"Leader! Let's throw a banquet!"
"Yes, we definitely have to hold a banquet."
Vane put away the fragments. He could study that thing later. Right now, everyone was in high spirits—it truly called for a celebration.
This immense fortune was enough to buy the head of Whitebeard—the current number one in the bounty world… though of course, no one could actually take Whitebeard's head.
"Then let's have a grand banquet!"
...
The impact of the Twin Islands incident was indeed significant, but Marine Headquarters still did not update Vane's bounty. The main reason was that his bounty had just been revised not long ago—frequent changes wouldn't be appropriate.
They were waiting to see the Rocket Team Pirates' next move. Many even speculated that after plundering such an enormous amount of wealth in one go, the Rocket Team Pirates would likely lie low for a while.
For example, the Red-Haired Pirates were like that. Despite having bounties worth hundreds of millions, they would disappear for long stretches at a time.
Grand Line, Drum Island route.
On a small archipelago.
"They're here, they're here! I see them!"
"Coming from the Twin Kingdom—I knew they'd head for the Drum Kingdom."
"Tell everyone to get ready. The moment to seize fortune and make a name for ourselves is right in front of us."
This small cluster of islands was a necessary passage from the Twin Kingdom to the Drum Kingdom. And here, a group of ambitious figures had gathered.
Four pirate crews, each over a hundred strong, had formed an alliance and were lying in wait, hoping to defeat the Rocket Team Pirates who had looted an entire kingdom's wealth.
Defeating the Rocket Team Pirates meant obtaining immense riches, and at the same time, gaining tremendous fame. One action to reap the two things pirates desired most—so they formed this pirate alliance.
"Burgess! As long as we defeat the Rocket Team Pirates, you'll become famous across the seas—a world-renowned fighter!"
On one of the pirate ships, the captain was enthusiastically listing the benefits of defeating the Rocket Team Pirates to his recruited powerhouse, Burgess.
The fighter called Burgess looked mature, but was actually still quite young. His build was far sturdier than most grown men.
And he had the classic pirate art style physique—extremely disproportionate. His upper body was incredibly bulky, while his lower body looked almost like thin sticks in comparison.
A typical inverted build, all his strength concentrated in his two arms.
"Kuahahaha! Old drunk, the fame from defeating the Rocket Team Pirates is mine—but I want the money too!"
Burgess wasn't stupid. Over this period, he had already figured out the Rocket Team's situation—they had a lot of money! There was no reason for him not to take a share.
"The money will definitely be divided. But their captain has a bounty over 200 million. Only by working together can we possibly defeat him. The money will be split evenly."
In the distance, the Thunder Fortress was drawing closer and closer. The four pirate ships picked the right distance and charged out from behind the concealing islands.
Using small islands for ambush—standard pirate tactics.
"Kill them! Take down the Rocket Team Pirates!"
"Whoever boards their deck first gets five million Belly up front!"
"They've got beautiful women on board—whoever grabs one first, she's his!"
Beauty was always a hot topic. Among pirates, female pirates were rare. Crews with women on board were usually large fleets; small pirate ships were environments most women absolutely despised.
"Kuahahaha! Ship cannonball!"
Burgess grabbed an iron cannon and turned himself into a human catapult. With a powerful leap, he swung his thick arms midair, hurling the cannon straight toward the Thunder Fortress.
This was precisely why the captain had invited Burgess aboard. The young man possessed immense strength, and his background as a fighter gave him astonishing combat experience as well.
The cannonball Burgess threw followed an extremely precise trajectory. If nothing unexpected happened, it would hit its target.
Boom!
Gladiator Dice leapt out like a long-armed gorilla and caught the iron cannon with both hands!
The tremendous impact forced Dice to stomp backward across the deck again and again.
"Interesting. Looks like there are some entertaining individuals among this group of pirates."
For Dice to feel strained—the strength was indeed impressive.
"Meowth, don't attack that ship for now."
Surrounded by four pirate ships, the Thunder Fortress showed no panic whatsoever. At first, Vane had planned to let Meowth activate the weapon system and wipe them out in one go.
After all, they were about to reach Drum Island. He didn't want to waste time.
But that thrown cannonball had piqued Vane's interest. Whoever that was had some guts—throwing a cannon by hand? Was he cosplaying Fist Garp or something?
"Meow, got it, meow. Let these low-tier pirates see the gap between us."
The four pirate ships unleashed their full firepower. Unfortunately, their shots either missed and splashed into the sea, or were intercepted by experts aboard the ship.
Gladiator Dice even started a game of "catch" with Burgess!
The iron cannon was repeatedly thrown back and forth between the two. It was a pure contest of brute force—whoever made the first mistake would cause damage to their own ship.
"So this is the strength of a 200-million pirate! Truly formidable!"
Burgess mistakenly thought the one tossing cannonballs with him was the Rocket Team captain—Nation-Slayer Vane.
"Indeed… not to be underestimated…"
Before the old drunk captain could finish speaking, the Thunder Fortress launched its attack. Two lightning-like beams flashed out and, in the blink of an eye, struck the two adjacent pirate ships.
BOOM?!
The two relatively small pirate ships exploded directly on the sea's surface—bursting apart like overinflated balloons!!
The temporary alliance of four pirate ships instantly lost half its force. The remaining two were completely stunned.
Before they had time to think, another slightly smaller lightning beam shot out and struck the third ship.
This attack was weaker—it didn't blow the ship to pieces outright, but nearly half of it exploded, flames raging wildly.
"Run! Run now! To hell with the treasure!"
The old drunk captain finally reacted. Now he understood the gap between them and pirates worth over a hundred million. It wasn't something their numbers could compensate for.
Burgess wasn't stubborn either. The fate of the other three ships made it clear—he was still too young.
Fortunately, the Thunder Fortress did not unleash another devastating attack to wipe them out completely.
"Someone—someone jumped off their ship?!"
"What? Racing a ship by swimming?!"
"No—that's a Fish-Man! A Fish-Man is incredibly fast!"
A Fish-Man was far faster than a ship. The Old Drunk's crew watched helplessly as a dark shadow beneath the sea darted toward their hull.
Then came the sound of wood splintering from beneath the ship.
"We're finished!!!"