"President! President! Calm down! Hurry, get the sedative!!"
At the headquarters of the World Economy News Paper, the reporters were once again thrown into chaos, because their president was having another episode.
Even before the Summit War began, Morgans had already fallen into a manic state from sensing the epic war to come. He was so overly excited that he couldn't sleep at all, so he took some sleeping pills.
But once the war began, one big news after another kept reaching Morgans' ears. To help stabilize his emotions, the others gave him some calming medicines.
After the war ended, even more major events came to Morgans' attention—and at that point, the side effects of both the sleeping pills and the calming medicines kicked in at the same time, making it impossible for him to concentrate on work.
So, he simply took some stimulants too. As the old saying goes: Don't mess around with drugs.
After taking the stimulants, Morgans received even more shocking news. That did it—his nerves went into a complete frenzy. If his brain could be seen as its own world, the cells inside would now be dancing wildly—like they were on drugs.
"Will this work? The president's like this because he took too many medicines. If we inject him again…"
"What else do you suggest?! Or do you want to have a chat with the president….Lie down!"
RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
All the reporters immediately hit the floor. At the same time, a stream of bullets tore through the glass, sending documents flying all over the place. Morgans was cackling wildly, wielding a Gatling gun, spraying bullets without restraint.
This was the headquarters of a news agency, yes—but this world was far too dangerous. As a journalist—and also one of the top figures in the Underworld—it made perfect sense for Morgans to stash some weapons here.
And besides, out on these seas, being a journalist without some serious skills just didn't cut it. Combat, stealth tracking, disguise—you had to know something to get the big news. That's why Morgans' subordinates were actually quite the hidden talents.
One reporter grabbed the syringe of sedative and hurled it like a dart, somehow managing to stick it into Morgans' body, bringing his rampage to a halt.
While they had the chance, the other reporters scrambled to confiscate every weapon Morgans might get his hands on. But not even three minutes later, Morgans was back on his feet.
"No way… That dosage of sedatives should knock out an elephant for a day…"
"Hey! Are you trying to kill the president?! What the hell were you thinking by using that dose?!"
"Wasn't I just worried it wouldn't be enough? And looking at it now, the dosage was still too small."
A few reporters were still rummaging through drawers and cabinets, trying to find some rope to restrain Morgans, but this time, Morgans didn't go into a frenzy.
"All of you, go prepare the articles! What are you standing around here for?"
"President… you're okay now?"
"I'm Big News Morgans! Until I see this big news go public, there's no way I'm collapsing. Get to work immediately! Wait a minute—who put bullet holes in this?! What if the photo gets ruined?!"
Morgans picked up the file folder in front of him—it contained the draft of the newspaper—but now, there were several bullet holes in it. Morgans didn't seem to remember what had just happened and turned to question his reporters instead.
Seeing that no one replied, he didn't press further. Instead, he looked at the bounty posters in front of him and let out a strange, eerie laugh.
"These guys' bounties really are something else."
Beasts Pirates Governor-General – Kaido of the Beasts – Bounty: 5,511,100,000 Berries.
These hard-working photographers hadn't slacked off even during the war—Kaido's photo had been updated to one taken during the Summit War, showing the scene after his showdown with Whitebeard.
At that time, a fierce scar had appeared on his chest, yet the smile on his face couldn't be hidden.
After defeating Whitebeard, Kaido's title as the "Strongest Creature" was finally cemented once and for all, and his bounty naturally surpassed that of the former Whitebeard.
Yamato the Oni Princess – Bounty: 2,863,000,000 Berries.
Yamato's bounty hadn't risen dramatically, and it even included the added factor of being Kaido's daughter. Despite her parentage, Yamato's behavior didn't pose much of a threat to the outside world.
This was a conclusion drawn from comparing her to other pirates—next to them, Yamato was practically a little angel.
King the Conflagration – Bounty: 2,300,000,000 Berries.
Shayna the Flame Blood – Bounty: 1,900,000,000 Berries.
King's bounty had gone up several times recently due to frequent clashes with the Marines. Shayna, on the other hand, hadn't quite caught up to King in terms of bounty, largely due to her own way of doing things.
Hydra the Evil Dragon – Bounty: 500,000,000 Berries.
As Kaido's mount, Hydrachton's value had also soared. This was part of the first batch of bounty posters updated by the Marines—other pirates were still awaiting verification—but among these earliest bounty announcements, there were two especially notable ones.
Queen the Plague – Bounty: 3,200,000,000 Berries.
This time, he didn't get scapegoated. The World Government saw certain things very clearly, but in order to influence the situation, they placed the blame on Queen, so his bounty only increased by 500 million.
That's not a small amount, but considering it's Queen, you could say this was already pretty generous.
Of course, the bounty poster still had the bolded notation: "Only Alive."
That "honor" was not something Queen could easily shake off.
And right below Queen, Arceus's bounty poster shattered expectations.
Vice-Captain of the Beasts Pirates - Arceus the Divine Punisher
Bounty: 6,016,000,000 Berries.
Arceus's bounty had directly doubled, and even surpassed Kaido's.
Even if the World Government didn't want to admit it out loud, they knew exactly how terrifying this monster was. He had single-handedly deflected that attack—an act that defied all logic. Even the most absurd abilities in history wouldn't dare claim to be capable of doing such a feat.
Though they didn't say it outright, this was their way of warning the Marines below: be wary of this monster's strength.
Beyond that, they had another motive: they hoped this bounty would sow discord within the Beasts Pirates.
There's an unspoken rule about bounties: within any force—be it the Revolutionary Army, the underworld, or among pirates—the leader always has the highest bounty. No exceptions.
No matter how powerful a subordinate is, their bounty should never exceed that of their captain.
Or to put it another way: a true powerhouse wouldn't be willing to work for someone weaker than themselves—so a subordinate's bounty shouldn't surpass their captain's.
The World Government didn't believe that these two monsters within the Beasts Pirates had no conflict at all.
Now that the vice-captain's bounty had surpassed the captain's, surely that would stir up some trouble, right? Even if they knew it probably wouldn't, they still adopted a "might as well try" attitude when issuing the bounty.
Maybe—just maybe—it would cause some of the regular officers in the Beasts Pirates to start harboring dark thoughts, sparking some internal conflict. And if the Beasts Pirates could be split from within, that would undoubtedly be a good thing for the World Government.
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