Garp: Exposed? But it doesn't matter

"Are these all true?"

Dunn held the bounty poster, pointing at the records on it as he questioned Old Komodo.

"Of course they're true. These were all told by the survivors. A village of over a hundred people, and in the end, only a few survived."

Hearing the doubt in Dunn's voice, Old Komodo seemed to raise his volume, as if to prove the authenticity of his records.

"So, a pirate who killed hundreds of people only has a bounty this small?"

"Don't ask me about that; this is the bounty issued by the Marine Headquarters."

Old Komodo shook his head directly.

For these pirates, killing, arson, and plundering merchant ships were all part of their daily routine. Some merchant ships would lose their entire crew when encountering pirates; such things were all too normal.

"I can explain!"

Outside the tavern door, Colonel Mouse walked in, followed by Marines.

The tavern immediately fell silent, and everyone looked at the Marines who had walked in.

"Because he is very weak."

"So, bounties are divided based on strength?"

Dunn was not surprised by the arrival of Colonel Mouse; his Observation Haki had already sensed the other party's approach.

"That is part of the reason!"

After speaking, Colonel Mouse took a money bag from the hands of the Marine behind him.

"Four million Beli. This is your bounty reward."

Dunn glanced at the money bag and nodded. "If I capture other pirates, can I also bring them here to exchange for bounties?"

Hearing this, Colonel Mouse looked at the stack of bounty posters in front of Dunn and nodded.

"Of course. If these pirates are captured, they can certainly be exchanged for bounties. However, I have another matter to discuss right now."

As he spoke, Colonel Mouse signaled for the Marines behind him to wait outside, then sat down at the counter and ordered a beer.

"The Marines would like to invite you to join. If you agree, you can head directly to the Marine Headquarters."

Colonel Mouse said.

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone in the tavern widened their eyes.

Marine Headquarters?

For these people, that was a legendary place. It was said to be in the Grand Line, where all the big shots of the Marines resided, even Vice Admiral Garp.

"I refuse!"

Dunn shook his head.

"Why? Since you want to capture pirates, wouldn't it be better to join the Marines? That way, you wouldn't need to search for them yourself, and you could even be equipped with a warship."

Colonel Mouse felt somewhat unwilling when he heard Dunn's refusal.

"Garp invited me last time, and I refused him too. As for the reason..."

Dunn thought for a moment and shook his head.

"I hate the Celestial Dragons."

Once these words were out, the tavern became so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Everyone looked at Dunn in terror.

What audacity, to actually mention the Celestial Dragons in such a way.

Colonel Mouse also widened his eyes abruptly, his mind racing as he looked at Dunn.

His gaze fell on the sword in front of Dunn, and he thought about the possibility of Dunn being a Devil Fruit user.

If he tried to fight, he probably wouldn't win.

So what should he do?

Pretend he didn't hear it.

"Haha... Hahaha!" Colonel Mouse let out a few dry laughs. "So Vice Admiral Garp has already invited you. In that case, just pretend I never said anything."

Having said that, Colonel Mouse got up and left, not staying for even a second.

Watching the back of Colonel Mouse as he left, Dunn withdrew his gaze.

However, the tavern remained very quiet, and everyone looked at Dunn in shock.

But to speak so bluntly about hating the Celestial Dragons in front of a Marine—if the Celestial Dragons found out...

Thinking of this, the people in the tavern hurriedly got up and left.

Old Komodo looked at Dunn with a bitter expression on his face.

If it were discovered, every single person here would be in trouble.

Dunn certainly understood the consequences of saying such things, but hate is hate.

If he were to run into a Celestial Dragon, he might actually cut them down.

After all, he only had one stereotype about this world: that all Celestial Dragons were bastards who deserved to die.

"Let's go!"

Dunn tossed the payment for his drinks and the bounty posters onto the counter, grabbed his two bags, and left.

Colonel Mouse returned to the Marine Base.

He reported his encounter with Dunn directly, though he naturally omitted the part where Dunn expressed his hatred for the Celestial Dragons.

After all, Dunn was right there; if he had reported that, Headquarters would have certainly ordered him to make an arrest, and he would have been the one facing this Pirate Hunter who was suspected of being a devil fruit user.

Headquarters, Fleet Admiral Office.

