Chapter 97 - Bounty
At Marine Headquarters, inside the Agenda Room, all vice admirals had gathered to discuss a newly emerging threat that was rapidly drawing attention across the seas.
"So, even with a conservative estimate of their strength, they are still beyond what our local marine branches can handle?" One of the vice admirals asked, tapping his fingers rhythmically against the polished table.
"Yes," another officer replied calmly. "Even before forming this pirate crew, Monkey D. Lily single-handedly defeated Marine Branch Captain Axe-Hand Morgan."
A brief murmur spread through the room.
"After that, the bounty hunter Kuina joined their group."
"According to intelligence, this pirate crew is led by two captains."
At that moment, Brannew stepped forward, drawing everyone's attention. "One of them is Monkey D. Lily. She defeated Captain Morgan and is the user of the Paramecia-type Devil Fruit, the Gomu Gomu No Mi. She has shown remarkable skill and creativity in its usage."
He shifted his gaze and continued, "The second captain is a man named Alex Brown. He is a swordsman who defeated Kuro of a Hundred Plans, a pirate with a bounty of sixteen million berries. In addition to that, this crew also eliminated the Arlong Pirates, whose captain carried a bounty of twenty million berries."
The room fell silent.
Brannew himself was an imposing figure. Tall and tanned, with dark green curly hair and upward-pointing sideburns, his sharp features were partially hidden behind ever-present sunglasses. His open-collared blue-and-white striped shirt, paired with pink suit pants, gave him an almost carefree appearance that contrasted with the seriousness of his report.
Although several vice admirals were clearly curious about how a crew from East Blue managed to defeat a Fish-Man pirate of that caliber, none interrupted him.
"Kuro of a Hundred Plans, sixteen million berries. Fish-Man pirate 'Saw-Tooth' Arlong, twenty million berries," Brannew said, pointing at each wanted poster pinned to the board.
"Every one of these pirates carried a bounty exceeding ten million berries, and Alex Brown personally took them down. According to our intelligence reports, he is a perverted pirate with an obsession for building a harem, which is highly unusual even by pirate standards. In each conflict, his motivation appeared to be rescuing women and forcibly drawing them into his personal pirate crew. In short, he is a pervert who wants to have a personal harem. Nothing new in the pirate world."
Some vice admirals frowned at that description, while others looked visibly disturbed.
"Initially, we allowed their actions to pass unnoticed," Brannew continued. "At first, they only defeated Axe-Hand Morgan, who was later exposed as a corrupt Marine officer. After that, they wiped out multiple pirate crews threatening local villages. At the time, we could have overlooked their actions and labeled them as bounty hunters instead."
"But that is no longer an option," one of the vice admirals said grimly.
"But now things have gone far beyond that," one vice admiral said grimly. "They didn't just defeat Captain Nezumi. They killed him, along with all the Marines under his command. While our investigation later confirmed that those Marines were corrupt, it was never their place to execute them."
He slammed his palm lightly against the table.
"Delivering justice is the duty of the Marines. We decide who is guilty, who is innocent, and what punishment they deserve. Instead, he butchered them without hesitation. Because of that, he can no longer be viewed as anything other than a pirate."
Brannew nodded in agreement.
"Furthermore, we have confirmed that Alex Brown is not merely a skilled swordsman. He is capable of launching flying slashes, a technique seen only among high-level fighters. More importantly, he possesses Armament Haki."
That revelation caused several vice admirals to stiffen.
"This makes him extremely dangerous," Brannew continued. "As for the rest of the crew, Monkey D. Lily and Kuina are both strong combatants, but neither has shown any signs of possessing Armament Haki. They are formidable, but nowhere near as threatening as their captain."
"A swordsman who can wield flying slashes and Armament Haki…" one vice-admiral muttered. "And this is happening in the East Blue of all places."
"I can't believe it," another vice admiral said while shaking his head.
"Where is this pirate crew now?" a different officer asked sharply, slipping fully into mission mode.
"They are most likely heading toward Loguetown," Brannew replied. "We have already dispatched reinforcements to support the Marines stationed there. Moreover, it is the Judection of Captain Smoker, who is a Logia Devil Fruit user."
"That's good," one vice admiral said, earning nods from the others. "We cannot allow a pirate of this caliber to enter the Grand Line."
"If we let him escape," another added coldly, "he will become a catastrophic threat in the future. He must be eliminated as soon as possible."
Brannew adjusted his papers before delivering the final decision. "Due to the extreme danger this pirate poses to both the world and the Marines, we are issuing Alex Brown a bounty of forty million berries."
Although the bounty was extraordinarily high for the East Blue, likely the highest ever issued in the East Blue Sea, not a single vice-admiral objected. In fact, some believed it was still far too low.
After all, a man who could wield both flying sword slashes and Armament Haki deserved far more. Even in the original manga, many members of the Worst Generation, like Trafalgar D. Water Law and Eustass Kid, lacked both Armament and Observation Haki during the Sabaody Archipelago incident, yet their bounties were far higher.
Compared to that, forty million berries was almost generous. Some vice admirals even suspected political interference, similar to how certain high-ranking officers had quietly suppressed the bounties of their own descendants.
