Time and the Seven Warlords of the Sea

This is the East Blue!

Dunn watched the pirate before him calmly, a man named Doru with a bounty of 2.5 million berries who wore an expression of unbridled arrogance.

According to stereotypes, most pirates lacked any sense of self-awareness; when not facing a crisis, they were usually arrogant and conceited.

A bounty of 2.5 million, even in the weakest East Blue, was nothing more than small fry.

However, what caught Dunn's attention was the green tag hovering above Doru's head.

[Elite Pirate]

Was this a digitized evaluation of his enemy?

Dunn's gaze swept over the heads of the other pirates gathering around.

They all bore uniform gray tags.

[Lackey], [Small Fry], [Pauper]

Was this a fixed evaluation, or one relative to himself?

Dunn pondered this in his heart.

Yet, his calm demeanor only served to incense Doru, who stood before him with a blade in hand.

Having been at sea for a year and raided several islands, he hadn't managed to snatch any valuable treasures, but every weakling he had encountered had shown him nothing but fear.

Now, this brat before him was actually spacing out even with a blade pressed against his throat.

In particular, feeling the pirates gathering around him made Doru feel that his authority was being challenged.

"You arrogant little bastard!"

A ferocious expression appeared on Doru's face, his tone turning grim as he exerted sudden force with his right hand, swinging his blade across Dunn's neck.

It was too easy!

Doru was stunned, then his eyes shifted to Dunn, who had turned his gaze back to him.

The wound on the neck that had been slashed was now burning with orange flames, and not a single drop of blood flowed out.

After the flames extinguished, the wound had already healed.

[Current HP: 100%]

Doru instinctively took a step back, looking at Dunn in terror.

Although his intelligence wasn't high, that scene just now made him realize that the person before him was not someone he could handle.

Dunn glanced at Doru, the flames wrapping around his body receding entirely, and began walking toward the pirate ship docked at the shore.

The surrounding pirates were as silent as cicadas in winter, hurriedly clearing a path and watching Dunn's retreating back.

Gulp!

Doru swallowed hard.

"Captain?"

A pirate who appeared to be a minor leader cautiously approached and called out, startling the terrified Doru back to his senses.

"Bastard!"

Once startled, Doru seemed to fly into a rage out of shame, his scimitar trembling slightly in his hand.

"Board the ship!"

Under the gaze of the many pirates, Doru managed to squeeze out these words after a long pause.

This was a deserted island; if they didn't board the ship, they would die here.

Once the flames died out, he reckoned there wouldn't be anything left on the island.

As for swimming to another island?

They had only one choice: return to the ship and await an unknown fate.

And Dunn, of course, understood this as well.

Beyond knowing that this was the East Blue of the pirate world, he knew nothing else, so he needed a guide.

Naturally, these pirates were also walking money bags to him.

After all, this world had pirate hunters.

A moment later, Dunn sat on a wooden crate, and dozens of pirates stood nervously before him.

"Where is the nearest Marine base?"

Surveying these pirates, Dunn spoke.

At his question, the group of pirates exchanged glances before fixing their eyes on Doru, who stood at the front.

Doru naturally sensed the situation and couldn't help but curse inwardly.

"Marine Branch 16!"

"Set sail for Branch 16," Dunn nodded and said with a smile.

"We are pirates!"

Doru's eyes nearly popped out of his head at these words, and he shouted out instinctively.

The other pirates also began to stir in agitation.

Snap!

Hearing this, Dunn raised his hand and snapped his fingers, a spark bursting from his fingertips.

The next moment, with a loud boom, the spark expanded, instantly transforming into a massive fireball over a meter in diameter.

The rioting pirates scrambled back in terror, staring in horror at the fireball hovering at Dunn's fingertips.

"Set sail!"

Dunn spoke again, and this time, the pirates scrambled to get to work.

No one wanted to find out what it felt like to be hit by that fireball.

All the pirates busied themselves; even those with nothing to do pretended to be occupied, fearing they might catch Dunn's attention.

Only after the fireball vanished did the pirates on board breathe a collective sigh of relief.

As for Doru, he nervously packed the treasure gathered from the island into bags and delivered them to Dunn.

In the face of an unknown and overwhelming terror, even a fool knew what choice to make.

"Is this the East Blue?"

Dunn glanced at the treasure, not particularly concerned with its value, and simply asked about what he wanted to know.

"Yes, My Lord!"

The arrogance that had previously defined Doru was completely gone; he was now incredibly submissive, practically ready to kneel as he answered.

"Do you know Windmill Village?"

Dunn asked.

Doru wore a look of utter confusion.

"Do you know Shimotsuki Village?"

Doru looked even more bewildered.

"Do you know Garp?"

Seeing the look on Doru's face, Dunn asked again.

"The Marine hero Garp?"

Doru hesitated as he spoke, clearly puzzled to hear the name Garp coming from Dunn.

Oh, he knows Garp.

Dunn nodded; it seemed he wasn't completely ignorant after all.

"Who is the Fleet Admiral of the Marines?"

Dunn asked once more.

Doru's expression turned blank again.

This guy knew a few things, but not much.

After a full half-hour of interrogation, Dunn still hadn't managed to get a clear picture of the current situation.

Even though he knew Garp, Doru only knew the name as a big shot he could never hope to reach; he didn't even know that Garp hailed from the East Blue.

As for the current date, he was completely clueless.

Just as Doru felt that his constant ignorance was pushing the calm-looking Dunn toward the brink of rage, he hurriedly produced a newspaper and scrambled away.

Sea Circle Calendar, year 1511.

In the corner, there was a photo of Doru and his bounty: 2.5 million berries. Perhaps that was the only reason he had been kept alive.

"Empress of the Amazon Lily Kingdom, Captain of the Kuja Pirates, Boa Hancock, bounty 80 million, agrees to join the Marines and become one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea."

Dunn stared at the major news story that took up an entire page of the paper.

Then, looking at the face of the slightly youthful Pirate Empress, Dunn blinked.

"So, there are about eight or nine years left until Monkey D. Luffy sets sail?"

Dunn searched his memories; he couldn't recall the exact details, but it should have been around 1520.

Of course, Dunn was only considering this to confirm the current time so he could formulate his next plans—or rather, his plans to grow stronger.

The Mera Mera no Mi gave him a safety net, and his digitized status was his trump card.

But he would not give up on Haki and swordsmanship.

Since he was in the East Blue, he had to visit Shimotsuki Village, as it was likely the easiest place for him to obtain training methods for Haki and learn decent swordsmanship.