One-Punch Man in the One Piece World

Chapter 113 The Feeling of Being Targeted

"By the way," Norton looked at Crow, "haven't the people who went out returned yet?"

Kro was sitting not far away tidying up something when he heard this and looked up.

"I got word from Gin, it'll be back soon. Moria and El haven't heard from us yet." He adjusted his glasses. "Sanosuke hasn't returned either."

These officers were sent by Norton to scout out the surrounding waters and, incidentally, to see if any passing pirates could be recruited.

Norton was silent for a few seconds.

"Tomorrow, have the cadres who stayed on the island lead the way in," he suddenly said after a while.

Kro was taken aback.

"Jack came all this way because the fruit he mentioned might be on the island," Norton said.

Kro nodded and made a note of it.

"Who should go?"

Norton thought for a moment.

"Let Dalton lead the team, and bring those Avenki people along; they know the forest well. Also, draw some men from each squad—not too many, but quality over quantity."

"Understood."

Kro stood up and walked into the crowd.

The campfire was still burning, and someone started singing a new song, the tune a little better than the previous one. Nami leaned against Norton's shoulder, her eyelids beginning to droop. Funing gently patted Chopper's back; the little guy was fast asleep.

Norton looked at the darkness in the distance.

A low roar occasionally echoed from the depths of the dense forest, but it was much rarer than in the first few days after their arrival. The cadres hadn't worked in vain these past two months; they had cleared away quite a bit of stuff.

Where is that mythical beast?

He suddenly felt a sense of anticipation.

The next morning, just as dawn was breaking, Dalton set off with his men.

He didn't return until the afternoon of three days later.

Norton lay by the window on the second floor of the council chamber, his arm as a pillow, his eyes half-closed, it was hard to tell whether he was asleep or deep in thought.

Nami sat in the shade downstairs, an account book in front of her, and an abacus in her hand.

The abacus beads had been clicking away all morning, but now they've finally slowed down.

"Funing, how many Baileys do you think we spent this month?"

Fu Ning was flipping through an old book that she had found on the island when she heard this and looked up.

"You did the math yourself, why are you asking me?"

"I was just tired of calculating, so I asked casually."

Nami pushed the abacus away and leaned back in her chair. "Wood, nails, food, cloth, medicine—everything costs money. If this continues, the little money we've robbed won't last long."

"Didn't Klo say that everything would be fine once the mine is up and running?"

"We'll have to wait," Nami sighed. "Besides, for the mine to open, we need people to buy it, and we need ships to transport the goods—"

Before she could finish speaking, a flapping sound suddenly came from the sky.

A newsbird landed on the roof of the council chamber, tilting its head to look down. Its chest was bulging, stuffed full of newspapers.

Nami's eyes lit up.

"Newspaper! Funing, quickly get me some change!"

Fu Ning took out a few coins from her pocket, and Nami took them and waved them towards the roof.

The newsbird fluttered down and landed on the table in front of her. It took a newspaper, a few sheets of paper, and a coin from its chest pocket, then flew away without looking back.

"Newspapers have gone up in price?" Nami muttered, unfolding the newspaper, then suddenly froze.

The papers slipped out of the newspaper and landed on the table.

It's a bounty notice.

"Silver-haired Norton"

"DEADORALIVE"

「2,400,000,000 Berries]

Nami's hand trembled slightly.

Fu Ning leaned closer, saw the number, and was stunned.

"Two...two billion?"

There are a few more pictures below.

"Jinbe the Knight of the Sea"

"1, 800, 000, 000 Berries"

"Moonlight Moria"

"1, 200, 000, 000Berries"

"Roronoa Zoro, the Three-Sword Style"

"850, 000, 000 Berries"

"Sanosuke the Ninja"

"600,000,000 Berries"

"Red-Leg" Zeff

"700, 000, 000Berries"

""Ghost" Akin"

"600,000,000 Berries"

"Black Leg" Sanji

"600,000,000 Berries"

Bucky the Joker

"580, 000, 000Berries"

"Hundreds of Plans" by Kro

"550,000,000 Berries"

As you look at each one, every number is frighteningly large.

"Steel Hand! Steel Hand!"

Nami stood up and shouted towards the other end of the town.

Steel Hand was walking over from the workshop, carrying a sake jug. Hearing Nami's voice, she quickened her pace.

"What's wrong?"

Nami handed her the bounty poster.

Steel Hand glanced down, then raised an eyebrow.

"Twenty-four billion?" she whistled. "The Navy really went all out."

