The next morning.
In Cocoyasi Village Plaza, the entire village and Luffy's crew celebrated their liberation from Arlong and Nezumi's rule with a wild party that lasted all night, finally ending only when the sun came up.
What Luffy and the others didn't know was that Marine Headquarters had issued their bounties the previous night, and they were now being distributed across the seas by news birds.
A few hours later, at the coast of Cocoyasi Village, Luffy and Sanji were carrying various supplies—food, seasonings, and cooking utensils.
Shin'ya followed Nami and helped transplant several orange trees from the tangerine grove to the bow of the Going Merry.
"Finally, everything's ready. Do you have anything else you need to bring? We're about to set sail," Sanji asked.
"We need to wait a bit. Nami went to say goodbye to her sister," Shin'ya said, lying on the deck.
Zoro looked at Johnny and Yosaku. "Are you two going to keep sailing with us?"
They both shook their heads. "No, Brother Zoro. We plan to stay here. We know our limits; we wouldn't last long at sea. We're going to settle in Cocoyasi Village and help protect Big Sister's hometown, in our own way."
Zoro nodded. "That's a good choice. Your strength isn't suited for sailing the Grand Line."
After about half an hour, the villagers came to see Nami off.
Nami jumped onto the Merry, turned around, and waved to the villagers. "Goodbye, everyone! Take care of yourselves! I'm off to chase my dream!"
"Big Boss Shin'ya, Captain Luffy, Nami's friends—make sure you protect Nami!" Genzo shouted.
Luffy slapped his chest with a loud thump. "Don't worry, Genzo! No one will hurt Nami before I'm down!"
"Right, right, right!" Zoro, Sanji, and Shin'ya all nodded in agreement.
After bidding farewell to Cocoyasi Village, the Straw Hat Pirates hoisted their sails and resumed their journey into the unknown. Their next destination was Loguetown—the place where everything begins and ends.
After more than half a day of smooth sailing, sunlight streamed onto the deck. Luffy, Zoro, and the others gathered to discuss Armament Haki and Observation Haki enthusiastically.
Right in the middle of their discussion, a giant albatross soared above the ship. With wings spread wide and snow-white feathers, it circled before landing gracefully on the ship's rail.
Nami, spotting the familiar sight, shouted, "Hey, you dumb bird, one newspaper here!"
The albatross rolled its eyes but flapped over to her. From the cloth bag on its chest, it plucked a newspaper and gently placed it in her hand. It then extended a wing and gestured—"100."
"What? Wasn't it 50 Berries before? When did it double?" Nami grumbled but still reluctantly handed over 100 Berries.
The albatross took the money, tucked it away, and flew off.
When Nami opened the newspaper, several bounty posters fell out. She picked them up in confusion—then froze in shock.
"Oh no, Luffy! We have bounties on our heads!" she shouted.
"What, really?" Everyone rushed over and picked up the posters.
Straw Hat Luffy – Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates – Bounty: 100,000,000 Berries
Thousand-Hand Zen Master Shin'ya – Bounty: 700,000,000 Berries
Pirate Hunter Roronoa Zoro – Bounty: 70,000,000 Berries
Black Leg Sanji – Bounty: 60,000,000 Berries
Sogeking Usopp – Bounty: 20,000,000 Berries
Cat Burglar Nami – Bounty: 10,000,000 Berries
"Ahahaha~ I'm a great pirate now! A hundred million Berry bounty!" Luffy laughed, hands on his hips.
"Oh, curly-brows~ look at your bounty. Only 60 million? I'm at 70," Zoro said with a smirk.
Sanji gritted his teeth. "Damn it! Next time, I'm beating your score!"
Shin'ya grinned smugly. "As expected of me, another 200 million Berries increase."
Meanwhile, Nami and Usopp were trembling. "It's over! We're done for! With bounties like these, we'll be hunted!"
At the same time, across the seas, people in the Straw Hats' hometowns were reacting to the news.
In Windmill Village, at Makino's bar, the old mayor and the locals cheered as they saw Luffy's poster.
"That rascal Luffy's finally made a name for himself! Drinks for everyone to celebrate!"
In Shimotsuki Village, at the dojo, Koushirou smiled at Zoro's bounty.
"Zoro… You're getting closer to your dream."
In Syrup Village, Kaya stared at Usopp's poster with a soft smile.
"Keep going, Usopp. You'll become the bravest warrior of the sea."
In Cocoyasi Village, Genzo ran around waving Nami's poster.
"Our Nami is a real pirate now! A bounty! Hahaha~"
In the New World, aboard the Red Force—
"Captain! Big news!"
"Oh?" Shanks looked over as the crew gathered.
Ben Beckman held Luffy's poster. "Haha~ That kid's making waves now."
Shanks smiled fondly. "Not bad. A hundred million on his first bounty."
Then he looked to Mihawk. "This Zoro… he's the swordsman you mentioned, right?"
Mihawk nodded. "He's grown. 70 million. Not bad."
Meanwhile, Yasopp was staring at Usopp's poster, stunned. Then he burst into laughter.
"Hahahaha! That's my son! That's really my son! He's out at sea with Luffy!"
"A 20 million bounty, huh? Just like his dad!" the crew laughed.
Mihawk then looked at Shin'ya's poster and told Shanks, "This one… he fought me. He's frighteningly strong. I'd say he might even be stronger than you. With him, the Straw Hats won't be in danger before the New World."
Shanks chuckled and waved it off. "We'll see."
He clinked his mug against Mihawk's. "To Luffy and the others—let's drink!"
Back with Luffy's crew.
After some teasing, everyone went back to their tasks.
Another day passed.
It was now June 6th, 1520, two days since they'd left Cocoyasi Village. According to Nami, they would reach Loguetown by noon the next day.
Unexpectedly, Luffy and the others' Armament Haki had begun to take shape. They could cover about half their fists in Haki and were just beginning to be able to harm Logia users.
Observation Haki, however, had made no progress.
Shin'ya told them that Observation Haki was best developed through actual combat—or by blindfolding themselves and dodging attacks.
Luffy and the others agreed to focus on Armament Haki for now. One step at a time.
June 7th, 1520. Noon.
The Going Merry docked at Loguetown. Everyone had things to do, so they decided to split up.
"Nami, give me 5 million Berries. I need to buy new weapons," Zoro said bluntly.
"Me too! I need experimental materials to build weapons!" Usopp added.
Luffy ran over. "Nami! I want meat! Give me 2 million Berries!"
Nami stared blankly at all of them. "200,000 Berries each. If that's not enough, figure it out yourselves."
She handed out the money, then prepared to go shopping herself.
Shin'ya stopped her. "Wait. I promised your family I'd protect you. I'll send a clone with you."
He split off a clone and handed it to her. "Alright, you can go now."
Then he turned to the others. "Where are you all heading?"
Luffy grinned. "I'm going to see Roger's execution platform!"
"I'll just explore," Usopp said.
"I'm buying swords," Zoro added.
"Grocery run," Sanji said.
"I'll stay on the Merry and guard the ship," Shin'ya said. "Just in case."
"Got it!" they all replied and headed off to their destinations.
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