Chapter 261: Bounty Loses Its Meaning
Terra, upon the Treasure Tree Adam, which seemed to touch the sky.
A rift suddenly appeared in the atmosphere, revealing a portal as splendid as a starry sky. Immediately after, Louis, spreading his pure white wings, slowly floated out of the portal. He stood atop the giant castle, looking down on a Terra that was no different from before.
Louis's return also caught the attention of the personnel left on guard.
Two slender figures, accompanied by a flash of fire, rose up, cutting a perfect arc and stopping directly in front of Louis.
Jibril, her hands behind her head, slowly circled Louis's tall figure, then moved in close and marveled, "You're back so soon? Don't tell me you lost?"
Although Louis didn't mind Jibril's cheeky words, it did bring upon her the judgment of her elder sister.
Hearing this, veins bulged on Raphael's forehead. Her medium-length blue hair floated up without a wind, and her face instantly darkened. She floated forward and fiercely rapped Jibril on the head.
BONK!
Then, Raphael pinched Jibril's cheek and snorted, "That's enough out of you!"
After disciplining Jibril, she took a deep breath, stepped forward, and showed Louis a perfect smile. "Welcome back, Father!"
This scene made Jibril's eyes widen, and she froze on the spot. It took a while for her to recover. She clicked her tongue. "You're not usually like this!"
"Shut up!" Raphael glared at her.
"..."
Louis watched the two Flügel girls' performance and silently shook his head. He then descended and returned to the castle.
When he entered the hall, Arcordon, lying casually on the sofa, greeted him lazily, "Yo, is it done?"
"How many did you kill?"
"Three." Louis casually placed the Seven Star Sword and his spear on the table and let out a slow breath. "The Commander of the God's Knights, the Thorn-Thorn Fruit user, and the Qilin Fruit user... I killed them all."
"That woman named Junko was later suspected of being controlled by the true ruler of the World Government and brought the Five Elders. After that, I had no intention of staying and continuing a death match with them."
"The Five Elders and the true ruler of the World Government?" Hearing this, Arcordon slowly sat up, rubbing his chin. "So, there's a mysterious existence above the Five Elders? This is the first time I've heard this news."
"What is their strength like?"
Facing his question, Louis shook his head. "I don't know. I haven't confirmed if Junko received a power boost from that person or was controlled by them. At least the power she displayed afterward wasn't outstanding."
Arcordon heard this and fell into thought again.
"Is that so?" After a long while, he committed this information to memory.
A moment later, as if remembering something, he asked thoughtfully, "What about the others? Why didn't they come back with you?"
Louis casually explained, "In a while, they'll come back with the fish-men, to avoid any accidents on the way."
"Coming back with the fish-men?" Arcordon looked thoughtful again. "That's indeed necessary. The New World is still a relatively dangerous place for many."
With that, Arcordon stood up with a yawn and stretched. "Since you've already arranged it, I won't say any more."
He then turned and walked toward the depths of the castle, intending to return to the room Louis had arranged for him to catch up on sleep.
However, just as he turned, Louis's slightly puzzled voice sounded again. "By the way, are you still planning to wander the world?"
Arcordon waved his hand. As he walked away, without turning his head, he said, "You mean that? In a few months, I plan to go back to Baal to take over for the old geezer and protect the other kinsmen. Not long ago, he mentioned in a call that he feels his strength has declined again, so he asked me to go back and take his place after a while."
After leaving this sentence, his figure disappeared around the corner.
Louis, hearing this, also gave up on the idea of having Arcordon stay in Terra.
Amit, at his peak, had only just reached the threshold of a top-tier powerhouse. Now that he was getting older, it was normal for his strength to decline. Perhaps that move he made several years ago was his last blaze of glory. Therefore, before the remaining kinsmen on Baal came to Terra, it was indeed necessary to have Arcordon, who had already become a top-tier fighter, stay behind to guard Baal.
The next day, the news that Fish-Man Island had broken away from the World Government and joined Terra, its entire nation becoming citizens under the Archangel Pirates, spread through the newspapers and shook the entire world. This news directly triggered intense discussions among people everywhere.
