Time flies, and time flies by.

In the blink of an eye, more than two years have passed.

…

Year 1509 of the Haiyuan calendar, early winter.

The first half of the Grand Line.

Whiskey Peak.

This is an island located at the starting point of seven major shipping routes. The mountains are steep and not suitable for human habitation, but it has a unique geographical location.

Not far to the east are Upside Down Mountain and Twin Points Lighthouse.

There are groups of bounty hunters who stay here all the year round, specifically hunting the fledglings who have just entered the Grand Line. Most of the time, they can make a lot of money from these "naive" pirate groups.

Various underground intelligence transactions have prospered as a result, and over time, a relatively prosperous commercial town has developed on the island.

but.

In the past two years, Whiskey Mountain has gradually shown signs of decline and desolation.

The big and small taverns in the city closed down one after another, and many pirate hunters who had lived here for a long time also left one after another and returned home sadly.

Until now.

When the first snow of the year fell in the night, only the last few houses on the huge Whiskey Peak were still lit.

There was not a single soul in sight on the dilapidated and desolate streets.

Only the largest tavern in the city was crowded and lively.

Here, the last hundred or so bounty hunters gathered. They gathered at a table in small or small groups, drank and reveled, laughed and cried, and bid farewell to each other;

Or drinking alone in a corner, looking worried, worrying about the foggy and unknown future.

J.

tomorrow.

They will all officially set off, either to return to their hometowns to retire, or to find other livelihoods elsewhere.

Whiskey Peak will also officially become a ghost town.

"I never thought that this day would come so quickly, Baiya, Wenna..."

In the corner of the bar, a strong man with a beard looked at his friends who had been partners for many years at the table, smiled sadly and sighed:

"When I brought you to the Grand Line, I agreed to kill a hundred pirates, earn at least two billion in bounty, and then return to the South China Sea to use mountains of Baileys to kill those in the village who looked down on us.

The guy’s face was swollen from being slapped!”

"It turns out that it has only been less than three years. I have just saved more than 100 million Baileys, and I have to eat this meal. As the boss, I am really useless..."

The bearded man's voice was bitter and he took a sip of wine. He almost shed tears when he recalled his bold words and ambitions in the past and his recent unwillingness.

"The market has changed too quickly, and it's not your fault, boss!"

The thin man opposite him immediately comforted him. Seeing that the bearded man was demoralized, he felt a little angry for a moment, "If you want to blame it, it should also be blamed on that Bailong Nuoxia. If he hadn't killed too much in the past two years, he would have dared to go to sea."

There are fewer and fewer pirates, how could we end up in this situation!"

He made a look to some of his companions on the other side, and they immediately understood and began to argue with each other:

"That's right! It's obviously all that guy's fault!"

"When I was in the Navy, although that guy was very murderous, he still knew how to restrain himself. After resigning, he completely lost his restraints and scruples!"

"The killing started from the Grand Line two years ago. All the supernovas that had gained the limelight that year were all killed. It was such a commotion that all the new generation of pirates that year became silent and turned into cowards.

I don’t dare to cause trouble, for fear that one day the bounty will accidentally exceed 100 million and I will be struck by lightning.”

"I went to the South China Sea a year and a half ago, and it turned the world upside down! In this sea area where the average strength of pirates is so strong, they are killed incessantly, and I haven't even been able to breathe until now."

The person who said this was a short, fat hunter, with a look of sorrow on his face, "What does it mean to be idle? Even now, the highest bounty for a pirate in the entire South China Sea is only 19 million Baileys!"

"As a result, the South China Sea is now being ridiculed as the weakest sea. Do you know what a huge blow this is to a sea area that used to have two macho men with bounties worth nearly 100 million?"

"In the past year, among the more than 20 rookie pirate groups we have successfully hunted, there was not even a single one from the South China Sea! It is simply tragic!"

"What about the West Sea? No matter how miserable the pirates are in the South China Sea, are they as miserable as the West Sea?"

The thin man on the opposite side immediately retorted, "When that bastard arrived in the West Sea a year ago, apart from visiting the first branch base he led and taking a two-day break to reminisce, he spent every fucking day either killing pirates or

On the way to find pirates to kill!"

"Crazy, absolutely crazy!"

