Chapter 88: Highest Bounty in History! [Requesting First Subscription]

"The next one is somewhat special."

Brannew glanced back, his tone becoming complex, "I believe everyone here, especially those who were once students of Mr. Zephyr, will not be unfamiliar with this person."

Snap!

Where the tip of the staff touched, a white-haired man chewing a cigar sat expressionlessly astride a motorcycle, exhaling clouds of smoke.

"Formerly known as the White Hunter, famous within the Navy for his short temper, a Logia-type user of the Smoke-Smoke Fruit, and the former Base Commander and Colonel of the Loguetown Branch: Smoker."

Brannew sighed, "Multiple marines have testified firsthand that he fought fiercely against Onigumo on the warship; after being subdued and harboring resentment, he took advantage of the ship's depleted manpower upon waking to cruelly murder the pitiable Your Majesty Altair, subsequently vanishing without a trace; according to reliable intelligence, he has followed these pirates and boarded the ship of the Curtain Fall Pirates."

"Such egregious conduct can already be regarded as defecting from the Navy! Considering that his position was hindered by his temperament and style, while his true strength far exceeds the level of a Headquarters Colonel, his bounty is tentatively set at 70,000,000 Berries, with the alias 'The Defector Hunter'!"

Snap!

The long staff immediately pointed to the final wanted poster, which displayed not a person, but a silver giant wolf measuring three meters in length.

Howling with its head raised toward the moon, its entire fur resembled a snow waterfall under the moonlight, appearing elegant and beautiful yet retaining a regal aura.

"What species of creature is this?"

Several officers present showed expressions of interest, "It's quite handsome; compared to those misshapen freaks transformed by the Beasts Pirates, this one is much more pleasing to the eye..."

"We have not yet been able to investigate its species, but what is certain is that this wolf, named 'Ah Yin', is actually the second strongest combat power hidden on that ship!"

With a Solemn Expression, Brannew continued, "Another Rear Admiral under Mr. Onigumo engaged it in battle for only a few minutes before being covered in scars and nearly having his throat bitten out; according to his post-battle recollection, this wolf acted quite casually during the fight and never even exerted its full strength!"

A giant wolf that could defeat a Headquarters Rear Admiral without even using its full strength?

Everyone's gaze sharpened slightly, and Brannew seamlessly continued:

"Since this giant wolf also demonstrated the ability to manipulate Lei Ting during the battle, its alias is tentatively set as 'Lei Ting Silver Wolf', with a bounty amount of 80,000,000 Berries!"

"As for the most critical point of today, the man who personally snapped Vice Admiral Onigumo's neck..."

Speaking thus, Brannew removed all wanted posters from the whiteboard and pasted a brand-new wanted poster alone in the very center.

"Captain of the Curtain Fall Pirates, 'The Great Sword Hero' Siano!"

"He was already renowned in the East Blue many years ago; at merely fourteen years of age, he defeated Arlong and his crew, formerly under the Sun Pirates, and subsequently killed multiple pirates with bounties exceeding 10,000,000 Berries in succession; in the eyes of the local islanders of the East Blue, he has become an embodiment of justice even more trustworthy than us, the Navy!"

"But undoubtedly, these are merely superficial illusions; in this major incident at Loguetown, his vicious nature has been completely exposed!"

Rear Admiral Fine frowned, about to say something, but was directly interrupted by Brannew, "His egregious act of exceeding his authority to publicly execute Vice Admiral Onigumo is a barefaced provocation against the Navy and the World Government! Moreover, investigations reveal he also uprooted Roger's execution platform, used by Headquarters to deter pirates, and threw it into the sea, declaring to the world that he intends to become the one who brings down the curtain on the Great Pirate Era; truly arrogant to the extreme!"

"And it was at that moment that he displayed the rare quality of Conqueror's Haki, found in only one out of millions!"

"For such a madman possessing both ambition and strength, even for an initial bounty, it is worth breaking our rules to specially formulate a bounty amount that matches the degree of his threat!"

Boom!

Brannew's right hand slammed heavily onto the whiteboard.

The shock caused the corners of the wanted poster to lift, making the jet-black bounty figures beneath the black-haired youth carrying a long sword in the photograph appear even more glaring—

180,000,000 Berries!!!

"How much?"

In the East Blue, in a certain sea area near the Reverse Mountain, Siano, who had been comfortably lying under a sun umbrella drinking a cocktail personally mixed by Zeff, suddenly spat out a mouthful of wine.

"Yes, Captain, you heard correctly; a full 180,000,000 Berries."

Sister Sister Guyina took the wanted poster out of the newspaper and handed it over, "It has broken the record in history; never before has a pirate received such a high bounty amount before even entering the Grand Line."

"It seems the Navy Headquarters is practically begging for my death this time."

Looking at his own wanted poster, Siano grinned.

He had indeed anticipated that his bounty might break the East Blue's all-time record.

But he estimated it would be just under 100,000,000 Berries; who would have thought it would be so exaggerated right from the start.

Even if placed four years later, among those Worst Generation Supernovas who reached the Sabaody Archipelago, this bounty amount would still rank near the top.

And right now, he hadn't even entered the Grand Line yet...

"Captain of the Curtain Fall Pirates... tsk, their intelligence network is quite impressive; this name was only finalized a few days ago, yet they already know about it."

Behind him, a flag with a white background was clearly fluttering atop the mast.

'Curtain Fall Adventure Group'; this was the final group name Siano settled on for his crew, though of course the World Government would not recognize the existence of an 'Adventure Group', so externally, influenced by public opinion, they would largely still be called a Pirate Crew.

Not only the group name, but after leaving Loguetown, Siano had also sorted out various names and flags.

Even the ship's name, which had been undecided for a long time, was finally finalized and named 'Curtain Fall'.

Corresponding to the name Curtain Fall Adventure Group, it signifies a ship destined to bear the mission of bringing down the curtain on the Great Pirate Era.

The flag was also distinctly different from a pirate flag; it did not use a skull as the base image, as Siano wasn't too fond of that sort of thing.

So he simply imitated Drake's style, designing the pattern on a white background as two swords diagonally piercing through the Navy's iconic seagull-and-scales emblem.

Looking up at it this way, it appeared much more handsome.

As for whether the Navy would feel extra mockery and a hard-control effect upon seeing it, getting so angry they nearly died, that was no longer his concern.

"Speaking of which, the reports in the newspaper seem very unfavorable to us."

Sister Sister Guyina flipped through the newspaper in her hand and shook her head, "They glossed over Onigumo bombarding civilians and attacking us indiscriminately with a single stroke, making it seem as if we attacked Loguetown first, while Onigumo ironically became a tragic hero who came to save the civilians."

"Normal."

Siano didn't mind; how could he not be clear about this consistent nature passed down from the World Government to the Navy Headquarters?

However, falsehoods can never become truth; justice exists in the hearts of the people; with so many civilians in Loguetown watching, the true situation will likely spread throughout the East Blue before long.

"After all, even the largest newspaper, the World Economic News, must eat depending on the World Government's favor, and we clearly do not yet have the qualification to make Morgans turn against the World Government."

He casually put down his cocktail and said with a smile.

(End of Chapter)