Chapter 12: Nicknames and Rewards
Marinefort, Headquarters.
Kong was holding a denden mushi while Tsuru and Sengoku stood beside him.
Sengoku and Tsuru noticed the change in expression on Supreme Admiral Kong's face. They both looked at each other curiously and waited for Kong to end the call.
*Gach*
Kong looked at his two subordinates with a strange face and spoke.
"It was the world government, they want us to put a bounty on them."
After hearing Kong's words, the two approached to receive further explanations.
"Magnetic Fruit, you say? Where did this guy come from?"
Sengoku looked at Tsuro, since Tsuru was usually very knowledgeable about these things.
"He is a relatively famous bounty hunter within the mafia and underworld circles, I heard that he was dead."
Kong nodded at Tsuru's words, confirming what was said.
"It turns out he's alive, he's suspected of awakening his devil fruit, the world government didn't explain why they put a bounty on him, they just ordered us a certain amount."
Kong spoke while grabbing some donuts on the table.
"Hmm, this is strange." Tsuru stood with his arms crossed and began to think.
Kong just sighed and continued speaking.
"That's not all, apparently he formed a pirate group, and there's even a lodge involved, the thunder lodge...."
Sengoku widened his eyes in surprise upon hearing about the lodge. Tsuru beside him was also the same.
.....
"You tell me there's an awakened magnetic fruit and even a thunder lodge..."
Sengoku rubbed his forehead wondering inwardly, worrying about the state of the sea in the future.
"Admiral Kong, then, how much is the amount we will put on it?"
Sengoku did not question much about the mystery of the world government, he was already used to handling things this way.
Kong stood up and wrote a number on a nearby whiteboard.
Sengoku: !!!
Tsuru: !!!
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At sea, Enel and the others were training on the ship.
Since the previous humiliation, the three realized their weaknesses, making them motivated to train.
Enel was currently trying to awaken the Haki of observation, Vlad had told him that if he managed to capture the electromagnetic waves of the air with his thunder fruit, he would be able to awaken the same haki that he used.
This was something normal, after all, Enel having control over electricity, could feel electromagnetic waves in the air just like Vlad with his magnetic fruit.
Vlad knew that Enel would get that ability sooner or later, after all in the original plot he did, this being his famous "mantra".
The others were also training, Vlad not being a swordsman could not help Brook much in that regard, but he could help him with his devil fruit powers by giving him valuable ideas.
Vincent was practicing boxing techniques and different other ways to use the fire from his lamps, but his progress was still slow.
Since the group wanted to train Vlad, he left the ship floating quietly in the sea, after all it was not convenient to train while flying at extreme speed.
As for the devil fruit he obtained, he had kept it, after all now he had no one to give it to, for now...
Vlad stood with his torso bare while holding a lollipop in his mouth, as always.
In his previous fight, his physique had been pushed to the limit, his wounds and bruises were nothing anymore, instead he felt that he now had more experience in battle, he felt that was what he was missing.
He wasn't always going to be able to depend on his fruit, he had to be prepared for any situation and training his physique was necessary.
When Vlad was deep in thought, a seagull flew by, drawing Vlad's attention.
Vlad just whistled and the seagull calmly flew down.
It was one of the famous news seagulls, sometimes he was surprised by the intelligence of these animals.
Reading the newspaper he just bought, he smiled in good spirits.
"Hey come here for a while, check this out"
Vlad called everyone and showed them the news.
"Yohohoho captain you're amazing, he received a reward of 100 million!"
"Brook you too and even me!!"
"They only gave me that measly amount, hmph, in the future we'll see if a 100 million volt lightning bolt will change his mind."
"Enel, you have a bigger bounty than us, but you say that..."
Listening to the conversations and laughter of his crew, Vlad laughed with them as he looked back at the bounties.
Captain of the Transcendent Pirates, Vlad the Usurper, 100 million Berries
Transcendent Pirates, Thunder Lodge, Little Thor, 40 million berries.
Transcendent Pirates, Skeleton, 35 million berries.
Transcendent Pirates, Fire Hands, 30 million berries,
Vlad was the only one who had a photo on his bounty, the others were just drawn in detail based on descriptions.
In the photo Vlad was holding out his hand, while giving a cold look to the audience, probably that photo had been obtained from his past as a bounty hunter.
As for his title as a usurper, it gave him a little laugh, remembering the fruit and ships he had stolen so far...
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Somewhere in the Grand Line, Moria who had just bought a newspaper started laughing uncontrollably.
"Kishishishishi"
The other members of the Gecko Pirates thought that their captain had gone crazy until they heard the news.
"That Vlad, it seems he has come out of the shadows at last, kishishi"
Moria was laughing as he caught the shadows of a group of unfortunate pirates who had attacked them.
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"That bastard, I will find him and make him pay sooner or later, just wait for me Vlad you damn usurper"
Crocodile who was now on a smaller ship due to Vlad stealing his previously, was with bloodshot eyes looking at the amount he had.
Crocodile compared his 70 million bounty to Vlad's bounty, causing his mood to worsen as he launched tornadoes of wind and sand over the sea to vent his anger.
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While several figures were surprised by the new news, the protagonists, the transcendent pirates, continued traveling on the sea.
Vlad, who had a log pose, thought about his next steps.
Drums Island, he must have visited that island, perhaps his title of usurper will come to light again very soon.
Vlad looked at the log pose carried in his hands, as a user of the magnetic fruit, Vlad got along very well with the log poses.
This famous compass from One Piece, depended on the registration of the magnetic fields of the island to point to the following islands.
In the possession of Vlad, who had complete control over magnetism, he could skip the step of registering the magnetic fields of the islands, in order to go directly to the island he wanted without wasting time.