Of course, his heart had only skipped a beat for an instant. You'll get a—cough, cough. He was, after all, a headquarters colonel, and Bogard quickly regained his composure.
There were plenty of rotten apples in the Navy, but there were also many Marines who truly believed in justice.
It was just that Dunn's words left Bogard at a loss for how to respond.
He certainly wouldn't have gained so much by joining the Navy.
Unless he was a corrupt Marine.
As for the Navy's justice, Bogard would've liked to discuss it with Dunn, but Dunn clearly wasn't interested.
"Tell Base Commander Mouse I'm at the usual place. Just calculate the bounty and bring it over."
Dunn waved a hand, then headed toward town.
The town was already in an uproar.
It was rare to see a spectacle like this, with one pirate after another being escorted by the Marines to the base for detention.
They hadn't stopped for a moment. Everyone had come out to watch.
The people in the tavern had gone out into the street to watch, and the owner, Old Komodo, had come out too.
As he watched the pirates being escorted past, Old Komodo recognized quite a few of them. They were all wanted men.
"Did the Marines launch a major operation? But I haven't heard anything about one. The Marines at this base don't seem to have gone out, either. Where did they catch all these pirates?"
Old Komodo looked utterly bewildered.
To catch so many pirates, the Marines would have needed to send out a lot of people, and whoever caught them would get the credit.
If Marines from another base had caught them, they wouldn't have brought them here.
"I heard a pirate ship came straight to the pier and ran into a warship that happened to be there. The pirates surrendered right away."
Someone spoke up to show off how well-informed he was, though clearly he only knew part of the story.
"Is the tavern closed today?"
A voice made Old Komodo turn around. He saw the tall Dunn standing there with a sword in his arms, looking at him.
"It's open, it's open. I just came out to watch the commotion."
As he spoke, Old Komodo hurried back into the tavern.
"The usual. A glass of fruit juice!"
Dunn followed him inside and took a seat by the counter.
"Coming right up!"
Old Komodo didn't ask any questions. He got straight to work, peeling a fresh orange to make the juice.
"Got any new wanted posters?"
Watching Old Komodo work, Dunn asked.
"Wanted posters?"
Old Komodo paused and looked up at Dunn.
Wait, could he have been the one who brought in all those pirates?
Old Komodo knew Dunn was a Pirate Hunter.
No, there were too many pirates. How could one person possibly capture so many?
Old Komodo shook his head with a laugh.
"There aren't many new posters. After all, East Blue is the Weakest Sea, and there aren't that many pirates to begin with. Most of them have only just set sail and don't even have bounties yet. But there's one big one lately."
As he spoke, Old Komodo pushed the freshly squeezed juice in front of Dunn.
"A big one? Tell me about it."
Dunn sounded curious.
"They say he's a pirate from the New World. After returning to East Blue, he nearly ran into the Marines at Loguetown, but he got away. Apparently, his ship was full of Fishmen, and the leader's name was something like Dragon."
Old Komodo lowered his head and pulled out a stack of wanted posters, flipping through them.
"Arlong!" said Dunn.
"Right, right, Arlong. They say he was a subordinate of some great pirate in the New World. His bounty's a full twenty million."
Old Komodo was clearly impressed by the bounty.
It might not have meant much in the New World, but in East Blue, he was a great white shark.
"Do you know where he is?"
Dunn watched as Old Komodo pulled out a wanted poster bearing Arlong's picture.
"No. This pirate just arrived in East Blue, and even the Marines don't know the details. Aside from escaping the Marines' pursuit, there's been no other news."
Dunn nodded.
"But this place isn't very far from Loguetown. If the guy comes around here, he'll probably cause a huge commotion."
Old Komodo glanced at Dunn and sighed.
"These are islands, after all. To pirates, they're a fat piece of meat."
The Conomi Islands consisted of several neighboring islands lying close together. They might once have been connected, but rising seawater or sunken land had eventually separated them.
The 16th Branch Base, Cocoyasi Village, and more than twenty nearby island villages were all in the Conomi Islands.
Dunn didn't respond.
The commotion outside continued. With so many pirates being brought in, everyone in town had come to watch, and cheers could be heard from time to time.
Some people had probably recognized the pirates.
"Do you know what's going on with those pirates outside?" Old Komodo asked idly when he saw Dunn glance outside.
"I caught them," Dunn replied casually.
Old Komodo froze, speechless.
"Don't joke around. That wasn't one or two pirates. How could you catch so many by yourself? But you really do seem to know what happened. Why not sell me the story?"
Old Komodo grinned as he spoke.
He could make money off the story, or at the very least, tell it in the tavern.
A secret like this was perfect for drawing in customers.
People around here were curious, after all.
"Sure. One hundred and fifty thousand Beli!"
Dunn turned back with a smile and named his price.
"One hundred and fifty thousand? That's way too much! Wait, isn't that what I charged you for the story?"
Old Komodo stared at him, speechless.
This guy held a grudge. But hadn't he only charged him a hundred thousand Beli later on?
"Think about it. Anyone who could capture this many pirates must be a big shot. Could a big shot's story come cheap?"
"Fair point!"
Old Komodo nodded, then reluctantly dug one hundred and fifty thousand Beli out of the counter and handed it to Dunn.
Dunn took the money without a word of protest.
"I'm the one who captured those pirates. I ran into them all gathered together, so I rounded them up and brought them back."
Dunn spoke earnestly.
Old Komodo's face turned pale, then flushed red.
Was this guy trying to cheat him out of his money?
Just as Old Komodo began to doubt himself, two Marines walked in carrying large bags.
When they saw Dunn, they set the bags down and saluted.
"Hello, Mr. Pirate Hunter. The colonel asked us to bring you your bounty. It comes to a total of 91.77 million Beli."
"Have you finished escorting them?"
Dunn asked the two Marines.
"Not yet, but the colonel said he didn't want to keep you waiting too long, so he had us calculate the bounty first."
Dunn understood and nodded.
The two Marines saluted, then turned and left.
"See? I told you it was me. I wasn't lying!"
Dunn spread his hands.
"So it really was you?"
Old Komodo was completely dumbfounded.
This guy seemed to be way beyond anything he'd imagined.
Just how strong was he, to capture so many people at once?
While Old Komodo was questioning everything he knew, Bogard at the pier got in touch with Garp, who had returned to his hometown to visit his grandson.
"Vice Admiral Garp, he's back."
Before you continue