Chapter 192: Wood's Skyrocketing Bounty!

"Wood, the Marine traitor, was responsible for releasing the prisoners from Impel Down, ruthlessly killing a Marine branch colonel, and being one of the culprits behind the destruction of Enies Lobby."

"A dangerous individual—capture him dead or alive. Bounty: 1 billion Berries!"

That's right—1 billion Berries! Ruth couldn't believe his eyes and double-checked the bounty poster several times, but no matter how many times he counted, the number was indeed ten digits long.

Fisher Tiger, the supposed mastermind, had only seen his bounty increase from 350 million Berries to 500 million Berries. But their captain, Wood, had gone from 120 million Berries all the way to 1 billion Berries—double Tiger's bounty.

It wasn't just Ruth and the others who were shocked—Wood himself was completely dumbfounded when he saw the bounty poster. For a moment, he thought the Marines must have made a printing error. But no matter how many times he looked, the face on the poster was definitely his.

Then Wood considered another possibility—perhaps his secret identity as the "Fishman Swordsman Yasuo" had been exposed. If that were the case, combining the two identities might indeed justify such a high bounty.

However, only a handful of people knew about that alias: Gion, Tiger, and a few others. Even Sengoku had only vague suspicions. It didn't seem likely that his secret had been uncovered.

Tiger, noticing Wood's confusion, also considered this possibility but shook his head to indicate that he hadn't revealed Wood's identity to anyone—not even to his most trusted comrades, Jinbe and Arlong.

Still baffled, Wood eventually found an excuse to slip away from the group. Once alone, he discreetly pulled out his private Den Den Mushi and contacted Sengoku.

Since the Enies Lobby incident, Sengoku had tried several times to get in touch with Wood. However, Wood had pushed himself so hard during the battle that he had fallen into a coma afterward, making it impossible for Sengoku to reach him.

Den Den Mushi weren't advanced enough to leave voicemail messages, so Sengoku had been left anxiously wondering about Wood's condition. But thanks to Gion, who had Wood's life paper, they had been able to confirm that he was still alive and safe.

After returning to headquarters, Gion had briefed Sengoku on the situation, and Sengoku was very pleased with how she and Wood had handled things. They had not only managed to pin the blame on Spandam and his father, keeping the Marines out of trouble, but they had also successfully completed their mission.

Now, all that remained was for Wood to retrieve the Pluton blueprints from Tom. If he could do that, the mission would be a complete success—a perfect score.

"So Tom hid the blueprints in the Sea Train, and you used that same train to rescue him, only for the blueprints and the train to be destroyed in the bombardment?" Sengoku sighed heavily on the other end of the Den Den Mushi line as he listened to Wood's report.

He wasn't angry with Wood or Gion—in fact, he couldn't blame them at all. It was just a tremendous shame.

"I'm sorry, Fleet Admiral Sengoku. We did everything we could," Wood apologized.

"It's not your fault," Sengoku reassured him. "Compared to that muscle-headed fool Garp, you've done far better than I ever expected. After all, who could have guessed that Tom would hide the blueprints in such a place? At least the World Government didn't get their hands on the Pluton blueprints. In that sense, you've succeeded."

Sengoku wasn't just trying to comfort Wood; both he and Gion genuinely believed that even if they had handled the mission themselves, they wouldn't have done any better than Wood and Gion had. Unlike Spandam and his father, who had lost everything, the Marines had even gained an additional admiral candidate.

"Oh, by the way, Fleet Admiral Sengoku, there's something I need to ask you—what's the deal with my bounty? If you're satisfied with how the mission turned out, then why did you guys decide to raise my bounty from 120 million Berries to 1 billion? I was planning to head into the New World soon, but with a bounty like this, every veteran pirate out there will be gunning for me!"

It wasn't a problem for someone with strength and reputation to have a high bounty, but Wood hadn't even been a pirate for that long. After just about a year as a pirate, his bounty had skyrocketed to 1 billion Berries. To other pirates, he would seem like a rookie, fresh meat for the taking in the New World.

Pirates looking to make a name for themselves typically did so by causing trouble for the Marines or the World Government, or by taking down other notorious pirates. A 1 billion Berry bounty made Wood stand out as a prime target even in the New World.

Wood could already imagine the scenario: if he entered the New World with such a bounty, countless pirates would be eager to take him down and claim the credit for defeating a "1 billion Berry rookie."

"The decision to raise your bounty to 1 billion Berries wasn't just made by the Marines. The World Government had a significant say in it. After all, you fought the Marine hero Garp to a standstill and cut down three CP0 agents in one blow. If we set your bounty too low, it would undermine the authority of both the Marine hero and the World Government's top intelligence agency, so…"

"So you bumped my bounty up to 1 billion Berries and sent me into the New World as a top-tier pirate? That's insane! It's bad enough being a Supernova with a bounty over 100 million Berries, but this is like a death sentence!"

A bounty over 100 million might make someone a big deal in the first half of the Grand Line, but in the New World, it was a different story. A 1 billion Berry bounty was on a whole other level, reserved for pirates who were nearly untouchable by the Marines or who had achieved infamy on a global scale.

"From what Garp told me, with your current strength, there shouldn't be many people in the New World who could pose a serious threat to you. The pirates in the New World are the ones that really give the Marines trouble. I thought it would take a few more years before you reached this stage, but if you're already this powerful, it's not a bad idea for you to enter the New World and join the ranks of the strongest."

When Sengoku heard Gion and Garp's reports on Wood's combat abilities, he had been utterly astonished. He had already tried to estimate Wood's potential as generously as possible, but even then, he hadn't expected Wood to grow so powerful so quickly.

If Garp and Gion hadn't exaggerated Wood's abilities, Sengoku was now convinced that Wood was already stronger than the three admiral candidates, including Akainu.

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P/S: If you are interested, you can read up to chapter 320+ at p@treon.com/Betek and change @ to a