Arakawa Zenkichi inserted a coin into the News Bird's pouch and retrieved a fresh newspaper. Tucked between the pages were several bounty posters.

One, in particular, caught his eye — his own.

The face printed on the paper was one he recognized immediately. It was taken back when he'd been in Cocoyasi Village. Captain Nezumi's men had photographed him using a Den Den Mushi. Zenkichi had noticed but didn't stop them.

After all, he had expected to be targeted by the World Government eventually. If they were going to place a bounty on him, he preferred they use a photo that captured his best angle. So, he'd posed confidently, allowing the shot.

Printed clearly beneath the photo: 20 million Berries.

Zenkichi's face darkened.

"Twenty million?" he muttered with a half-smirk, half-scowl. "That's a slap in the face."

The World Government dared to insult him like this?

He had explained everything to the marines — the corruption that led him to eliminate Captain Nezumi. Those sailors should have relayed that truth to their superiors. Yet, instead of recognizing justice, the Navy slapped a petty bounty on his head. A bounty so low, it was insulting.

"I expected you to clean up your own mess," Zenkichi said aloud, his voice simmering with suppressed fury. "Your own officers were the problem. You should have apologized."

"But I see now… I gave you too much credit."

His gaze sharpened.

"If you're going to oppose me, fine. But to offer this pathetic bounty?"

He clenched the bounty poster in his fist, and a cruel smile crept onto his lips.

"Very well. Since you think I'm worth so little… I'll show you just how wrong you are."

He remembered — the Celestial Dragons would be arriving soon.

A spark flickered in his golden eyes.

"If you're going to put me at the bottom of the barrel, I'll make sure to burn the whole thing down."

Even the destruction of an island wouldn't concern the World Government. But harming the Celestial Dragons? That was another matter.

To the World Government, these bloated nobles — the so-called "descendants of the Creator" — were untouchable. Even the Five Elders, the regime's top decision-makers, were Celestial Dragons themselves.

They were the face of the World Government.

Hurt them, and the Admirals would come.

Kill one, and the heavens themselves would tremble.

---

Far across the sea, three large World Government warships sliced through the ocean waves.

On the central vessel, beneath the standard of the World Government, a Celestial Dragon stood on deck, clad in a bubble helmet and garish spacesuit. Bored, he fired a flame cannon aimlessly into the sea.

"So boring!" he groaned, flopping onto the back of a kneeling slave.

Then — a voice.

"Do you want to know the meaning of life?" it said, soft but eerily present. "Do you want to truly live?"

The crew stiffened instantly.

By the time they turned, a strikingly handsome young man was already standing mid-deck, his presence unannounced, his steps silent.

"Who are you?" barked one of the guards, stepping protectively in front of the Celestial Dragon.

Zenkichi smiled faintly.

"Who am I?" he repeated, tossing the bounty poster into the air. "I'm a wanted man. Apparently worth twenty million Berries."

One of the Celestial Dragon's elite guards scoffed.

"A twenty-million nobody dares threaten a Celestial Dragon?"

He stepped forward and jabbed a finger toward Zenkichi's chest.

"Shigan!"

Zenkichi didn't even blink. A layer of Armament Haki shimmered across his skin like invisible armor. The finger strike landed — and bounced off.

Thud.

The Celestial Dragon's guard reeled back in disbelief.

"Impossible! With just twenty million, how can he have this level of Haki?!"

Zenkichi's eyes glinted coldly. "Who told you bounties reflect true strength?"

In a blur, he retaliated with his own Shigan, driving his finger into the guard's chest — punching clean through with devastating force.

"Open fire!" someone screamed.

Bullets and cannon shells filled the air, whistling toward him from all directions.

Zenkichi glowed gold. The projectiles passed right through his now-light-formed body — harmlessly.

"Elementalization…?"

"A Logia?!"

"The Glint-Glint Fruit?! That's Kizaru's Devil Fruit!"

"But… Admiral Kizaru is still alive! How—?"

The marine soldiers buzzed with confusion and fear.

"Now's not the time to discuss it!" shouted one. "Trap him!"

A heavy net, interlaced with Seastone, was launched at Zenkichi. It wrapped around him perfectly — a textbook capture. Seastone was the bane of all Devil Fruit users. It drained their strength, paralyzing their abilities.

"Got him!"

"He's finished!"

The marines cheered in premature celebration.

Even Admirals struggled against Seastone traps.

"You were careless," muttered the soldier who'd launched the net, puffing out his chest in smug pride.

But Zenkichi simply raised his head, his smile unreadable.

---