Chapter 425

Finally, someone has a bounty lower than my own!

However, just as Bepo finished reading Chopper's wanted poster and was happily about to show off his superiority to the captain, he saw that Law's posture remained exactly as it had been when he handed the wanted poster to Bepo.

Bepo curiously leaned closer and saw the wanted poster in Law's hand.

【RINSHI】

"Ah, they changed the photo; it's much clearer than the last one. Moreover, he looks like a very pure young man. Looking at him smiling, I feel healed too~" Bepo squinted his eyes, smiling in a completely relaxed state, "If all wanted posters had photos like this, that would be wonderful~ Captain~ I think I see swans flying~ So beautiful~"

The background of the wanted poster is the famous Swan Fountain in Water 7.

Sima Di wore Luffy's straw hat and a plain white long dress, adorned with a white bow on the chest. The wind during the shoot was captured perfectly; Sima Di's right hand rested lightly on the brim of the hat, while the wind naturally blew Sima Di's black hair loose and spread out the water-patterned skirt, matching the pure white swan statue behind him with its neck raised as if to fly, creating an extremely beautiful scene.

The focus of the photo, however, was the smile overflowing on Sima Di's face, a smile that was heartfelt, pure and flawless, and filled with happiness. Whoever saw this photo would likely feel completely relaxed and at ease, unconsciously revealing a smile just like his.

This was also why Ma Lien had selected this one from over a thousand photos to submit to the Marines.

Not all pirates are fierce and ferocious; among them, there are also young men who smile happily like this.

The hand holding the wanted poster trembled; Law desperately tried to hold back his tears, but they fell disobediently, plop plop, soaking the wanted poster in his hand.

Since Mr. Corazon passed away, he had not had such a thing as tears ever again.

"He... is still alive."

"He? Captain, do you mean this Sima Di is the Sima Di you are looking for?" Bepo was very surprised, "So forty-year-olds are this young?"

Hearing this, Law was about to scold Bepo, but then he thought, he seemed to be right.

The Sima Di in the wanted poster looked almost unchanged from the one he met back then.

But even with the best maintenance, there shouldn't be absolutely no change at all.

Law unconsciously frowned, recalling Sima Di's strange actions back then.

【I am only interested in the grown-up you!】

"Interested in the grown-up... time travel?" Law murmured.

If it really was time travel, then the current Sima Di had a high probability of not knowing him yet. And Sima Di's time travel point was after he and he had met. But if that were the case... the bounty on this wanted poster was completely different from the Sima Di he knew.

The Sima Di he knew was just a third-rate swordsman who knew a little swordsmanship; no matter what, it was impossible to reach such a bounty.

But...

No matter how many questions there were, as long as he was still alive, that was enough.

As long as he was alive, there was hope for everything. Even if his guess was correct, he would do everything possible to prevent the occurrence of time travel! Even if he did not share the same memories as him, it didn't matter!

And the most urgent thing right now was... to see him!

If he really wanted to resolve those questions, then he would ask clearly face-to-face!

Law rolled up the wanted poster, and his entire person swept away the depression, pulling himself together; from his eyebrows to the corners of his eyes, he revealed an irresistible confidence.

"Bepo! Notify everyone to depart immediately! The destination is Water 7!"

During the construction of the new ship, everyone was in a state of recovering from injuries and vacationing. Of course, Sima Di was not; his training time was filled by Zoro, leaving absolutely no free time.

Sima Di had no choice but to coax and pester, and only after great difficulty won half a day's holiday from Zoro. He planned to first go to the Water 7 branch of the World Sea Gallery to hand over this part of the manuscript to them. Then, he would take the opportunity to stroll around, enjoying the feeling of walking alone through the streets of the Venetian water city.

"Venice and the like... I have always wanted to go. Since this city is very similar to there, can't we just treat this place as Venice?" Sima Di said with a smile.

Sima Di entered the World Sea Gallery branch, handed the manuscript to the editor designated by Xia Xia Zhimin, collected the payment, and left. After leaving, Sima Di thought for a moment and decided to borrow the Den Den Mushi 1.0 here to call Xia Xia Zhimin again.

"Hello, this is Xia Xia Zhimin, the Chief Editor of the Four Seas at the World Sea Gallery. May I ask who is calling?"

"It's me, Sima Di."

As soon as the words "Sima Di" were spoken, a clattering sound came from the other end of the phone. One didn't need to think to know that the books on Xia Xia Zhimin's desk had fallen to the floor.

"Hey, didn't I say not to use your real name? What if someone else finds out?" Xia Xia Zhimin said in a lowered voice.

