"Captain yours is... 1,500,000,000 berries...." Nami dropped her jaw.
They continued reading the posters one by one.
"Hammerfist Jojo.... 900,000,000 berries. CHAHAHAH not bad!" Jojo was blissful.
"Law 750,000,000"
"Cavendish 600,000,000 berries."
"Yennow aka. Boss Yla, 550,000,000 berries."
"Bonney 350,000,000 berries."
"Scratch men Apoo 300,000,000 berries." and Apoo passed out when he saw this.
"Roulini Spikeward 250,000,000 berries "
"Urouge 180,000,000 berries."
"Gaga 100,000,0000 berries"
"Ronaldino Ronaldo 29,000,000 berries."
"Nami 93,000,000 berries."
"Bepo 15,000 berries"
Ace was smiling as his bounty was above the billion mark.
"Our captain has a bounty of 1,5 billion berries, ne, aren't we super cool now?" Bepo was super happy.
The only one that's seemed discontent was Cavendish's horse, Farul... And Scratchmen Apoo
"Alright, I need to master this sword before we can move one." Ace said. He was really happy. His crewmate that was supposed to be dead, was alive... And he got his father's sword and now a 1.5 billion berry bounty.
"Yo captain, am I forgiven yet? I told you that I had amnesia..." a voice bitterly cried out.
"Not until you can lift the Black Pearl with your devil fruit." Ace said, still slightly annoyed at Yennow, at this point wouldn't it be better if he stayed dead? Tsk tsk.
'Well it's fine since we got the float float fruit now.' Ace consoled himself.
They stayed for two more weeks and that's when another piece of news came.
"CAPTAIN TAKE A LOOK AT THIS!!" Nami shouted while holding a new newspaper.
"What what, it better be good or else!" Ace was bitter, he was just about to master the sword. He felt it, just a bit more and he could create slashes of air without any Haki. He would be a real swordsmaster.
But only someone like Ace could be mad that he hadn't become a swordsmaster in two weeks. Sadly, Ace didn't play by normie rules.
"Big Mom, Charlotte LinLin Dead or Alive?" New Emperor of the sea?" The title said.
Ace got serious as he turned the page, this was grave news indeed.
"Amazon Lily Empress, the snake princess started conquering the islands under Big Mom. It didn't take long for the Emperor to send forces to counterattack. But the Kuja Pirates fought back and won. In the end, Boa Hancock, the snake princess arrived in in Whole Cake island and ambushed The former Emperor." Ace read.
"What da....." Ace read the next page.
"Charlotte LinLin stands in the middle of Whole Cake island as a statue, 1/4 of her forces and daughters submitted to the Kujak Pirates and joined them. Charlotte Katakuri, one of the Sweet Commanders was away, but he returned and is now leading the remaining the Big Mom Pirates. He whereabouts of the Kuja Pirates are unknown. Is Boa Hancock, the new Yonko?" The story ended there.
"Captain... Your wife is about as crazy as you..." Jojo said as he read over the shoulders of Ace.
"Eh, Hancock-sama?" Gaga hurriedly took the newspaper and started reading in a hurry.
"I KNEW IT! SHE'S SO MUCH COOLER THAN US, WOW SHE'S MY IDOL!" Gaga started dancing as she read on.
Their whole crew got wind of this and all of them were happy.
"It's time for us to move on, hurry back to the ship." Ace said seriously as he picked up his sword and boarded the Black Pearl.
They soon set sail and continued towards Wano.
Ace felt his blood boil in excitement the closer they got. He finally had his chance to fight one of those that are considered at the peak of the world.
Two days later another newspaper came, clarifying something and a few new bounties.
"Boa Hancock returned to Amazon Lily with her new crewmembers, and established a new territory which includes many of the islands that were formerly under the Big Mom pirates! The World Government has declared her the new fourth Emperor!"
"Boa Hancock, 2,949,000,000 berries!"
"Boa Marigold, 890,000,000 berries!"
"Boa Sandersonia, 925,000,0000 berries!
"Captain, you can't allow her to get ahead of us." Cavendish said in jealousy.
"Captain, don't put shame to our name, make sure you defeat Kaidou..." Urouge said.
"We can't let them be ahead of us." Even Nami commented. Demon Ace Pirates had developed a friendship and rivalry with the Kuja Pirates, so even Nami couldn't help but feel a bit of fighting spirit.
Ace grinned at them.
The closer they got to Wano, the more excited they became.
Ace went into his captain's cabin and got his den den mushi and called someone.
"Ace-kun... You finally called me." A beautiful voice spoke, almost like she was hurt that he hadn't called before.
"Ah, Hancock, I read about your adventure... Ya alright?" Ace asked, trying to sound cool about it, but he was worried.
"Just few bruises... Hmph, even if she's a bit stronger, in the end, she fell for my beauty..." Hancock said in a haughty manner.
She explained her fight, and she was indeed weaker than Linlin. But Hancock used her Devil Fruit abilities to the fullest and successfully turned her into stone.
Luckily, at the time, Her eldest son, the second strongest had left for an expedition with a small army.
This was the reason the Kuja Pirates could hold back the remaining Big Mom Pirates that were on the island. Only after Big Mom was turned into stone did they start pushing back the Big Mom pirates and win.
Hancock had gotten lucky in this fight, but even then, she wasn't far off from being able to challenge an Emperor. All the Kuja warriors knew Haki, and those that were eligible to join the Kuja Pirates were the strongest of the Kuja warriors. So her whole crew was made up by elites. Then theres her two sisters, who could stand their grounds with an admiral each, although not winning, they could stand their ground. If they teamed up they could defeat such an enemy.
"But now, I'm officially an enemy of the world government and the marines... " She added in an unusually serious tone.
"To think that you've grown to the point that you can fight Linlin like that, you're amazing Hancock."
"Ah, I-I- I am maybe tomorrow, let's see, I mean, erm what, huh?" Her mind seemed to break.
"Well done, soon I'll also show you where I stand, wait for me!" Ace said as he closed the den den mushi.
Suddenly Ace felt that the ship started moving oddly, so he went out to see what's going on.
When he came outside he was surprised to see clouds surrounding the ship.
"Captain, I did it! I really did it!" Yennow shouted happily. Although he hadn't awakened his devil fruit, he was a closer now, and he was able to lift a ship which was great news.
"Yennow, let's go down to sea level, and then go rest." Ace said as he noticed how Yennow had a nose bleed, eye bags, and looked slightly pale. He had probably pushed himself a bit too hard.
"I'm fine captain!" He said while showing off his biceps.
"It's a command."
"Aye aye". Yennow said happily.
The others also came out and found out about Yennows breakthrough.
"Let's celebrate!!" Urouge shouted.
Ace smiled. Ace closed his eyes and felt the strong winds of the sky as the ship descended.
"Four Emperors... Is the first step then I'll become the strongest man...." Ace whispered.
His goal had always been to become a legends, and leave a big footprint after his time has ended amongst the living... But as long as he lived, he would cause havoc.
-~-~-~-~-~
Less people gave started sending stones 🧐 Did my gun not scare you enough? Hah, fool, I've planned 10 steps ahead.
Don't you sometimes feel a presence inside your home? That was me watching you.
Don't you sometimes find that the things you put in some place, you find them in another place? That's me.
Don't you sometimes hear footsteps behind you as you walk, and hen when you turn around there's no one there? That's me.
I'm stalking you like prey, waiting for you under your bed, inside your closet, in your bathroom. I'm watching you, making sure you spend your stones.
Don't forget, or else, you might as well forget your life. 🔪🔪🔪