The Grand Line, somewhere in the New World.
One of the Four Emperors, Red-Haired Shanks, sat atop a jagged reef, holding a freshly issued bounty poster in his hand.
He gazed out at the boundless azure sea. Light flickered in his eyes, and a calm smile curved his lips.
"So it's finally come, Luffy…?"
Wave after wave crashed relentlessly against the sturdy reef, carving the marks of time into nature itself.
…
The New World, aboard the Moby Dick.
A man with freckles across his face and an orange cowboy hat on his head ran excitedly across the deck toward the gathering of Whitebeard's commanders.
"Hey! Hey! Did you see it? Did you see it?!"
Whoosh—
The man snapped open the bounty poster in his hands and burst out laughing as he showed it to everyone present.
"Look! Take a look!"
"This guy's my little brother! He actually got himself a bounty from the World Government!"
"Your brother?"
A man with a pineapple-shaped haircut stared at the poster, then smacked his lips in amazement.
"First bounty and it's already fifty million Beli, Ace. Looks like your little brother is an even tougher monster than you~!"
A burly man beside him chimed in with a grin.
"Why don't you introduce him to the Whitebeard Pirates? That way, we'll all be family sooner or later."
"Hahaha, forget it, Jozu," Ace laughed heartily. "Luffy's the kind of guy who'd never join someone else's crew."
"He's always yelling about becoming the Pirate King."
"Oh? Sounds just like you not too long ago, doesn't it?" Marco teased, glancing sideways at Ace.
After all, it hadn't been that long since Ace himself had boldly declared he'd become Pirate King and stormed off to challenge the Whitebeard Pirates head-on.
"Damn it! Didn't we agree never to bring that up again?!" Ace shouted.
He suddenly lunged forward, tackling the unguarded Marco straight to the deck.
In the chaos, the bounty poster slipped from his hand.
A gust of sea wind swept by, lifting the paper into the air before it drifted down—straight into the hand of a towering man.
"Ace's little brother, huh?"
The man known as the World's Strongest Man, Whitebeard—Edward Newgate—stared at the familiar straw hat pictured on the poster. His eyes grew distant.
"Interesting…"
"Gurarararara!!!"
Despite the tubes and drips still connected to his body, he slowly lifted the corners of his mouth, revealing a crescent-shaped grin—bold, boisterous, and overflowing with dominance.
His laughter thundered heavenward, the sheer pressure shattering even the clouds high above.
Ignoring the equipment attached to him, Whitebeard stood up and laughed loudly.
"Sons!"
"To celebrate Ace's little brother getting his first bounty—"
"Let's throw a party!!!"
"OHHH—!!!"
In an instant, cheers erupted across the entire Moby Dick.
A grand banquet began just like that, without the slightest preparation.
As for who Ace's little brother actually was?
How many in the Whitebeard Pirates truly cared!?
They just wanted an excuse to party.
However, in a forgotten corner, a man with a thick black beard devoured chunks of meat while fixating on the letter "D" on Luffy's bounty poster.
"Looks like an interesting fellow…"
"Zehahahaha…"
…
East Blue, Orange Town.
Inside the headquarters of the Buggy Pirates.
Buggy, who had been holding a meeting to discuss their next move, was abruptly interrupted by a frantic shout.
"Captain Buggy!!! Captain Buggy!!!"
A bizarre-looking pirate came rushing in, panic-stricken. He shoved a bounty poster forward while gasping for breath.
"Captain Buggy, look at this!!!"
"Huh? What is it now?"
Buggy took the poster curiously.
The next instant, his eyes bulged wide.
"Th-This is!?"
"It's Lord Luffy's bounty poster!" the pirate shouted excitedly. "Lord Luffy actually got a bounty of fifty million Beli!"
"As expected of someone Captain Buggy favors—truly extraordinary!"
The lackey missed no chance to flatter.
Buggy's voice grew low as his gaze locked onto the straw hat in the picture.
"Yeah…" he agreed aloud.
But deep down, he was snarling viciously:
"As expected of someone you fancy, Shanks—truly extraordinary!"
Buggy knew full well that although the one he had sworn brotherhood with was Monkey D. Luffy, the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates—
Luffy and he were not on the same path.
The one he truly pledged loyalty to and took orders from was the Straw Hat crew's vice-captain, Red.
That didn't mean he was disloyal to the Straw Hat Pirates.
Once the Oath Wine had been drunk, by pirate rules, he was bound to follow the Straw Hats forever.
Buggy was an old-school pirate—he took such rules seriously.
But in a massive pirate crew, factions and inner circles were inevitable.
And Buggy belonged to the faction that followed Vice-Captain Red.
…
…
Luffy's bounty didn't stir much waves in the Grand Line.
Fifty million might carry some weight, but among the countless monsters of the Grand Line, figures like that were everywhere.
Compared to that indifference, however, the East Blue was in an uproar.
Many people were already scared out of their wits by a single bounty poster.
…
…
East Blue, Syrup Village.
A remote village with little population and no special products, Syrup Village was fortunate enough to be an island even pirates couldn't be bothered to visit.
It was peaceful and quiet. The villagers worked at sunrise and rested at sunset, day after day, year after year.
Aside from a long-nosed liar who loudly proclaimed pirate attacks every morning, there was nothing particularly remarkable about the place.
Today was no exception.
That same long-nosed man once again completed a full sprint across the village—while being chased in absolute chaos by furious villagers.
Afternoon.
In the forest outside Syrup Village, Usopp, his skin tanned and healthy, wearing a brownish-yellow tank top, sniffed the air deeply, savoring the scent of fresh grass.
"What a great day~"
Freshly awakened from his afternoon nap, he stretched and shouted,
"Alright! Break's over! Soon I'll go tell Kaya all about my adventures in the undersea world!"
"So before that…"
"I'll train my shooting skills properly!"
Usopp rolled his shoulders, looking raring to go.
But just then, frantic shouting suddenly echoed from the distant country road.
"This is bad—! Something terrible's happened—!!!"
"Captain Usopp!!!"
Three little kids, no more than eight or nine years old, came running wildly toward him, yelling at the top of their lungs.
"Huh!? You guys?" Usopp said.
Seeing his three subordinates, he immediately put on a composed expression, crossed his arms, and looked down at them.
"All flustered like this—where's your discipline?!"
"As pirates, you must stay calm, you hear me?!"
"Yes, Captain Usopp!" the three kids answered in unison.
Then the onion-headed kid in the middle handed Usopp a newspaper and a bounty poster.
"But… Captain Usopp… the situation's really bad!"
"What happened?"
Usopp calmly took the poster and slowly unfolded it—
And instantly fell silent.
One minute passed.
The three kids muttered in confusion.
"Captain Usopp?"
When he didn't respond, they stepped to his side.
Then they saw it.
Their always-boastful Captain Usopp was drenched in cold sweat, terror shining in his widened eyes.
"Sigh…"
The three kids exchanged glances and spread their hands helplessly.
They didn't seem surprised at all.
The carrot-headed kid coughed lightly.
"Ahem, Captain Usopp. A big pirate's appeared in the East Blue."
"The paper says they attacked Marine Branch 153 a couple of days ago."
"And I remember that Marine base… it's not far from Syrup Village…"