[A/N: I still haven't decided whether to make Monkey D. Garp male or female in this story. I'm leaning toward making her a powerful, intimidating GILF. What do you think?]
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[Scene Change]
Back on the ship, everyone stood frozen, their eyes locked onto the wanted posters lying on the deck. Shock was written clearly on every face except one. Lily merely crossed her arms and smirked. She was clearly enjoying the moment.
"So it finally happened," she said smugly, staring down at her poster. "I have a bounty now. One more step closer to becoming the Pirate Queen."
The photograph they had used was taken right after the destruction of Arlong Park. Her expression was fierce yet confident, almost identical to how the poster had looked in the original story. It suited her perfectly.
Alex picked up his own wanted poster and frowned slightly. The photo had been taken immediately after his fight with Arlong.
His shirt was torn, his muscles still tense from battle, and his sword rested casually over one shoulder. Standing close to him, Nami was on his left and Nojiko on his right, both still flushed as he was kneading their ass.
The image gave off the unmistakable impression of a dangerous playboy pirate surrounded by beautiful women. In fact, it might have been one of the most attractive wanted posters ever issued in the East Blue.
"Alex… You look so cool in this picture," Kaya said softly, her eyes practically sparkling as she stared at the poster. Her cheeks flushed faintly as she kept looking. She was clearly impressed at the bounty.
"Why the hell is your bounty so high?" Nami shouted, her voice trembling. Tears nearly streamed down her face as she glanced back and forth between Lily's bounty and Alex's. Fear, disbelief, and frustration were all mixed together in her expression.
Alex sighed. He was rubbing his forehead as if the paper itself was giving him a headache.
The posters read…
WANTED
PERVERT CAPTAIN ALEX
DEAD OR ALIVE
Bounty: 40,000,000 Belly
…
…
WANTED
STRAWHAT MONKEY D. LILY
DEAD OR ALIVE
Bounty: 30,000,000 Belly
The deck fell silent once more as the weight of those numbers sank in. Whatever came next, there was no denying it now.
They were officially enemies of the world.
My bounty and Lily's were surprisingly close, most likely because we were both recognized as captains. Lily's bounty was even identical to what she had received in the original manga. Since I possessed Haki, it made sense that my bounty ended up slightly higher.
At first glance, our bounties being so close suggested only two possible explanations. Either someone within Marine HQ was deliberately suppressing my bounty to keep it closer to hers, or Lily's name itself played a role.
After all, she carried the name Monkey D. Lily. The bloodline of D had always attracted attention, and it wouldn't be surprising if that alone pushed her bounty upward.
Nami and Kuina had also received bounties.
Nami's was understandable. She had once been a member of the Arlong Pirates, and even though she had changed crews, the Marines clearly didn't forget her past. In the original story, she only gained her bounty much later, but in this timeline, her association with us accelerated everything.
As for Kuina, I wasn't surprised at all. She had been a bounty hunter before, and her strength was already well known. On top of that, she had fought and defeated Marines back in Shells Town. From the Marines' perspective, giving her a bounty was only natural.
The only one without a bounty was Kaya.
First, she was known as a noble lady with no criminal background. Second, she hadn't even fought during the battle at Arlong Park. There was simply no record of her posing any threat, so the Marines had no reason to mark her as dangerous.
The remaining posters read:
WANTED
BOUNTY HUNTER KUINA
DEAD OR ALIVE
Bounty: 10,000,000 Belly
…
…
WANTED
THIEVING CAT NAMI
DEAD OR ALIVE
Bounty: 5,000,000 Belly
"Forty million berries as a first bounty? That's amazing!" Kaya said brightly.
Before she could finish smiling, Nami smacked the back of her head.
"Shut up, you idiot. This is bad!" Nami snapped, her face pale with worry. "This means really strong Marines are going to come after us."
"Eighty-five million berries for the entire crew…" Kuina muttered quietly. "With numbers like that, Marine Headquarters will definitely take action."
"And it's not just the Marines," she added. "This will attract bounty hunters too. Strong ones."
Seeing the tension rising, I stepped forward, my voice calm and steady.
"Relax. Even if they send a vice admiral, we can run away. And if they seriously want to arrest us, they'll need elite vice admirals or even admirals. I don't think they'll go that far just yet."
I tapped the deck beneath my feet. "Besides, our ship is faster than any Marine Warship."
Everyone nodded. They all knew how absurdly fast this ship was.
"I'm confident I can handle the weaker vice admirals," I continued. "I might even have decent odds against them."
"But the rest of you can't," I said honestly. "If more than one vice-admiral comes after us at the same time, we'd be completely overwhelmed."
No one argued with that.
They had never seen me fight at full strength. To them, it probably looked like I pulled power and weapons out of thin air. I wielded Haki, fought like a seasoned swordsman, and commanded a ship that seemed to evolve on its own.
And no matter how hard they tried, none of them had ever managed to defeat me in bed. My stamina was absurd as I was fucking four women day and night.
Considering all of that, it wasn't hard for them to believe that I could take on a vice admiral. The panic slowly faded from their faces. It was replaced with cautious confidence as they began to calm down.