Chapter 741 Three Brothers

[Series at the beginning of the chapter · Deck from the world 8 · "The Kingdom of Brujoa"] [In a magic supply store, George, a former wandering painter, had messy hair and looked sleepy. When he opened the latest newspaper, his eyes almost popped out of his head. Tilda, the former hypnotist's wife, smiled and brushed the shelves with a feather duster. On the wall was a huge bounty for the visionary Marianne. The girl tilted her head and looked at the camera innocently, freezing this photo...]——

"More than ten years ago, when Lynch and I first came here..."

In Shampoo Park, inside the bubble wheel at the top, Robin and Hancock sat side by side. Sanda knelt on a chair, looking into the distance curiously.

Just a few days after the Battle of Marineford, the once prosperous and bustling Sabaody Archipelago now appears deserted and dilapidated.

This does not mean that all the people and things on the island have been destroyed by the unscrupulous pirates.

The main reason is that people who dare to do business on this island have a keen sense of smell. When they see that the wind direction is not right, a large number of people will directly flee by boat, or close their shops, strengthen security, and stay put.

As for the tourists, there were indeed many casualties during this period, but many people also escaped. It is estimated that for a long time, only pirates will dare to visit this archipelago.

Before Lynch took action to suppress it, the island was in real chaos.

I heard that there was a major incident where the Celestial Dragons were attacked.

However, at this critical moment, everyone knew that the navy would not be able to spare a large force to take care of the injured Celestial Dragons, so all attacks, such as clubs, hidden hands, and cold guns, were directed at the Celestial Dragons.

The once domineering Celestial Dragons have returned to Marijoa in disgrace. It is estimated that they will not dare to set foot in the Sabaody Archipelago again until the situation in the navy stabilizes and the admirals' combat power is replenished.

The once bustling Shampoo Park now seemed deserted. Thanks to Robin and Hancock's facial recognition, the park manager did not dare to neglect them and personally activated the facilities in the amusement park for them, allowing them to play as they pleased.

In fact, the park manager was so excited that he kept taking photos of Robin and the others with Den Den Mushi, deciding to keep them forever. He even selected the most beautiful photo, enlarged it, and put up a sign at the entrance. With the signs of the Devil's Son and the Pirate Queen, and even the Ripple Messenger standing behind them, which blind pirate would dare to harass his park?

On the slowly rotating Ferris wheel, Robin held Hancock's arm and softly recounted what happened that year.

Suddenly, Sanda next to him screamed, "It's Master Tulip!"

Hancock and Robin were a little surprised. They poked their heads out of the Ferris wheel bubble and saw a tall woman with long golden hair and a fluttering floral dress standing under the Ferris wheel, waving a newspaper at them. It was Tulip.

Seeing that she indeed knew the Devil's Son and the Pirate Empress, the park manager became more polite.

The three girls did not wait for the Ferris wheel to slowly turn to the bottom, but jumped directly out of the bubble. Robin spread her petal wings behind her, and Sanda also flapped a pair of snake wings behind her, and landed quietly with her sister princess.

"Master Tulip!" Sanda greeted politely.

"Why are you here?" Hancock walked towards Tulip.

"Can't I come and see my cute little baby?" Tulip looked at Hancock with a smile.

"Humph!" Hancock sneered, "You mean your precious son? Don't worry, he's still alive."

With Luffy's current strength, he rushed into the battlefield head-on and became the focus of everyone's attention without any scruples... If he didn't have so many friends around him to help each other, he would probably have died in Marinford.

Tulip pinched Hancock's smooth and elastic face. This girl just has a bad mouth.

Looking at Robin who was smiling but not saying anything, Tulip said with a smile: "Do you still hate yourself now?"

Robin's face suddenly turned slightly red.

"What are you talking about?" Hancock rubbed his face, looking suspicious, looking at Tulip, then at Robin, "What do you mean by hating yourself?"

Sanda was equally puzzled.

Robin took two steps forward and hugged Tulip, then gnashed his teeth and said in her ear, "Don't tell anyone..."

"Okay, okay, I won't tell you. I won't tell you." Tulip smiled and gently stroked Robin's back.

"What do you mean you can't tell me?" Hancock was even more confused. She pulled Robin and asked in disbelief, "You are hiding something from me—"

But when Robin looked up, her face was blushing. Hancock, who had never seen her like this, was stunned.

