Chapter 234: Followers of That Man!
The barbecue restaurant next door was packed to the rafters. Every table was full, and the aisles were crowded with people. They were all muscular men in punk-rock attire, tearing into greasy slabs of meat and chugging mugs of beer. At first glance, it was a scene of boisterous camaraderie. But that was only if you ignored the headbands they were all wearing, like fans at an idol concert, each embroidered with a different slogan—
"Lord Shane's Loyal Hounds - Loguetown Chapter"
"Justice is in the Heart, Not the Uniform!"
"We Pledge Our Lives to Lord Shane, the Swordmaster's Soul is Eternal!"
"The Curtain Call Crew's (Self-Proclaimed) Apprentice Combatants Have Arrived!"
...The slogans were varied, but they all shared one thing in common: a fanatical devotion to a certain Emperor of the Sea.
After a few rounds, one of the officers, a man with a mohawk, leaped onto a table and raised his glass. "Hey! My boys! Answer me! Who is the greatest man from the East Blue?!"
"CAPTAIN SHANE—!!!"
"And who's number two?!"
"CAPTAIN BARTO—!!!"
"OOOOOH!!!"
The restaurant erupted in a deafening roar.
In the corner, Bartolomeo let out a drunken burp and laughed. "Come on, guys! I told you! When you're cheering for Captain Shane, don't cheer for me right after! It's disrespectful!"
The mohawk-man nodded sagely. "Then let's change it up! Boys! Who is the second-greatest man from the East Blue, under Captain Shane?!"
"SECOND-IN-COMMAND BARTO—!!!"
"Hey! Don't call me second-in-command!" Barto roared, his sharp teeth bared.
CRASH!
Just then, a loud bang and the sound of two boys yelping came from the bar next door. "If you're going to fight, take it outside!" a cool female voice snapped. "The loser can go to the hospital, and the winner can come back and pay the bill!"
Ooh? A show?
Bartolomeo and his crew all rushed to the door to watch.
In the alley outside, a freckle-faced kid in a cowboy hat and a moss-headed swordsman were rubbing their backsides, having just been kicked out of the bar. They glared at each other, then charged, and a chaotic brawl ensued.
"Haha! Not bad, Moss-head!" Ace laughed, dodging a slash. "I didn't think the East Blue had any other decent swordsmen besides Shane! But... you're still no match for my fists!" He clenched his right fist, and his entire arm turned a glossy black.
Armament Haki? Zoro's eyes narrowed. He'd seen Big Brother Shane use it. Kuina had told him it was something only New World pirates usually mastered. This guy... he really was the strongest of the new Supernovas. But...
"Don't get cocky just because you can use Haki! A swordsman's will can cut through anything!" Zoro sneered. "And show some respect for Big Brother Shane! After I cut you down, your bounty will be enough to pay off my bar tab and buy me a new ship! A big one, to make that damn curly-brow jealous when I see him again!"
"Two Sword Style: Seventy-Two Pound Phoenix!"
...
On a nearby rooftop, two other figures were watching the fight.
"Another one of Shane's worshippers," Eustass Kid sneered, tapping his temple. "These guys from the East Blue... they're all a little crazy." A pirate's dream was to find the One Piece, to conquer the seas, to become the Pirate King! What was all this idol worship? He, Captain Kid, worshipped no one but himself. His fists were the only truth he believed in.
"It's normal to admire a senior from your hometown," Killer said, his voice muffled by his mask. "What I find more interesting is that the East Blue is supposed to be the 'Weakest Sea,' but of the eleven Supernovas this year, five of them are from there. That's almost half."
"Numbers don't mean anything," Kid scoffed. "Most of them are trash. Their bounties are even lower than yours. But this freckle-faced guy... he's got some nerve, having a bounty higher than mine. I'm going to have to beat him, in public, and reclaim my title as the strongest Supernova!"
...
"Those two ugly men have been standing on that roof posing for half an hour. What are they looking at?" On the balcony of a high-class restaurant, a breathtakingly beautiful blond man sipped his tea with a frown. To be lumped in with such crude ruffians as a "Supernova"... it was a disgrace. But... no matter. He would prove his superiority in the New World. The other ten... he'd just kill them all.
...
A few dozen kilometers away, a small ship was racing toward Sabaody.
"We're almost there, Sanji! Another half hour, at most!" Chopper said, then looked back worriedly at the lump on the deck. "Once we get to the island, I can get some medicine for you. Are you going to be okay?"
The "lump" was Sanji, who was curled up in a ball so tight he was even curlier than his eyebrow, his arms wrapped around his head.
"Sanji? Hey, Sanji?"
"...Don't say my name, Chopper..." he whimpered. "Please... just let me be alone... it hurts to even hear my own name..."
