Sabaody Archipelago, Shakky's rip-off bar.
"It is worse than I thought. They want him dead, they even went as far as to say that he has mental issues".
Shakky brushed past the pages of the newspapers, exhaling a big cloud of smoke, sick and tired of the world government and their lies.
'That's not a lie though' Rayleigh coughed but the point remained, the world government spread lies and even gave such a young boy a bounty that left the rest of the pirate world looking like a joke. Even he didn't expect his first bounty to be this marginal.
"Tell me the truth, Rayleigh... is he a lunarian?"
"He must be, there is no way a common boy could be born with that power, he also said he has the capacity to control the 'energy of all things' which is also something he has in common with Lunarians".
"But there is no fire on his back and he doesn't have wings".
"I know... this could be attributed to his 4th Haki, Psycholunacy".
"Psycholunacy...?"
"Yes, something like that he called it".
Rayleigh brushed past the pages while Shakky remained there for a moment, thinking about why would Veyron decide on such a name for his ability. The old man didn't know how much he dug the boy into the ground.
"They didn't even mention what happened in Marie Geoise. It is obvious the world government doesn't want to shame themselves and the world nobles any further".
"Do you think Vey-chan can protect himself?"
"Hmph, protect himself? That boy is already stronger than me. If they want to hunt that brat, it is going to cost them plentily. They better put their wives away from him or else-".
"Huh? What did you say at the end?"
"Nothing".
**
**
Somewhere in the Fishman Island, close to the Ryugu Palace.
The strongest swordswoman's eyes fluttered in irritation while brushing past the pages, She had already read the bounties and had nodded in pride, yet the red-headed bastard next to her wouldn't shut up.
"My bounty is just forty million higher than that brat!? what an insult! such a young little mama boy, he's literally sucking mommy's tits and you tell me he can defeat an admiral!?"
!!!
*COUGH!*
*COUGH!*
Mihawk almost spat the wine she was drinking, she frowned and slapped the redhead with the newspaper, making him quiet at once.
*PA!*
"Ouch! Damned Hawkeye!-"
"You fought a faux battle against that man while my son stalled three vice admirals and Garp the fist just by himself. You should be grateful that your bounty is higher! Clearly, the one assigning them is blind".
"You heartless woman!"
It actually pissed her off, not only wasn't his bounty higher than it should be, his achievement were all thrown under the rug, they even dared question his mental sanity just to further tarnish his image. Mihawk thought about cashing in a favour to sort that out for her son's sake but decided not to... eventually he'd make more achievements and the lies would be covered in truth.
"Is that okay with you, Mihawk? They don't want him alive" Benn Beckman pointed out, the poster said 'DEAD' which was something so rare he hadn't even seen one before. Not even Gol D. Roger's poster back in the days said 'DEAD'.
Mihawk understood that the reasons were three: He looked like a Lunarian, he was strong enough to stall Monkey D. Garp and he was very young.
That made him a potential enemy that the World government needed to dispose of no matter what. She knew because she worked for the world government.
'I know that man is going to contact me soon about this, they know I'm Veyron's adoptive mother'.
The question was what position she'd take in the matter. As a celestial dragon, she had responsibilities, but as a mother, she also didn't dare fail him.
'And as a lover... I just have to support him' She closed her eyes, reaching her verdict.
"He is not going to lose again".
"Oh?"
"Good luck to them if they want to catch him, once he has reached his full potential, I hope there is a hole deep enough for them to hide".
**
**
Momoiro Island, The Kamabakka Kingdom.
A group of individuals covered in cloaks stood at the shore of the island, they certainly weren't the only odd ones on this island. A woman with a massive purple afro was standing with a concerned gaze as she looked at the newspapers.
"It seems Dragon was successful, but to put this by much money on his head".
"Dark Mantle Veyron? And also Hawkeye, those two are family members somehow" Somebody next to him, a woman with half-orange half-white hair, was also giving an overlook to the wanted posters.
"We're not going to have it any easier from now on, they're going to hunt us down with everything they have".
"Can there be a safe spot for us in the world now? Ivankov?"
"Haha~ I know exactly what the safest spot would be. A place where none of them could ever imagine. We will see when the time comes-"
"Iva-chan! Dragon has arrived!"
"So quickly!?"
A strong gust of wind ravaged the land and ended up transforming into the body of a person in front of a group of cloaked individuals.
"Leader!"
"Dragon!".
His body fell, and Ivankov opened his cloak to see how there were dozens of piercing wounds all over his body. She extended her arm and five syringes plucked out of her fingers. With a quick movement, she injected something into the man's body and he came back to his senses a few seconds later.
"What's happening to your face!?"
She saw how in what used to be a clean face, there was now a gnashing mark of burning symbols on his skin, the mere sight caused one pain and terror.
"Ivankov... Marie Geoise is hiding a vicious secret way worse than we could have imagined. Our cause, the revolutionaries and even the world… we must stay strong! t-they have... a cor-".
Before his words could finish, he passed out bringing chaos and confusion to his allies. The world government concealed two terrorizing secrets, and he was the only one who knew at least one of them.