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Chapter 13: Joy and Sorrow Don't Always Align
🕑 Added 2025-08-20 00:45:04 +0000 UTCMarine G-5 Base, Conference Room.
The atmosphere was as oppressive as the sea before a storm. A projection Den Den Mushi faithfully cast footage onto the wall.
In the image, a young figure emerged from billowing smoke and spray. In midair, the naginata in his hands erupted with blinding light.
"Sound Slash: Exploding Phoenix Cry!!"
Accompanied by a roar that seemed to penetrate the screen, a massive phoenix-shaped shock wave blasted forth, precisely striking a three-masted ship. The next second, the solid hull silently disintegrated in the soundless footage, wood chips and human figures scattering in all directions.
SLAM!
A file folder stuffed with documents was violently thrown onto the conference table, making a tremendous noise.
Base Colonel Bryan's face was ashen, his thick fingers nearly puncturing the table surface.
"Giant Axe Pirates—captain's bounty six hundred thousand, total crew bounty exceeding one million berries!" His voice echoed through the quiet conference room, carrying barely suppressed fury. "Now, can someone tell me why they were completely annihilated by some unknown brat in just a few minutes?!"
No one answered.
The Marine officers present looked at the frozen image on the wall—the youth's defiant expression as he unleashed his slash—and felt their hearts skip a beat.
"Colonel..." an intelligence officer struggled to speak. "Based on survivor testimony and image analysis, the target is a Devil Fruit user. Initial assessment... either a Paramecia capable of manipulating shock waves or sound waves, or some special Logia type."
"I don't care what type he is!" Colonel Bryan roared. "All I know is that a rookie destroyed an armed pirate ship with a single strike! This kind of destructive power, this potential—if we don't contain it now, he'll become a massive threat to us in the future!"
The conference room erupted into a heated discussion.
"His entrance method was also bizarre—walking on the sea surface. That's definitely not an ordinary ability."
"Attack range over a hundred meters, and it was instantaneous... this kid has developed his fruit ability to a high degree."
"Most importantly, he appeared on Roger and Rayleigh's ship." A rear admiral wearing glasses said gravely, and this statement instantly silenced the entire conference room.
Gold Roger, Silvers Rayleigh. These two names were already beginning to make waves on the seas. Though they rarely showed themselves, every time they acted, they shocked the world.
Now this monster-like newcomer was their companion?
Colonel Bryan's expression grew even more grave. He remained silent for a long time, then finally picked up his pen and wrote several characters on a blank wanted poster draft.
"Draft a bounty notice and distribute it immediately to all bases and news agencies." His voice brooked no argument. "The whole world must know about this dangerous brat!"
A few days later, a fresh wanted poster flew to every corner of the Grand Line with the news birds.
On the wanted poster, the black-haired youth held a naginata, his body stretched in a perfect arc through the air. Sea wind tousled his short hair, and his golden eyes showed no trace of fear—only fighting spirit and defiance that seemed ready to burn everything.
It was precisely the expression captured by a distant Visual Den Den Mushi when he unleashed "Sound Slash: Exploding Phoenix Cry."
【WANTED】
【DEAD OR ALIVE】
【IRON KYLE】
【BOUNTY: 1,500,000 BERRIES】
......
"Gu ha ha ha! Finally reached an island! Supplies! Party time!"
Roger stepped onto solid ground and threw his arms wide with a cheer.
The broken ship that he had personally punched a hole through had barely made it to the next island thanks to Rayleigh and Kyle's tireless efforts.
The ship: I'm done for
This was a bustling commercial island, its port filled with people coming and going, full of vitality.
"I'll go buy some rum and meat." Roger enthusiastically rushed toward the town center.
"I'll check out the nautical charts and daily necessities." Rayleigh adjusted his glasses and walked toward the shops on the other side.
"Then I'll..." Kyle looked left and right, finally focusing on a stall selling newspapers and wanted posters.
He was purely curious, wanting to see what new "celebrities" had emerged on the seas recently.
He strolled over casually, his gaze sweeping across the rows of wanted posters hanging on the wall. Most were ugly mugs with ordinary bounties.
Just as he was about to leave, a brand new wanted poster—its ink seemingly still wet—caught his attention.
That face... why did it look so familiar?
Kyle moved closer. When he saw clearly who was in the photo, his pupils contracted sharply.
In the photo: a youth with black hair and golden eyes, defiant expression, his naginata-swinging pose devastatingly handsome.
Who is this person? So damn handsome!
Oh, wait, that's me. Never mind then.
Kyle ripped that wanted poster from the wall, his heart traitorously pounding wildly.
He looked at his name, "IRON KYLE," looked at that string of zeros, and couldn't help but break into a brilliant smile.
"Not bad, not bad—excellent candid photography skills." Kyle stroked his chin, his inner monologue rich enough for a one-man show. "Perfectly captures my rebellious, world-conquering kingly aura. The only problem is this photo's too good—what if lovesick young ladies see it and start chasing me around? (Just reader problems, really) Ara ara, being handsome is such a burden."
He admired his handsome face with great satisfaction, then lowered his gaze to the bounty amount.
"One million five hundred thousand berries..."
Kyle's smile instantly froze.
"One million five hundred thousand? Just one million five hundred thousand?!" He ranted internally. "Are you kidding me! Who are you looking down on! My earth-shattering 'Exploding Phoenix Cry'—the special effects alone are worth more than this! And my peerless grace walking on waves, maximum swagger—doesn't that count for anything? Does the Navy's price assessment department need new management?!"
Just as he was fuming with indignation, the nearby vendor hung up several new wanted posters. Kyle casually glanced over.
【DEAD OR ALIVE】
【ROGER】
【BOUNTY: 15,500,000 BERRIES】
In the photo, Roger was grinning like the village idiot next door.
Kyle's gaze moved to another poster.
【DEAD OR ALIVE】
【SILVERS RAYLEIGH】
【BOUNTY: 13,000,000 BERRIES】
In the photo, Rayleigh leaned against the ship's rail with a calm expression, light reflecting off his glasses.
Kyle: "..."
He silently lowered his head to look at his "massive" 1.5 million berry wanted poster, then looked up at those two posters worth over ten million each. Suddenly, the paper in his hand didn't seem so impressive anymore.
Especially considering that Roger and Rayleigh were also only in their twenties, their pirate crew had just been formed not long ago, and this era hadn't experienced inflation yet—the real value of those bounties was frighteningly high.
"Gu ha ha ha! Kyle! What are you looking at so intently?"
Roger's booming voice rang out behind him. He approached carrying several barrels of rum in one hand and a large piece of raw meat in the other. When he saw what Kyle was holding, his eyes immediately lit up.
"Oh oh oh! Isn't that your wanted poster!" Roger snatched it away and held it up, laughing loudly. "Gu ha ha ha! Not bad, Kyle! You got a wanted poster so quickly! One million five hundred thousand! Awesome!"
Rayleigh also walked over. Seeing the wanted poster, he smiled an almost imperceptible smile and adjusted his glasses: "Looks like the Marines noticed your debut."
Kyle looked at his two "guardians" with their "our kid's made it big" expressions, then at their ridiculously high bounties, and felt a cold wind called "the gap" blow through.
He pursed his lips and muttered quietly: "Tch, what's so great about that... It's just one more zero than mine..."
Joy and sorrow between people truly don't align.
