Allen deactivated his ability, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and took the newspaper from a crew member.
The front page covered the news about Whitebeard and his crew destroying the Marine’s Collins Branch, leaving it in utter ruin.
Attached was a thick stack of bounty posters for members of Whitebeard’s division, with several crew members seeing their bounties shoot up.
Allen took a quick look through them.
Rocks Pirates Executive Edward Newgate (Whitebeard) Paramecia-type Tremor-Tremor Fruit user.
Extremely dangerous.
Heinous criminal.
Dead or Alive.
Bounty: 1.37 billion Berries.
Whitebeard Division Commander Sniper Frien Extremely dangerous.
Heinous criminal.
Dead or Alive.
Bounty: 490 million Berries.
Whitebeard Division Commander White Swordsman Allen Gravity Fruit user.
Swordsman.
Extremely dangerous.
Heinous criminal.
Dead or Alive.
Bounty: 300 million Berries.
The rest of the posters belonged to various members of the other divisions.
“A 300 million Berry bounty right out of the gate?
The Marines really think highly of me,” Allen grumbled in dissatisfaction as he stared at his own poster.
“But why am I labeled ‘extremely dangerous’?
Aside from using Conqueror’s Haki to knock out a few guys, I didn’t even cut anyone.
I spent the whole time being chased through the sky by Sengoku.” “Wow, Big Brother Allen has a 300 million Berry bounty?
That’s so cool!” Marco heard the commotion and poked his pineapple head into the room.
“Hahaha!
Marco, you better keep training hard,” one of the crew members teased.
“Who knows, maybe it won’t be long before you get yourself a 300 Berry bounty!” “Cut the chatter!
I’m going to become a real man soon,” Marco muttered, his face turning red from the crew’s mockery.
Allen watched everyone messing around and smiled warmly.
He looked back at his bounty poster; the photo showed him gripping his sword, ready to unleash a massive slash.
“It actually looks pretty cool, but when was this even taken?
It’s not like Sengoku was snapping pictures of me while we were fighting.” Somewhere in the world, inside the office of the World Economic News Paper, a certain Bird-Bird Fruit user suddenly sneezed.
“Achoo!
Who’s talking about me?” “President, is there a problem with this news report?” Morgans’ subordinate asked with concern.
“What’s there to be afraid of?
The Marines don’t even dare to enter the New World right now.
What can they possibly do to us?” Morgans snorted.
“By the way, who took the photos for this issue?
Give them a raise—make it ten times their usual pay!” Morgans then pulled out Allen’s bounty poster, a sharp glint in his eyes.
“Twilight Allen…
interesting.
I hope you can bring something different to this world.” After several days of sailing, Allen and his group finally returned to Hachinosu.
“Ah!
We’re finally back.
It’s good to be home,” Frien stretched his arms and sighed with relief.
“I’m heading straight to the bar to drink for a whole day.” Allen looked at him speechlessly.
“I didn’t see you drinking any less on the ship, did I?” Frien scratched his head awkwardly.
“Don’t worry about the small details, Allen.” The crew members began unloading the loot and carrying it to the base.
A portion of the treasures had to be turned over to Rocks, but they made sure to keep the Devil Fruit safely hidden away.
Just as the crew was busy moving the heavy boxes, an entire fleet sailed into the harbor and docked.
A massive crowd of people poured out from the ships—at a rough estimate, close to 4,000 pirates.
“Gahahahaha!
Isn’t that Newgate?
I heard you ran into Sengoku and Garp.
I honestly thought I’d never see you again!” Before the man even came into view, his booming voice echoed across the port.
Golden Lion Shiki walked with a swagger, chewing on a cigar and wearing an infuriating smirk as he approached Allen and the others.
It turned out Shiki and his fleet had also returned today.
Whitebeard gave a disdainful laugh upon hearing the mockery.
“Hmph, Shiki, if you were the one who ran into them, there’s an eighty percent chance you wouldn’t have made it back.
But I am Whitebeard.
What do mere runts like Sengoku and Garp amount to?” Shiki’s haul seemed excellent this time, so he was in a great mood.