"Just this one thing, no!" Robin bit his lip.

Seeing the park manager standing nearby looking shocked and confused, Sanda quickly pulled her sister and the princess out of the park.

…

On the way, Tulip gave the newspaper she brought to Hancock and Robin and said with a smile, "It has your latest bounty."

"At this time, the Navy still has the energy to issue a new bounty order?" Sanda was very curious.

Tulip said: "It is at times like this that the Navy will not show weakness and must remain strong. Even if it is just for show."

Hancock sneered and flipped open the newspaper as he walked.

She didn't care much about the content of the news, such as how many people died in the Whitebeard Pirates and how many people died in the Navy. In her eyes, it was no different from the death of a bunch of snakes, insects, ants and beasts, just a bunch of numbers. She only took a closer look at the text and photos about Lynch and Robin...

"5 billion Baileys?!" Sanda, who was holding Lynch's new bounty, exclaimed.

Hancock took a look and was quite dissatisfied. "Why is it lower than Whitebeard? Is the navy blind?"

Whitebeard's bounty is 5.046 billion.

Lynch's 5 billion was only short of 40 million, or rather, it was precisely because it was only short of 40 million that Hancock was very unhappy.

"Whitebeard is dead." Tulip walked beside him, "Roger, the only one with a higher bounty than Whitebeard, is also dead."

"That means..." Robin said to himself.

Sanda opened his mouth wide and asked in surprise: "Lin Qi is the person with the highest bounty among those alive now?"

Tulip smiled and said, "That's about right."

Robin suddenly frowned and stroked his chin in thought.

Hancock and Sanda flipped through other bounty orders and soon found the latest bounty order for Robin and Hancock.

"Pirate Queen" Boa Hancock, bounty: 1.479 billion! "Devil's Child" Nico Robin, bounty: 1.38 billion! Even Sander's own bounty, although he was basically on standby in the sky during the Battle of Marineford and only showed up at the end, also increased a little. From the original 400 million, it increased to 450 million Baileys.

Although the increase was not much, Sanda looked very happy. The navy was really stubborn.

Hancock took a look and said with even more disdain, "It's only a few hundred million increase, who are you looking down on?"

"It's already amazing. My two precious daughters are both big names." Tulip smiled and hugged Hancock and Robin on the left and right. "There are not many people with this level of bounty in the entire ocean."

Who cares! Hancock rolled his eyes and said, "Who is your daughter? Don't make a blind claim."

Hancock was coaxed by Tulip since she was a child, so she naturally didn't care about her temper and was still smiling. Robin couldn't help laughing, and she was a little touched. She put one hand on Tulip's arm, and held the hand of Sanda who seemed to be a little neglected. She suddenly asked, "Is Lynch the one with the highest bounty?" She looked at Tulip, "What about Dorag? His bounty shouldn't be very low..."

"Well, it's not really low, but..."

Tulip couldn't help but smile as she spoke. The four of them went deeper into the Sabaody Archipelago, gradually moving farther and farther away.

…

"You only have a bounty of 1.5 billion?"

In the shabby bar, Lynch was turning the golden iron rod in his hand, and he couldn't help but be very surprised when he heard what Dorag said.

I thought you were also worth 5 billion!

Upon hearing this, Dorag smiled, raised his glass and took a sip, then asked, "I live in the shadows most of the time and have never publicly done anything as big as what you did this time, so how could there be such an exaggerated bounty?"

"Dragon, you know what I mean." Lynch said, "You're making a revolution, brother. You're digging up the roots of their world government. And you only have a bounty of 1.5 billion?"

Zoro, who was flipping through a newspaper and the latest bunch of bounties, also looked up and said with a smile, "The newspaper clearly says that you are the world's most vicious criminal."

"This brings us to the question of what standard the Navy uses to set the bounty amount." Drago gently shook the wine glass in his hand and said to himself, "Although many people say that the bounty amount has nothing to do with the personal strength of a pirate, is that true? Most of the time, the amount of the bounty does represent the strength of a pirate..."

Zoro frowned in thought, but Lynch grabbed the golden iron rod and tapped it lightly on his shoulder. Suddenly he paused and said, "I understand. It's 'guidance'."

