"One, two, three, four... Huh? There are seven zeros! Two hundred and fifty million Berries!" Roux's voice was muffled.
He carefully peeled the wet Wanted Poster off his giant chicken leg, his greasy fingers nearly tearing the paper.
Shanks leaned over curiously, the smell of alcohol mixed with the sea breeze hitting him.
"Two hundred and fifty million what? Which Supernova is trying to rush from Paradise into the New World now?"
"Maybe."
Roux took another huge bite of meat, mumbling vaguely, then held the Wanted Poster close to his eyes, scrutinizing it in the light of the bonfire.
The next second, his chewing stopped. He opened his mouth in surprise, nearly dropping the chunk of meat onto the ground.
"Eh!" He let out a strange cry.
"This kid... he's still in the East Blue! He hasn't even entered the Grand Line yet!"
The commotion wasn't small, and the few relatively sober people around cast their eyes over.
"East Blue?"
Beckman blew out a smoke ring, his gaze sharpening. "Two hundred and fifty million? Since when has the Marines been so generous toward a rookie from the East Blue?"
"What kind of outrageous deed did he commit for those guys to set such a high bounty!"
Roux flipped the Wanted Poster over and over, searching meticulously, as if trying to find the answer written on the paper itself.
The smile on Shanks' face slowly faded. He took the Wanted Poster from Roux and looked at the cold, stern face of the young man in the photo.
"The East Blue, huh..."
He repeated it softly, his eyes, which were usually full of laughter, now held a deep seriousness.
"News coming from there is never boring."
Yasopp leaned in. He stared at Ryoma in the photo and whistled, "He looks like a very young guy... probably not much older than my Usopp."
"The era is restless, it's a good thing that new heroes are constantly emerging."
Shanks casually tossed the Wanted Poster onto a barrel, picked up his liquor bottle again, and took a large gulp. As the strong alcohol went down, he exhaled a puff of warm air.
"However, this guy probably slapped the Marines and the World Government right across the face."
Shanks' voice held a hint of amusement. "To have such a high bounty before even entering the Grand Line, now the jackals of the entire world will chase after him like mad."
Roux finally swallowed the meat in his mouth. He hoisted his gun and looked at Shanks:
"Should we do something, Boss?"
Shanks didn't answer immediately. He stood up and walked to the edge of the beach, gazing at the boundless sea in the distance, which was dyed silver by the moonlight.
The sea breeze ruffled his fiery red hair and billowed the black cloak behind him.
After a long silence, he finally spoke slowly, "This sea is getting livelier and livelier."
Behind him, First Mate Beckman silently smoked, smoke swirling around him. He simply watched his Captain quietly, also saying nothing.
—
Several days later, in the waters near Reverse Mountain.
Splash!
The seawater broke open, and a figure shot out of the water, landing steadily on a newly formed piece of Floating Ice.
Ryoma shook the water droplets from his hair. His Mana Sense swept back and forth across the surrounding dozens of nautical miles several times. Only after confirming that the annoying Marines presence had completely vanished did he finally relax.
Fighting a monster like Kizaru was truly exhausting. He couldn't injure him at all, and he had to expend multiple portions of strength just to defend against attacks and recover.
The only regrettable thing was that his small boat had been blasted into pieces by Kizaru's light beam, and now he couldn't even find a decent plank.
Should he mold another one out of ice?
Ryoma shook his head, extinguishing the thought as soon as it arose.
He was already the "frost fairy" wanted by the Marines and the World Government, and then there was the incident involving the Celestial Dragon.
Sailing around on an Ice Ship while sporting such a conspicuous title would be equivalent to sticking the words "Come and Catch Me" right on his forehead.
"Haa... do I have to walk the rest of the way? That's so troublesome."
Ryoma sighed, suddenly feeling that getting a bicycle to ride across the sea, like Kuzan in the future, seemed like a pretty good option. At least it would save much more effort than running across the sea with two legs.
He shook off the impractical, cluttered thoughts in his mind and looked up at the towering red mountain range before him.
Reverse Mountain.
Ryoma no longer hesitated. Ice condensed beneath his feet, and he stepped onto the Ice Stairs in the air, climbing toward the summit step by step.
The strange upward current pushed him constantly higher. Crossing Reverse Mountain was much smoother than expected.
Just as he crossed the rapid counter-current of Reverse Mountain and entered the area on the Grand Line side, the sea surface below suddenly swelled up into an unimaginably huge arc.
"Woooooooo—"
A mournful cry, seemingly from ancient times, pierced the sky, followed immediately by an unimaginably colossal creature bursting out of the water below.
It was a grayish-blue whale, so immense that it practically obscured half the sky. Its head was covered in massive, crisscrossing scars.
The whale surfaced, its enormous shadow engulfing Ryoma. After letting out that mournful cry, it turned and violently slammed itself against that red high wall—Reverse Mountain.
Boom!!!
The earth shook and the mountains swayed.
Ryoma floated in mid-air, watching this shocking scene, his heart filled with astonishment.
Is this Laboon, the whale waiting for the return of the Rumbar Pirates?
This truly is... quite spectacular.
Watching Laboon, after slamming into the mountain, open its maw, to take in seawater, preparing to gather strength for the next collision, Ryoma's mind raced. Should he take a trip inside its stomach?
He remembered clearly that Laboon's interior had been modified by a man named Crocus, painted with blue skies and white clouds, creating a strange scene reminiscent of The Truman Show.
More importantly, Crocus used to be the Ship Doctor on the pirate king Gol D. Roger's ship.
If he met that legendary Ship Doctor, he might be lucky enough to get an Eternal Pose from him. Otherwise, in the Grand Line with its chaotic magnetic fields, he, a complete Direction-Idiot, might genuinely lose his way.
Mainly, he was afraid of getting lost and accidentally wandering into a Marines Base and running into an Admiral or something. That would be troublesome.
Ryoma's little calculations were clicking away in his mind.
Of course, if he could also subtly inquire about some training experience regarding Observation Haki and Armament Haki from this senior member of the Roger Pirates, that would be an absolute windfall.
After all, he definitely didn't want to experience the powerlessness of being chased by a Logia User like Kizaru, who he couldn't hit or touch, a second time.
With this thought, Ryoma no longer hesitated.
He watched Laboon below, which had already opened its massive mouth and begun swallowing seawater, and arced through the air.
Target: Laboon's stomach!
He adjusted his direction, transforming into a white streak of light, and dove straight toward the bottomless dark abyss that was rapidly sucking in water.