Several copies of the newspaper from Impel Down had been delivered. Souta Kiryuu received his own latest bounty poster, along with a few extra papers.
Nearby, the Red Earl, Douglas Bullet, and Bundy Walde huddled together, reading the headlines with astonishment.
"You actually rallied Whitebeard, the Golden Lion, and Big Mom to attack the Celestial Dragons?!"
The three of them were stunned by what they saw. The scale of this "God-Demon Island War" seemed to surpass even the legendary "God Valley Incident."
The Red Earl and Walde, both pirates from Roger and Whitebeard's era, knew fragments of that hidden history — but this current battle felt even more earth-shaking.
"If only you'd come to Impel Down earlier," Bullet said with burning eyes, "and then started that war on God-Demon Island — damn, what a fight that would've been!"
His expression twisted with regret and passion. He had missed the greatest clash of the century — a war that gathered every powerhouse on the seas.
Whether it was the Four Emperors or the Five Elders, Bullet longed to fight them all. Even that red-haired brat, Shanks, was now counted among the world's strongest emperors.
"The youngest Emperor with the mightiest Conqueror's Haki, huh…"
Reading that line in the paper, Bullet fell silent.
It was obvious — Roger and Rayleigh must've passed down the deepest secrets of Haki to Shanks, including the legendary Conqueror's Haki infusion.
But during Bullet's three years on Roger's ship, even though Rayleigh sparred with him many times, he had never once used that technique.
And Roger himself? He had crushed Bullet every single time — effortlessly.
Back then, they weren't even on the same level.
Bullet's gaze sharpened as he stared at Shanks' photo in the newspaper.
"Shanks…"
That brat, five or six years younger than him, had already climbed this high?
If Bullet hadn't been locked away in Impel Down for twenty years, he would've been even stronger than that red-haired fool by now!
Frustration boiled in his chest.
Defeat Shanks. Defeat all the Emperors. Become the strongest.
Those thoughts blazed inside him like wildfire.
I must master the Conqueror's Haki infusion. I'll defeat Shanks head-on. I'll show Roger and Rayleigh that the heir they chose will never surpass me!
Veins pulsed on his forehead, his eyes glinting with fierce resolve.
From that moment, mastering that ultimate form of Haki — and surpassing Red-Haired Shanks — became his obsession.
The Red Earl glanced at the paper, his brows furrowed.
"So even Whitebeard and the Golden Lion have aged this much…"
He sighed as he read about Shiki's weakened performance. The feeling hit close to home.
He too was no longer young. How much of his strength could he still summon?
After so many years of imprisonment, his muscles had withered, his Haki dulled.
He was not the man he used to be.
Perhaps his power now was as pitiful as Shiki's.
Bullet might still be in his forties — young enough to recover.
But he himself? Over seventy, trapped in an aging body. Reaching his former peak was all but impossible.
"Maybe I really do need that mythical Zoan Fruit that can restore youth…" he muttered.
"Ahahaha! So many Celestial Dragons dead! That's freakin' amazing!"
Bundy Walde roared with laughter, his sea-stone shackles clanging wildly with every movement.
He still remembered the day of his downfall — when the World Government planted CP agents among his trusted crew.
When the battle came, he was drugged, his strength sapped.
Those agents even fired sea-stone bullets at him, bringing him down fast.
And the worst betrayal? His own brother, Bin Jack, and several of his most trusted officers — abandoning him as the Marines closed in.
That betrayal burned in him to this day.
Now, Walde trusted no one.
If he ever got out, he'd walk the same lone path as the Red Earl and Bullet — a one-man army.
"Muru muru… an eighty-eight billion bounty… What a terrifying man. No wonder he stormed through Impel Down so easily."
A grotesquely ugly woman with a long nose stared at Souta Kiryuu from behind the bars, her eyes gleaming with hunger and desire.
She had already made up her mind — she had to join his crew, the Kiryuu Pirates. It was her only hope of escaping this living hell.
Otherwise, she'd end up like the others — nothing but food for the dragon.
In the Infinite Hell, the pirates who hadn't been petrified or electrocuted were all fixated on Souta Kiryuu's crew.
An eighty-eight billion bounty. A man who massacred Celestial Dragons.
Someone like that was worth following.
Besides, their fates were now entirely in his hands.
"Why the hell is my bounty so low?! Only one point three billion?!"
Enel tore his wanted poster to shreds.
How could his bounty be lower than Bartholomew Kuma's — or even the new female member of Kiryuu's crew, the Pirate Empress herself?!
Even Kaido's top commanders, like King the Wildfire and Marco the Phoenix, ranked higher than him.
Jewelry Bonney burst out laughing when she saw Enel's bounty: only 1.33 billion berries.
"Haha! The gap between you and Kuma-dad's just getting wider, lightning boy!"
Enel's glare could've killed.
"What?! Only a forty-million increase?!"
Gecko Moria shrieked as he saw his new bounty: 660 million berries.
Only a slight bump from his previous 620 million!
Even worse — Crocodile, his subordinate peacekeeper, had a higher bounty than him now, sitting at 665 million!
In a rage, Moria tore up his poster just like Enel did.
Around them, countless prisoners drooled as they listened to the numbers being thrown around — thirty billion, sixteen billion, thirteen billion…
Their own bounties didn't even come close.
Most ranged from two hundred million to six hundred million.
Only those who surpassed six hundred million were considered true elites — second-tier legends of the Grand Line.
In all of Impel Down's Level Six, there were barely a handful of pirates with bounties above that threshold.
"Only five hundred million?"
Trafalgar Law stared at his new poster, unimpressed.
"I personally killed a Celestial Dragon… and they only raised it to five hundred million? Are Celestial Dragons that cheap now?"
He chuckled bitterly.
He'd heard that mermaids sold at Sabaody auctions often fetched five hundred million berries — about the same price as a single Celestial Dragon's life.
The thought was absurd.
"What?! Only three hundred and twenty million for me?! I smashed in a Celestial Dragon's skull! Kuma-dad and I killed at least thirty or forty of them!"
Jewelry Bonney shouted angrily as she crumpled her poster.
Around her, the other imprisoned pirates froze in disbelief.
"She… killed dozens of Celestial Dragons?"
The air grew heavy.
Were the Kiryuu Pirates even human?
They spoke of slaughtering Celestial Dragons as casually as breathing.
...
Hey everyone! Want to read ahead and unlock up to 100 early-access chapters? 📖Plus, enjoy even more exclusive novels! Join my Patreon now and dive into the adventure!
patreon.com/Rawink00