The office door was kicked open from the outside, and Garp strode in with a swagger that defied all logic.

"Can't you knock, you bastard?"

Sengoku, who had been looking for an excuse to give Garp a hard time, saw this and his face turned as black as the bottom of a pot.

"Perfect, I just ran out of Senbei."

Garp didn't care about Sengoku's anger in the slightest. He walked over to the desk with practiced ease, pulled open a drawer, and found the Senbei that Sengoku had hidden away.

He grabbed two bags, walked over to a nearby seat, sat down, tore open a bag, and began to munch away with a loud crunching sound.

This scene made Sengoku's eyelid twitch violently, and the veins on his forehead began to bulge; he looked like he was about to explode.

"You bastard, didn't you say you couldn't find that brat in the East Blue?"

Sengoku glared at Garp, taking several deep breaths before speaking, clearly ready to hold him accountable.

"What brat in the East Blue?"

Garp, busy eating his Senbei, paused and spoke indistinctly, spraying crumbs of the snack as he talked.

"That Pirate Hunter, the brat suspected of being a devil fruit user."

Sengoku let out a cold snort.

Ordinarily, a matter like this wouldn't reach him; in the grand scheme of the Marine's complex affairs, it wasn't a major issue.

But since it involved Garp, it had been sent up to him.

He had seen that Garp had found Dunn and been rejected, yet Garp's report had claimed he couldn't find the person.

Someone was lying, so who was it?

It wasn't hard to guess.

"Ahahaha, Sengoku, you're talking about that brat."

Garp, however, acted as if he didn't care and burst into laughter.

"Didn't you say you couldn't find him?"

Watching Garp laugh, Sengoku asked with a gloomy face.

"It's all the same, the brat refused anyway."

Garp waved his hand dismissively.

"You can invite him again, you idiot!"

Sengoku felt his head spinning.

"I could tell, that brat has no interest in the Marines."

Garp thought back to the young man who had spoken those words about the Celestial Dragons and waved his hand again, looking indifferent.

"Then how strong is this brat?"

Sengoku took a few deep breaths, suppressing his volatile temper before asking.

"Hard to tell, but he should be quite strong."

Garp thought for a moment and shook his head.

They hadn't fought, but the moment he arrived, the boy had already been there; he must have sensed him in advance, likely through Observation Haki.

In a place like the East Blue, anyone who could master Haki was no weakling, let alone a brat of his age.

"Forget it. Go back to the East Blue. The brat is at Branch 16 now; go and bring him back."

Sengoku issued a direct order.

"He doesn't want to join the Marines."

"But we can't just let a devil fruit user run wild on the seas, especially one so young. If he becomes a pirate in the future, he'll be another headache."

"There are plenty of devil fruit users on the sea."

Garp stiffened his neck and stared back at Sengoku.

"The ideals of the Marines will change him."

Sengoku's tone softened slightly.

Garp was stunned by these words, his expression turning speechless.

That brat hated the Celestial Dragons, which made him quite similar to himself.

Join the Navy?

That brat would definitely never agree to it.

Even though they had only met once, Garp could sense it clearly.

"I got it!"

Garp thought for a moment and then stood up.

"If you can't find him, don't bother coming back."

Seeing Garp rise, Sengoku spoke instinctively.

"Really?"

Garp's departing footsteps faltered, and he whipped his head around, his face full of joy.

Sengoku slapped his own forehead.

"Fake, just hurry up and bring him back."

Garp looked disappointed, waving his hand as he left.

Sengoku wore a helpless expression.

This guy!

"Charge, boys!"

A pirate ship surged down from Reverse Mountain at incredible speed.

Arlong the fish-man stood at the bow, his face full of arrogance.

And on his ship, every single fish-man looked ecstatic.

Arlong had painted a grand vision for these fish-men of conquering the East Blue before returning to the Grand Line, leaving them incredibly excited.

Reverse Mountain was the only way for ordinary people to reach the Grand Line; for pirates, it was either crossing the terrifying Calm Belt or taking Reverse Mountain.

There were not many ways to return to the Four Blues from the Grand Line.

But the method pirates could use was to wait for the rare reversal of the ocean currents, at which point the direction of the flow would flip.

Only at this time could one sail a ship from the Grand Line back to the Four Blues.