Chapter 155 A Staggering Bounty
To prevent anyone from feigning weakness to avoid the draft, Zane established penalties for those who were eliminated.
Broken limbs were considered a light punishment; in severe cases, individuals would even be made into examples, hung in the streets to dry like salted fish.
It was certainly a bit cruel.
But it also depended on who was being targeted.
Those fishmen who merely lived in the Fishman District to survive were not included in the recruitment at all.
The fishmen who were brought in were all villains and thugs who had spent their lives lording over others in gangs.
Under the mechanism of elimination penalties, far from resisting joining the hunting team, the fishmen were now showing an incredibly proactive and enthusiastic attitude.
"Go and notify the others to come as well. It won't be too late to continue relaxing once we've finished recruiting the troops," Zane instructed Nico Robin casually while continuing his screening.
Their captain was already here doing the work; if the subordinates were still out there living a life of leisure, it would be far too improper.
Outside the Fishman District.
Just as Zane was speaking with Nico Robin, lightning appeared out of thin air, precisely striking several fishmen thugs who were attempting to flee and turning them into charred husks.
"Dammit, there's no way out at all!"
"Let's go back. That man isn't someone we can possibly face. I definitely don't want to end up like those guys."
"It's a nightmare. Why has the Fishman District turned into this? Isn't this supposed to be our world? Why are we being forced into this by a human?"
...
The Fishman District, which housed tens of thousands of people, was quite large.
Yet, it was also quite small.
Small enough that Zane could easily cover it with his Observation Haki.
Couldn't win, yet couldn't escape?
They truly couldn't escape.
Looking at the charred corpses lining the outskirts of the Fishman District, the other fishmen who had entertained thoughts of fleeing swallowed hard.
Some shouted in grief and indignation, but even more dejectedly accepted reality and headed toward the recruitment grounds.
"King, this is the current situation in the Fishman District. Any clansman who attempts to flee is struck by lightning, and our people encounter the same situation if they try to enter."
Inside the Ryugu Palace, the catfish-man Left Minister reported the situation of the Fishman District to Neptune with indignation.
Under Zane's intimidation, although Neptune had retreated to the Ryugu Palace in a bleak defeat, he still continuously sent people to monitor the movements in the Fishman District.
For several days now.
The Fishman District had seemingly become completely severed from the rest of Fishman Island.
No fishman could leave, and no fishman could enter.
All that remained were those charred corpses of people who had dared to try.
"I understand. Continue to monitor them from the outside!" Neptune rubbed his temples, which were throbbing with a headache.
This time, a truly massive trouble had arrived at Fishman Island.
Fortunately, the only thing Neptune could be thankful for was that the trouble was contained within the Fishman District and hadn't spread to the outside.
Puru puru puru...
The unique ringing of a Transponder Snail echoed.
Neptune looked toward the Transponder Snail being held by a nearby maid.
Picking up the receiver, the Transponder Snail immediately mimicked the face of a whale shark fishman with great detail.
"Your Majesty, it's Jinbe. How are things on your end? Is that Zane still on Fishman Island?"
Just as the face on the snail suggested, the caller was one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, the man known as the First Knight of the Sea, Jinbe.
"Jinbe, it's Neptune. He's still here, and..." Realizing it was Jinbe, Neptune's spirits lifted immediately, and he quickly recounted the situation in the Fishman District.
As Neptune spoke, the other end of the line was exceptionally quiet.
Suddenly, a series of footsteps approached, and the face on the snail shifted, now mimicking a human face with a crescent-moon mustache.
"Neptune, it's Newgate!"
This simple introduction caused not only Neptune but everyone else present to tremble instinctively.
"Newgate, you're with Jinbe?" Neptune asked in shock.
"Gurararara! Isn't it only natural for a father and son to be together? However, you must not do anything foolish and provoke that three-eyed brat before I arrive!" A boisterous laugh rang out, but Whitebeard followed it with a solemn warning.
Neptune was stunned.
A second later, the Transponder Snail shifted back to Jinbe's face.
"Pops, let me explain the details to His Majesty!"
"Mm, you do it."
The faces of Jinbe and Whitebeard switched back and forth on the snail before finally settling on Jinbe.
"Your Majesty, regarding this Zane, do not go near him for the time being. He is an extremely dangerous individual."
"Although we are still unclear about what he specifically did to the World Government, just a short while ago, the World Economic Journal published a new bounty for him."
"The amount on this person's bounty is so high it is difficult to believe. It is a full ten billion Berries!"
"Ten billion?"
When Jinbe's final words, heavy with caution, came through, Neptune's eyes snapped wide, his face filled with pure disbelief.
"Oh? The bounty is that high? Even I'm a bit taken aback!"
In a room in the Fishman District that had been cleaned up, Zane stood by the window, holding the receiver of a Transponder Snail and watching the ongoing recruitment in the streets.
Though he claimed to be taken aback, Zane spoke with a light chuckle.
This caused Shakky, on the other end of the line, to pause for a moment before she, too, chuckled softly.
"I should say that it's only expected of the most prominent super rookie—no, Mr. Zane, you can no longer be called a rookie. After all, with a bounty like yours, let alone the Four Emperors, even Roger himself couldn't compare to you."
"It's just a bounty; it doesn't represent actual strength," Zane shrugged, speaking with complete indifference.
Compared to a certain white-haired old idler, Shakky was definitely a diligent, home-managing woman.
Even after that old man retired, she had built a highly professional intelligence network to bring in extra income.
And so...
Following their friendly encounter back then, Zane had successfully used a barrage of gold bars to easily recruit Shakky as a freelance informant for the hunting team.
"I can't just let that comment pass. Don't I know your strength well enough?" The Transponder Snail shifted to Rayleigh's face, expressing his full recognition of Zane's power.
He had to recognize it.
After all, he had lost the fight back then.
If he didn't acknowledge Zane's strength, wouldn't it make it seem like he was truly too old to hold his own in a fight?
"Enough, enough, don't you start causing trouble here!" A sunken palm print appeared on the snail's version of Rayleigh's face.
Immediately, the snail returned to Shakky's face.
"Regarding this bounty, besides the fact that your reward has been raised to an staggering ten billion Berries, the World Government has imposed a complete media blackout regarding what you did to Mary Geoise and the Celestial Dragons," Shakky explained seriously.
"Isn't that just their usual trick? There's nothing to be surprised about. Oh, by the way, could you do me a favor?"
Zane smiled. He wasn't the least bit surprised that the World Government would cover up the large-scale deaths of Celestial Dragons.
However, this contact from Shakky had reminded him of a certain matter.
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