A Stunned Bogard! Comparing Salaries

A few days later.

The 16th Branch Base suddenly sounded the alarm.

"Base Commander, a large pirate ship is approaching."

The words gave Colonel Mouse a huge fright.

A large pirate ship meant the pirates had at least several hundred men. Of course, that wasn't the most important part. The important thing was that the captain who could lead so many pirates had to be incredibly powerful.

Still, it was rare for pirates to attack a Marine base.

Had the pirates of the East Blue gone crazy?

"Gather... Wait."

Colonel Mouse was about to order the soldiers to assemble, but he stopped before he could finish.

Vice Admiral Garp's ship was still at the dock.

Colonel Mouse had suddenly remembered.

He didn't know where Vice Admiral Garp had gone, but the soldiers aboard the ship were still there.

They were all elite troops who had accompanied Vice Admiral Garp on his campaigns against the New World pirates.

And, on top of that, Colonel Bogard, Vice Admiral Garp's adjutant, was in charge.

Colonel Mouse immediately calmed down and led his men toward the dock.

Since there was no real danger, they still needed to show up.

He didn't want the fight to be over before they arrived, leaving him in an awkward position.

The alarm continued to sound. The residents of the town surrounding the Marine base were all stunned.

What in the world was going on?

"Prepare for battle!"

At the dock, Bogard gave the order loudly. The soldiers aboard the warship sprang into action, and its cannons were already aimed in the direction indicated by the lookout.

Bogard was a little bewildered, too.

Garp's warship was a standard Marine battleship, much larger than any pirate ship.

With a warship this big here, there were still pirates daring to charge at them?

He hadn't thought the pirates of the East Blue were this brave.

Bogard stood at the bow, watching the pirate ship rapidly approach, his face full of suspicion.

With his keen eyesight, he could make out a figure standing at the bow of the speeding pirate ship.

As it drew closer, Bogard raised a hand to give the order, but then his brow furrowed.

Wait, that person looked familiar.

That feeling of familiarity kept Bogard from ordering an attack. The Marines didn't find it strange, either; they all remained on high alert.

"Wait, it's that guy!"

Dunn had changed a lot over the past year, especially in build. He was much taller and more muscular than he'd been a year ago.

But his features hadn't changed much. He'd simply lost much of his childishness.

Bogard thought he looked familiar because he'd seen Dunn from a distance in Shimotsuki Village. But now, remembering the purpose of this visit, he finally put two and two together and realized who the newcomer was.

But wasn't this guy a Pirate Hunter?

How had he become a pirate?

Colonel Mouse had arrived as well, and saw that the soldiers aboard Garp's ship were ready.

Yet they still hadn't fired.

He was puzzled, but didn't dare ask. He could only stand there and watch.

Then, along with some of the workers at the port, they watched helplessly as the pirate ship came hurtling toward the harbor. Only at the last moment did it slow down and pull in.

Dunn had spotted the Dog-Head Warship from far away as he stood at the bow.

Though puzzled, he didn't hesitate to tell the pirates to slow down and approach.

The pirate ship came to a steady stop at the dock, not far from the enormous Marine warship.

Standing at the bow of the warship, Bogard rested a hand on his sword hilt and looked down at the pirate ship. From here, he could see it clearly: the ship was packed with pirates.

Something didn't add up!

Wait, were those...?

With one look, Bogard saw that quite a few pirates were injured. There were also a lot of heads piled together, with no pirates standing near them.

So this guy had gone out to hunt pirates, captured them, and brought them back on their own ship?

But what was going on here?

How many pirate crews had he attacked?

While Bogard was still wondering, Dunn leaped down from the pirate ship and landed in front of Colonel Mouse on the dock.

"Here, I brought you some credit."

Dunn pointed to the pirate ship behind him.

Colonel Mouse looked utterly confused.

"Huh?"

Dunn's words had clearly made Colonel Mouse's brain short-circuit.

Who captures pirates and brings them back along with their ship?

Oh, it was Dunn. That made sense.

Colonel Mouse suddenly remembered that the first time he'd met Dunn, the man had brought in an entire shipload of pirates after taking them all down at once.

But this time...

He looked at all the heads peeking over the side of the pirate ship, staring in their direction. There were so many they formed a dark mass.

He swallowed.

"What? You don't want them?" Dunn asked, frowning when Colonel Mouse didn't answer.

"We'll take them!"

A voice rang out. Bogard came down from the warship, followed by several squads of Marines.

"They'll help you take these pirates into custody."

After approaching, Bogard gave Colonel Mouse the order.

"Yes, sir!"

Although they held the same rank, a Marine Headquarters Colonel outranked a branch Colonel by three grades.

Then Bogard watched as the Marines boarded the pirate ship and escorted the pirates off.

They brought them down one by one.

But there clearly weren't enough men.

They took the first group of several dozen pirates to the Marine base to be locked up.

"Are you Dunn?"

Dunn was watching the Marines escort away his bags of money when Bogard spoke beside him.

"Yeah."

Dunn nodded.

"I'm Bogard, Vice Admiral Garp's adjutant. I saw you in Shimotsuki Village."

Bogard introduced himself.

"Oh."

Dunn nodded without turning around.

Bogard's lips moved at that attitude.

"Vice Admiral Garp came here from Headquarters this time because of you, too."

"Me again? I'm not interested in joining the Marines."

Dunn shook his head at once.

"Why not? Isn't hunting pirates a way of upholding justice? Is there anything more just than the Marines?"

Bogard asked with a frown.

"Justice?"

Dunn was taken aback and turned to look at Bogard.

He'd been about to say a few things about the Marines' so-called justice, but after thinking it over, he let it go.

Some Marines just couldn't be reasoned with.

"I hunt pirates for the money!"

Dunn thought for a moment and gave him an answer.

"The Marines' pay isn't bad."

Bogard immediately replied.

"Isn't it? Then how much do you make?"

Dunn grinned at that.

"Four million Beli a month!"

Bogard answered honestly without holding back.

"Four million Beli, and you're a Marine Headquarters Colonel. So the officers above you probably make at most twice that. Admirals might make a bit more, and then there are the benefits and all that."

Dunn spoke casually.

Bogard nodded.

"Then do you know how much this shipload of weaklings is worth?"

Weaklings?

Bogard had never heard the word used that way, but he could more or less understand what Dunn meant.

"No idea."

"Eighty million to a hundred million Beli."

Dunn gave him the answer. Bogard fell silent.

That was two years of his salary.

And judging by his own standards, these pirates were weak. He could easily beat them all without even drawing his sword.

"How long did it take you to catch them?"

Bogard swallowed and asked.

"A little over half a month, I guess. But you can count it as a month."

Dunn waved a hand as he spoke.

A month?

Bogard had to admit, he was tempted.