"It's fine, it's fine; there is no one near me. Although my name is not common, having the same name is still possible." Sima Di's tone was indifferent, "Also, I have already handed my manuscript to the editor you designated, and I have received the payment... but next time, please don't say I am the adopted son of Meng Daoyou, okay? It makes me very awkward."

"This is to disguise your identity! At first, I even wanted to package Meng Daoyou as a male writer. But your writing style is too delicate; it is clearly a female technique, impossible to change. So I could only make changes regarding age." Xia Xia Zhimin said earnestly.

Sima Di's mouth twitched. So you turned "Meng Daoyou" into a middle-aged housewife in her forties? And a divorced one at that?

"But since you wanted to do this, why did you come to take an author photo? Isn't that contradictory?" Sima Di asked in confusion.

"Author photo?"

Xia Xia Zhimin's tone was somewhat surprised; he obviously did not know about this matter.

"Could it be that you don't know?" Sima Di already had a bad feeling.

"How could I send someone to take an author photo for you? The fewer people who know you are a pirate, the better."

Sima Di's cold sweat poured like rain. "I... seem to have done something terrible."

"What?"

"I think you can see my ultra-high-definition wanted poster now."

"What!!! What exactly happened 14! Then tell me clearly!"

One could hear Xia Xia Zhimin's explosive anger from the voice on the other end.

"Someone impersonated someone from your magazine to take model photos of me. I thought they were going to take author photos; the model photos were just a ruse, so I let him take them, and... it was several thousand. Everyone in our entire pirate crew let him take photos too..."

As Sima Di spoke, he felt like dying.

But what Sima Di did not expect was that after he finished speaking, a "whoosh" sound came from the other end of the phone, the kind of sound that signifies a sigh of relief.

"Good, good."

"Good for what! We are all exposed! Even Sanji..."

That hand-drawn wanted poster is probably gone, isn't it?

"I don't care who Sanji is, and I don't care if you are all exposed or not, but since he used the ruse of taking model photos, it shows he still doesn't know you are Meng Daoyou, so there is no problem. In the future, you must be careful when doing things and don't cause trouble again, okay?"

"What you say makes sense... alright, I understand. But I don't guarantee my bounty won't rise in the future..."

After Sima Di finished speaking, there was an eerie silence on the other end of the phone, followed by Xia Xia Zhimin's very helpless voice.

"You just have to guarantee that you don't get caught."

After finishing his conversation with Xia Xia Zhimin, Ma Di wore a gloomy expression and lost all desire to shop, so he decided to turn back straight away and crawl into his bed to wallow in guilt for a while.

Halfway there, Ma Di suddenly sensed a familiar aura; he looked up and saw Robin across the way.

Robin? Oh right, today Robin was supposed to be out shopping with Nami. I should say hello.

But just as he raised his hand to greet her, Ma Di saw a green shadow darting toward Robin, as if fleeing something. He took a closer look—and laughed.

There, Zoro held packages in both hands, three adorable babies hanging from his chest, and his clothes had somehow been replaced with a tiny yellow T-shirt—anything but serious, utterly ridiculous.

Over at Zoro's side, Robin had just promised not to tell anyone—when she turned around and saw Ma Di on the other side of the bridge, slapping the wall and roaring with laughter.

"Ah la, I promised not to tell, but the vice-captain? No guarantees." Robin smiled and walked away.

Zoro's face twisted in embarrassment as he crossed the bridge and approached Ma Di.

"Hey! Enough! Stop laughing!" Zoro's face turned bright red to his ears.

"Hahaha… S-sorry, I won't laugh anymore." Ma Di clamped both hands over his mouth—but soon the muffled clamping turned into "Puhahahaha…"

"I'm sorry, Zoro! But it's just… too funny!"

It took Ma Di three minutes to barely calm down; the heavy guilt he'd carried moments ago had vanished completely.

"That… I won't tell anyone. But today's afternoon training…?"

"Canceled! Canceled! Go do whatever you want!"

"Then thank you, Master Zoro."

With that, Ma Di bolted off, afraid Zoro might change his mind the next second.

The next morning.

After breakfast, Granny Coco came by to visit and explained to everyone about Fish-Man Island and the perilous Triangle Zone they would pass through.

No sooner had Granny Coco finished than Chimney and Franky's Square Girl knocked and entered.

She announced that the new ship was finished—every face lit up with joy.

At the same time, Franky's family arrived in a group, shouting, "Cap! Cap!"

Seeing this, everyone stepped outside to see what was happening.

"What's going on? Why are you all running so fast?" Nami asked.

"Actually, I have a humble request…" Zambai rushed forward and dropped to his knees. "Have you seen the wanted posters?"

Hearing the words "wanted posters," Ma Di's heart skipped a beat.