Chapter 534 - 374

Chapter 375: A Turbulent World!Zoro and Sanji, who were fooling around, stopped their antics. Law, who had been left caught between laughter and tears by the "idiotic theater," also let his rare smile fade...In an instant, everyone's gaze fell upon Nami's face."Nami, what's wrong?" Robin was the first to speak, setting down her fruit tea.Nami didn't answer; she simply held up the slightly trembling newspaper."You guys... see for yourselves..."Robin, who was closest, took the newspaper. As she glanced at the front-page headline, the pupils of her wise and calm eyes suddenly constricted."Hey, hey, what is it? Stop keeping us in suspense!" Usopp scratched his head in anxiety.Robin took a deep breath. In her characteristic calm and clear voice, she read out the content that was enough to shake the entire world, word by word."World Economy News, front-page headline—"""A New Surge! emperor of the sea 'straw hat' Luffy Defeats 'Heavenly Yaksha' Donquixote Doflamingo in Dressrosa!"""Sub-headline: "The End of the Underworld? The Kingdom Imprisoned for Ten Years Welcomes the Dawn!""The entire page of the newspaper was filled with a massive photograph.The background of the photo was the DressrosaRoyal Palace Plateau, now reduced to ruins....Franky snatched the newspaper and flipped to the bounty poster page. Then, his mechanical eyes instantly bulged!"SUPER!!!" he let out a strange cry."Captain, 'straw hat' Monkey D. Luffy, bounty amount: 4,444,000,000 Berries!Comment: This man already reigns over the sea; his very existence poses the ultimate threat to the World Government!""'pirate hunter' Roronoa Zoro, bounty amount: 1,320,000,000 Berries!""'black leg' Sanji, bounty amount: 1,310,000,000 Berries!""'Surgeon of Death' Trafalgar Law, bounty amount: 1,298,000,000 Berries!""'Devil Child' Nico Robin, bounty amount: 790,000,000 Berries!""'GOD' Usopp, bounty amount: 500,000,000 Berries!"...A series of astronomical figures left the deck in dead silence."Five... five hundred million?!"Usopp's eyes nearly popped out of his head. He snatched the newspaper, looked at his own bounty poster photo—which had been edited to look incredibly divine—and his legs gave way, causing him to foam at the mouth on the spot."It's over... I've caught the 'I'll die if I see my own bounty' disease...""Wow! My bounty finally went up to a thousand Berries!"Chopper wept with joy o(╥﹏╥)o, even though it had only increased from a hundred Berries to another still negligible amount."Hmph, only 1.3 billion. Why is that Curly Eyebrows roughly the same as me?" Zoro was quite displeased."What did you say, Mosshead?!" Sanji immediately retorted.Watching her crewmates start their daily bickering again, Nami weakly held her forehead.Do these guys really understand what this represents?"Everyone, I'm afraid that's not the only focus."Jinbe's voice once again silenced everyone. Pointing at the report about Fujitora in the newspaper, he said in a low voice:"Admiral Fujitora, due to his arbitrary actions in Dressrosa and his public apology on his knees broadcast to the whole world, has severely damaged the Marine's 'Absolute Justice' face.""Fleet Admiral Sakazuki was furious and issued a notice: until Fujitora captures Straw Hat Luffy, he is 'forbidden from stepping into any Marine base'!""Within the Marine... cracks have already appeared." Robin's eyes were unfathomable."It seems Fleet Admiral Akainu's hardline style and Mr. Fujitora's 'Humane Justice' have reached a point of being completely incompatible."This news made the ship's think tank feel more uneasy than the skyrocketing bounties.A split within the Marine often signals that the world order is about to change."There's more."Law's voice grew a few degrees colder as he pointed to another section of the newspaper."To fill the vacancies in the Shichibukai, the World Government has appointed two new Seven Warlords of the Sea.""One is a man calling himself 'Whitebeard Jr.', Edward Weevil."When Jinbe saw this name, his expression changed as well:"I've heard of him! This fellow possesses terrifying strength comparable to the young Pops Whitebeard, but his brain doesn't work very well.""He has been hunting down the remnants of the former Whitebeard Pirates; it's said that several division commanders have already fallen at his hands!""And the other one?" Usopp asked nervously.The corner of Law's mouth curled into a strange, half-smile."The other one... is 'Star Clown' Buggy.""Pfft—!!!!"This time, even Luffy spat out the juice in his mouth!"Bu... Buggy?! That red-nosed Buggy?! He became a Shichibukai?! Hahahaha! This has to be a joke!!"Luffy rolled on the deck laughing, tears streaming down his face.This rival, whom he had been thrashing since the East Blue, had actually climbed to the same position he once held?This world is just too surreal!"This is no joke, straw hat-ya."...Robin pulled out a report that was tucked away in the corner at the bottom of the stack of newspapers."What's truly dangerous might be this."She showed the report to everyone.The title consisted of only one character and one name."Z""Former Marineford Admiral, 'black arm' Zephyr, recently announced his formal departure from the Marine to establish the 'NEO Marines'!""His goal is—""To completely end the Great Pirate Era and hunt down every pirate in the world!"Robin added softly:"Zephyr is a Marine legend from the same era as Sengoku and Garp. Almost all current officers at the rank of Vice Admiral or higher in the Marinewere once his students.""All his life he believed in 'Non-lethal' Justice, but his family died tragically at the hands of pirates, and the students he trusted were also ambushed by pirates, resulting in total annihilation.""This is a man who had everything taken from him by pirates.""In his heart, there is only the ultimate hatred for pirates."The atmosphere on the deck instantly dropped to freezing point.His strength, his determination, and his madness...Just imagining it made Usopp and Chopper tremble all over, nearly fainting."One after another... what kind of monsters are they..." Nami felt like her head was about to explode.The world had plunged into an unprecedented vortex of chaos because they had defeated Doflamingo.New enemies, old rivals, potential threats...Everything felt like the dark clouds gathering before a storm, pressing down until it was hard to breathe.But in that deathly silence."Hey? Something's happening!!!"Everyone looked up sharply to see Usopp holding a telescope, pointing towards the horizon behind the ship!"There's... there's... a singing Cake Ship... catching up to us!!!"