Sabaody Archipelago, Shakky's Rip-off Bar.
"Judging by your demeanor, are you planning to head to the New World?"
On the barstool, Rayleigh gently swirled his glass with five fingers, the ice clinking softly against the sides.
"Yeah, need a territory to wait for the right moment."
Sitting across from Rayleigh, Shanks put down his glass and turned his head towards his own bounty poster on a nearby table.
His gaze lingered on the bounty amount of 1,040,000,000 Berry written below, and he smiled.
"How was the journey sailing around the world? See any scenery that stirred your heart?"
Rayleigh glanced sideways at Shanks's severed arm but tactfully didn't mention it.
"How to put it? I saw myself and many things more clearly."
Shanks raised his hand and pressed it against his severed arm, showing a frustrated expression. "But it's a bit of a shame, couldn't snatch the treasure I wanted!"
Rayleigh looked somewhat pityingly at the junior before him, 'Given a certain someone's personality, they probably wouldn't ever get together in this lifetime.'
"I heard someone caused a big stir in the West Blue. They're calling you both Emperor Candidates now!"
Rayleigh subtly reminded him without changing his expression.
He pushed a bounty poster and a newspaper towards Shanks. The pink-haired girl depicted on it was as spirited as ever.
Unexpectedly, Shanks picked up the bounty poster and let out a lonely sigh. "I didn't see her do anything that major either... Why did her bounty shoot up so fast? It's even higher than mine now!"
Seeing his reaction, Rayleigh downed his drink and clutched his head in pain.
'You brat, just resign yourself to being single for life!'
…
"Great Victory for the World Government, Emperor Candidates at Sea..."
Sakura held the newspaper, reading the headline on the front page word by word, symbol by symbol.
This newspaper detailed the events that had previously occurred on Foolshout Island.
Only with a little bit of artistic license.
Basically, it was twisted into evil pirates attacking Foolshout Island, with the righteous Marines and agents resisting unyieldingly and tenaciously, ultimately repelling them.
"In which parallel universe did this happen?"
Kuina's mouth twitched slightly.
But when she saw the bounty poster tucked inside the newspaper, she immediately became overjoyed: "I have a bounty! Great!"
Sakura crossed her arms, nodding with satisfaction. "Hmm, Kuina has become a good girl who knows how to smoke, drink, and get tattoos too."
"Good~, my foot!"
Leviathan jumped up from below the deck and delivered a chop to Sakura's head, making it shake for a moment.
"There's a bounty poster for little Leviathan here too. Want to see it?"
Tiger pulled a bounty poster from the inner layer and handed it to Leviathan.
The petite ship spirit, after reading the information on the bounty poster, shed tears of emotion. "Finally, finally rid of that ridiculous 'pet' title!"
"By the way, why haven't I seen Sakura-nee's bounty poster?"
Having fooled around enough, Kuina stopped and curiously searched through the newspaper's inner layers.
But even after checking every page, she still found nothing.
"Of course, it's with me."
Sakura picked up the brown-papered bounty poster and handed it to the cat-like Kuina.
The other two, similarly unable to resist the desire in their hearts, leaned in to look over the girl's shoulder.
"1.24 billion Berry? Dead or alive?!"
The several people's exclamations echoed across the entire speedboat, their voices skimming over a line of summary text in the newspaper.
[Although this pirate crew of only four seemed insignificant, not even having entered the Grand Line yet,]
[One had to admit they possessed strength surpassing the vast majority of pirate crews, just like the Red Hair Pirates.]
[Therefore, I, the writer, dare to assert that a more special title can be used to distinguish these two pirate crews from ordinary ones.]
[- Emperor Candidates!]
[This comment, personally written by Morgans, the chief editor of the World Economic News Paper, was printed in the newspaper and carried by news coos to all corners of the world.]
The entire world boiled over because of it.
Civilians were shocked by the growing power of the pirates and fell into deep fear and anxiety.
Pirates, on the other hand, ambitiously polished their weapons, awaiting greater chaos.
The three Emperor-like pirates reigning supreme over countless others had finally welcomed two powerful young challengers after several years.
Marineford, Marine Headquarters building.
"What kind of joke is this?! You were the ones being secretive at the start, and now you want to dump this mess on us?!"
In Sengoku's office, the man commanding all the Marines roared hoarsely into the Den Den Mushi's receiver.
"Watch your tone, Sengoku. The Marines are merely the face of the government."
"That woman is a pirate to begin with, so it's your Marine duty to deal with her!"
With those words, the Den Den Mushi made a click sound and hung up mercilessly.
"Damn it!"
The sound of a desk being smashed to pieces was heard. No one dared to enter the Fleet Admiral's office that day.
New World, Wano Country.
"Kaido-sama, have you seen today's newspaper?!"
King, his iron ornaments jingling with every move, walked up to Kaido.
"Worororororo! For brats like these to challenge me, it's ten thousand years too early!"
Kaido, heavily intoxicated from drinking, smashed the gourd in his hand.
Then, above Onigashima, a dragon soared into the sky, searching for a suitable place to commit suicide.
Also in the New World, Whole Cake Island, Totto Land.
"Perorin~ Speaking of which, Mama wants you to marry her, Katakuri~"
Perospero, leisurely drinking black tea, put down his cup, licked his lips, and laughed.
His mocking gaze turned to Katakuri, who had taken off his scarf and was devouring a doughnut nearby.
"Impossible."
Katakuri finished the food in one bite and licked his finger. "Someone with a bounty that high from the Marines won't be the type to be easily bound by marriage."
"Sigh, but Mama just gets these whims. I hope nothing bad happens."
Perospero sighed, then turned a worried gaze towards the giant cake in the distance.
Sea in the latter half of the New World, Moby Dick.
"That Sakura... has she already reached this point?"
Marco the Phoenix gritted his teeth very unwillingly, holding the newspaper.
He stared intently at the photo on the bounty poster, recalling his defeat in battle against her years ago.
Behind him, the pirates were buzzing with discussion.
"What's wrong with Commander Marco?"
"I know! I heard he has an unspeakable past with that Higanbana!"
"Oh! Tell us more!"
A large group of pirates showed gossipy expressions, crowding around the pirate who had spoken.
Immediately, a cluster of flames ignited them along the ship's deck, sending them rolling around, scorched.
"Such a racket... However, the brat from Roger's ship, huh?"
The man with the white crescent mustache, dozing in his chair, slightly opened his eyes, a trace of reminiscence appearing in his pupils.
North Blue.
"Law, come quick, look! There's news about Sakura-nee in the paper!"
"Emperor Candidate... quite the impressive title, isn't it, Wolf?"
"Behehehehe, a terrifying woman."
East Blue.
"Hey Luffy, come look at the paper. It has news about Sakura-Shisou."
"Wow! Such a cool title! I want to be a pirate like them too!"
"You two idiots! Learning bad habits while I wasn't around? Take my Love-Fist of Justice!"
"Captain Buggy! You're actually friends with this Emperor Candidate too? You're so amazing!"
"Kuina... has she become this strong already? Just you wait, I'll definitely catch up to you!"
West Blue.
"Boss Jinbei! There's news about Boss Tiger!"
"Dragon, look who I found in the paper! Hee-haw!"
"Sabo, take a break and look at the paper. There's someone you know on it."
In a turbulent world, the bonds Sakura had unknowingly accumulated during her voyage all rejoiced at her resounding fame across the seas.
Amidst the rising clamor of voices, Sakura stood high-spirited and vigorous at the bow of the Leviathan.
"Sakura, give the order!"
The crew members looked at her with expectant eyes.
"Set sail, for the Grand Line!"
"Whoa!"