Fu Ning frowned.

"It's rising too fast—it's only been a short time!"

"normal."

Steelhand handed the bounty poster back. "The Navy's plans go beyond just raising the price."

Nami looked at her curiously.

"What do you mean?"

Steel Hand leaned against the table, his gaze sweeping over the wanted posters.

"It's not a good thing for new pirates to have their bounties rising too fast," she said. "Think about it, those old guys who've been in the New World for decades have bounties in the billions, do they even bother to catch them?"

Fu Ning seemed to be deep in thought.

"Because everyone knows they're strong—those who are easy to catch would have been caught long ago."

"right."

Steel Hand nodded. "But it's different for rookies. If a rookie has a high bounty, people will think, 'This person just appeared out of nowhere, how strong can they be? With such a high bounty, they must be lucky, or they must have done something to embarrass the Navy. Go and capture them, and you might just strike it rich.'"

She took a swig of wine.

"The Navy's move is underhanded. If they can't beat you, they'll send someone else to beat you. 2.4 billion Berries, how many people would be tempted by that?"

'

Nami turned pale upon hearing this.

"Then, wouldn't that mean—"

"What are you afraid of?"

A voice came from above.

Everyone looked up and saw that Norton had sat up by the window at some point and was looking down.

"Come on then."

Steel Hand chuckled.

"You're quite optimistic."

Norton ignored her, jumped down from the second floor, and landed on the table. He picked up his own wanted poster, glanced at it, and casually tossed it back.

"2.4 billion, not bad."

"Not bad?" Nami's voice changed. "Do you even know what 2.4 billion means?"

"What does that mean?"

"It's just—" Nami opened her mouth, but found that she couldn't explain it clearly.

Fu Ning whispered a comment from the side.

"Wealth that an ordinary nobleman could hardly acquire in a lifetime!"

At the other end of the town, several officials were walking this way.

Zoro walked at the front, his chest still wrapped in bandages, but his steps were steady.

He saw the pile of wanted posters on the table from afar, walked over, and picked up his own.

"Eighty-five million? That's so low?" He glanced at it and casually put it down.

"It's 850 million!!"

"Oh, that's alright."

97

Nami couldn't hold back any longer.

"Can't you guys even react normally?!"

Bucky also came over, and his eyes lit up when he saw his own bounty poster.

"Hahahaha! I've finally made a profit!" He looked at the wanted poster over and over, unable to hide his smugness.

"Those who looked down on me before, just you wait!"

Kabaji whispered from the side.

"Captain, we're now in the New World—"

"Shut up! I know that!"

Kro was the last to walk over. He adjusted his glasses, carefully examining his wanted poster, his face expressionless.

Nami looked at him.

"Is this all you're going to do?"

Kro looked up. "Bounties don't mean anything. The Navy's evaluation standards and their true strength are sometimes completely different things."

"That's true," Steel Hand chuckled from the side.

"Wait a minute—Zoro is that much worse than me?"

He glanced at Zoro, then at his own bounty poster, his expression a fascinating mix of emotions.

"But I am—but—"

He couldn't continue. Kabaji whispered a reminder from beside him.

"Captain, please stop talking—"

"Shut up!"

Nami ignored them and continued looking at the bounty posters.

"Ace's value has risen to 5 million too—" she whispered, "What on earth did he do?"

"Let's challenge Whitebeard," Steel Hand said. "That kid's been causing quite a stir in the New World lately; I heard he's already taken down several famous pirates."

Norton leaned against the table without speaking, but his gaze lingered on Ace's bounty poster for a moment.

Fu Ning noticed his expression.

"What are you thinking about?"

"It's nothing," Norton said, looking away. "I just remembered something."

He didn't say what it was about, and Fu Ning didn't ask.

A commotion arose in the distance; several pirates were arguing about something over at the workshop, and their voices grew louder and louder.

Nami sighed.

"Here we go again—we have to argue several times a day."

"Let them argue," Steel Hand said, taking a swig of his drink. "It's better than a fight."

She glanced at the bounty posters again: "But honestly, 2.4 billion is enough to tempt those old guys. There will be no shortage of people coming to cause trouble in the coming days."

Zoro's hand rested on the hilt of his sword: "Bring it on."

His tone was calm, but something burned in his eyes.

Bucky shrank back: "You—you're not afraid?"

"What are you afraid of?" Zoro looked at him. "I just happen to need someone to practice on."

Several days later, Dalton finally returned with his men.