"With that kind of killing method, he would have to kill all the fish in the sea. How can there be so many pirates in the Western Sea that he can kill?"

"There were originally more than two thousand pirate groups with surnames in the Western Sea! In less than half a year, there were only three left."

"Then this guy didn't feel like he had enough fun, so he went to look for trouble with the mafia families. The entire West China Sea, the tangled underground mafia forces, were almost uprooted, and they were eager to kill. Even the royal nobles behind them were not spared.

!”

"Many pirates have died at his hands, but among the distinguished men, at least 800 have died, right? It seems that he has killed more than a dozen of the real heirs to the throne. If it had been anyone else, his head would have been dead.

I went to Marigio, but neither the Navy nor the World Government has issued a bounty yet, which is simply outrageous!”

"A reward? Hey? Who dares to put a reward on him? Have you forgotten what happened at the Navy Headquarters two years ago?"

The eldest white-haired old man snorted, "I just resigned from my job. I have a navy of more than 100,000 in my headquarters and several hundred thousand in the navy of various branches. I have been protesting for more than half a month and almost caused a mutiny!"

"In the end, the World Government personally came forward to deprive Weir of his position and let Sengoku take over. It was not easy to calm him down."

"And what he has done in the past two years, to us pirate hunters, is ruining our jobs, but in the eyes of the people in the navy, he is just carrying out his own justice under heavy pressure!"

"Those young men in the navy are worshiping him more and more like a man possessed. Zefakarp's reputation combined is not as good as his! Even branches in various places imitate him and resign and leave.

, a little idiot who goes around doing chivalrous and righteous deeds."

The white-haired old man curled his lips and said, "If we offer a reward at this moment, how much trouble do you think it will cause? Not to mention that the Navy Headquarters has always let it go, turned a blind eye, and never thought about offering a reward.

The World Government would like to offer a reward, but do they dare to gamble? Dare they? Dare not!"

"..."

Everyone around him was silent after what he said, and the thin man couldn't help but asked in a low voice:

"Speaking of which, do you think that if that guy is really regarded as a pirate and a bounty is placed on him, how high would the bounty be?"

"Don't worry, that day won't happen."

The white-haired old man glanced at him sideways and muttered, "Even if there is a reward, it's not something we can care about. I think it must be at least four billion Baileys!"

"Is it missing?"

A companion immediately questioned, "Although that guy hasn't been to the New World in the past two years, he has beaten Kaido before and even defeated BIGMOM!"

"Those two sea emperors, one has 4.6 billion beli and the other has 43 beri. If Bailong is offered a bounty, he won't be underestimated by them, right? I think it would be better if he has 5 billion beli!"

"Fool!"

The only female companion on the side couldn't help but tugged his ear, "Use your brain! That old guy who is known as the strongest man in the world only has 5 billion beli! Bailong is not that strong yet, right?

?”

"Besides, the bounty is not simply based on personal combat power! It is based on the threat to the world government! Those sea emperors whose bounties are as high as the sky, all of them occupy a large area of ​​​​the territory, and they have powerful guys.

heap?"

"Tsk, what kind of power is there? If Bailong wants to gain his own territory and just shouts about it in the newspaper, at least tens of thousands of marines will have to defect to him, right? Just Kaido and BIGMOM, who can compare?

?”

"Eh... So, it seems like..."

The people at the table were arguing endlessly under the influence of alcohol. Everyone was red-faced and thick-necked, but there was a general consensus.

——That is, as long as Nuoxia is offered a bounty, the bounty will be the lowest, starting from four billion beli!

Absolute sea emperor level.

And opposite them.

The bearded man who was supposed to be the recipient of comfort looked dumbfounded as his companions chattered endlessly about that man.

I just left myself in the corner and forgot about it.

Isn't it time for dinner?

Why did it inexplicably turn into a seminar on Bailong’s life and deeds?

"but……"

Maybe this is not bad?

The bearded man looked at his companions who were talking more and more enthusiastically, and smiled silently. Well, he was just being pretentious in the first place, and he made the last reunion so sad.

It's so lively now, it's what a dinner should be like.

On the other hand, this is also because the man named Bailong has such a high personal charm and his life story is so legendary.
To be continued...