User blog comment:StrawHatDavid/A Few Things No One Metioned/@comment-4605926-20130418111417

Hmm interesting, I'll try my best to explain.

1) I really doubt it's a World Noble for a couple of reasons:

I have my money on him being just some rich person or "regular" noble.
 * He would receive a special seat fit for quick evacuation.
 * We would receive clearer hints on the matter. Just the presence of a World Noble can cause a lot of panic.

2) Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't he just resign from the Shichibukai? I don't remember that clearly enough. Perhaps the resignation's side effects obliged him to resign as king as well? At any rate, Law was contemplating on the matter as well.

3) I think it is a metaphor for something big that is to come in the near future instead of an actual tidal wave. Bellamy wants to side with Doflamingo because he believes he will be safe under his protection. To gain Doflamingo's trust he has to win the tournament, hence the reason he joined with no interest in the fruit. Well, and he admires him too.

4) I'm sure there's a reason behind all the naming. I've heard quite a bit of theories on the matter.


 * They will reappear in the future (most straightforward theory).


 * They will have something to do with the Law-Luffy alliance on either side.

As for the bounty system, bounties aren't assigned solely according to a person's personal prowess in battle. Bounties point at the known threat level of a person, and strength is only 1 of the variables in the equation. For instance, a pirate captain will naturally receive a higher bounty than his subordinates regardless of his own personal strength, due to the fact that he can assign them whichever tasks that come up his mind, using their powers as his own. Additional bounty factors may be influence, knowledge (as in Robin's case), cruelty, territories, etc.. Robin initially had a bounty of 79,000,000 solely due to her ability of reading poneglyphs which the World Government has proclaimed to be illegal and forbidden due to reasons not yet clear. In addition, the World Government isn't always aware of the crews' whereabouts and actions, much like with the Straw Hats during their time at Skypiea and the timeskip. This and everything mentioned above implies that many bounties are actually inaccurate. That said, Bartolomeo's bounty still seems too low, he's also a captain... Well beats me. Anyhow, that's more or less how the bounty system works nonetheless.
 * They are bigshots. The tournament's prize contains immeasurable power, it's natural for such people to be interested whilst believing in their chances of winning without being obliterated in the process.

On a side note, this chapter confused me a little, is he called Bartolomeo or Balt Romeo?