Chapter 50: I Change Neither My Name Nor My Surname!

In the top-floor office, silence gradually settled.

Rat's corpse, like a rag doll, was casually tossed aside by Siano, landing sprawled across the desk, staring unblinkingly at the ceiling with eyes open in death.

Perhaps he had never imagined it.

That safe, which he had treasured as a jewel and longed to stroke and wipe clean every single day, had ultimately become the weapon that killed him.

"..."

The Den Den Mushi remained silent, merely puffing on its cigar.

"Good, good, good."

After a long while, a low, magnetic voice finally rang out, "It seems Rat's worries were not unfounded; the East Blue truly does harbor pirates who hide their true depths. What audacity, daring to break into a Marine base and murder the very base commander!"

Was this tacitly labeling himself as a pirate?

Or was it an attempt to fish for information?

Siano glanced over, too lazy to bother responding.

He simply gathered the money from the safe and prepared to leave, remarking offhandedly,

"Can't be helped; who told this guy to be so rich? Let me see, there must be at least four or five hundred million Berries in this safe. Tsk, tsk, tsk, truly struck it rich."

In reality, there wasn't nearly that much; adding it all up, it was just over one hundred million, pure nonsense to fool an idiot.

"Four or five hundred million Berries?!!"

The Den Den Mushi's eyes bulged, and it leaped up in fury, "Damn it, I knew that Rat was unreliable, daring to embezzle even Laozi's money!"

It then gritted its teeth and said,

"Hey! Kid, if you have the guts, tell me your true identity! You wouldn't have the courage to come knocking, kill someone, and provoke the Marines, yet lack the spine to state your name, would you?"

"Easy enough, easy enough."

Mimicking the tone of a storyteller, Siano said with a grin, "Your grandfather here changes neither his name nor his surname; I am Buggy the Clown! I served as a crewman on Roger's pirate ship for a few years and have trodden across the New World. I just wonder if you have the guts to come personally hunt down your grandfather!"

A crewman of the Roger Pirates?!

The person on the other end of the line gasped sharply. No wonder Rat had been so timid earlier, yet so certain the other party was a hidden expert...

Could his identity be so terrifying?

So the East Blue actually harbored such a great deity, yet not a whisper of news had leaked out in all these years; that was truly hiding one's light under a bushel!

Just as he was about to speak, Siano had already hung up the phone with a snap.

With all the money stowed in his backpack, Siano casually sacrificed the safe as well.

200 points credited.

Compared to Rat's character weight and strength, receiving this much was already unexpected.

It seemed Rat really loved his safe.

Before leaving, Siano remembered something, pulled several red bean buns from his backpack slot, ate the outer bread in large bites, and scooped out the red bean paste inside.

Then, rolling it into a small red ball, he slapped it onto Rat's nose.

"Done. If you're going to put on a show, you might as well do the whole thing."

Only then did he nod in satisfaction, climb out through the window ledge, step onto the roof, and vanish into the night after a few leaps.

Meanwhile, at the building entrance below, two Marines guarding the door remained completely unaware, still yawning boredly as they stretched their hands...

—Whoosh!

Under the dawn's first light, Siano stepped onto the deck with a single Moon Step.

Manba and the others, who had been waiting for quite some time, hurriedly opened the Orange Garden's bottom hatch to retrieve the speedboat into the hold.

"Is everything at Branch 77 settled?" Siano tossed his backpack onto the ground.

"Yes, Boss, the bounty has been fully delivered to us."

Manba nodded incessantly, "82 million Berries, not a single Berry missing. That Colonel Rat really wasn't ashamed to lie, claiming most of the bounty would be taken as a cut. By the way, that guy is now..."

Siano glanced at the two sisters leaning in, raised an eyebrow, and said nothing.

Manba immediately understood and stopped pressing, unable to help but click his tongue in awe; less than two days had passed, yet the job was already done and he was back. The Boss's efficiency was truly too high...

"What is this? Money again?"

A dissatisfied voice came from behind. Siano turned to look.

It was Nami, who had somehow sneakily rummaged through his backpack; her little face immediately fell, and she grabbed a handful of banknotes only to throw them back.

"So boring. I thought Brother had brought back something delicious. Money, money, money; just seeing these bills annoys me."

The one thing our family never lacks is money!

Siano was struck speechless then laughed; what kind of thing was that for a little thief cat to say? He couldn't help but reach out and flick her nose.

"Don't rush. We're heading to Shimotsuki Village right now. That incredible chef I mentioned last time lives in that village. By then, whatever you want to eat, just name it, and I'll have him make it all for you. How about that?"

"Really!"

Nami's eyes lit up, and she began counting on her fingers, "Then I want seven dishes! Four... no, five desserts! For the main course, let's have orange marmalade omurice..."

"I want squid tempura, and a super deluxe version of tamagoyaki!" Nojiko also raised her hand excitedly.

"You'll have them all, you'll have them all."

Siano laughed heartily, ruffled the two sisters' heads, and waved his hand with high spirits, ordering, "Let's go, set sail! Hard starboard! Next stop, Shimotsuki Village!"

During the few days the 'Orange Garden' sailed toward Shimotsuki Village,

two pieces of news spread successively, shaking the entire East Blue.

First, the Arlong Pirates, who had recently burst into the East Blue from the Grand Line and caused widespread panic, were completely annihilated single-handedly by a swordsman.

Reporters had already confirmed at Marine Branch 77 that this swordsman was none other than Siano, the former champion of the Asakura Island Kendo Tournament.

This immediately awakened many memories among the people of the East Blue, who still held a strong impression of that refined, clean-cut black-haired youth from the photograph back then.

Who would have thought that in just one year, his swordsmanship realm would have reached such heights? Even pirates from the Grand Line were completely no match for him!

In an instant, Siano's deeds once again became a hot topic throughout the East Blue.

And as public opinion gradually fermented,

unknowingly, the title upon him shifted from the "Strongest Swordsman of the Younger Generation," recognized only by some, to the universally acknowledged "Strongest Swordsman of the East Blue."

Another piece of news was equally shocking.

Colonel Nezumi, the base commander of Branch 16, was found dead in his own office in broad daylight, his nose pinched into the shape of a circus clown's to serve as a provocation.

The one who killed him was Buggy the Clown, a pirate with a bounty of 15 million Berries.

This alone might not have been significant, but that very Buggy the Clown voluntarily revealed that he had once served as a crew member under the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger!

As this identity spread, public opinion in the East Blue erupted in an uproar; if Siano brought the populace a sense of security and pride, then Buggy brought precisely the opposite: extreme panic.

—What exactly is the Navy doing? How could they allow such a well-connected pirate to remain active in the East Blue!

Several royal families, including that of the Goa Kingdom, jointly pressured the Navy Headquarters, which was caught completely off guard, having never expected that such a small pond as the East Blue would harbor such a great shark.

Thus, they immediately responded with urgency, issuing a new bounty that skyrocketed Buggy the Clown's reward to 80 million Berries!

They also formally announced the dispatch of a fleet personally led by a Headquarters Vice Admiral to carry out a specialized crackdown on the Buggy Pirates entrenched in the East Blue!

Thanks to Qing Yue Chen Yang and reader 201502132267902 for their donation support~

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(End of Chapter)