a torrent.
You smelly cook, you've finally seen the light and want to cozy up to the powerhouse?
Heh, it's too late now!!!

"Huh? What fell out of the newspaper?"
Nami thought it was just some promotional flyer, but when she saw the contents printed on the page, she froze in place.

"Th-This is... Lord Overlord Baba's bounty poster?!"

Usopp hurried over as well.
A massive bounty from the East Blue was an extreme rarity.
Aside from Buggy the Star Clown, Don Krieg the Overlord of the East Blue, and Arlong the Fish-man of the Arlong Pirates, bounties were rarely ever slipped inside newspapers.

"H-How is that possible?!"
When Usopp saw the figure on the bounty, he was struck dumbfounded, unable to utter a single word.

"Ni-Ninety million Berries?!!"

Zoro was also shocked.
Having once worked as a pirate hunter, he understood the terrifying magnitude of this figure far better than anyone else.
You have to know that the average bounty across the entire East Blue was merely three million Berries.
Even Don Krieg, the self-proclaimed Overlord of the East Blue, commanded a mere paltry seventeen million Berries!!

"Lord Overlord Baba is so powerful, yet his bounty is only ninety million Berries—isn't that a bit too low?"
Sanji seized the opening, never missing a chance to flatter.

"Look, there's my bounty poster here too! A full thirty million Berries! Ah哈哈哈, I never thought even I would have a bounty!!"
Luffy grinned broadly, as excited as a grizzly bear that had just struck honey.

"......"
Everyone wore expressions of speechlessness.
You're so happy even after becoming a wanted criminal; we truly cannot comprehend the wiring in your brain.

"Still, why did they make me look so ugly in this photo? Why is Lord Baba's poster so cool?!"
Luffy alternated his gaze between the two wanted posters, which looked as though they had been issued by entirely different press agencies.

Luffy in the photograph sported his trademark straw hat, and his shiny forehead could practically have been used as a mirror.
As for the Overlord of the East Blue's bounty poster—
It featured him dressed in an immaculate white suit, sitting elegantly beside a piano with only his profile visible.
His entire being radiated an irresistible charm!!

There is no comparison without contrast.
Facing the two side by side, Luffy couldn't help feeling like he was born to a stepmother...

However, Luffy quickly forgot his troubles regarding his baldness.
With an initial bounty reaching thirty million Berries, he was so excited he felt like he was floating on air!!

At some point, the Overlord of Chu had drifted up behind the group.
"Ninety million Berries? That's far too low, not even a hundred million."
"How absurd! In the eyes of Marine Headquarters, am I really worth less than some petty hoodlum pirate from the Grand Line?!"

Forget it, forget it. Bounties and the like were mere empty fame.
Why bother caring about them so much?
Was Cola not delicious, or were video games no fun?!
Instead of wasting time worrying about this, he'd be better off spending time getting cozy with the wealthy young heiress Kaya!!

Meanwhile...
The New World presented an entirely different scene of raging storms!
Galloping across the Grand Line was the dream of every pirate.
It was said that the final destination of the Grand Line was Laugh Tale, where the ultimate treasure, ONE PIECE, was hidden.
Whoever found the ONE PIECE could be called the Pirate King, though the only ones known to have reached it were the Roger Pirates.
The first half of the Grand Line was called Paradise, and the second half was called the New World.
The first and second halves of the route were separated by the Red Line.
The Celestial Dragon nobles and the World Government sat high above in the most sacred region of the Red Line—Mariejois!!