Turning around, Ron saw Kaido carrying his spiked club on one shoulder while clutching a yellowish sheet of paper in the other hand, rushing over from the street corner like a gust of wind.
“Your wanted poster?” Ron glanced at the familiar layout and asked offhandedly.
“No, it’s yours.” The expression on Kaido’s face was quite complicated—a mix of envy and jealousy—before he lowered his voice to ask, “Guess how much?”
Ron thought it over.
Previously, his bounty was under a hundred million.
Now that it had been updated, it was most likely due to hijacking the Heavenly Tribute.
Beside them, Annika blinked and carefully raised her hand: “Lord Kaido, can I guess?”
Kaido cast a flat glance at her: “Feel free.”
Granted permission, Annika immediately began counting on her fingers with a serious face, calculating rapidly in her head.
She remembered Shakky once telling her that on these seas, any pirate with a bounty exceeding a hundred million Berries was already considered a big-name pirate.
Yet Lord Ron…
was only an apprentice.
In Annika’s mind, apprentices on a pirate crew were generally weaker and spent most of their time doing odd chores and running errands.
No matter how strong he was, how formidable could he possibly be?
“20 million Berries?” Annika guessed with complete sincerity.
She had actually wanted to say 10 million, but on second thought, overestimating was better than underestimating—guessing too low would be terribly awkward.
The expression on Kaido’s face froze instantly.
He stared at Annika with sheer disbelief, his mouth opening slightly, closing, and opening again.
Looking at that earnest face of hers…
was she being serious?
Annika blinked, frightened by Kaido’s reaction, her voice shrinking a few notches: “W-What’s wrong?
Could it be that I got it right?”
Kaido took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.
He understood completely: this woman was purely here to mess with him.
20 million Berries?
Just how much of an amateur did someone have to be to guess such an absurd number?
When he was fifteen, his bounty had already reached 70 million Berries.
“A very accurate guess,” Kaido said with a deadpan face.
“Just…
don’t guess next time.”
Annika’s eyes lit up, blurting out: “Was it that close?
Could it be 19 million Berries?”
The corner of Kaido’s mouth twitched.
Dropping his calm tone entirely, he pulled a stern face and enunciated word by word: “Stop guessing.
Guess again and I’ll beat you to death.”
Annika clamped both hands over her mouth immediately, not daring to utter another sound.
“Hehehe…” Ron chuckled lightly from the side, speaking casually: “Forget the guessing, just reveal it already.”
Kaido didn’t say it out loud, unfolding the wanted poster right in front of Ron instead.
Curious, Annika leaned her head in, reading the text on the poster word by word: “Rocks Pirates crew member…
Ron…
epithet ‘Demon Butcher’…
bounty: ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, hundred thousands, millions, ten millions, hundred millions…”
Her voice grew slower and quieter.
“One…
billion?”
She rubbed her eyes, thinking she had misread it.
“Uh…
1.5 billion Berries?!”
Annika froze completely in place, her mouth slightly agape, her eyes wide as saucers.
It wasn’t 15 million, nor was it 150 million—it was 1.5 billion!!!!
A full 1.5 billion!!!
Annika’s mind raced at extreme speed.
In her eyes, her senior Shakky was unimaginably strong—someone who could carry herself proudly across the sea single-handedly—yet her bounty was only around 700 million.
Meanwhile, the man standing right before her, an “apprentice,” had a bounty more than double Shakky’s.
Then what about the official members?
What about the captain?
Annika didn’t dare think any further.
She slowly raised her head to look at Ron, only to find his expression remarkably calm.
Suddenly, an important piece of information flashed across Annika’s mind.
She had once curiously asked Shakky: Which is the strongest pirate crew on this sea?
Shakky’s answer had been: Right now, the one that makes the entire sea tremble with fear is the Rocks Pirates.
‘Just an apprentice has a bounty of 1.5 billion Berries…
This Rocks Pirates crew is far too terrifying.’
‘Back then, Shakky said everyone on the Rocks Pirates was ambitious, crazy, and thoroughly wicked, but looking at it now, that isn’t entirely true either.’
Thinking up to this point, Annika’s emotions grew complicated.
Right now, she had been “kidnapped” by the Rocks Pirates.
With the strength of the Kuja Pirates…
there was simply no way to rescue her.
While Annika’s thoughts were swirling, Ron had already folded up the wanted poster.
Turning his head, he looked at Kaido: “What?
You seem pretty unsatisfied, Kaido.”
Kaido slumped like a deflated ball, his shoulders drooping, his tone dripping with sour jealousy: “Those Marines really have no eye for talent…
I clearly took part in it too, so why didn’t my bounty budge at all?”
Before his words even finished, he heard Ron chime in breezily: “Isn’t it just a bounty?
I’ve got a way to make yours shoot right up.”
With a grin, Ron started walking ahead.
Kaido paused, then chased after him with keen interest: “Really?
What way?”
“Solo the Holy Land of Mary Geoise,” Ron said in a deadpan, serious tone.
“Walk out alive, and your bounty will definitely skyrocket.”
“Screw you!
How is that any different from telling me to go commit suicide?” Kaido bellowed loudly.
“Don’t worry about the details, just tell me if my method works or not,” Ron continued.
“Works?
Oh, it works brilliantly, but why don’t you clear it solo first?”
“I don’t need my bounty to go up.”
After wandering through the town for the entire morning, when Ron set foot back onto the deck of the auxiliary boat, he spotted a familiar, yet entirely unwelcome figure sitting there.
Ochoku.
Yes, that bastard Ochoku had actually made his way back.
Seeing Ron return, Ochoku showed no extreme emotional reaction, merely sneering out a curse: “Ron, you bastard really put me through a lot of misery.”
Ron glanced at him as if looking at a harmless piece of furniture, showing zero interest in responding.
Instead, he turned to Annika and said, “I’m in the mood for chicken today.
Hmm…
make some poached chicken for us.”
“Yes, Lord Ron!” Annika replied crisply, turning around and heading straight into the cabin.
Ron followed behind at a leisurely pace.
Carrying his spiked club on his shoulder, Kaido walked along, complaining loudly: “Poached chicken?
What kind of dish is that?
Did you invent it?
It sounds terrible just from the name, Ron!”
“What do you know?”
“Why wouldn’t I know?”
Trading words back and forth, the two entered the cabin, their voices gradually fading into the distance.
On the deck, the sea breeze blew steadily.
Sitting on the railing, Ochoku watched Ron’s retreating back, the expressions on his face shifting several times.
In the end, he let out a few cold chuckles.
He didn’t chase after him, nor did he do anything irrational.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to—he simply didn’t dare.
A guy who could treat a warship like a toy and create energy spheres with his bare hands…
Ochoku knew all too well that he was no match for him.
“Ochoku,” Whitebeard suddenly spoke up, his voice flat: “You’d better not try anything stupid.
Otherwise, I won’t let you off.”
Ochoku’s smile stiffened for a fraction of a second before returning to his usual cynical sneer.
Tilting his head, he narrowed his eyes at Whitebeard, his tone tinged with disdain: “Oh?
Newgate?
How come even a guy like you is taking his side now?”
Before setting off, the relationship between Whitebeard and Ron had been lukewarm at best.
Only a few days had passed, and he was already taking sides?
“Mind your own business,” Whitebeard shot back.
Ochoku fell silent for a moment before suddenly bursting into laughter: “Hehehe, you really are unlikable as always.”
Pausing, he asked in a probing tone: “By the way…
where did that guy Ron kidnap a maid from?”
Completely ignoring the hook, Whitebeard replied offhandedly: “If you like it so much, no one will care how many you kidnap yourself.”