What's wrong with him? Chopper wondered. He noticed a crumpled newspaper on the deck next to Sanji. He picked it up. This seemed to be the cause of his distress. "The Eleven Supernovas arriving at Sabaody..." He scanned the list.
["Fire Fist" Portgas D. Ace, Bounty: 330,000,000 Belly]
["Captain" Eustass Kid, Bounty: 300,000,000 Belly]
["Surgeon of Death" Trafalgar D. Law, Bounty: 200,000,000 Belly]
["Massacre Soldier" Killer, Bounty: 165,000,000 Belly]
["Pirate Prince" Cavendish, Bounty: 159,999,000 Belly]
["Red Flag" X Drake, Bounty: 150,000,000 Belly]
["Two Swords" Roronoa Zoro, Captain of the Two Swords Pirates, Bounty: 121,000,000 Belly]
["Green Turtle" Bartolomeo, Captain of the Barto Club, Bounty: 111,000,000 Belly]
["Squinting Sword" Smoker's Subordinate, Bounty: 107,000,000 Belly]
["Hyena" Bellamy, Captain of the Bellamy Pirates, Bounty: 100,000,000 Belly]
That was ten. The last one had to be Sanji, right? Last month, they'd beaten up a tyrannical king and fought off a Marine fleet led by a Vice Admiral! That had to be worth over 100 million! But...
"Eeeeh?!" Chopper's eyes went wide, his hoof trembling as he pointed at the paper. "Why... why is it like this?!"
The last wanted poster... was his own.
["Poison Doctor" Tony Tony Chopper, Doctor of the Chef Pirates, Bounty: 166,000,000 Belly]
The last Supernova... is me?!! How is my bounty so high?! I was just providing support! Sanji was the one who fought the Vice Admiral! "Hey, Sanji..." he said, his voice trembling. "What's... what's your bounty?"
Sanji just curled up even tighter and whimpered. Chopper finally found it, in tiny print at the very bottom of his own article—
["Curly Brow Prince" Sanji, Captain of the Chef Pirates, Bounty: 50 Belly, ONLY ALIVE]
"Fifty... Belly?!" Chopper's jaw hit the deck. "Are they serious?! How can anyone's bounty be that low?!"
"Don't say it, Chopper! Don't say it!" Sanji suddenly leaped up and tore the newspaper to shreds. "You don't understand! The bounty doesn't matter! But we're about to get to Sabaody! We're going to see that moss-head! He's going to see my bounty, and he's going to laugh at me!"
Just the thought of it was more than he could bear. "Kill me now!"
"Is that what you're worried about?" Chopper said, relieved. "But you said that Zoro guy is a complete idiot with no sense of direction. We're not even at Sabaody yet. There's no way he could have gotten here before us."
Eh? That's right.
Sanji froze, then threw his head back and laughed. "Of course! I was tricked by the newspaper! That guy is probably still stuck at Reverse Mountain! There's no way I'll run into him here!" He'd just have to get to the New World first, make a name for himself, and get his bounty corrected. Then he'd be the one laughing!
"We're here, Sanji," Chopper said, pointing to Grove 39.
"Right," Sanji said, lighting a cigarette. Just as he was happily fantasizing about his future reunion with Zoro, he caught a glimpse of a woman with a high ponytail and a black coat standing on the adjacent pier, staring at him coldly...
"Waaaah!" Sanji's face went white. He instinctively dropped his cigarette, stamped it out, and threw his hands in the air. "Big Sis Kuina! It's not what it looks like! I wasn't smoking! I mean, I don't even have a lighter! I mean..."
"Eh?" The woman turned, a confused look on her face. "Was someone calling me?" She turned to the empty sea and bowed politely. "I'm sorry, I wasn't looking your way. Could you please repeat that?"
...Chopper and Sanji stared at the idiotic girl's back, then at the shredded newspaper on the deck. No way... the resemblance is uncanny...
...
"So, the last three Supernovas have finally arrived," a man with a blue captain's hat said, sitting on a bench under one of the giant mangrove trees.
"Yes, Captain Drake," his subordinate replied. "As you ordered, we've been keeping a close eye on Shane's followers. Would you like to meet with them?"
"Of course. And prepare a gift," Drake said, his face impassive. "Loyal hounds often have a better sense of smell than ordinary people. If we can get on their good side, it will increase our chances of successfully joining the Curtain Call crew, will it not?"
"I understand. So you've made your decision, Captain. I thought you wanted to join the Beast Pirates..."
"People change," Drake said, rubbing the Transponder Snail in his pocket. "Lord Shane's fame grows with each passing day. It's only natural that more and more people would be drawn to him. As of last month... I have become his most ardent follower."
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