"Ah!"
"It feels way off from what I imagined. We already beat Big Mom — I thought we'd become a brand-new legend!" Buggy sighed.
The gap between ideals and reality was just too wide. They were still far, far behind their role models.
Hearing this, the others felt a wave of disappointment too. Nekomamushi and Inuarashi had both expected their bounties to break a billion. Instead, the two of them combined had barely crossed five hundred million.
"That's only natural, isn't it? Don't forget we barely beat the Big Mom Pirates after teaming up with Shanks and Doflamingo. If Mihawk hadn't finished the job at the end, you'd all be dead by Big Mom's hand." Furaese didn't care much about bounties, and she was the rational type.
Besides, the Buggy Pirates' foundation was genuinely thin. Truth be told, even their pirate alliance at the time had been far weaker than the Big Mom Pirates.
They'd also had a large batch of autonomous machines sent from Inazuma tying down a lot of Big Mom's forces. The Marines' assault had drawn even more of their strength away.
After all, the battle on the Ice Sea wasn't just about Yukiko and the three Vice Admirals. The Marines had brought twenty warships in total, with five Vice Admirals among them!
Without those outside factors, even if they'd truly defeated Big Mom, there was no guarantee they'd have escaped Whole Cake Island alive. Katakuri and Cracker had already arrived by then.
"Speaking of which, that Katakuri guy wasn't bad," Inuarashi said.
The situation had been chaotic. Even though Katakuri had returned to the battlefield, he hadn't focused on fighting them — he'd spent the whole time rescuing his younger siblings.
That left Inuarashi and the others with a pretty good impression of the guy.
"Pity. Without Big Mom as their backbone, the Charlotte Family's days ahead won't be easy," Nekomamushi grinned.
That wasn't necessarily true, though. The New World was ultimately a battlefield for the Four Emperors, but plenty of pirates had carved out a foothold in the cracks between the true sea emperors.
Katakuri's combat strength spoke for itself, and the family had no shortage of capable fighters. He should be able to reach roughly Doflamingo's level.
"The World Government's always been looking for strong pirates to be their lapdogs. They might come knocking on his door," Enel said.
"You mean that Seven Warlords of the Sea thing?" Buggy rolled his eyes.
The Marines had actually approached them about it too, but they'd refused outright.
"Under the King"? Ridiculous! In their hearts, there was only one true king!
"I think Katakuri might actually accept. For the sake of settling his siblings down, even if he didn't want to, he'd probably yield. After all, the privileges of being a Warlord are considerable. Just having your bounty revoked and no longer being hunted by the Marines alone would save them a lot of trouble," Furaese speculated.
She was actually spot-on. The Marines had already sent someone to find Katakuri.
Though it sparked considerable discontent among the other family members, Katakuri gritted his teeth and accepted the Marines' invitation.
In truth, the enemy Katakuri was most worried about right now was the Marines.
The seas were in chaos, but there weren't many forces that could actually threaten them. Besides, pirates wouldn't waste their attention on a bunch of stray dogs like them.
They'd be better off using that energy to grab a few islands in Totto Land!
"I couldn't care less about that split-jaw freak. The point is — what do we do now?" Buggy pulled the topic back.
Defeating the Big Mom Pirates had been their goal. They'd achieved it, but the returns hadn't lived up to expectations.
"Expand our forces, obviously." Furaese rolled her eyes.
It was such a simple question. She'd already given the answer, yet these idiots were all staring at her with blank expressions.
"Listen up! Our bounties are low because we're just a pirate crew — six people, at that. Our influence is tiny. But look at the Shogun — not only is his personal strength immense, he has all of Inazuma behind him!"
"…"
Buggy and the rest blinked, giving her that "I don't get it but I'm impressed" look. Furaese realized she'd wasted her breath.
"Sigh…"
She sighed, a little exhausted. She decided to stop explaining things to these fools and just say something they'd understand.
"Bottom line: the bigger our forces grow, the higher our bounties go. Doflamingo moved the fastest — his bounty's jumped thirty million in the last two days."
Now everyone got it!
"What?! That turkey's bounty went up again?!" Buggy's face twisted as he roared, sprinting out of the bathroom with his pants still half-down!
"Then what are we waiting for?! Let's go grab Big Mom's territory!" Enel, wrapped up like a rice dumpling in bandages, got anxious too.
"Hurry, hurry! Nekomamushi, Inuarashi, set sail!"
"Buggy! Wipe your ass first!" Nekomamushi and Inuarashi roared, pinching their noses!
"And Enel, your injuries aren't healed yet, are they?"
Enel ripped his bandages straight off, stomped one foot on the railing, looking ready to charge into the wind and waves.
Then, the very next moment, every blood vessel in his body tore open. Blood seeped from every pore.
He acted like he didn't notice, snarling coldly:
"Hmph, just a flesh wound…"
"Thud!"
Before he could finish, he face-planted onto the deck and passed out cold.
Furaese was so furious she wanted to beat him senseless!
That jerk!
Did he know how tiring it was to clean the deck?!
What had been a nice moment moments ago had turned into total chaos. Furaese rushed off to re-bandage Enel. Buggy, heartless as ever, didn't care about Enel's life or death — he just floated in midair, bossing Nekomamushi and Inuarashi around.
That left Kawamatsu alone, blinking his big eyes at everyone bustling around him, his face full of grievance:
"Um…"
"Um…"
"My… bounty…"
The kid had been thinking that after this big event, he'd surely get a bounty (forgetting whether he'd even been wanted before), and he'd been waiting eagerly.
But everyone — including Furaese — had completely forgotten about him.
Now Kawamatsu felt like he was just extra. A six-person pirate crew, and there was no room for his tiny frame.
"Could you… tell me my bun…"
Kawamatsu stood there, mouth open, eyes welling up with tears, looking utterly pitiful.
Then suddenly, the back of his collar was grabbed by a white hand.
Kawamatsu quickly turned to look. Buggy was hovering above, shouting at him:
"Kawamatsu! What are you standing there for?! Get to the helm!"
"Hard to starboard! We're turning around!"
[
Dear Readers,
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