Foxy wanted to say something, but in this heavy atmosphere, the words caught in his throat.
Hamburg, Porche, and the other crewmates exchanged uneasy glances as they entered the sea fog.
It was too unnatural. Everything about this was wrong. It felt as if they had suddenly drifted into the "Devil's Triangle."
Apprehension and dread spread among the Foxy Pirates. Their breathing quickened, and more than anything, they wanted to retreat—back to the island, out of the suffocating fog, where they could breathe fresh air again.
But not everyone was retreating. One figure pushed forward in a rush—the host, Itomimizu, with his black-and-white striped head covering.
The moment he entered the fog, he had leapt off his sparrow.
Looking panicked, he shoved past a few crewmates, at first intending to report to Porche as planned. But sensing the gravity of the situation, he went straight to Foxy.
"Captain!"
"Itomimizu?" Foxy tugged at his suspenders to mask his own nerves. "What is it?"
"I just saw the latest newspaper…" Itomimizu darted a terrified glance at the black ship looming before them. "Captain, you'd better see it for yourself."
Foxy snatched the paper, his eyes caught instantly by the headline:
"Davy Jones Defies the World Government Once Again—This Time He Strikes at a Warlord of the Sea?!"
What? Impossible!
He skimmed the article, his shock growing with every line. Words like Arabasta Kingdom, civil war, conspiracy, Crocodile, Baroque Works, Navy incompetence appeared again and again.
Could it be? The "Desert Kingpin" Crocodile had been defeated—head-on—by Davy Jones?
Wasn't this "Davy Jones" supposed to be a fraud?
What was happening to the world?
Hamburg, Porche, and even the fish-man Capote leaned in, reading the paper that had drained all the color from their captain's face. They too fell into shock and confusion.
They had holed up in this sea for too long, far removed from the world's upheavals.
"No way!" Foxy hurled the paper aside, forcing confidence into his voice. "It's just Morgans making up nonsense again! Crocodile is a Warlord of the Sea—even the Navy has to give him face! How could he just lose like that?"
The crew echoed him, but none of them sounded convinced. Morgans' reports were always part truth, part lies. But which part was which this time?
Porche quietly retrieved the paper and began reading it more carefully.
"Captain…" Itomimizu's voice trembled, on the verge of tears, as he pulled out a stack of freshly printed wanted posters, the ink still smelling fresh. "I think this time it's real."
The posters were the latest bounties of the Davy Jones Pirates. His hands shook as if they carried something unbearably heavy.
"Read them!" Foxy swallowed hard, barking the order.
Under the gaze of all, Itomimizu forced himself to read aloud:
"Sea Bull Momoo — Bounty unchanged, 5 million Beli."
"Parasol Girl Mikita — 27 million Beli."
"Octopus Hachi — 40 million Beli."
"Iron Mace Alvida — 55 million Beli."
"Schemer Kuro — 56 million Beli."
"Clown Buggy — 95 million Beli."
Itomimizu faltered, swallowed hard, and pressed on:
"Lord of the Deep Sea Davy Jones — 150 million Beli."
"The total bounties of the Davy Jones Pirates now amount to a staggering 428 million Beli!"
By then, the Foxy Pirates didn't need to hear more.
Such across-the-board, drastic bounty increases could only mean one thing: the crew had indeed accomplished something monumental in Arabasta.
The likeliest truth? Crocodile, the Warlord of the Sea, and his organization had truly been crushed by the Davy Jones Pirates.
For Foxy, whose bounty was a mere 24 million, a pirate worth over 100 million was nothing unusual. In the New World, they were everywhere—so common in the headlines they hardly raised an eyebrow anymore.
But when someone earned that bounty by toppling a Warlord of the Sea, that was another matter entirely.
It meant Davy Jones was far more dangerous than they had imagined.
Foxy held the wanted poster of Davy Jones, staring at that face, its tendrils rendered almost lifelike. His eyes shifted down to the title—"Lord of the Deep Sea."
A terrifying thought crept into his mind:
Could this really not be an impostor, but the true Davy Jones himself?
No, no, impossible! That can't be!
Cold sweat streamed down his forehead.
"Captain." Itomimizu's trembling voice broke the silence. "Someone's disembarked."
Foxy blinked, dazed, then understood what he meant.
He looked up. The shadow at the ship's rail had vanished. A group of figures now descended the gangplank to the shore.
At their head was the very man from the wanted poster in Foxy's hands—Davy Jones.
Foxy's grip went slack. The poster was snatched away by the sea breeze, fluttering into the air before landing at Hachi's feet.
The octopus-fishman caught it with three arms, glanced at it in mild surprise, and passed it to Davy Jones.
"Captain, take a look."
Jones glanced at the poster of himself, his bounty raised to 150 million Beli. His expression barely changed as he tossed it aside.
"Ah—it really is you!"
Capote, the fish-man of the Foxy Pirates, suddenly stepped forward.
"'Octopus' Hachi, sir! The moment I saw the wanted poster, I thought it might be you—and it is!"
The respect in his tone stunned the Foxy crew. Capote almost never bowed his head to anyone, much less spoke with such reverence.
Just who exactly was this "Octopus" Hachi?
"You are…?" Hachi scratched the back of his head, his long octopus mouth puckering. "Do I know you?"
"You were once a proud member of the great Sun Pirates! A subordinate of the mighty Fisher Tiger himself! A big name on Fishman Street!"
Capote was almost groveling.
"Of course you wouldn't know someone as small as me. Back then, all I could do was watch as you and Arlong set sail for the East Blue—I so wished I could follow! But now at last I've had the chance to venture out myself."
Hachi nodded vaguely, as though not entirely sure he'd understood.
Porche, meanwhile, cast a sidelong glare at Alvida, her heart twisted with envy.
How could the world be so unfair? Not only was Alvida prettier, with better skin and a better figure, but even her bounty was higher than hers!
Ugh…
Foxy looked at his crew. The so-called "Pirate Game" hadn't even started, and already they were wilted.
At this point… was there even any point in playing it?
A chill suddenly ran up his spine. He looked up—Davy Jones was staring straight at him.
"What's your name?"
"Eh? I… I…" Foxy stammered.
"Didn't you hear the captain?" Buggy suddenly leapt out, jabbing a finger at Foxy with uncharacteristic fury. "Answer him, you butt-head!"
"B-butt…?" Foxy's greatest insecurity was his hairstyle. Being called a "butt-head" left him sputtering, unable to refute it.
Kuro, Alvida, Hachi, and Mikita all blinked in surprise. Buggy's outburst was unlike him. But then they saw Foxy's face clearly through the mist, and it all made sense.
Foxy, too, had a red nose.
Unlike Buggy's large, round one, his was a pointed, bulbous drinker's nose—like a sharp arrowhead.
But still, to Buggy it was like holding up a mirror. A constant reminder of his own red nose, the object of ridicule his whole life.
"Say it!" Buggy shrieked, his voice sharp with fury. "Butt-head, what's your name? Or else we'll just keep calling you Butt-head from now on!"
It was pure bullying, and it struck Foxy right where it hurt. His spirit crumpled completely.
"I'm Foxy…" he muttered, defeated. "Captain of this crew…"
Buggy opened his mouth to jeer further, but Davy Jones finally raised a hand, signaling him to stop.
"Alvida has told me," Jones said evenly. "She said you were hosting something called 'Davy Jones' Pirate Game.' I find the idea… intriguing. Explain it to me."
PS: New name of Captain Davy Jones is "Lord of the Deep Sea"