In the depths of the New World, there are also World Government member nations. It was not uncommon for a World Government member nation, while paying the Heavenly Tribute and being protected by the World Government and the Marines, to also fly a pirate flag and be protected by pirates. But for a country like Fish-Man Island to travel a great distance and, as a nation, defect to a pirate... this was the first time it had happened in the eight hundred years since the World Government was founded.
No one knew what the King of Fish-Man Island was thinking.
There were also powerful people who were curious about the unknown battle that was only implicitly described in the newspaper, and about what had happened to cause Fish-Man Island to be shattered and completely submerged by the sea, as shown in the photos. Although it was clear from the fragments of information and the tragic state of the island that their departure was not smooth, and that they had encountered an unimaginable interception, in the end, the five million citizens had still successfully escaped, which made countless people extremely curious.
Although the World Economic News Agency's newspaper did not spell it out, anyone with a bit of intelligence understood. This was definitely an unknown clash between the World Government and the Archangel Pirates. And the two bounty posters that followed also proved this point.
Sabaody Archipelago - Shakky's Rip-off Bar.
Shakky, with short black hair, wearing a spider-patterned top and jeans, pushed open the door and walked into the bar. She held intelligence reports in her hand, walked straight behind the bar, and threw them all to the old man sitting on the stool, before silently lighting a cigarette.
"Here, the intel you wanted. The fee will just be added to your tab."
In front of the bar, Rayleigh, who was looking at the newspaper and bounty posters, had his eyes light up. "You got it? Thank you so much!"
Shakky exhaled a puff of smoke and glanced at him. "Save the thanks. Just pay the money."
Rayleigh waved his hand indifferently. "A small matter like this... I'll just work a little harder tonight, and we'll call it even!"
Hearing this, Shakky couldn't help but roll her eyes.
Then, he temporarily ignored her, picked up the intelligence report, and took in its contents. On the white paper, in characters still smelling faintly of fresh ink, was written:
[Many ferocious and terrifying monsters appeared on Fish-Man Island. Thorns like giant pythons... a suspected awakened Mythical Zoan, Model: Cerberus user... fighting alongside a man with red hair.]
Seeing this, a look of "I knew it" appeared on Rayleigh's face. "The God's Knights." These existences were not unfamiliar to him.
[Chaos on Fish-Man Island. Members of the Archangel Pirates, and Marines led by Admiral Akainu, appeared.]
Seeing this, Rayleigh's eyes narrowed slightly, and he fell into thought.
Shakky looked at his serious face, sighed, and then picked up two bounty posters from the table. With a cigarette in her mouth, she examined them through the smoke.
One of them had a photo of Yelena in full armor, with neat writing:
"Snow-Fiend"
Bounty: 3,547,000,000 Berries
Dead or Alive.
And the other was Uta's.
"Siren - Uta"
Bounty: 1,930,000,000 Berries
Dead or Alive
Seeing this, Shakky looked thoughtful. "Miss Yelena's strength is getting greater and greater. I'm afraid she has also reached the top tier, hasn't she? Not only that, but even little Uta's bounty has been changed to 'Dead or Alive'."
"However, Archangel Louis's bounty hasn't changed. Is it because bounties have lost their meaning for an existence like him?"
While she was thinking, Rayleigh slowly put down the report and looked up at her. "Is that all the intel? Is there no result of the Fish-Man Island war?"
His words startled her from her thoughts. She put down the posters and said calmly, "My informants in the Marines and Mary Geoise say that several families in Mary Geoise held funerals. The Shepherd family, the Limosiver family, and the Figarland family—"
"It is currently speculated that the Commander of the God's Knights, Garling, also died in battle. Now, only three members of the God's Knights, who are composed of Celestial Dragons, remain. Shanks's 'brother', a female member, and a member stationed in the New World survived."
"That Garling... died too?" Rayleigh was stunned. He then subconsciously looked at the bounty poster on the wall. "If it were just that, his bounty should have continued to increase. What on earth happened... that would make the World Government feel that placing a bounty on Louis has lost its meaning?"
Rayleigh had witnessed Garling's strength and knew he was a pinnacle powerhouse in no way inferior to Roger or Newgate. Defeating him would be another feather in Louis's cap, but it wasn't enough to make the World Government think a bounty on him was meaningless.
Therefore, Rayleigh believed that there must be more unknown secrets behind this. He had a premonition that if these things were revealed, the storm they would cause would perhaps be second only to Roger's starting of the new era.
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