Hearing Whitebeard’s retort, he didn’t bother to argue.
He just snorted coldly and turned his attention to Allen.
“Kid Allen, you really made a splash this time.
I heard you played Sengoku like a fool.
White Swordsman—what a resounding title.
How about you kick that poor guy Newgate to the curb and join my crew instead?
I can make you my deputy Captain and even teach you some real swordsmanship in your spare time.” Allen sighed quietly.
Why does everyone keep trying to recruit me?
“No thanks, Brother Shiki,” Allen replied calmly.
“I still prefer using a single sword.” Shiki’s expression instantly darkened, his brow furrowing with irritation.
“What did you say?
Brat, are you trying to say that because I use two swords, I’m not qualified to teach you?” As he spoke, a powerful wave of Conqueror’s Haki erupted from Shiki, crashing heavily toward Allen.
He could tolerate Whitebeard’s taunts since Whitebeard was an equal, but being slighted by a brat like Allen made him snap instantly.
Seeing the pressure coming, Allen didn’t back down.
He unleashed his own gravity-infused Conqueror’s Haki.
The two invisible forces collided violently in the air, sending shockwaves through the harbor.
Some of the pirates standing behind Shiki instantly lost consciousness and collapsed, while most of Whitebeard’s crew members broke out in a cold sweat, struggling to stay on their feet.
“Shiki, you’re becoming increasingly unruly.
Do you want to die?” Seeing Shiki attack his division commander right in front of him, Whitebeard was instantly enraged.
A massive surge of Conqueror’s Haki erupted from Whitebeard’s body, combining with Allen’s pressure to slam down heavily on Shiki.
Under the overwhelming weight of two concurrent forces, the stalemate instantly collapsed.
Shiki retracted his Haki, his face twisted in an ugly grimace.
“Hmph, let’s go.” Swinging his cape, he turned around and led his subordinates back toward his own base.
Allen and Whitebeard retracted their Haki as well, letting the tense atmosphere dissipate.
The crew members beside them let out long, breathless sighs of relief.
The collision of three separate Conqueror’s Haki was not something ordinary pirates could easily endure.
They continued moving the boxes until nightfall, finally finishing the transport before heading back to their main base.
“Yo, Allen, Frien!
You guys really followed the Boss and made a massive splash this time,” First Division Captain Luobuma called out, walking out of the building just as they arrived.
“Especially you, Allen.
A 300 million Berry bounty right away is truly incredible!” Frien looked at the envious Luobuma and complained, “Don’t even mention it.
We ran into Sengoku and Garp.
If it weren’t for Allen, I’m afraid I would have been done for out there.” Allen looked at Luobuma and shared a wry smile.
“Isn’t that the truth?
Brother Newgate was having a blast fighting Garp, while Frien and I were being chased all over the sky by Sengoku.” “Is that so?
That must have been incredibly thrilling!” Luobuma laughed.
“Don’t just stand at the door, though.
Let’s head inside first.” Back in the main room, Whitebeard took his seat at the head of the table.
“Thanks to Allen’s efforts this time, our harvest is quite good.
Since I obtained Murakumogiri, I won’t take a share from this treasure split.
Aside from the portion we have to turn over to the Captain, the remaining loot will be divided: forty percent for the Second Division, forty percent for the Third Division, and twenty percent for the First Division.” “Oh!
Thank you, Boss!” Cheers and praises instantly rang out across the room.
A generous leader was always deeply loved by his subordinates.
After returning to the Third Division quarters, Allen gathered his own crew members.
“I was lucky enough to get the Devil Fruit I wanted during this trip, so I won’t be taking a piece of the gold either.
Frien, you’re in charge of distributing our division’s forty percent share.” Allen didn’t care much about wealth.
What he wanted most was raw power—strength sufficient to sail across the seas with absolute freedom.
In the coming days, Allen focused entirely on developing his Devil Fruit abilities.
He knew he needed to push his swordsmanship and his dual-color Haki to the next level as quickly as possible, because in about a year’s time, the world-shaking God Valley Incident awaited him.