Ryoma closed the crudely made logbook as his small boat caught the sea breeze, sailing toward the Sambas Region marked within.
"Before heading to the Grand Line, it seems like a fine choice to enjoy some top-tier cuisine first."
He stretched lazily, his joints letting out a series of crisp pops, his entire body radiating an air of leisure.
He casually grabbed a gold coin from Krieg's treasure chest and flipped it with his fingertips, the coin traced a glittering arc in the sunlight.
To him, these things were merely convenient tools for travel, far less attractive than a delicious meal.
Furthermore, several consecutive days of sailing had been dull and tedious. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but shifting clouds and endless blue.
Ryoma leaned against the small boat's mast, boredly chewing on his last piece of rock-hard dry rations, the coarse texture driving his craving for fine food to its peak.
Just as Ryoma's small boat was leisurely sailing toward the land of gourmet food, a violent storm was brewing in the heart of the Marines, Marineford.
Marines Headquarters, Fleet Admiral's Office.
Crash!
A ceramic cup was slammed onto the floor, shattering into pieces. Scalding coffee splashed onto a snowy-white goatee, but the owner of the office seemed completely oblivious.
"Bastard!"
Sengoku's usually majestic face was covered in veins. He tightly gripped a battle report that had just arrived via top-level emergency communication, the blood vessels on the back of his hand bulging like knotted ropes.
The content of the report was outrageously simple.
The Overlord of the East Blue, the Krieg Pirates, along with their thirty warships and three thousand pirates, were completely annihilated on the outskirts of the Sambas Region.
No, using the word 'annihilated' was no longer accurate enough. They were frozen solid.
Thirty ships were frozen atop a vast ice field. The three thousand pirates on board, without exception, had all been turned into ice sculptures, pierced through from the inside by hideous ice spikes.
And the culprit behind it all was the very 'Frost Fairy' Ryoma, for whom they had issued an eighty-million bounty just a few days ago.
"Eighty million?"
Sengoku felt his temples throbbing violently, a dizzying sensation of soaring blood pressure rushing to his head.
"The Intelligence Department calls this eighty million? Are they joking with me!"
Another report lay on the desk before him, concerning the Arlong Pirates.
Placed together, the two reports clearly outlined the silhouette of a terrifying existence they knew absolutely nothing about.
"One person... froze an entire fleet?"
A Vice Admiral present repeated the conclusion with a dry voice, he himself found it absurd.
This was no longer a matter of strength, this was a natural disaster.
"This level of control over Devil Fruit abilities is probably not inferior to Kuzan's." Sengoku said.
He recalled the description of the ice spikes growing from within the bodies in the report. That represented an extremely subtle and precise level of control over the ability.
Was this really something the Logia-type Snow-Snow Fruit could achieve? Or was there some even higher-tier Ice-type Devil Fruit?
The office door was suddenly pushed open, and Garp walked in grandly, munching on a rice cracker.
"What's all the shouting about, Sengoku? I could hear your yelling from next door."
Seeing Garp's nonchalant attitude, Sengoku's anger reached its peak. He grabbed the report from the desk and slammed it into Garp's face.
"See for yourself! This is the 'interesting, troublesome brat' you mentioned! He turned the entire Krieg fleet into an ice sculpture exhibition! Three thousand people! Garp! What kind of monster did you actually encounter in East Blue!"
Garp caught the report with ease, casually scanning it while crunching on his rice cracker. When he saw the descriptions of the 'frozen fleet' and 'ice spikes piercing bodies,' his chewing motion slowly came to a halt.
"Kyahahahaha!"
Garp erupted into earth-shattering laughter, laughing so hard that tears nearly came out.
He slapped Sengoku's expensive desk with his palm, sending documents flying everywhere.
"Interesting! As expected of the kid I took a liking to! Well done!"
"Garp!!!"
The veins on Sengoku's forehead were nearly bursting.
"Is this the time for that! His danger level has far exceeded our estimates. An eighty-million bounty will only attract more idiots like Krieg to their deaths, while simultaneously causing the world to severely underestimate his threat."
