Rosinante's words finally earned him some trust from Robin and Ruth's crew. After all, the events on Minion Island that he described made sense, and it didn't seem like he was making anything up. Since Rosinante had played the role of Wood's partner, that meant he was a friend, not an enemy.
However, until Wood woke up, Robin and the others remained cautious. While they ceased torturing Rosinante, they did not remove the seastone shackles that bound him.
Two days passed, during which the Dark Pill's helm was turned, steering them toward Drum Island in the first half of the Grand Line. The decision to return to the first half of the Grand Line was partly because of Drum Island's reputation as a kingdom of medical expertise. The other reason was that, with Wood unconscious, Ruth and Robin believed that their current crew was not strong enough to operate safely in the New World.
Setting aside other concerns, their crew might be small in number, but the wealth now aboard the Dark Pill was truly staggering.
Wood's bounty alone was 1 billion Berries. Ruth, Robin, and the rest of the crew together had bounties totaling about 200 million Berries. Adding the nearly 300 million Berries earned from selling fish and the 5 billion Berries Wood had stolen from the World Government, the total wealth on board had reached an astonishing 6.5 billion Berries!
After the events on Minion Island, Doflamingo, true to his nature, spread information that deviated slightly from what he and Wood had agreed upon. While he adhered to their agreement that the main scapegoat was the now "missing" Diez Barrels, the news that spread claimed that a Marine traitor had also played an accomplice's role.
In the fabricated tale Doflamingo concocted, he and the Donquixote Family were the pure victims, deceived by the scheming Diez Barrels and the Marine traitor. According to the story, these two conspirators not only stole the "Ope Ope no Mi" but also made off with 5 billion Berries belonging to the World Government.
For the financially robust World Government, 5 billion Berries was a relatively small loss. Their greater concern was the whereabouts of the "Ope Ope no Mi." In this regard, Doflamingo upheld his professionalism, claiming that Diez Barrels was the one who took the fruit, while Wood had only stolen the 5 billion Berries.
Though the World Government was not overly concerned with the loss of 5 billion Berries, the same could not be said for the other pirates in the New World. Why does a person become a pirate? Surely, it's not just for fun. Men leave their homes and brave the perilous seas for wealth and fame.
To many pirates in the New World, Wood's crew was just a fledgling group. However, their captain was a "Super Rookie" with a 1 billion Berry bounty, and their ship carried at least 5 billion Berries in wealth. How could this not tempt the pirates of the New World?
In the New World, such a level of wealth is usually held by vast organizations or veteran pirates who have ruled the seas for years. But Wood's crew, barely two years old and numbering less than a hundred, had amassed an incredible fortune. This was unprecedented.
For pirates who had been navigating the New World for years, they held nothing but disdain for newcomers. Even a "Super Rookie" like Wood was no exception.
When Wood first received his 1 billion Berry bounty, many pirate crews in the New World were already tempted. However, many of the larger crews refrained from attacking, not wanting to tarnish their reputation by bullying a newcomer. But now, learning that Wood had stolen 5 billion Berries from the World Government, even these major pirate crews could no longer sit idle.
After all, 5 billion Berries is no small sum, even for the most powerful pirate crews in the New World. To the smaller and mid-sized pirate crews, Wood's crew was a "fat lamb." If they could find and defeat him, they would not only gain a staggering amount of wealth but also earn fame across the seas.
Reviewing Wood's past exploits, coupled with his recent deception of the Donquixote Family and robbery of the World Government, many pirates in the New World admitted that while Wood was just a newcomer, his courage and strength were undoubtedly those of a true "Super Rookie."
But so what? A rookie is still a rookie. Compared to the garbage in the first half of the Grand Line, Wood might be the flashiest, but that level of fame meant little in the New World, where true strength abounds.
After the events on Minion Island concluded, Doflamingo spread the news far and wide, and soon it reached every corner of the seas. Many pirate crews began to mobilize.
In the Land of Flowers, Don Chinjao, the 12th leader of the Happo Navy, decided to come out of retirement after reading the news. He brought his grandson Sai and headed toward the New World.
In his prime, Chinjao was a pirate with a bounty exceeding 500 million Berries, earning the nickname "Chinjao the Drill" due to his pointed, cone-shaped head. He had hidden vast amounts of treasure within a glacier that only his head could penetrate. But years ago, in a battle against Garp, his head was dented by Garp's iron fist, leaving him unable to retrieve the treasures from the glacier.
Now, seeing the value of Wood's crew exceeding 6.5 billion Berries, Chinjao's desire was rekindled. Though his hidden treasures were currently out of reach, he thought that gaining a new fortune could easily compensate for the loss.
Meanwhile, on the Moby Dick, flagship of the Whitebeard Pirates in the New World, a relatively young Marco handed today's newspaper to Whitebeard.
"Who would've thought that this kid named Wood would be even more restless than Roger and me back in the day. In just one or two years, he's managed to provoke Impel Down, Marine Headquarters, and the World Government, and now he's tangled with the Underworld too?"
"A rookie with a 1 billion Berry bounty carrying 5 billion Berries in wealth? That's like a baby flaunting a crown. The sharks in the New World must be circling by now."
Though Edward Newgate was no longer a young man, at fifty-something, he had yet to show signs of old age. As he read the newspaper with one hand and drank from a large jug with the other, Whitebeard couldn't help but show some interest in the day's news.
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P/S: If you are interested, you can read up to chapter 350+ at p@treon.com/Betek and change @ to a