Fleet Admiral Sengoku slammed his knuckles onto the oak desk, sending the bronze seal bouncing half an inch.
"Five billion berries?"
His roar shattered the empty room of the admiral's office, veins bulging across his forehead like writhing worms. "Those old men, the Gorosei, are they treating the Navy budget like toilet paper? This amount alone could fully arm three demon-hunting fleets!"
Vice Admiral Tsuru pushed her glasses up her nose. The fax paper in her hand was still warm with fresh ink, rustling quietly.
Her voice was icy calm, yet beneath the surface brewed a storm: "The rebellion at Enies Lobby has torn the mask of justice. The Red Line cliffs have shaken the foundation of sacred authority. The entire twelve-ship G-5 fleet has been annihilated. These so-called 'achievements' are worth buying half the New World. What they have put a bounty on isn't a person it's a natural disaster."
Her fingertips traced the glaring red headline: "World Government Highest Bounty Notice." Beneath it, Monky D. Garp's name glared in bold, accompanied by the staggering number: 5,000,000,000 berries.
Sakazuki sat on the sofa, his clenched fists glowing with molten magma, hissing and giving off a sharp sulfurous scent.
"Traitors must be purged without mercy!"
His voice rolled like lava. "Buster, go immediately! Don't let Mary Geoise suffer the consequences too!"
The carpet beneath his feet had been soaked by the molten rock, smoldering holes releasing faint smoke.
Kizaru lounged with one leg crossed over the other, casually trimming his nails, the brown sunglasses on his face reflecting the sunlight outside. "My salary isn't even enough to cover the island's reconstruction. The rebuilding bill just came in twelve billion berries. My goodness."
He picked up the bounty poster with his fingertips, as if handling a red-hot iron.
The Den Den Mushi on the table emitted a low, serious tone. The steel-plated face on the receiver looked stern and exhausted. "Sengoku… control your old partner. Once this bounty is made public, the seas will boil."
Sengoku snatched the notice, fingers whitening from the tight grip, crumpled it into a ball, and slammed it onto the floor. "Control him? He is no longer my soldier. He is the spear that pierces the world!"
The paper ball rolled to Sakazuki's feet and was instantly swallowed by the raging magma, leaving only acrid smoke.
At Sabaody Archipelago, District 41, the deck of the Thousand Sunny was blistering under the midday sun.
Luffy stretched his rubber arm, trying to snatch the spinning news bulletin. "Hey, birds! Got any new meat on the menu? Extra-large!"
"Idiot! That's a newspaper!"
Nami snatched the latest special edition from the news distributor. Her eyes fell on the front-page headline, and her pupils shrank to pinpoints.
Her voice trembled in shock. "G-Garp? Five billion berries?"
The enlarged bounty photo dominated the entire front page.
Garp stood bare-chested, his gray-white hair stiff and bristling, a tanned, scarred torso gleaming in the sunlight like a living sculpture.
He stood atop the ruined Justice Tower of Enies Lobby, tilted and fractured, behind him a yawning abyss torn open by one of his serious punches, seawater surging freely into the void. The cliff's terrifying cracks resembled wounds in the earth itself, silently narrating the catastrophic blow. Beneath the bounty notice, the red headline screamed: "Godslayer Fist! Navy Hero Completely Defects! Bounty 5 Billion Berries!"
"Five billion?"
Usopp's legs went weak, and he collapsed on the deck, his eyeballs nearly popping from their sockets. "Higher than a Yonkou? How many zeroes is that?!"
He began counting on his fingers, his mind blank.
Zoro, holding his three swords, furrowed his brows, eyes sharp on Garp's cold expression in the notice. "That old man?"
He instinctively gripped his sword hilt until his knuckles turned white.
Sanji's cigarette fell with a snap onto the deck, but he barely noticed, eyes fixed on the bounty notice. He muttered in disbelief, "A Navy hero… has become the World Government's most wanted fugitive? Is this world insane?"
Robin stood quietly to the side, her fingertips brushing the words "Godslayer Fist" on the paper. A complex light flickered in her deep eyes as she whispered softly, "The will of D… is it finally starting to break free from that heavy chain?"
Wow, grandpa's so cool!
Luffy suddenly erupted in a huge cheer, jumping three meters into the air, flailing his rubber arms. "Five billion! Higher than me! I want five billion too! I want to be the Pirate King with the highest bounty ever!!"
He was completely unaware of the gravity of the situation, only thinking that his grandfather's bounty was ridiculously high and insanely cool.
"Shut up, idiot!"
Nami could no longer hold back. She punched Luffy squarely in the head. The familiar lump immediately swelled. "Is now the time to discuss bounties? Your grandfather is the World Government's top enemy! If we stick with him, we'll be considered accomplices, our bounties will skyrocket, and the entire world will come after us! Berries! We'll lose all our berries!!"
Just then, Chopper, on lookout duty, raised his telescope and let out a terrified scream. "Oh no! District 1! There's thick black smoke rising over District 1! Looks… like a battle is happening!!"
Alarm bells rang in Nami's mind. She rushed to the ship's railing, lightning instantly gathering in her clima-tact. "Luffy, keep your troublemaking grandpa under control! He's causing chaos again!"
Her short orange hair stood on end in anger.
Luffy rubbed the swollen lump on his head, but his eyes shone with excitement. He slammed a fist onto the deck, splinters flying. "Grandpa's fighting! Awesome! I'm going too!" Ignoring Nami's warning, his rubber body stretched and bounced, ready to charge toward District 1.
At the Shabondy Archipelago, District 1, the air outside the slave auction house was thick like syrup, a nauseating mix of sweetness, cheap perfume, sweat, and a faint metallic tang of blood.
Garp appeared at the corner of the street, bare-chested, gray-white hair, muscles coiled and scarred, walking steadily along the mangrove-rooted streets.
When the scar-faced guard captain saw him approaching, his pupils shrank to pinpoints.
His hand trembled violently on his sword hilt, his voice hoarse with fear. "Traitor… Traitor Garp? …You… you dare come here?"
The guards behind him froze, cold sweat soaking the backs of their uniforms.
This was no Navy hero; this was the number one wanted fugitive who had ravaged the Holy Land and sunk entire fleets.
A bounty of five billion berries burned like a red-hot iron in their souls, making them tremble uncontrollably.
Garp didn't stop. His eyes pierced through the thick oak doors ahead as he muttered, "Step aside."
"The Gorosei's bounty notice has spread worldwide! You…"
The scar-faced captain tried to muster a final threat.
Buzz !
An invisible, pure pressure erupted violently from Garp's center.
The air seemed to solidify into steel.
The guards' eyes bulged, frothing at the mouth, and they collapsed.
Weapons clattered to the ground.
Inside the auction house, Disco's excited roar halted abruptly. With a thunderous crash, the oak doors exploded into splinters.
Smoke and dust filled the air as Garp's mountain-like figure stepped over the shattered threshold.
In the dead silence, Saint Charlos screamed into the sky: "Garp? You traitorous old dog! The Gorosei want your head!"
Disco recognized the newcomer, his flattery instantly replaced by panic. "G-Garp! You… aren't you already wanted?"
His gaze swept over Camie, trembling in the water tank, the sea-prism handcuffs flashing violently.
Garp's voice dropped like a block of ice. "The auction is over."