https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-453-King-of-the-Mountain-Bandits-and-Luffy/12559710/
Chapter 454: A Bounty Order
Chapter 454: A Bounty Order
"The... Marine?"
Sige's eyes widened as he saw Garp don the Marine's coat of justice, and he unconsciously took a step back, a hint of fear flashing in his eyes.
While he was a mountain bandit holed up in this country, most of the world was covered in oceans. Moreover, as this country was a member state under the World Government, it fell under the jurisdiction of the Marines. From time to time, they would enter the country to sweep out criminals.
However...
After the initial shock, Sige realized that there didn't seem to be any other Marines around. It appeared that Garp and the one who had delivered the coat were the only ones present. Sige took a moment to compose himself and regain his calm. He huffed and said, "So there are Marines... but there are only two of you..."
Bang!!
Before he could finish his sentence, Sige received a solid punch on the jaw, causing his entire cheek to contort. Several teeth could be seen flying out of his mouth.
In the blink of an eye, Garp, who had been standing at a distance, appeared in front of Sige and delivered a punch that sent him flipping through the air before landing on the ground.
This scene startled not only Sige's band of mountain bandits but also Luffy, who was standing nearby. For a moment, he recalled the fear he had felt when dominated by Garp's fists.
"Boss!!!"
After a few seconds of frozen silence, the shocked mountain bandits finally found their voices and rushed forward to help Sige up.
Sige's mind went blank from Garp's punch, and he felt like his brain had been knocked out of his head. As he slowly regained some consciousness, he mumbled incoherently, "Get... get them! Take them down now!"
But before the mountain bandits could respond to Sige's order, Garp, with a grim expression, produced a stone in his hand. He crushed it into countless fragments with his large hand and flung them toward the dozen or so mountain bandits in the distance.
The shower of stone shards fell like raindrops, each one packing a punch comparable to a bullet. The mountain bandits were struck, their heads bleeding profusely, and they immediately collapsed to the ground.
Finally, the scene quieted down.
Shanks, having shaken off the glass shards from his body, turned to Luffy and said, "Luffy, I'm leaving."
Luffy, still a little shaken from Garp's display, turned to Shanks and exclaimed, "Ah... I want to go sailing too!"
"Hahaha, if you want to sail, wait until you're a bit older and set out on your own."
Shanks laughed heartily, then paused as if remembering something. He reached for the straw hat on his head and placed it on Luffy's, saying, "Keep this hat for now. When you've grown up, find me and return it to me."
With that, Shanks turned and began walking toward the distance.
Not far away.
Garp was instructing his subordinates to use the Den Den Mushi to call for more Marines to take away Sige and his mountain bandits. It was only when he snapped back to reality that he noticed Shanks' straw hat on Luffy's head.
He paused for a moment, his expression changing, and then he rushed over in a few quick steps. Snatching the straw hat from Luffy's head, he yelled at Shanks' retreating back, "Hey! Red-haired brat, take your hat back!"
But it was too late.
Luffy held tightly onto the hat's brim, refusing to let go even as Garp lifted him off the ground. "Grandpa!!!"
Shanks sensed what was happening behind him, but he didn't turn around. Instead, he smiled and raised his arm in a wave, continuing on his way to join Beckman and the others.
Dragon, Luffy's father and the leader of the Revolutionary Army, watched this unfold, a thoughtful look on his face. Finally, he glanced at Luffy and smiled softly.
Only Garp was left, angrily tugging at the straw hat in Luffy's grip.
In the end, Garp managed to pry the hat from Luffy's hands and threw it far in the direction Shanks had gone. It flew off the island and landed in the sea, causing Luffy to burst into tears and throw a tantrum. However, Garp grabbed him by the neck and dragged him back home.
They thought that was the end of it, but the next day, after Luffy ran out and returned, the discarded straw hat reappeared, perched happily on his head.
On a mountaintop somewhere.
Feng Ye, who had been gazing into the distance, retracted his gaze and shook his head with a soft laugh. "The pursuit of freedom runs in the family, it seems."
Garp was arguably the freest Marine, and Dragon, of course, wanted not only his own freedom but also the world's freedom from the Celestial Dragons' rule. Luffy, too, shared this belief.
Feng Ye didn't dislike the pursuit of freedom.
