In a tavern in town, Bane sat at a table with a newspaper in hand, reading it with great interest.
He had originally thought he would be illiterate here, but unexpectedly, he could read the local writing, as if his brain came with its own text converter.
After asking around at the tavern, he had figured out where he was.
The East Blue, the waters around Four-Leaf Island under the Oykot Kingdom, not far from the Branch 153 Marine base. The surrounding seas were relatively peaceful as a result.
In fact, the East Blue itself had always been called the "Sea of Peace," a model region established by the World Government. Compared with the other seas, its public safety was exceptionally good. Even now, in the Great Pirate Era, that remained true.
After all, some big-shot Marine liked coming back here to blow up fish every so often, and a Logia Marine colonel guarded the exit from the East Blue. How could rookie Pirates who had just set sail possibly handle that?
The newspaper in his hands also listed the current date and the events that had taken place recently.
It was now July of Marine Calendar 1519, which did not surprise Bane.
After all, when he had first observed this world, he had happened to see Teach kill Thatch and seize the Dark-Dark Fruit, preparing to begin his path toward becoming one of the Four Emperors.
According to the original timeline, Teach had fled the Whitebeard Pirates that very night. He then traveled all over the world. During his early days on the run, he had gone to the West Blue and recruited Lafitte, who had still been working as a security officer somewhere there. Later, he had gone to a fighting tournament on the Grand Line and recruited the fighter Burgess. After that, he gradually brought Doc Q and Van Augur into the fold as well, officially forming the Blackbeard Pirates.
After establishing the Blackbeard Pirates, he had also gone to Drum Island and caused some trouble.
All that back and forth had to have taken at least a year, right? Based on that, Bane had guessed that the current time was roughly a year before Straw Hat Luffy set sail.
Now, it seemed that he had been right. Straw Hat Luffy should have officially set sail in May of 1520. (This book uses 1520 as its anchor point.)
Besides that, the newspaper also reported several recent events, such as Dance Powder appearing in the capital of the Alabasta Kingdom, and pirate Cavendish entering the New World and becoming a much-watched rookie.
But none of that mattered. What mattered was that Bane saw a portrait of himself on the last page of the newspaper, accompanied by some information.
"The murderer of Thatch, commander of the Whitebeard Pirates' 4th Division. Name and age unknown. The Whitebeard Pirates offer a bounty of 500 million Belly, dead or alive."
"Seriously? Pirates can openly publish bounties in the newspaper? Is that reasonable? What the hell is the World Government even doing?" Bane complained in dissatisfaction as he looked at the notice.
And when the hell had he killed Thatch?
He did not even need to think about it. It had to be that bastard Teach pinning his crime of killing Thatch on him!
As for this matter, Bane currently had no room to argue. The reason was simple: the weak had no right to speak. He was not qualified to explain himself to Whitebeard and the others, and they would not listen anyway.
"Fortunately, the door opened in the East Blue this time. The Whitebeard Pirates won't be able to chase me down anytime soon, and the weaklings in the East Blue... uh... probably can't threaten me, right?" Bane pondered it again and felt that he was rather lucky.
If he had still been in that hellhole known as the New World, where strong people were everywhere and everyone had Armament Haki, he would probably be caught and delivered to Whitebeard the moment he showed his face.
He swept those scattered thoughts from his mind. Now was not the time to dwell on them. In Bane's view, his top priority was finding a way to improve his strength.
In the Pirate World, aside from Devil Fruits, there were many things worth trying and learning.
Such as Sword Arts, Rokushiki, Haki, and so on.
The East Blue was relatively safe, but at the same time, it was not easy to acquire new sources of power here.
For something like Haki, even if he searched the entire East Blue, he probably would not find anywhere to learn it. Rokushiki was likely the same.
Sword Arts, however, were indeed an option. In Shimotsuki Village in the East Blue, Koushiro ran a dojo and accepted students openly. As long as one paid, one could learn there. Of course, how much one actually learned depended on one's own ability.
"Wait, that's not right!" Bane froze at the thought and considered, "Given Koushiro's family background, maybe he knows about Haki? He just never showed it in the East Blue?"
That was not impossible. Koushiro was not originally from the East Blue. His family had migrated from Wano Country, a nation in the New World that produced many samurai. Those samurai were generally very proficient in Haki.
Furthermore, Koushiro was friends with Dragon, the current leader of the rebel faction, the Revolutionary Army. The fact that the two could become friends further proved that Koushiro was not merely a dojo master on the surface.
Thinking of this, Bane felt that he needed to visit this Mr. Koushiro in Shimotsuki Village.
It would not be difficult. On the way to the tavern, Bane had already asked around. The East Blue had enjoyed peace for a long time, so industries such as shipping were fairly well developed. Merchant and passenger ships headed to all parts of the East Blue from the local port every day. As long as he bought a ticket, he could get to Shimotsuki Village.
So now, the question was how to get money!
The ticket would not be much of a problem, but if he was going to meet Koushiro, he needed to prepare a gift at the very least, right? And he would need tuition too. Koushiro was not related to him in any way. Did he think he could learn skills without paying?
And how was he supposed to cover his food and living expenses during this time?
He had made some preparations before coming and brought along two gold bracelets hidden in his home. The currencies were not interchangeable, but gold was indeed hard currency. According to some intelligence from The Empire, gold seemed to be hard currency in many different worlds. He could stock up on more whenever he had the chance.
But those two bracelets were not a long-term solution. Originally, Bane had planned to borrow some money from a few local tough guys. If they refused to lend it, he would beat them until they did. But now, he felt he had a new option.
He stood up, walked to a nearby table, and warmly threw an arm around the shoulders of a man who was boasting away. "Brother, let me ask you something. Do you know how much the bounty for Thatch, commander of the Whitebeard Pirates' 4th Division, is?"
The man had been bragging to his friends about the big fish he had caught not long ago. Being interrupted so suddenly naturally put him in a bad mood, so he looked at Bane impatiently. "Where did you come from? Why are you asking that? And don't put your arm around me."
Perhaps it was because Bane had mentioned Thatch, or perhaps news of the Whitebeard Pirates' murdered commander had been quite the topic these past few days. In any case, after seeing Bane's face clearly, the man suddenly froze.
"I'm asking because I want to collect the bounty, of course." Bane gave him a friendly smile.
What a joke. Teach had dumped such a huge blame on him, and the Whitebeard Pirates were offering 500 million Belly to hunt him down across the world. He had suffered such an unfair grievance for nothing.
Then it was only reasonable for Bane to claim Thatch's bounty, right?
"Y-you're the man in the portrait!?" the man said in terror.
"Keep it down. I'm a very low-key person." Bane pressed down hard on the man's shoulder.
Very quickly, Bane learned the details. Thatch's bounty was 360 million Belly, and this island fell under the jurisdiction of the Branch 153 Marine base. He could go there to collect it.
However, Loguetown was not far from here either. Branch 153 might not be able to pay out 360 million Belly all at once, but the Marine base in Loguetown had a headquarters colonel stationed there, so it should be able to afford it.
Moreover, if Bane remembered correctly, this Branch 153 Marine base seemed to be the territory of Axe-Hand Morgan. That guy was greedy by nature. Bane was not afraid of him, but there was no need to cause trouble. He had already offended the Whitebeard Pirates; there was absolutely no need to offend the Marines as well.
In comparison, Colonel Smoker of Loguetown was much more trustworthy. After considering it, Bane decided to go to Loguetown to exchange the bounty.
What? Without Thatch's head, how could he prove that he had killed Thatch?
What a joke. His face had been plastered all over the world by the Whitebeard Pirates. That was the best evidence!
Before you continue