Dorag glanced at Lynch in surprise and said with a smile: "That's about what I mean."

"The Navy, or the World Government, is intentionally giving the world this hint..." Lynch muttered to himself, "The stronger the pirate's combat power, the higher the bounty. And the more high-bounty subordinates a pirate has, the higher his personal bounty will be, which represents the overall combat capability."

"And me?" Dorag smiled.

"You are not a pirate in the traditional sense." Lynch pointed out, "If you are given a high bounty that is not in line with 'common sense', what kind of signal will it send? Will many pirates who love to show off have to follow suit? Or, will it give people the feeling that the World Government is more afraid of your revolutionary power than the pirates who cause disasters everywhere?"

Lin Qi shook his head and said, "Although the World Government has given you the title of the world's most vicious criminal, in the bounty system, they still evaluate you in the regular pirate system, showing an attitude that they do not regard you and the Revolutionary Army as real opponents."

"That's probably it." Drago smiled as he drank. "In fact, Tulip was also very unhappy after being offered a bounty. She once advised me to publish a newspaper, offer bounties to the navy, comment on the power of pirates around the world, and establish our own system."

"Oh? Isn't this interesting?" Lynch was quite interested.

"I didn't agree." Dorag shook his head and looked out the broken window. "The tide of the times is coming, and the storm is about to come! There is no time for that."

Lynch nodded.

Zoro didn't quite understand their wit and continued to flip through the bounty order in his hand.

"Pirate Hunter" Roronoa Zoro, bounty: 430 million!

"Straw Hat Boy" Monkey D. Luffy, bounty: 550 million!

"Broken Wing Bird" Marco, bounty: 1.22 billion!

"Fire Fist" Porter Carter D. Ace, bounty: 1.01 billion!

…

Looking at the bounty numbers that seemed out of reach in the past, Zoro couldn't help but feel excited.

There is no mistake in the poem, post, content, and read the book on 6, 9, and bar!

"Know yourself, know the world!"

"Become stronger! Try to surpass me! - Roronoa!!!"

Hawkeye's voice echoed in my ears that day, and it seemed to become clearer.

The latter sentence gradually faded away, and Zoro repeatedly savored the former sentence "Know yourself, know this world."

He placed his hands on the three knives at his waist. He could tell which knife was which just by the feel of his fingertips without even looking.

The demon sword Kidetsu Sandai, the good sword Setsuzou, the great sword Wado Ichimonji... the eyes of the three-sword swordsmen are burning with fighting spirit.

On the other side, Lynch and Dorag looked at the door of the shabby bar, where Tulip came with Robin, Hancock and Sanda.

"Looks like you know." Robin waved his latest bounty at Lynch.

"Well, it's just for fun." Lin Qi said with a smile, "It looks more festive."

This bounty is so scary, how can it be a celebration? Sanda was speechless, this is the highest bounty in the world!

Hancock sat down next to Lynch, picked up his bottle and took a sip.

“…”

Lin Qi hooked his arm around her shoulders and pinched one of her cheeks.

Hancock was forced to pout her face and frowned at him, "What are you doing?"

Lynch smiled, pinched her, turned back and said to Dragon: "——In this ocean, if you want to quickly become stronger and get a higher bounty, there is a shortcut, and that is to become a devil fruit user."

Everyone's eyes were on him.

"In this way, many things will be easy to handle..." Lynch said to himself, "For the World Government, for her."

Dragon looked at Lynch sharply. "It is rumored that Whitebeard's cause of death was strange and bizarre, and at the end, he left a message for the world. What is it exactly?"

"You are asking about the same thing."

Lynch pulled the dissatisfied Hancock up and called Robin and Zoro to leave the shabby bar together. "Let's go. Luffy and Ace should be awake now. They should all have similar questions. Let's explain them together."

～～～～～～～～～～～ "Nami, your bounty has been increased to 300 million berries?!"

"Even Chopper has 100 million Beli?!"

Luffy woke up, the blanket slipped off him, and he looked at Usopp yelling while holding a newspaper on the grass.

Chopper twisted his body around, not knowing whether he was showing off or shy, while Usopp soon knelt on the ground in frustration, crying silently, "Is it because my Transparent Operation was too successful? No one noticed at all, and the bounty was only symbolically increased by 10,000 Beli..."

