On the third day since their successful Heist on Holiday Island, the Blackstar Pirates were back to their training after taking two days off.
Everyone was busy with their work, except for Sin, who was soundly sleeping in the Captain's Quarters.
He had been absent since the night of the celebration, and Robin informed everyone that he was going to be asleep for a while.
It seemed a little strange to those who did not know much about Sin, but those who had been with him for years knew that sleeping in for days and even weeks was very normal for him.
However, even in his sleep, his Observation Haki was always active, so if they truly needed him, he would come to their help.
Kuina was seemingly possessed by some ghost, she had not taken any day off and had been working on her Swordsmanship.
She now truly understood that there were people out there that were way stronger than her and Sin and way more capable with the sword, and she could not even be considered a threat to them with her little ability.
Robin told her about all the famous Swordsmen in the world, who were very brilliant, and Kuina was determined to surpass them all.
However, it was not the only reason why she was so possessed by training. She was uncomfortable with the idea of being one of the weakest members of the crew. Perhaps she was the weakest since she had seen with her own eyes what Bepo and Hachi were truly capable of when they went all out against Sin and Bonney in their training.
One of her goals was now to prove helpful to her crew and earn their confidence that she was capable enough to protect their backs or take the front when it was needed.
She wanted to get strong, and she wanted to get strong fast.
The arrival of a News Coo caught everyone's attention. There had been nothing about them in News for the last two days, but there was a high chance that today the Marines' official statement on the Holiday Island incident would come out.
Hancock was the one who bought the newspaper, and when others saw the Bounty Posters she was looking at, they stopped their training and walked onto the Forecastle Deck.
"Ours?" Bonney asked before she stood next to her and looked at the posters she was holding.
"Yes." Hancock nodded and then handed her the Bounty Posters before starting to read the news about them.
"Did they raise my bounty?" Bepo expectantly asked, but then became a little nervous when Bonney's expressions turned ugly.
And when the Pinkette raised her head and glanced at all of them, they all knew she was picking her next punching bag.
Bart felt chills up his spine when Bonney's eyes settled on him, and his heart sank when she smiled.
Yes, he was going to be her punching bag in the afternoon.
"Yes, all of our Bounties have been raised." She nodded to Bepo and then handed him his Bounty Poster.
"25 Million?!" The Bear-Mink exclaimed before he started laughing excitedly, and his excitement was greater when he saw that Kuina's bounty was lower than his.
At least, he was not the one with the lowest bounty in the crew.
However, the Swordsgirl was still on the deck, working on her sword form, not bothered about her bounty, and if she was, she hid it very well.
Bart was also happy to see a rise in his Bounty, which was previously 20 Million, but Hachi was just stunned that his Bounty was now 35 Million. It was even higher than his former Captain, Arlong, but soon he felt his heart swell in pride and then he excitedly rushed inside the ship to inform Nami and Nojiko about it and to prepare the meal for everyone.
He was very happy today, so he planned on making Takoyaki for everyone.
"Augur!" Bonney called out to the man who was in the Crow's Nest. "Your Bounty is 30 Million now." She informed him, but the tall man seemed indifferent to it and simply nodded his head.
Robin only glanced at all the Bounties and then joined Hancock to read the news.
"They paint us as evil and vile, don't they?" The Pinkette smirked and asked.
"Lunatics, Bloodthirsty, and amongst the Worst Criminals too." The younger Black nodded to her. "And they have exaggerated the number of Marine Soldiers who lost their lives, once again." She smiled.
"Bonney!" An excited voice sounded out on the deck as Nami excitedly came rushing out and ran up to them. "Show me!" She happily asked as she caught her breath.
Though Bonney would rather no one looked at her Poster, she could not bring herself to refuse Nami and handed it to her.
Hearing the little girl laugh from the bottom of her heart brought smiles to all their faces, and Bepo, who was curious about what she found so funny, approached her and looked at Bonney's Poster. Her epithet immediately caught his attention, and then he was on the floor, rolling and laughing harder than Nami.
"The Glutton!" He laughed. "They got it right!"
"Hmph!" The Pinkette pouted.
She was not really bothered about the epithet they gave her. What made her sour was that her bounty was way lower than Hancock and Robin's bounties. And it was not a little lower, but not even half of theirs. It was just so frustrating.
However, it was Sin's Bounty that was a real shock to all of them. And when they calculated their Crew's total bounty, they were a little disappointed that they fell short of the 1 Billion mark.
"If Law was with us, we could have made it." Bepo sighed.
He was missing his best friend, and he also knew that these were the Bounties that would be locked soon for several years to come since Sin would be announced as the 8th Warlord by the end of this year.
Suddenly, Robin and Hancock raised their heads and glanced at each other, and Bepo too looked in the direction of the Captain's Quarters.
"What's happened?" Nami curiously asked.
"The Ship's Den Den Mushi is ringing," Bonney replied.
Robin was already walking towards the Captain's Quarters, and without knocking, she opened the door and entered the room.
"Your letter is here."
Robin recognised Tsuru's voice, who was talking with Sin. Her brother was still half asleep, but he was attentive enough to understand her words.
"So soon?" He frowned.
"It was not me," Tsuru informed him. "The letter has come for Mary Geoise."
Sin narrowed his eyes at those words and sat up on the bed, lost in some thoughts.
"Any clauses?" He asked.
"None." Tsuru, who had opened the letter and read it, informed him.
"They are not even going to ask me to cut the D. from my name?"
"No," The Vice-Admiral told him.
"Interesting." He smiled and then glanced at his Sister, who was lost in her own thoughts.
"If they want to do it, they would not ask you about it." The old lady reminded him.
"Rude." He chuckled and then stretched his arms. "And they would want their share in my future treasures?
"40%." Tsuru suddenly said and then laughed lightly. "Not like you would give us anything."
"Why would I?" He laughed.
"Do you want to accept the position before this year's Warlord Summit or after?"
"When is it?"
"25th of December."
"Before it." He replied.
"I will call the Fleet Admiral and inform him about your decision in a fortnight," Tsuru told him. "Or do you wish to meet and personally accept the letter?"
"We don't know where we are headed, Granny. We are on a break. You can just call him and tell him that I accepted the letter."
Tsuru remained silent at his words, knowing well that he lied about not knowing where he was headed.
"As a Warlord, you will need to provide us with the information about your base or a place where we can contact you. Do you have one?"
"Drum Island." He replied.
"Any secondary base?"
"Rumsdale Island."
"Rumsdale?" Tsuru was curious. "Do you know that Rumsdale is one of Marines' remote rendezvous points?"
"Is it?" He chuckled. "Would that be a problem?"
"No." She shook her head. "Do attend your first Warlord Summit."
"I will see you then, Granny." He smiled and replied.
"Also, you have successfully pressed on the nerves of the Fleet Admiral. In his own words, you give him a very 'ominous premonition'."
"Interesting." Sin narrowed his eyes. "And I guess you won't tell me his secrets, would you?"
Tsuru remained silent for a few seconds.
"He ate a Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit. Let's just say that it lets him get a rough read on people's characters and intentions, and he has a very sharp sixth sense."
"I see." Sin thoughtfully said.
"Be on your best behaviour when you see him at the Summit."
"I am always on my best behaviour, Granny." He retorted but the old woman only laughed before ending the call.
Robin approached him after the call ended, and without saying anything, took off her shoes before climbing into the bed with him.
"We caught too much attention." She lightly smiled.
"It's fine." He planted a kiss on her head as she closed in to snuggle with him and then buried her face in his chest.
Sin smiled at her behaviour and then pulled the sheets over them, holding her in his arms as he returned to his sleep.