"Damn that Jonathan! One day, I swear I'll kill that old bastard!"
Lower District, Scrap Ship Island.
Abandoned shipwrecks were piled up like mountains, with broken masts and tilted hulls scattered everywhere.
Amidst the wreckage of several shattered ships, a three-to-four-meter-long assault boat was wedged tightly in between.
Lying on his back atop the boat was a burly man in a miserable state.
He was over two meters tall, his body packed with bulging muscles. His hair was an unusual bright green, styled into a bizarre cactus-like shape at the top of his head.
Jean Ango was furious.
All he did was steal another bounty hunter's kill—snatching the severed head of a pirate he had slain.
Did the damn Bounty Hunters' Guild really have to send people to chase him down from halfway across the world?
They used to say that bounty hunters worldwide were like family.
And as "family," what was the big deal about taking a little war trophy for some extra reward money?
Catching his breath, Jean Ango crawled out of the small boat and frowned at the sight of the wreckage-strewn surroundings.
"So this is Water 7? Why is it filled with abandoned ships? Looks like a damn pirate graveyard… Hahaha, interesting. Well, whatever. I'll rest here for a bit, find myself a better ship, and get the hell out."
With that thought, his mood suddenly improved.
He reached under the boat and pulled out a round object, then grabbed a cloth pouch from his waist and casually tossed the item inside before securing the pouch to his belt.
Humming the old tune Binks' Sake, he walked out of Scrap Ship Island and began ascending the steps of Water 7, heading toward the more prosperous Upper District.
To his left, thick ropes hung down from towering walls.
Men and women were busy repairing the fortress-like walls riddled with holes.
"Huh? What the hell happened here? Could Aqua Laguna cause that kind of damage?"
Jean Ango gazed at a massive hole in the wall—five or six meters in diameter, pitch black, and seemingly bottomless—with a puzzled expression.
It didn't look like it was blasted out by a cannon.
He had never seen a cannon with that kind of destructive power.
Today was the fifth day after Aqua Laguna had receded, and Water 7's residents had already returned to their daily lives.
City Hall officials had begun organizing teams to repair the walls and buildings damaged by the storm.
The workload was immense, requiring a large labor force and significant time to complete.
Especially the massive front-facing wall at Dock 2, which had been completely demolished by Rorschach's attack, along with dozens of Lower District buildings that had been shattered by him.
Jean Ango strolled leisurely through the city, observing the famous maritime metropolis with great interest.
There was no need to rush.
The two bounty hunters pursuing him had been lured into the towering waves of Aqua Laguna at the risk of his own life.
By now, they were probably at the bottom of the ocean.
Sure, this might mean he had permanently made an enemy of the Bounty Hunters' Guild, but what choice did he have?
That old bastard Jonathan was just too damn petty.
As he climbed onto the towering Upper District walls, Jean Ango's eyes were immediately drawn to a group of busy workers.
Amidst the crowd stood three towering figures, each over ten meters tall, standing out like giants among men.
Giants were incredibly rare in the Grand Line—it was difficult to encounter even one.
Yet here in Water 7, he had unexpectedly run into three at once.
At this moment, the three burly giants were stretching out their massive hands, following the shipwrights' instructions as they erected a colossal twenty-meter-tall stone statue atop the wall at Dock 2's entrance.
The statue wasn't of a person.
Instead, it depicted a mighty qilin—its tusks bared, its long whiskers flowing, its entire body covered in scales, exuding an awe-inspiring majesty.
The qilin's dragon-like eyes gazed into the distant sea, overlooking the vast front-facing waters of Water 7, radiating an overwhelming, commanding presence.
"Heh, this place must be pretty damn rich to afford something so flashy and unnecessary."
Jean Ango subconsciously scanned the busy crowd, his sharp eyes sweeping over each individual.
Jean Ango possessed an innate talent—an extraordinary intuition for valuable treasures hidden across the seas.
It was this keen instinct that allowed him to locate treasures others had concealed with utmost secrecy.
Because of this, he was known across the seas as Jean the Plunderer.
However, Jean Ango preferred to call himself a Treasure Hunter.
At this moment, that very intuition was telling him that somewhere within the bustling crowd before him, there was an exceptionally valuable treasure—one that strongly called out to him.
The feeling was intense.
Even stronger than the moment he discovered and ate his Devil Fruit.
Which meant...
"A small place like Water 7 actually holds a treasure even more valuable than a Devil Fruit? No way..."
Jean Ango's eyes lit up, and he began scanning the crowd more carefully.
Finally, he spotted it—on the back of a giant over ten meters tall, who was shirtless and moving among the workers.
It was a long halberd, four meters in length, completely jet-black.
The moment Jean Ango laid eyes on it, he held his breath, his gaze locking onto every minute detail of the weapon.
"There's no mistake... It's really that halberd. The legendary Thunder War Halberd, a supreme national treasure of the Flower Country, the very Heavenly Dragon Halberd that was once bathed in the blood of a dragon!"
Jean Ango could hardly believe his eyes.
Years ago, he had set out from the West Blue.
He knew every famous treasure from that sea like the back of his hand.
In pursuit of this very ancient war halberd—one of the 21 Great Grade Blades—he had even ventured alone into the New World.
Back in the West Blue, he had heard stories in the Flower Country:
After the great pirate Chinjao had his drill-shaped head flattened by the Marine hero Garp, he had ignored the king of the Flower Country's objections and handed over the nation's greatest treasure to the pirate Wang Zhi—perhaps hoping Wang Zhi would take revenge on his behalf.
Yet after all these years, nothing had ever happened to Garp.
The Happo Navy's influence in the Flower Country had also waned as a result, with rival naval forces pushing them out and stripping them of much of their power.
About half a year ago, after being forced to flee the New World due to angering several major pirates by stealing their treasures, Jean Ango had returned to Paradise—and there, he had stumbled upon an incredible piece of news.
Wang Zhi had lost the ancient war halberd he had taken from Chinjao!
This loss had even prompted Chinjao—who had long since retired—to return to the New World in search of it.
Now, both Wang Zhi and Chinjao, along with the royal family of the Flower Country, were desperately searching for the legendary halberd.
And yet... it was right here. Right in front of him.
Jean Ango's eyes turned blood-red with greed.
"If... if I can get my hands on that halberd..."
He thought of Chinjao's Frozen Mountain Treasury.
It was said to contain the Flower Country's accumulated wealth from hundreds of years.
A treasure trove filled with the spoils of countless raids, carried out by the Happo Navy, the Shichibukai, and other legally sanctioned pirate fleets over the centuries.
The total value was beyond imagination.
If he could return the war halberd to Chinjao, how much treasure would the old pirate be willing to offer him in exchange?
(End of Chapter)
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