To put it bluntly, even a pirate with a 20 million bounty from the first half of the Grand Line could easily dominate an entire sea region in the Four Blues. However, such a figure in the Grand Line wouldn't even be considered a small fry. In fact, pirate crews of this level disappear every day in the Grand Line.
Some fall in the conflicts between the Navy and pirates, but more often, they perish due to the unpredictable weather of the Grand Line and the enormous Sea Kings.
Take the "Lord of the Coast," which dominated Luffy's home, the East Blue, for example. In the Grand Line, it wouldn't even be considered a shrimp among the Sea Kings.
Because of this, when Russ and the others heard that a pirate crew with a 25 million bounty was planning to target them, they were completely unfazed.
They might only have a dozen or so people, but these were all elite Navy officers from the headquarters.
Among these dozen people, the lowest rank was that of a sergeant, with most being officers at the "non-commissioned" and "commissioned" levels.
Moreover, the strength of the Navy Headquarters far surpassed that of the local branches. Officers like Russ, who had attained the rank of "commissioned officer," had even mastered some of the Six Powers, making their combat abilities comparable to those of local branch captains.
To put it simply, if someone like Captain Morgan or Captain Nezumi from the East Blue were to fight Russ, Russ could easily take on several of them simultaneously.
If someone like Russ had such impressive combat power, there was no need to mention Wood, who was far stronger than his rank suggested.
Russ and the others knew that among the hundred or so prisoners from Impel Down that Wood had slaughtered on the warship, not a single one was weaker than this so-called One-Eyed Bebbart.
To them, the so-called "great pirate" of the West Blue that Robin mentioned was nothing.
Even if it weren't Wood, Russ or any other former "commissioned" officers present could easily crush this One-Eyed Bebbart.
As for the rest of the One-Eyed Pirate Crew, even though they had 500 members, sometimes numbers alone don't mean much.
Russ and the others might not be able to single-handedly take on hundreds of prisoners from Impel Down like Wood did, but if they were up against ordinary West Blue pirates, they could easily take on a hundred each.
"Don't worry. Since this One-Eyed Pirate Crew wants you to signal them after we find the treasure, just do as they say. According to what you said, this crew slaughtered the villagers on this island, so they're not good people. When we leave the island, it wouldn't hurt to help the sea clean up some trash."
Hearing what Wood said, Robin didn't know what to say. She thought Wood and his group were incredibly arrogant.
They treated a pirate with a 25 million bounty like a small fry and thought they could take on a 500-man pirate crew with just ten people.
There's no denying that Wood's strength, as shown by killing a tiger with one punch, had impressed Robin, but even One-Eyed Bebbart could do that.
Robin had been at sea for a long time and had encountered Navy majors before. Frankly, such officers in the West Blue wouldn't dare to provoke the One-Eyed Pirate Crew.
She had given them her warning, but since Wood and his group didn't take it seriously, there wasn't much more she could do.
Early the next morning, with Robin's help, Wood and his group quickly found the largest tree in the forest and dug up the so-called treasure beneath it.
As Wood stared at the small wooden box filled to the brim with Berries, his expression was one of disappointment.
He had thought that the pirates captured and sent to Impel Down would have some wealth, but after all their hard work, the Berries and treasure in the box were only worth around ten million at most.
"Damn, these guys were broke. And this is supposed to be the 'strongest' West Blue? What, the treasures in the East Blue only contain a few million, maybe even tens of thousands of Berries?"
Wood had obtained dozens of treasure locations from the Impel Down prisoners, and he had thought that finding all the treasure would yield at least several hundred million Berries.
But now, it seemed he had overestimated these pirates.
If all the prisoners had treasures of this level, they wouldn't even be able to afford a new ship, let alone a mast.
"Robin, you said that the bounty on that One-Eyed guy's head was 25 million Berries, right?"
Although they had found the treasure as expected, the amount was far less than Wood anticipated. Feeling disappointed, Wood suddenly remembered that a certain guy on the island had a bounty that might be worth more than the treasure.
"It's One-Eyed Bebbart. His bounty might not be the highest in the West Blue, but it's considered quite high among pirates."
Hearing Wood ask about One-Eyed Bebbart, Robin thought Wood was finally starting to get nervous. But to her surprise, he suddenly looked excited and said, "A head worth over twenty million Berries? What are we waiting for? Hurry up and signal them to come!"
Robin was momentarily stunned by what Wood said. She looked at him again, almost as if she had misheard.
After getting confirmation from Wood's eager expression, Robin finally resigned herself to the situation. She pulled out a whistle and blew it.
As for Wood and the others, they had no intention of running away. Instead, they sat calmly on the ground, waiting for the One-Eyed Pirate Crew to arrive.
Perhaps out of fear that Wood and his group might flee, or maybe because the One-Eyed Pirate Crew was already nearby, it didn't take long after Robin's signal before there was movement in the surrounding forest. Soon, sneering figures emerged from all sides, encircling Wood and his group.
"Robin, you did well this time. As I've always said, I, One-Eyed Bebbart, keep my word. I'll spare your life this time. But I hate traitors the most. The One-Eyed Pirate Crew won't kill you, but whether these people will spare you is out of our control."
As he looked at Wood's small group of ten or so people and the wooden box filled with Berries beside them, One-Eyed Bebbart's grin stretched to his ears.
He had been worried something might go wrong, but now it was clear everything was going according to plan. The information they had gathered was spot-on.
There were only ten or so Navy members, with the highest-ranking being just a Navy major.
The One-Eyed Pirate Crew had 500 people, and even if each of them spit, they'd drown these guys. There was no way they could lose.
As for Robin, who was standing with Wood's group, she trembled with anger when she heard what Bebbart said.
There was no way Bebbart could have known in advance that she had betrayed them. He said this because he had never intended to let her go from the start!
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Note: If you are interested, you can read up to chapter 230+ at patreon.com/Betek.