The moment Dunn said that, Colonel Nezumi's suspicious expression froze. He stared at Dunn in shock, pointing at him with all his sharp teeth exposed.
"You-you-you... You're that Pirate Hunter? You're still in the East Blue?"
Colonel Nezumi looked completely dumbfounded.
"Of course I'm still in the East Blue. Where else would I go?"
Dunn watched Colonel Nezumi with a faint smile, as if his words carried a deeper meaning.
After Dragon's warning and Garp's arrival, Dunn knew that this man had reported information about him.
"You didn't join the Marines? Did Vice Admiral Garp not find you?"
Colonel Nezumi made no attempt to hide what he knew. He stared at Dunn with wide eyes.
He knew the Marines had sent Vice Admiral Garp to look for someone.
But he honestly had no idea how it had turned out.
Still, he figured that since Vice Admiral Garp had personally gotten involved, there was an eighty percent chance the man had been found and taken back to Marine Headquarters.
That was what he had always believed, and it was why he'd frozen after recognizing Dunn.
Dunn studied Colonel Nezumi for a few moments, but couldn't tell whether the man was genuinely stupid or just pretending. Either way, he didn't particularly care about it now.
"Two pirates, with a combined bounty of 3.9 million Belly. Let's round it up to an even four million."
As he spoke, Dunn stood and headed for the door.
"Oh, right. Send the money to the usual place."
Only when Dunn stood did Colonel Nezumi notice how much his physique had changed.
"Sir!"
A Marine beside him saw Colonel Nezumi staring blankly in the direction Dunn had gone and called out to him cautiously.
"Oh, right. Lock these two bastards up and get the bounty money ready."
Coming back to himself, Colonel Nezumi kicked the two captured pirates and gave the order, then headed outside.
Dunn's sudden appearance left Colonel Nezumi puzzled.
He wondered whether he should report Dunn's situation to Marine Headquarters again.
But what had happened with the Marines before?
Had they failed to find him?
Thinking this over, Colonel Nezumi returned to his office and immediately took out a Den Den Mushi to contact Headquarters.
Buru-buru.
A short while after the Den Den Mushi began ringing, its appearance changed.
Colonel Nezumi instinctively stood at attention.
"This is Colonel Nezumi, commander of the 16th Marine Base of East Blue, serial number 00733. I have something to report."
He then reported that Dunn, who had appeared a year ago, had shown up again, and asked why Dunn was still in the East Blue.
"Please wait a moment, Colonel Nezumi."
A woman spoke from the other end. A moment later, she continued.
"Regarding what you mentioned, Headquarters sent Vice Admiral Garp to the East Blue to search for him a year ago, but they were unable to find him."
So they really hadn't found him.
Colonel Nezumi understood, then asked Headquarters what he should do now.
"Colonel Nezumi may invite him to join the Marines at his discretion. If he really is a Devil Fruit user, Headquarters will record your contribution and report the matter to higher-ups."
"Understood!"
Hearing this, Colonel Nezumi nodded at once.
An invitation meant a chance to earn credit. There was nothing shameful about that.
After hanging up the Den Den Mushi, Colonel Nezumi received word that a Marine had brought the bounty money. Without hesitation, he personally led a group to find Dunn.
The tavern in town.
It was just as it had been a year ago, and the owner was still the same.
"One glass of juice!"
After speaking, Dunn placed the sword in his hand on the counter.
The tavern owner was used to this sort of thing and skillfully poured him a glass of orange juice.
It was fresh!
Dunn took a sip, and his eyes lit up.
It had just the right amount of tartness, and there were bits of crushed fruit in it. The texture was excellent.
"Pretty good, isn't it, young man? These oranges come from Cocoyasi Village. They're famous throughout the East Blue. If this base weren't so close to Cocoyasi Village, we couldn't get oranges this fresh."
Seeing Dunn's expression, the tavern owner said with a cheerful smile.
At the name of the village, Dunn's expression shifted.
"Is Cocoyasi Village nearby?"
"Of course. It's only half a day by boat!"
The answer came not from the tavern owner but from another customer. A middle-aged man dressed like a sailor held a large mug of beer and looked over at them.