Norton met him in the council chamber.

Dalton was wrapped in bandages, his left arm was in a sling, and a new scar ran from his brow bone to the corner of his mouth.

He sat down opposite Norton, took the water Nami handed him, and gulped down more than half a bowl in one go.

"How is it?"

Dalton put down his bowl and shook his head.

"It's too big."

He paused, seemingly organizing his thoughts.

"The further we went in, the denser the forest became. The monsters also grew stronger, more than twice as strong as those on the outer edges. We killed over a dozen, but we still couldn't see the end."

"Where is that fruit?"

"No," Dalton said. "Not even a glimpse."

Norton was silent for a few seconds.

"What happened to the people you brought back?"

"It's a pretty bad injury," Dalton said. "Chopper's watching over him."

Norton nodded.

"Focus on healing first. We'll talk about it after you've recovered."

Dalton stood up and walked out. He suddenly stopped at the door.

"King, that forest—it's bigger than anywhere I've ever seen. If we really want to find that fruit, this number of people isn't enough."

Norton remained silent.

Dalton turned and left, having already delivered his message.

In the days that followed, Norton took the advice and sent in more people.

But that Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit seemed to have never existed.

However, there is good news as well: Nestad has developed quite well during this period.

The wall expanded outwards three times, enclosing even more of the Beast-Repelling Tree Forest.

The number of wooden houses in the town increased from two hundred to four hundred, and then from four hundred to six hundred.

The port has been expanded twice, and the docks can now accommodate forty ships simultaneously. A dozen or so chimneys rise from the workshop area, belching smoke day and night. Merchant ships dock daily in the market, bringing in food, cloth, and tools, and taking away ores, timber, and materials from monsters.

Of the fish-people rescued from Sabaody, more than half chose to stay. They lived in the newly designated area on the east side of town, intermingling with humans and slowly getting used to this way of life.

After returning from Misra Island, Jinbe became more talkative. He would occasionally stroll around the town, talk to the fish-men, and chat with the humans.

During this period, trouble also came to Lingmen one after another.

The pirates of the New World are different from those of the first half of the Grand Line. Upon seeing Norton's bounty of 2.4 billion, they all rush to set sail.

Two billion Berries is enough to buy an island and live a comfortable life.

As for how strong that silver-haired man was—how strong could he be? A newcomer who has just entered the new world, how strong could he possibly be?

Even if he had defeated Garp, it could only mean that Garp was old.

The first group to arrive was a pirate crew called "Blood Blade" Eric.

The captain offered a reward of 230 million, and he had over 300 men and five ships. They sneaked into the harbor on a foggy morning, intending to launch a night raid, but were discovered in time by the officers.

The second group to arrive was a bounty hunter team called "Black Widows." They were said to have been in this line of work in the New World for over ten years, specializing in targeting newcomers with high bounties. They disguised themselves as a caravan and infiltrated the town, poisoning people in the tavern.

Kro saw through their scheme. The poisoned wine was replaced with ordinary wine, and the seven bounty hunters got completely drunk. When they woke up the next morning, they found themselves tied to the tallest mast in the harbor.

The third group arrived was an old pirate known as "Iron Arm" Bazel, with a bounty of 360 million, ten ships, and a thousand men. He led his men in a frontal assault on the harbor, bombarding it with cannons all night.

The fourth batch, the fifth batch, the sixth batch —

One group after another, like people going to a market.

The cadres' injuries were thus compounded, layer upon layer.

Inside the medical tent, Chopper's complaints grew more frequent each day.

"Can you guys just shut up for a few days?"

The pirates in Frost's head wouldn't stop coming just because Chopper complained. That evening, news from the outpost reached Nestad Town.

A ship bearing the flag of the Beasts Pirates is sailing towards the ancient island.

When the pirate delivering the message ran into the council hall, his legs were weak and he could barely speak.

"Admiral—Admiral—Kaido of the Beasts—"

Norton was looking at the nautical chart when he heard this and looked up.

"Kaido?"

"Yes, yes—the lookout saw it—there was a huge person on that ship, with horns on his head—it must be him—"

Kro, standing beside you, showed a slight change in expression.

Since arriving in the New World, the Norton Pirates have already thoroughly investigated the power dynamics of this sea area. Bounty posters are plastered all over the bulkheads of every ship, and pirates gather together every day to study them.

Kaido of the Beasts.

The bounty is 4.611 billion Berries.

The world's strongest creature.

The "strongest" of all living things, whether on land, sea, or air.