"It's doubled!" Chopper comforted.

"It has increased from 10,000 Beli to 20,000 Beli. I don't want this doubling!" Usopp shouted with tears in his eyes.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Luffy passing by with bandages wrapped around his body. Usopp couldn't help but happily hold up the bounty order and shouted, "Luffy! Your bounty has increased a lot!"

"Ah? Oh, I see." Luffy asked, "Usopp, Chopper, have you seen Ace?"

Nami and Brook came over and pointed to the distance and said, "They should be in the woods over the hillside. They just dealt with the bodies of Whitebeard and their companions."

"I'll go take a look." Luffy ran over there as soon as he heard it.

"This guy is unusually quiet..." Usopp and Chopper touched their chins in unison, staring at Luffy's running back and thinking, "Could it be that the quality of your Senzu Beans, Chopper, is defective and has damaged his brain?"

"Yeah, that's right, it's Senzu Beans—" Chopper jumped up and punched Usopp, "How is that possible!"

"Hehe..." Mary, who was sitting on Nami's shoulder, covered her mouth and laughed.

"Luffy! Are you okay?" Nami shouted from afar. On the other side, Luffy turned around, grinned and gave a thumbs up.

Nami smiled helplessly, "What a worrying captain..."

…

When Luffy found Ace, he saw him kneeling there, lifeless as if he was dead.

The remaining captains of the Whitebeard Pirates gathered around, leaving Ace some space. Seeing Luffy coming, someone wanted to stop him from disturbing Ace. Marco stretched out his hand to stop him and nodded to Luffy, "Go ahead. When he woke up and knew that his father had died, he was really shocked..."

"Ace..." Luffy murmured, and walked step by step to Ace who was kneeling on the open ground and letting the sun bask in his love. He was suddenly startled to see Ace in front of him with tears streaming down his face, crying silently.

As if his soul had been taken away, Ace had a blank expression on his face, but tears kept flowing down his face.

"It's me, Ace!" Luffy turned around and sat down in front of Ace, but he had never seen his brother so vulnerable before, and for a moment he was at a loss, not knowing what to say. "You..."

Ace remained in a daze, and Luffy couldn't bear to see it. After thinking for a while, he stood up, rubbed his fists, and punched Ace hard in the face.

Bang! Ace was knocked flying by the punch, and he fell several times before he stopped.

Many of the remaining Whitebeard troops around were startled and could not help but rush over, but were stopped by captains such as Marco and Vista.

"Stop being like that! This isn't like Ace at all!"

Luffy clenched his fists and shouted, "My brother Ace is a man who will never abandon his companions and will never let others worry about him!"

He pointed at the pirates around him who were trying to protect the remnants of Whitebeard's army, "Don't you still have them?!"

Seeing the Straw Hat Boy's words, Vista heard that many of the brothers around him were very touched, and some even wiped tears. In fact, everyone has been hit one after another recently, and because of the sacrifice of their father, some of them are depressed and sensitive.

"Luffy..."

Ace's mouth was bleeding, and half of his face was swollen. He supported himself on the ground and sat up. Suddenly, he heard a chuckle from behind him: "You were taught a lesson by Luffy. Ace, as a brother, it's a bit embarrassing!"

This sound——?!

Ace turned around suddenly, just in time to hear Luffy's surprised shout: "Sabo?!"

Sure enough, walking behind Ace from not far away was a young man with short golden hair, Sabo, who was dressed in a similar outfit as he was back then, wearing a tall hat and goggles, and still holding a broken water pipe as a weapon in his hand.

"Ace, I'm so sorry..."

Sabo walked over step by step, leaned over and held out his hand to Ace, smiled with tears in his eyes, and said, "I'm late."

“…”

With half of his face swollen and tears all over his face, and blood dripping from the corners of his mouth, Ace lowered his head and murmured, "Nothing..."

Snap, he grasped Sabo's outstretched hand and was pulled to his feet. Luffy shouted excitedly from behind: "Sabo!!!"

Ace looked back and saw Luffy, desperately opening his arms and rushing towards him. No, it should be said that he bumped into him.

"Hey, what are you doing, Luffy? I'm still injured!"

Bang !

(The previous chapter has been slightly modified)

(End of this chapter)