"Are there ships going there?"
Dunn asked.
"Of course. There are ships every day. Cocoyasi Village is in the Conomi Islands, where they grow all kinds of fruit. When the fruit's ripe, ships go there every day."
Dunn nodded and said nothing more. He turned to look at the tavern wall.
Rows of wanted posters hung there.
There were no wanted posters for the great pirates of the New World. Most were for pirates from the East Blue, along with a few East Blue pirates who had gone on to the New World.
Don Krieg, bounty: 12 million.
Kuro, captain of the Black Cat Pirates, bounty: 10 million.
Dunn glanced over the two prominent posters, studying them closely.
"These two are great pirates of the East Blue."
The tavern owner seemed to notice Dunn's gaze. He set down the glass he had been wiping and spoke.
"A bounty of ten million makes someone a great pirate?"
Dunn's expression turned a little strange.
"Of course. The East Blue is the Weakest Sea. Pirates here don't dare linger too long. Any pirate with a high enough bounty will attract the Marines.
"This is the home of Garp, the Hero of the Marines."
The tavern owner spoke with reverence.
"His home? The East Blue is huge."
Dunn could understand what the tavern owner meant, but the East Blue covered roughly a quarter of the planet's surface.
Dunn shook his head slightly.
"True, the East Blue is huge. Even the Marines can't wipe out every pirate. Be careful when you go to sea, young man."
The tavern owner clearly hadn't understood what Dunn meant and offered a well-intentioned warning.
"I will!"
Dunn appreciated other people's kindness.
But the ones who might need to be careful were probably these pirates.
Dunn's gaze passed over the wanted posters one by one.
Besides the first two, whose bounties were over ten million Belly, the rest were worth only a few million.
Still, those were considered fairly high bounties in the East Blue.
Of course, the pictures were quite abstract, too.
They perfectly captured the feel of this world.
"Here are the wanted posters for the pirates in the East Blue who still haven't been caught."
Just then, the tavern owner revealed his true intentions. As if by magic, he produced a stack of wanted posters and set them in front of Dunn.
"Only 150,000 Belly."
At that, the other people in the tavern couldn't hold back.
"Old Komodo, you're ripping people off!"
Clearly, 150,000 Belly was no small amount for them.
"You idiots don't know anything. I gathered a lot of information to put these together. Look, each one has the locations where the pirate has been spotted written on the back."
As he spoke, he picked one up and showed it to the others.
Sure enough, the back of the wanted poster was covered in writing, recording where the pirate had been seen and the general area where he operated.
It even listed things the pirate had done.
The information was indeed detailed.
"You recognized me?"
Dunn fell silent, then asked.
"Heh, you may have changed your build, young man, but I'm Old Komodo. I've got a good eye. A year ago, you brought in pirates to collect their bounties."
The tavern owner, Old Komodo, didn't deny it.
A lot of people must have come through here every day, so remembering him was quite impressive.
"After all, those guys look nothing like people, unlike you, young man."
Was that supposed to be a compliment?
Dunn was taken aback, feeling rather speechless.
But he did look different from everyone else in the tavern.
"So, what do you say? Want a copy, young man? I'll even take 100,000 Belly."
"Sure, I'll take one."
Dunn nodded.
While he waited for Arlong, he'd been planning to stretch his legs a little.
Finding Krieg or Kuro would be a good thing, of course.
But at this point in time, Kuro of the Black Cat Pirates probably hadn't faked his death and gone into hiding yet.
As for Krieg, that man's territory was probably vast.
After all, when he went out to sea later, he'd been called the Overlord of the East Blue.
But it took a crew of five thousand pirates to pull that off. Dunn wasn't sure whether Krieg, like Arlong later on, had colluded with the Marines.
He tossed his money pouch onto the counter, sipped his juice at his leisure, and picked up a wanted poster to read the notes on the back.
"A pirate with a bounty of only three million led his crew in slaughtering the villages of three islands, killing at least five hundred people?"
Reading the notes, Dunn's eyelid twitched.
They were just written records, but they represented several hundred lives all the same.
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