"So what?"
Garp picked his nose and asked back indifferently.
"It's just pirate trash dying anyway, it's a good way to clean up the sea. As for the bounty, can't you just increase it?"
"You..."
Sengoku was so infuriated by Garp's bastard logic that he nearly choked.
He pointed at Garp, his finger trembling. "You bastard... you've fought him! Tell me everything you know!"
"Ah... we fought."
Garp scratched his head, reminiscing for a moment.
"I just punched him once. He didn't dodge and took it head-on. Yeah, he's very tough, his bones are like iron. As for the rest... he felt like a very strong young man, nothing else."
Nothing else?
Sengoku felt like he was being driven mad by this unreliable colleague.
He forced himself to calm down, sat back in his chair, picked up the Den Den Mushi on the desk, and dialed a few numbers.
"Summon all officers of Vice Admiral rank and above. We're holding an emergency meeting in five minutes. There is only one agenda item: the re-evaluation of 'Frost Fairy' Ryoma's threat level and the determination of a new bounty amount."
Hanging up the Den Den Mushi, Sengoku rubbed his brow tiredly.
What on earth was going on with East Blue, the 'Weakest Sea'?
First, it produced the pirate king Roger, and now a monster with at least Vice Admiral-level combat power has emerged.
A few minutes later, the atmosphere in the Marines Headquarters' highest conference room was extremely heavy.
When the wretched photo of the frozen Krieg fleet was projected before all the officers, the entire conference room fell into a dead silence.
Even veteran Marine officers who had been through hundreds of battles couldn't help but feel a chill seeing this scene that looked like a scroll from hell.
"This wasn't a battle, this was a one-sided massacre." Tsuru spoke slowly, breaking the silence.
"The bounty must be raised immediately. This man's existence is, in itself, a massive threat to the world order."
The hawkish officer from before slammed the table and stood up again, but this time, his voice held a deep sense of dread alongside the anger.
"An eighty-million bounty is a joke. I propose we raise the bounty to three hundred million Berries." Another Vice Admiral spoke up with a shocking suggestion.
"Three hundred million? Are you crazy? That's the value of great pirates who have made a name for themselves in the New World. He's just a rookie."
"A rookie? A rookie who can freeze a fleet of three thousand people single-handedly?"
The conference room immediately became noisy as the officers argued incessantly over the bounty amount.
"Everyone, be quiet!"
Sengoku gave a furious shout that silenced the room.
He stood up and looked around at everyone. "This is no ordinary criminal. His behavioral patterns are unpredictable. He annihilated Arlong, perhaps to save the villagers. He killed Captain Nezumi because of the man's corruption. He froze Krieg because he was provoked."
Sengoku paused, his voice becoming incredibly heavy. "But the means he uses possess destructive power. This uncontrolled strength is what's most dangerous. To demonstrate his threat to the whole world, to warn all those with ill intentions, and to uphold the unshakable justice of the Marines."
He slammed the table, making his final decision, "Raise the bounty of 'Frost Fairy' Ryoma to... one hundred and eighty million Berries. Dead or Alive. Issue it immediately."
One hundred and eighty million!
This number brought all the arguing to a halt.
It was an extremely exaggerated figure, yet one within the psychological tolerance of those present.
It was enough to show the Marines' seriousness without being so excessive that it shook the foundations of the entire bounty system.
Shortly after, a new batch of News Coos flew out to the world again, their wings carrying news enough to make the entire sea tremble.
And at this very moment, at the center of this storm.
Ryoma was standing at the bow of his small boat, gazing at a peculiar structure appearing on the distant horizon.
It was a massive ship shaped like a giant fish.
The sea restaurant, Baratie.
An expectant smile appeared on Ryoma's face. He could already smell the faint aroma of food drifting through the air.
"Finally arrived."
He murmured softly to himself, completely unaware that his name and face were about to spread across the four seas in an even more sensational manner.