This time, Baichuan had also become a little famous across the world.
The people who already knew him were not all that surprised by the news, because a bounty like that felt only natural.
But for those who had never heard of him before, their first reaction upon seeing the wanted poster would probably be, "Holy shit, who is this? Why is he so handsome?" Their second reaction would be surprise that the bounty was so high. He was a newcomer, was he not?
"Pops, look. That kid has a bounty now too."
On Whitebeard's pirate ship, Marco waved a newspaper at Whitebeard as he spoke.
"That kid?"
Clearly, Whitebeard's impression of him was no longer that sharp. In Whitebeard's eyes, he had simply been a talented brat with a long road still ahead of him.
"The one with the giant sword above his head. The title the Marines gave him is Great Sword."
"Oh, that one."
The moment Marco mentioned the sword, Whitebeard remembered.
"That flashy little brat."
When Whitebeard had first seen that sword, even he had been a little shocked.
But later, when he realized the sword itself was not actually useful, he classified it as no more than decoration.
"Flashy. Hahaha, Pops is right."
Hearing Whitebeard's evaluation of Baichuan made Marco very happy inside. At the very least, it meant his own standing in Pops' heart was much higher than Baichuan's.
"A newcomer on Roger's crew?"
Golden Lion naturally saw the wanted poster too, but he had no impression of Baichuan himself. The only thing that caught his attention was the small line written beneath it.
Member of the Roger Pirates. Extremely dangerous.
There were not a few people on the seas who focused on the exact same point as Golden Lion.
Most people cared far more about the fact that he was a member of the Roger Pirates.
Because right now, Roger was without question the man closest to the end.
And after Golden Lion's battle with Roger yesterday, his forces had been nearly wiped out. If he wanted to return to his peak, he would need a good deal of time.
And during that period, Roger might very well accomplish the impossible.
"But Baichuan, the title Great Sword really does suit you pretty well," Shanks said, raising a brow. Clearly, he also thought the title was rather straightforward.
"Hmph. Sooner or later, I'll make the Marines change that title."
Baichuan answered stubbornly.
As for what he wanted it changed to, he had not thought that far ahead yet. At the very least, it had to sound more imposing, something like Vice Captain or Dark King Rayleigh.
"Then good luck with that."
"There seems to be news about Bullet in this paper too!"
At that moment, one pirate holding a newspaper shouted loudly.
"What? Where? Let me see."
As for that man who had once come out of the Roger Pirates, his former crewmates naturally paid a great deal of attention to him.
"It says here that Bullet, as a newcomer, encountered another newcomer, Crocodile, and the two fought fiercely. No clear winner has been determined."
"Crocodile... I think I've heard of him. He should be the user of the Logia-type Sand-Sand Fruit."
"Are rookies these days all this strong? He fought Bullet to a standstill?"
Most of the pirates in Roger's crew were not a match for Bullet, so if they ran into Crocodile, their own chances of winning would probably not be very high either.
"Bullet probably did not go all out. Or maybe the battlefield was in a desert, which just happened to be ideal terrain for Crocodile."
One pirate offered a fairly rational analysis. Bullet had already mastered extremely powerful Armament Haki, which should have given him a strong advantage against a Logia user.
"Crocodile, huh?"
Baichuan had some impression of that pirate as well.
After all, he was the first Warlord of the Sea that Luffy defeated. Back then, Luffy did not know Haki, so he had relied on discovering the weakness of the Sand-Sand Fruit and countered it with water.
But in Baichuan's opinion, the reason Luffy had managed to defeat Crocodile back then, two years before the real rise of Haki, was mostly because the protagonist aura was too strong. Crocodile had been portrayed like a useless man who had nothing but his Devil Fruit.
But Crocodile had challenged Whitebeard multiple times.
If he had really been that easy to beat, he would have been buried at sea long ago.
"Still, as long as Bullet's fine, that's what matters."
To be honest, if Roger learned that something had happened to Bullet, he would very likely lead the entire crew to rescue him. Even if Bullet was no longer one of the Roger Pirates, Roger was just that kind of man. Loyal, righteous, and deeply sentimental.
"Then let's throw a banquet, to celebrate our successful escape from Golden Lion, and also to celebrate Baichuan's 50 million Berry bounty!"
"Yeah!"
Everyone shouted in agreement.
Among all things, the Roger Pirates loved banquets the most.
At a banquet, they could eat and drink to their heart's content and forget every last trouble in the world.
"He's grown up too."
Watching Baichuan surrounded by the crowd, Rayleigh sighed with emotion.
"Yeah. But your contribution to that can't be overlooked. You should be the person who knows him best, right?"
Roger had happened to overhear Rayleigh's comment.
"I only know him on the surface."
Rayleigh answered.
"He still has a lot of secrets hidden in him. I always feel like his abilities do not come from a Devil Fruit, but are something innate."
"Is that so? But isn't having secrets perfectly normal? Everyone has secrets of their own. Don't tell me you don't have any."
The moment Roger said that, the seriousness on Rayleigh's face instantly twisted into a bitter smile.
"Can mine even still be called a secret? I get the feeling most of you already know."
"Hahaha, of course it still counts. After all, there are still a lot of people who don't know yet."
Roger burst into laughter and slapped Rayleigh on the shoulder.
"Then do you have any secrets I don't know?" Rayleigh asked Roger in return.
"If it's a secret, then only the person who knows it can call it a secret. How could I possibly tell you?"
"In other words, that means my matter isn't a secret anymore, doesn't it?"
Rayleigh shouted at Roger.
That bastard had been trying to brainwash him just now.
"Say it. Was it you who told everyone about my business?"
Rayleigh looked at Roger with a dangerous expression.
Originally, only Roger had known about that matter. But now, plenty of people on the ship knew. There was no way Rayleigh would have told them himself. If anyone had spread it, it could only have been Roger.
"I didn't. Don't make stuff up."
Even while Rayleigh had him by the collar, Roger showed not the slightest panic. Instead, he shifted his eyes sideways and tilted his mouth off to one side as he denied it.
"Hey, can you make it any more obvious?"
Was that lie meant for children? Even a child would probably be able to tell he was lying.
"Even Baichuan knows about it now."
That was right. Rayleigh's secret was the woman who ran a bar on the Sabaody Archipelago.
"Don't make things up. I didn't tell Baichuan."
"So that means everyone else was told by you, then."
Rayleigh cracked his knuckles and revealed a devilish smile.
"What did the captain do this time to make the vice captain that angry?"
"Who knows. Maybe the captain told someone else about the vice captain's secret again."
"What secret?"
A nearby pirate looked at Shanks with eager eyes.
"I'll tell you, okay..."
Shanks leaned over and whispered into the pirate's ear.
"Ohhh, so that's how it is."
That pirate nodded in sudden understanding, then looked at Rayleigh with a completely new expression.
"I never expected the vice captain to be this kind of person. Keeping a beauty hidden away in a golden house. Tch, what a scumbag."
/-\
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