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Honestly, it wasn't just Sanji. The rest of the crew had pretty vague goals when it came to strength.
Luffy wanted to be Pirate King. Zoro aimed to be the world's greatest swordsman.
But the others? It wasn't until after the war at Marineford and Ace's death that they seriously started caring about power.
Realizing that helped Bai Ye understand the different rates at which they were progressing.
Later, Bai Ye used Zoro to throw some shade at Sanji, and sure enough, that lit a fire under him—he awakened both Armament and Observation Haki too.
As for Nami and Usopp, well… Bai Ye could only say: "Still a long road ahead."
But it wasn't all bad. After some training, their base strength had already improved quite a bit.
Time passed day by day—until one day, a weird-looking bird landed on their ship.
"MEAT!!"
Luffy lunged at it the moment he saw it.
If the crew hadn't stopped him in time, the bird would've been plucked clean.
"That's a News Coo!!! If you eat it, we'll never get newspapers again!"Nami punched Luffy and scolded him.
Luffy: "Gomen nasai~"
The News Coo forgave him after Bai Ye paid 200 Berries in damages.
Then Bai Ye grabbed the newspaper from the bird.
He opened it—and immediately found what he was looking for:
Their wanted posters.
Cocoyasi Village—
"Nojiko! Big news!"
Gen suddenly burst in, holding a few wanted posters.
"Nami's wanted poster?!"
Nojiko instantly spotted her sister.
And when she saw the bounty amount, her eyes went wide in shock:
"What the hell did Nami do?!"
[Cat Burglar] Nami — Bounty: 15,000,000 Berries!!!
Syrup Village—
"Miss Kaya, I think you might want to see this."
Merry the butler knocked on Kaya's door and handed her a wanted poster.
"First bounty and it's already this high?"
Kaya looked surprised, then smiled brightly:
"That's so like Usopp~"
"OHHH! Captain Usopp's wanted poster!!!"
Up on a hill, the Onion-headed trio were screaming with excitement as they stared at the bounty.
[Sniper] Usopp — Bounty: 15,000,000 Berries!!!
Baratie, the sea restaurant—
"That Sanji guy… he's actually that strong?"
Patti and the others were whispering in shock, staring at the poster in the kitchen—so much so that they didn't even notice the head chef coming up behind them.
"You idiots! What are you doing slacking off?!"
Zeff kicked them all over, then spotted the poster too.
A smile crept onto his face.
"Hey! You guys—go stick this up on the restaurant door!"
[Black Leg] Sanji — Bounty: 25,000,000 Berries!!!
Shimotsuki Village, Isshin Dojo—
"Listen up, everyone—yes, Zoro did train here for a while."
Koshiro looked at the flood of kids who'd suddenly shown up wanting to learn swordsmanship.
He sighed.
"But I'll tell you right now—I can't teach you to be like Zoro."
"Swordsmanship isn't that simple."
But as Koshiro glanced down at the bounty poster in one of the kids' hands, he couldn't help but smile.
"Looks like you kept your promise, huh?"
[Pirate Hunter] Zoro — Bounty: 30,000,000 Berries!!!
Foosha Village—
"Hey hey hey! Everyone, check this out!!"
A man burst into Makino's bar, waving a piece of paper.
"It's Luffy's wanted poster!!!"
"No way… that number can't be real!"
"Seriously!! What'd that kid do—blow up a Marine base?!"
"You think the Navy's gonna come after us just 'cause we know the brat?"
"Told ya, that kid was always trouble."
The bar filled with complaints and mutters about Luffy.
But in the end, they all raised their mugs together:
"To that troublemaker, Luffy—cheers!!"
At the counter, the village chief sighed.
"Luffy, you really are something else… If Vice Admiral Garp comes back, how am I supposed to explain this to him?"
Makino handed the village chief a cup of sake and said,
"But look, Luffy's smiling so happily!"
She glanced at the wanted poster. Luffy's grinning face stood out clearly.
"Straw Hat Luffy" — Bounty: 60 million Berries!!!
Then, Makino picked up another wanted poster. Looking at the handsome face on it, she couldn't help thinking,
"That guy Luffy… looks like he's found some pretty amazing crewmates!"
On the Going Merry—
"You've gotta be kidding me!!!"
"There's no way Bai Ye's bounty is right!! They must've messed up the numbers!!!"
Nami and Usopp were both in shock—there were just way too many zeroes on Bai Ye's bounty poster.
"Bwahahaha! Knew it! Bai Ye's awesome!!!"
Luffy clapped with excitement, which made Sanji comment:
"Oi, Luffy—Bai Ye's bounty is even higher than yours, and you're the captain!"
"No worries," Luffy replied with full confidence in his eyes.
"Bai Ye's part of my crew. And I'll catch up to him real soon!!"
Zoro, on the other hand, was quietly staring at Bai Ye's wanted poster, then comparing it with his own. He clenched his teeth.
Looks like it's time to double up on training.
But honestly, the one who was most speechless… was Bai Ye himself.
Looking at his own wanted poster, he grumbled in his head:
"This has gotta be that old fart Sengoku's doing… What is this, revenge or something?"
"A whole Fleet Admiral, being this petty???"
"Is it because of that fight with Mihawk? No way… knowing Sengoku, he should've figured out what really happened between me and Mihawk."
"Damn it! Now I'm totally gonna be the center of attention!"
Bai Yehad expected his bounty might be a bit higher than Luffy's.
After all, when the Marines set bounty amounts, it's not just about strength—they also look at how much of a threat someone is to the world.
And considering how much he'd been poking the Navy lately, Sengoku probably saw him as extra dangerous.
Still, Bai Ye had only expected his bounty to be, like, five or ten million more than Luffy's.
But this? This was ridiculous. His bounty alone had catapulted the entire Straw Hat crew into a whole new league.
Looking at the wanted poster in his hand, Bai Ye let out a bitter smile:
"Heavenly Master" Bai Ye — Bounty: 100 million Berries!!!
Straw Hat Pirates Total Bounty: 245 million!!!
"....."