Phoenix Reborn In One Piece

"The whole town's been wrecked…" Robin sighed as she looked around at the destruction.

"There's nothing we could've done."

"No one expected a fighter that strong to be hiding in a small town like this!"

"And none of us thought he'd attack us the moment we showed up…" Ryuen said softly.

"What should we do with him?" Hogg asked.

"If he was guarding the treasure here, then let's bury him here," Ryuen said after thinking for a moment.

"Alright~" Hogg replied, then picked up Osmond's body and walked toward the forest.

————

At that moment, some townspeople who had been watching from a distance started walking over. Leading the group was the man who managed the harbor.

But just like most of the townspeople, he looked rough — many of them had been thrown around more than once during the fight.

"L-Lord Ryuen... Lady Kuina is okay, right?" the man asked nervously.

"She's fine. Thanks for your concern, sir," Ryuen said with a small smile as he looked at the older man.

"That's great news!"

"I knew Kuina was stronger!"

"Unbelievable…"

"That kind of attack was really powerful!"

…

When everyone heard Ryuen say Kuina was okay, the crowd broke out in cheers.

"By the way, sir, since the town's been destroyed, why don't we rebuild it?" Ryuen looked around at the broken town, then turned to the older man and added, "As for the cost, our Dream Exploration Team will handle it. We'll also cover any other losses."

"No, that's not right!"

"You can't…"

"It's not your fault the town got wrecked!"

"Exactly…"

"It was that one-armed old man's fault! He's the one who suddenly attacked and caused all this!"

"Yeah!"

"That's right!"

"It's all that one-armed guy's fault…"

…

As soon as Ryuen said they'd take responsibility for the damage, the townspeople quickly tried to refuse.

They knew the Dream Exploration Team had found the legendary treasure on the island, but they also had to support the orphanage!

If they took money from them to rebuild the town, everyone would feel guilty.

"There's no need to refuse!"

"It's settled. Rebuilding the town won't cost much anyway."

"We can afford a billion or two Beli without any problem." Ryuen didn't give them a chance to argue and made the decision right away.

"Uh…"

…

Everyone at the scene wasn't sure what to do, so they all turned to an older man with gray hair and a slightly hunched back.

He was the mayor of the town.

"Mayor…" The port manager looked at him, not knowing what to say.

And when the mayor saw the firm look on Ryuen's face, he knew this decision wouldn't be changed.

"Sigh…"

"Then we'll accept it. Thank you, Lord Ryuen. It's a bit embarrassing, but to be honest, we really do need some help…" the mayor said, his face turning red from embarrassment.

Everyone else also fell silent.

"No need to feel that way."

"Don't worry. For us, this really isn't a big deal," Ryuen said calmly.

"Thank you again, Lord Ryuen!"

"Thank you, Lord Ryuen!"

"Thanks to everyone in the Dream Exploration Team!"

"Thank you…"

…

The townspeople were deeply moved and expressed their gratitude from the heart.

They really did need that money to rebuild their home.

————

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, two days had passed.

Thanks to the support from the Dream Exploration Team, the rebuilding of Red Town was going smoothly.

Everyone was full of energy, even Hogg joined in to help with the work.

The town was changing day by day.

It probably wouldn't take long before the town was fully rebuilt and as lively as it used to be.

————

"Caw—caw—"

High in the sky, a news delivery bird suddenly dove down and flew straight into the temporary base of the Dream Exploration Team.

It handed a newspaper to Ryuen, then quickly flew away without stopping.

"It's here at last…" Ryuen held the newspaper. He didn't even need to open it—he already knew what was in it.

Nojiko took the paper from Ryuen and began flipping through it to check the headlines.

The others from the team also gathered around.

"Just as expected. Akainu really is going all out…" Nojiko said calmly.

The biggest story in the paper was, of course, about Akainu's "three fires" from two days ago.

Now, with an order from the Marine Fleet Admiral, a massive recruitment drive had begun across the seas.

If not for what came next, that alone would've already shaken up the world.

But…

No one in the seas had expected that once Akainu became the new Fleet Admiral, he would move Marine Headquarters into the New World.

That's the heart of the Four Emperors' territory!

This move by the Marines made pirates everywhere furious. Some hot-headed ones even launched direct attacks on the island chosen as the new HQ in the New World.

But all they really did was help the Marines rack up some victories.

After several rounds of this, the pirates started to calm down when they noticed that the Four Emperors hadn't said a word.

So the pirates in the New World started calling on the Four Emperors to speak up and protect their pride as pirates.

But strangely, all the Four Emperors seemed to be on the same page—they didn't seem to care much about Akainu moving Marine HQ into their territory.

Their attitude was likely tied to the third of Akainu's "three fires."

The Marines had just put bounties on the Dream Exploration Team, labeling them as pirates!

This news was even more shocking than the previous two fires—it caused an uproar across the entire sea!

"Why would they do this?"

"Isn't the Dream Exploration Team just a group of adventurers? Why would the Marines put bounties on them?"

"This is crazy! What is the Marine trying to do? Don't they know how much the Dream Team has done for the sea?"

"How could the Marines go this far…"

…

The moment the Marines announced the bounties, the entire sea erupted in discussion.

Most people were deeply unhappy about it.

Because the Dream Exploration Team was now being hunted, the Four Emperors weren't rushing to respond to the Marines moving into the New World.

They were waiting to see how the Dream Team would react—after all, the team was right at the entrance to the New World!

"Ryuen…"

"Looks like your connections with the Celestial Dragons aren't working anymore. So... what will you do now…"

Somewhere in the New World, Shanks looked at the bounty poster in the newspaper and muttered to himself.

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