This was the East Blue!
Dunn calmly watched Doru, the pirate standing before him with a cocky look on his face and a bounty of 2.5 million Belly.
Stereotypes aside, most pirates had no sense of their own limits. When they weren't facing danger, they were usually arrogant and conceited.
A bounty of 2.5 million made Doru small fry, even in the weakest sea, the East Blue.
What caught Dunn's attention, though, was the green label above Doru's head.
[Elite Pirate]
Was this how the data system rated enemies?
Dunn glanced at the labels above the heads of the other pirates gathering around him.
They were all gray.
[Underling], [Small Fry], [Commoner]
Were these fixed ratings or relative to him?
Dunn pondered the question.
But his calm demeanor made Doru, who stood before him with a sword in hand, grow angry.
He'd been at sea for a year and had attacked several islands. Though he'd never managed to steal anything valuable, all the weaklings he'd encountered had looked at him with fear.
Now this brat in front of him had a sword at his throat, and he still dared to zone out.
Worse, the pirates gathering around them made Doru feel that his authority was being challenged.
"You little brat! You think you're pretty tough, huh?"
Doru's face twisted into a vicious expression. His voice turned menacing, and his right hand tightened around his sword as he slashed at Dunn's neck.
That was easy!
Doru froze, then stared at Dunn, who had turned his gaze toward him.
An orange-red flame burned over the slash on Dunn's neck, but not a drop of blood came out.
Once the flames went out, the wound had already healed.
[Current Health: 100%]
Doru instinctively took a step back, staring at Dunn in terror.
He might not have been very smart, but what he'd just seen made him realize he couldn't handle the man in front of him.
Dunn glanced at Doru, drew in all the flames coiling around his body, and headed for the pirate ship moored by the shore.
The pirates fell silent and hurriedly parted to make way, watching Dunn walk off.
Gulp!
Doru swallowed with difficulty.
"Captain?"
A pirate who looked like a minor officer cautiously approached and called out. His voice snapped Doru out of his fearful daze.
"Damn it!"
Startled back to his senses, Doru seemed to be burning with humiliation. The curved sword in his hand trembled slightly.
"Board the ship!"
Under the eyes of all the pirates, Doru took a long moment before finally speaking.
This was a deserted island. If they didn't board the ship, they'd die here.
Once the flames died out, there probably 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 their unknown fate.
Dunn understood that, of course.
Aside from knowing this was the East Blue in the world of pirates, he knew nothing else, so he needed a guide.
Besides, these pirates were walking bags of money to him.
After all, pirate hunters existed in this world.
A short while later, Dunn sat behind a wooden crate, facing dozens of pirates who stood before him looking uneasy.
"Where's the nearest Marine Base?"
Dunn studied the pirates as he spoke.
At his question, they looked at one another, then turned their eyes toward Doru, who stood at the front.
Doru noticed their reaction and couldn't help cursing them in his heart.
"Marine Branch 16!"
"Set sail for Branch 16," Dunn said with a nod and a smile.
"But we're pirates!"
At the words, Doru's eyes nearly popped out of his head, and he shouted without thinking.
The other pirates grew restless too.
Snap!
Dunn snapped his fingers. A spark burst from his fingertip.
The next moment, with a loud boom, the spark swelled and became a fireball more than a meter across.
The pirates recoiled in terror, staring in shock at the fireball hovering over Dunn's fingertip.
"Set sail!"
Dunn spoke again, and this time the pirates hurried to get to work.
None of them wanted to find out what it felt like to be hit by a fireball.
Every pirate got busy. Even those with nothing to do pretended they were working, afraid Dunn might turn his attention to them.
Once the fireball vanished, all the pirates aboard the ship breathed a collective sigh of relief.
As for Doru, he nervously packed the treasures they'd gathered from the island into a sack and brought them to Dunn.
Faced with the unknown and overwhelming fear, even a fool knew what choice to make.
"This is the East Blue?"
Dunn glanced at the treasures. He had no idea what they were worth, so he decided to ask about what he wanted to know instead.
"Yes, sir!"
The cocky attitude Doru had shown earlier was completely gone. He was so obedient now, he might as well have been kneeling as he answered.
"Do you know Foosha Village?"
Dunn asked.
Doru looked bewildered.
"Do you know Shimotsuki Village?"
Doru looked even more confused.
"Do you know Garp?"
Seeing Doru's expression, Dunn asked again.
"Hero of the Marines Garp?"
Doru hesitated as he answered. Hearing Garp's name from Dunn had clearly confused him.
Oh, he knew Garp.
Dunn nodded. So he wasn't completely clueless after all.
"Who's the Fleet Admiral?"
Dunn asked again.
Doru looked confused once more.
This guy knew a few things, but not many.
After questioning him for a full half hour, Dunn still hadn't learned anything useful about the current situation.
Even though Doru knew who Garp was, all he knew was that Garp was an important figure far beyond his reach. He didn't even know that Garp came from the East Blue.
As for what year it was, he knew nothing at all.
Doru had been unable to answer question after question. Watching Dunn's calm expression, he couldn't shake the feeling that Dunn was about to lose his temper, so he produced a newspaper and hurried off.
Sea Circle Calendar 1511.
In the corner was Doru's photo and bounty: 2.5 million. That might have been why the paper had been kept.
"Empress of the Amazon Lily Kingdom and captain of the Kuja Pirates, Boa Hancock, has a bounty of 80 million. She accepted the Marines' offer and became a Shichibukai."
Dunn read the big news that filled an entire page of the newspaper.
Then he looked at the Pirate Empress's somewhat youthful face and blinked.
"So Monkey D. Luffy will set sail in about eight or nine years?"
Dunn searched through his memories. He couldn't remember the exact details, but it should have been around 1520.
Of course, he was only thinking about this to figure out the current year and make plans for what came next—or, more accurately, plans to grow stronger.
The Mera Mera no Mi gave him a safety net, and the data system was his trump card.
But he wouldn't give up on Haki or swordsmanship.
Since he was in the East Blue, he had to visit Shimotsuki Village. It might be the easiest place for him to find a way to train in Haki and learn decent swordsmanship.
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