Chapter 248: A Hard-Fought Battle with Kid, the Bounty Meeting
"Is he serious?" Ace thought, staring at the cocky, freckle-faced kid. The other Supernovas—Zoro, Sanji, Law—all looked at him with a mixture of pity and disbelief.
"Hey! I'm the one who's supposed to be here!" a voice shrieked. A green-haired man with a mohawk jumped onto a table. "Who is the greatest man from the East Blue?!"
"CAPTAIN SHANE—!!!" a chorus of voices roared back.
"And who's number two?!"
"CAPTAIN BARTO—!!!"
...
"Hey, you over there!" A man with spiky red hair and a massive scar on his chest strode toward them, a masked man at his side. It was Eustass Kid and his first mate, Killer.
"Eustass 'Captain' Kid, bounty 300 million. 'Massacre Soldier' Killer, bounty 165 million," Kuma said, reading from a wanted poster. "The second-strongest of this year's Supernovas. Their high bounties are due to the fact that they have destroyed 19 towns and 6 ports since they set sail."
"The big guy does his homework!" Kid laughed, but his eyes were fixed on Shane. "Hey, Shane! I heard you took out a couple of Celestial Dragons! Nice work! But you can't have all the glory..."
"Come on!" he roared, pointing a thumb at himself. "Fight me! If you lose, your fame, your glory, and your title as the World's Greatest... are all mine!"
The plaza fell silent.
"Hey, Mask-guy," Law said to Killer. "It's normal for a captain to be blinded by ambition. But you're supposed to be the smart one. You're not going to try and stop him?"
"Once Kid has made up his mind, no one can change it," Killer said.
"Shut up, Killer!" Kid snapped. "Well, Shane?! Are you deaf?! Answer me!"
"Not interested," Shane said without even looking at him. He waved a dismissive hand at Jack. "He's noisy. Get rid of him."
To him, Kid was just scum. He wasn't worthy of a proper fight.
"Yes, Boss!" Jack sneered. He took a step forward, and his massive shadow fell over Kid.
"Don't look down on me, you bastard!" Kid roared. "Sending a lackey to fight me?! Where's the spirit you had when you were killing Celestial Dragons?! Are you afraid to fight me?!" Only Shane was worthy of being his opponent!
"Get out of my way, you big oaf!" Kid threw his arms wide, and a torrent of metal—swords, cannonballs, even the sign from the amusement park gate—flew toward him, forming two giant, mechanical arms. "REPEL!"
BOOM!
The giant metal fist slammed into Jack's chest... and crumpled, the metal twisting and shattering. Jack hadn't even flinched.
How...?!
"Is that all you've got?" Jack sneered, and with a casual backhand, he shattered Kid's other metal arm. He grabbed him by the throat and lifted him into the air.
"Let go of the captain!" Killer shrieked, his scythes a blur as he charged.
"Get lost, small fry!" Jack kicked him without even looking, sending him flying into a pile of rubble.
"Weak. You're so weak," Jack said, a look of contempt on his face. "And you dared to challenge our boss?"
"You... bastard..." Kid gasped, his face turning purple.
"This is what you deserve. In your next life, try to be a better person," Jack said, and with a final, sickening CRACK, he snapped Kid's neck. He tossed the body aside like a piece of trash and went to finish off Killer.
The other Supernovas stared in horror. Eustass Kid... is dead? Just like that? If Shane himself had done it, it would have been understandable. But one of his underlings...? The power gap between the New World and Paradise... was this vast?
A few days later, in the grand conference room at Marineford.
Fleet Admiral Sengoku stood at the head of the table, his face gaunt, dark circles under his eyes. "The incident on Sabaody... was a catastrophic failure," he said, his voice hoarse. "The World Government is furious. I have been given two new directives."
"First, the three empty Warlord positions must be filled immediately. Second, the truce with the Curtain Call Pirates is hereby null and void. From this day forward, they are to be considered Marine Headquarters's number one priority for elimination!"
He gestured to Commodore Brannew, who began to post a new set of wanted posters.
"First, the officers who remained in their territory," Sengoku said. "While they did not participate in the Sabaody incident, they are still criminals! Brannew, if you would."
"'Silver Wolf of Thunder' Gin, new bounty: 420,000,000 Belly!"
"'Demon of Gluttony' Nami, new bounty: 350,000,000 Belly!"
"'White Chase' Smoker, new bounty: 412,000,000 Belly!"
"'Winter's Fist' Nojiko, new bounty: 400,000,000 Belly!"
"'Devil Child' Nico Robin, new bounty: 400,000,000 Belly!"
"'Red Leg' Zeff, new bounty: 300,000,000 Belly!"
"And their new pet... a cat... has somehow survived this long. Its bounty is raised to 10,000,000 Belly!"
The officers in the room murmured in surprise. A cat? Survived under the same roof as the Demon of Gluttony? A miracle...
"And now, the main event," Brannew said, posting a new set of four posters.
"Wait, I thought there were only three top officers," a Vice Admiral said.
"There has been a new addition," Sengoku said, his voice grim. "A man of immense power who appeared out of nowhere. It was he who held off Z's fleet. If not for him, the situation on Sabaody would not have been so dire."
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