"Everyone, come here quick!" Kai called out the moment he returned to the ship.
Soon, the whole crew gathered in front of him.
"What's up, Kai?" Nami asked curiously.
"I've got something cool to show you!" Kai grinned, a mischievous glint in his eye.
"Cool? What is it?!" Luffy excitedly leaned in, eyes full of expectation.
Without drawing it out any longer, Kai pulled out a stack of bounty posters from behind him and handed them out. "These are the new bounties I snagged from the Marines. Each one of us has our own!"
"WHAT?!" Everyone shouted in unison, though their reactions were quite different.
Most of the crew had wide smiles on their faces, but Usopp and Nami looked utterly defeated.
Usopp, trembling, asked, "Kai... is this the cool thing you mentioned?"
"Yeah, what's wrong?" Kai asked innocently.
"N-nothing..." Usopp tried to maintain a calm façade, but his shaking legs gave him away.
For Usopp, the first thought that struck him upon learning he had a bounty was that he was finished. Now he'd be a wanted man, with bounty hunters after his head.
Nami shared a similar sentiment.
Meanwhile, the others were absolutely thrilled.
"Haha! One hundred and twenty million Berries! That's nearly a fivefold increase!" Luffy beamed, proudly holding his bounty poster.
"Only 80 million Berries? Not bad," Zoro said nonchalantly, though the smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth told a different story. After glancing at his poster, Zoro casually peeked over at Sanji's, noticing the 60 million Berries on it. His smirk grew wider.
Feigning confidence, Zoro teased, "Sixty million, huh? Keep at it."
But as soon as he caught sight of the name printed on Sanji's bounty poster, Zoro couldn't hold back. His composure shattered.
"Hahahaha!"
Zoro doubled over, laughing so hard he was holding his stomach, which caught Luffy's attention.
"What's so funny, Zoro?" Luffy asked, curious.
"Look… at Sanji's name!" Zoro barely managed to get the words out between fits of laughter, almost choking from laughing so hard.
Kai knew why Zoro was losing it—he'd seen the poster too.
"What's wrong?" Luffy asked as he leaned over to look.
The next second, Luffy dropped to the ground, laughing even harder than Zoro.
"Sex Demon Sanji?! Hahaha… Sanji, your nickname is so badass! Hahaha!"
"Huh? What's going on?" Chopper, who had been sulking over his measly 50 Berries and the label of "pet," glanced up in confusion.
A reindeer can tolerate many things, but being called a pet? No way!
But when Chopper finally saw Sanji's bounty poster, his own sadness melted away. He burst into laughter, joining Zoro and Luffy.
As for Sanji, his face darkened like a storm cloud, his eyes blazing with fury. If he ever found the Marine responsible for that name, he'd chop them into tiny pieces. He was sure of it!
And seeing Zoro and Luffy laughing their hearts out only made him angrier. With a swift kick, Sanji sent Zoro flying.
"Sex Demon?! You wanna die, moss head?!"
"Green algae brain! Keep calling me that, and I'll kill you!" Sanji threatened, his patience wearing thin.
"Tch, is the perv getting offended now? The whole world will know your new name once that poster's out—no need for me to say it," Zoro sneered.
Sanji's expression froze. His legs wobbled, and he collapsed to the deck in defeat.
His... reputation... ruined!
Even after a long round of laughter, Zoro, Luffy, and Chopper couldn't help but snicker from time to time. The ridiculousness of the whole situation lingered.
Then, Luffy noticed something strange. Normally, Usopp would be laughing right alongside them, but this time, he sat silently, staring down at his own bounty poster. Nami was doing the same.
Curious, Luffy wandered over and asked, "Usopp, what's wrong? Why aren't you laughing at Sanji? He's been called a pervert!"
Sanji, still fuming, jumped up, "LUFFY, I'M GONNA KILL YOU!"
But Usopp remained still. After a moment, he muttered quietly, "I don't mind the 20 million Berries, but… why does it say 'Hammer Liar'?"
Next to him, Nami sighed, "Yeah, I'd like to know why mine says 'Acrobatic Girl.'"
In unison, they both shouted, "The Marines are crazy!"
The sudden outburst confused the whole crew, who all turned to look at them. Then...
Luffy burst out laughing again.
"Hammer Liar, Acrobatic Girl, and Pervert! Hahaha! Why do you three have such ridiculous names?! Hahaha!"
(•́へ•́╬)
Bang bang bang!
Luffy quickly found himself on the receiving end of some well-deserved punches. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
Meanwhile, Zoro and Chopper tried their best to stifle their laughter, covering their mouths tightly to avoid joining Luffy in getting hit. Even Robin, who rarely laughed, couldn't help but smile at the absurdity of the new bounties.
Eventually, everyone calmed down, and Luffy began counting on his fingers.
"Everyone on our ship has a bounty now. I've got 120 million, Zoro's got 80 million, Robin's at 79 million, Sanji's at 60 million, Usopp's at 20 million, Nami's at 15 million…"
"And Chopper's at 50 Berries!"
Chopper: You didn't have to say it out loud!
"That makes our total bounty… 374 million and 50 Berries!"
Luffy suddenly turned to Kai. "Oh yeah, what about your bounty, Kai? How much is it?"
Kai handed his bounty poster over. "Take a look for yourselves."
!!!
"Eight hundred million Berries?!"
"Why's yours so high?" Luffy grumbled, clearly disappointed. He'd hoped that his new bounty would bring him closer to Kai's level, but instead, the gap had only grown wider.
"Isn't it obvious?" Kai replied casually. "You think I was just hanging out with Aokiji?"
As Kai's thoughts wandered, he mumbled to himself, "374 million and 50 Berries… that's way higher than in the original timeline."
Kai hadn't expected that. In the original story, Luffy had single-handedly taken down Crocodile for just 100 million, but now, with the crew working together, their combined bounty was even greater.
It was clear that many things had changed.
What would happen in the future...
For a brief moment, Kai felt a pang of concern about the uncertain future. But when he looked back at Luffy and the others, all of his worries melted away.
Whatever the future holds, as long as they keep moving forward, everything will be just fine!
-------------------------------
Power Stones would be appreciated if you liked the story.