In fact, he was also seeking freedom, but his idea of freedom differed from that of Luffy and Dragon. He knew that achieving his kind of freedom would require far more effort and hardship.
"..."
Standing beside him, Robin had been observing Feng Ye.
She noticed the shift in his expression from a light smile to a more complex emotion. Softly, she said, "Actually, you've always had worries, haven't you? Even though, to those sailing these seas, you seem like the freest person."
Robin took hold of Feng Ye's hand, her eyes sparkling as she asked, "Can you tell me about it?"
She was perhaps the person who understood Feng Ye the most in this world, intimately familiar with every inch of him. Yet, there were still parts of him that remained shrouded in mystery—his past, his experiences, and stories he had never shared.
Robin rarely took the initiative to inquire about these things, adhering to her philosophy as a maid, choosing not to pry into Feng Ye's personal matters.
However, in moments like this, when she wanted to share his burdens, she would cautiously probe, only if she believed it wouldn't cause him to withdraw.
"Next time," Feng Ye said softly, a hint of gentleness in his eyes as he regarded Robin.
...
Marine 134th Branch Base.
A warship slowly sailed into the base, and dozens of marines escorted over a dozen mountain bandits off the ship, marching them into the branch base.
At the forefront was a man with a swollen jaw, half of his face puffed up, his hands cuffed as he hung his head low, dejected and defeated.
"That old man is actually a Marine vice admiral..."
"Such bad luck."
Sige muttered to himself, his mood sullen.
After being beaten by Captain Garp, on their way here, he had learned that Garp was a Marine vice admiral.
While he was bullying a group of kids, a vice admiral just happened to be in Foosha Village and witnessed his arrogant behavior. It was simply bad luck.
If not for encountering a Marine vice admiral, he would still be roaming free. Ordinary Marine captains wouldn't have been able to catch him, and he wouldn't have ended up in this predicament.
Bang!!
As Sige walked with his head down, his mind filled with resentment, he suddenly collided with a Marine soldier who turned the corner.
Caught off guard, they both tumbled to the ground, and the stack of documents the Marine had been carrying scattered across the corridor like paper scraps.
"Ouch... What are you doing?!"
The Marine soldier stood up and, upon seeing that it was a prisoner in handcuffs he had collided with, his face twisted in annoyance.
A mere little Marine dared to speak to him like that...
Sige's heart seethed with resentment, but with the nearby Marines aiming guns at him, he dared not retort. He could only lower his head and apologize repeatedly.
"Watch where you're going next time! Pick them all up now!"
The Marine soldier scolded him.
Sige apologized humiliatingly, his hands cuffed as he hurriedly picked up the pile of old documents and bounty orders from the floor.
Just as he gathered a large stack, about to pick up the last one from the corner, his movements suddenly froze.
Whoosh!!
The documents slipped from his hands, scattering once more.
"What are you doing?!"
The nearby Marine, seeing this, kicked him angrily, sending Sige stumbling forward and falling to the ground.
However, Sige's expression remained unchanged, his face turning slightly pale, his eyes filled with disbelief.
He stiffly picked up the bounty order from the corner.
The person on the bounty order was one of the group of people he had encountered that day, the one who had ignored him and walked away. That strikingly beautiful face had left a deep impression.
"One... ten... hundred... thousand... million..."
"This... how is this possible..."
Sige's fingers trembled as he felt as if he had been plunged into an icy cold cellar, his spine chilled, and cold sweat soaked his clothes.
320 million and 4,820 thousand berries!
What kind of bounty was this?!
As Sige struggled to come to terms with what he was seeing, the Marine soldier who had been carrying the documents earlier walked over, snatching the bounty order from his hand. He glanced at it and exclaimed, "Ah, it's the bounty order for the Traveler. No wonder you're so shocked."
"These world-class criminal bounty orders won't be released in the East Blue. They are only recorded in the internal files of the Marines. You won't encounter these people in the East Blue."
The Marine soldier shook his head.
These were merely records kept by each branch, not something they needed to concern themselves with. When he had first seen these bounties, he had been just as shocked as Sige.
"Alright, scram now!"
"Don't loiter here!"
The Marine gathered the bounty order for Feng Ye along with the other documents and impatiently shooed Sige away.
Sige remained frozen in place, as if turned to stone, until two Marines dragged him toward the prison. His mind was still in a muddled state, his thoughts chaotic.
(End of Chapter)
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