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Chapter 962: All These Wanted Posters Are Fake!
Chapter 962: All These Wanted Posters Are Fake!
The Grand Line’s first half.
Several ships loomed on the Grand Line, their flags bearing a skull with a low-bowed head wearing a hat, flanked by crossed swords. Ahead of these vessels lay a crumbling underwater fortress that seemed on the verge of collapse, as if caught in Aokiji’s Ice Age itself.
On one of these Pirate Ships, William stared down at a dead pirate captain sprawled on the deck, his eyes filled with deep suspicion.
“Mission accomplished, William.”
Montblanc approached, flexing his bloodied Iron Fist Gauntlet, and spat disdainfully at the corpse. “Just an eighty million bounty… yet he dared to be this arrogant.”
Eighty million?
Dared?
Arrogant?
William stood frozen, the words echoing in his ears. Suddenly, he frowned. “Something’s off. This doesn’t feel right.”
“What’s wrong?” Elmira asked, stepping closer. “What’s the matter, William?”
“I… I just can’t shake this feeling. This man really had an eighty million bounty?” William turned to Elmira, his face clouded with confusion. “Could the Wanted Poster be wrong?”
William had spent some time in the Grand Line. Since encountering that six-million-bounty pirate, he’d faced many high-bounty foes—pirates worth forty million, sixty million, seventy million, and now eighty million. Each time, he’d fought with his Full Power, yet his doubts only deepened.
Could these bounties even be real?
Why did they fight like East Blue pirates worth mere millions?
Why…
Did Grand Line pirates only gain bounties, not strength?
“Come on, William, you’re just too cautious,” Montblanc chuckled. “I’ve sailed these waters—Grand Line pirates aren’t half as terrifying as you think. With your strength, this Farming Region won’t stop you. We should head to the New World!”
He’d almost bought into William’s paranoia earlier, thinking his East Blue prudence came from luck and ignorance of the Grand Line’s true horrors. But now, it was clear—this was the Grand Line as he knew it, unchanged and familiar.
“No, you’re wrong!” William suddenly snapped, his voice sharp. “I’ve figured it out! These bounty hunters must’ve faked their bounties! Don’t rumors say Grand Line pirates inflate their bounties to boost their reputation? They forge Wanted Posters to lure clueless recruits into their crews!”
But William would never stoop to that.
Fakes were fakes—no matter how much temporary glory they brought, the truth always surfaced. Just like now!
“I don’t believe he’s eighty million. At most, one and a half million!” William declared.
“Are you serious? He is eighty million!” Montblanc snapped, thrusting a Wanted Poster into his hands—it bore the dead captain’s face. “The Navy prints these through News Birds. They’re legit!”
“No! The poster’s definitely fake!” William growled, refusing to glance at the paper. “Otherwise, how could we’ve escaped so easily from an eighty-million-bounty pirate? We won without a single loss! That’s suspicious! The same goes for the others—pirates with higher bounties than mine, yet they were weaker! All these Wanted Posters are fake!!”
“Could it be… our own bounty’s just too low?” Montblanc asked, his eye twitching.
“Impossible!” William barked. “For others, maybe, but mine? The Golden Lion himself issued it after finding me. Before that, we kept a low profile. Kuro personally assessed me and settled on thirty million. That’s my real worth!”
“The Navy never gets bounties wrong,” William continued. “They evaluate every target. Look at East Blue—pirates over ten million are tough to beat. Zeff, the ‘Red-Leg’ owner of Baratie, is only sixty million. Compared to these frauds, their strength doesn’t match their bounties at all! The only explanation is forgery!!”
“We can’t let this distract us,” William warned. “We’ve been lucky—meeting only fake bounty pirates. But some posters are real. The Navy’s letting these fakes circulate to provoke fights among pirates. A higher bounty lures others to attack, making pirates bolder against real high-bounty targets. They’ll grow reckless, and when they face a true criminal, they’ll die.”
His logic crystallized, William’s conviction hardened—this had to be the truth!
“If we underestimate the Grand Line, we’ll fall for this trap,” he said, his voice firm. “Until we can tell real bounties from fake, we must treat every one as a genuine threat! The Grand Line’s dangers are endless. One mistake, one accident, and the damage is irreversible. Do you all understand?!”
“You’re right,” Elmira nodded. “That makes sense, William.”
Sverre gave a thoughtful nod.
Montblanc stood frozen, staring at the Wanted Poster in his hand, its truth blindingly obvious—yet now, doubt gnawed at him.
The poster was real! William was just too strong, not the enemy too weak!
But William’s words… what if they were true? If the bounties were fake, why was William only thirty million? Powerful rookies with hundreds of millions abounded—William was far stronger than most.
William merely smirked, gazing at the Grand Line. “I’ve seen through the World Government’s schemes and the Navy’s illusions. They won’t fool me. As long as I stay vigilant, I’ll become a true great pirate!”
Then he’d settle the score with Kuro once more!
He was still weak now, no match for Kuro—after all, Kuro wiped out pirate crews at two years old. William, at seven, probably still played pirate with his toys back then.
But those childish games were far behind him. Now, he sought the life of a true great pirate!
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
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