"Thank you all for taking time from your busy schedules to attend this meeting. As for why this meeting is of such high importance, I believe you might have heard a bit about it before coming..."
"Let's skip the chit-chat and get started, Blanu."
Tsuru rubbed her brow and opened her mouth somewhat wearily, "I just returned from a meeting at the Holy Land and I really don't want to hear once more how our Navy Headquarters lost face at the Shampodi Islands."
"..."
The other high-ranking members present puffed on their cigars with grim expressions, silent.
That incident, just as old mentor Tsuru said, is better off omitted...
Admiral Candidate Chaton was killed on the spot, the combined fleet of headquarters elite and Shampodi Islands base was swept and repelled, and even the subsequent deployment of two serving Grand Admirals couldn't prevent the opponent's escape...
It wasn't just losing face!
It dealt a severe blow to the morale of all Marinfanto.
One could say.
Since the Four Emperors era became stable, the Navy Headquarters has never been this humiliated.
"Yes, Vice Admiral Tsuru!"
Blanu hurriedly saluted.
He skipped the opening remarks and event introduction, pulled out three bounty orders from the large pile held by his aide, and posted them on the whiteboard.
"In short, the topic of this meeting is to reassess the bounties for the notorious Endgame Pirates! Let's start with the ones who had the lowest original bounties!"
"First is this guy!"
Smack!
Blanu's right hand slapped the middle of the picture, showing a freakishly tall and mighty Fishman youth with a head full of blond hair.
"The Saddleback Grouper Fishman, Jack!"
"This person's origins are unknown; originally he was a nobody, roughly joining the Endgame Pirates around the time of the Judicial Island incident, where he demonstrated astonishing strength during the Shampodi event!"
"First at the port, he instantly and effortlessly knocked out one of this generation's brightest Super Rookies, Sasaki, and later played a leading role in the siege against Mr. Tokikake. One might say Mr. Tokikake's tragic demise is closely tied to this person!"
"Eleph-Eleph Fruit Ancient - Mammoth Form Ability User, possessed of Dual-Colored Haki, with extremely high physical endurance!"
"According to supplementary intelligence, this guy once exchanged blows with Hundred Beasts Kaido in Water Seven. While the specifics are unknown, surviving against Kaido alone is enough to attest to his formidable prowess."
"In summary!"
Blanu spoke in a solemn voice, "After several rounds of discussions by the planning department, the bounty for 'Wild Elephant' Jack is finally set at—five billion Belly!"
"Five billion Belly?!"
As expected.
Once this figure was announced, the meeting room was filled with murmurs.
"Isn't this a bit too high? Is it necessary to value a first-time bounty so heavily?"
"But his accomplishments are indeed impressive, you can't give such a powerhouse the same status as a Super Rookie..."
"Silence."
Tsuru suddenly spoke.
Her voice wasn't loud, a bit frail and powerless, yet it immediately brought the rowdy meeting room to a silence so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
"Being one of the main culprits for Mr. Tokikake's demise, it's never too much to be concerned, I have no objections." Tsuru sighed lightly, then said flatly, "Continue, Blanu."
"Yes, Vice Admiral Tsuru."
Blanu pointed his finger again at the wanted poster on the right, "Everyone, please pay attention to the girl I am pointing at now... No! This female demon!"
The photo depicted a young girl with orange hair and a delicate appearance.
Whether due to the camera angle or lighting issues, she was grinning with a wicked smile, biting into a fluffy white object.
"What's she eating?"
"Can't see clearly, looks like a cloud."
"Wait, could it be..." Vice Admiral Yamakaji furrowed his brows.
"That's right!"
Blanu's expression grew serious, and he brought out an old wanted poster and placed it next to it.
Depicted on it was the "Flaming White Team" member Nuomi with a bounty of one hundred million Belly, yet the photo was gray with a big red cross, indicating the bounty order had been voided.
"Commander Yamakaji guessed right, what she's eating is the Flame-Flame Fruit Ability User, the pet, and also a key operative among the Endgame Pirates, Nuomi!"
Blanu took a deep breath, his tone heavy:
"Previously, it was a mistake by our intelligence department, merely overlooking her malicious nature because the girl appeared young, now we must reassess her danger level!"
"According to witness reports from the Shampodi Islands and the analysis of footage by our intelligence department."
"This girl, when confronted with Mr. Tokikake's righteous assault, demonstrated the Flame-Flame Fruit ability, narrowly escaping through elementalization, and exploiting the Logia-type's advantage against enemies not wielding Haki, easily defeated the Super Rookie Garrett at the docks!"
"Meanwhile, Nuomi disappeared entirely, replaced by an ordinary little dog with no special traits. Comparing this against the submitted photo, we can be almost certain..."
"This girl named Nami, like her brother Shano, is a vicious and inhuman scoundrel!"
"She... very possibly, through some extremely brutal means, acquired Nuomi's Flame-Flame Fruit ability!"
The meeting room was instantly in an uproar!
"Are you saying she devoured her companion... all to gain the ability?!"
A Navy Rear Admiral broke into a cold sweat, "There's actually such a method? Unheard of before!"