A few days later.
The alarm suddenly blared at 16th Branch Base.
"Base commander, a large pirate ship is approaching."
The words gave Colonel Nezumi a huge fright.
A large pirate ship meant the pirates numbered at least several hundred. Of course, that wasn't the most important thing. The important thing was that the captain leading so many pirates had to be incredibly strong.
Still, it was rare for pirates to attack a Marine base.
Had the pirates in East Blue gone insane?
"Gather... wait."
Colonel Nezumi was about to order the soldiers to assemble, but he stopped before he could finish.
"Vice Admiral Garp's ship is still at the dock."
Colonel Nezumi suddenly remembered.
He didn't know where Vice Admiral Garp had gone, but the soldiers were still aboard the ship.
They were all elite soldiers who had followed Vice Admiral Garp in campaigns against pirates in the New World.
What's more, Vice Admiral Garp's adjutant, Colonel Bogard, was there in command.
Colonel Nezumi quickly calmed down and led his men toward the dock.
Since there was no real danger, he naturally had to show up.
He didn't want to look foolish by arriving after the fighting was already over.
The alarm kept blaring. The residents of the town surrounding the Marine base were all dumbfounded.
What was going on?
"Prepare for battle!"
At the dock, Bogard shouted his order. The soldiers aboard the warship sprang into action, and its cannons were aimed in the direction the lookout had spotted.
Bogard was a little dumbfounded, too.
Garp's warship was a standard Marine battleship, much larger than a pirate ship.
With a warship this big here, there were still pirates bold enough to charge at it?
He hadn't realized the pirates in East Blue were so brave.
Bogard stood at the bow, watching the rapidly approaching pirate ship with suspicion.
With his keen eyesight, he could make out a figure standing at the bow of the speeding pirate ship.
As it drew nearer, Bogard raised his hand to give the order, but then frowned.
Wait, that person looks familiar.
Dunn had changed a lot over the past year. He was especially taller and more muscular than he'd been a year ago.
But his features hadn't changed much, and he'd simply lost some of his childishness.
Bogard thought he looked familiar because he'd seen him from a distance in Shimotsuki Village. But now that he recalled the purpose of this visit, he put the pieces together and realized who it was.
But wasn't this guy a Pirate Hunter?
How had he become a pirate?
Colonel Nezumi had arrived by now and saw that the soldiers aboard Garp's ship were ready.
But they still hadn't fired.
He was puzzled, but didn't dare ask. He could only stand there and watch quietly.
Then, along with some workers at the port, they watched as the pirate ship came racing toward the dock and suddenly slowed as it pulled in.
Dunn had spotted the Dog-Head Warship from afar.
Though puzzled, he didn't hesitate. He simply ordered the pirates to slow down as they approached.
The pirate ship came to a steady stop at the dock, not far from the Marine warship.
Standing at the bow of the warship, Bogard rested a hand on his sword hilt and looked down at the pirate ship. From here, he could see clearly that it was crammed with pirates.
Something was off!
Wait, was that...?
With one glance, Bogard saw that many of the pirates were injured. A pile of heads was heaped together, and none of the pirates were standing near it.
So this guy had gone out to capture pirates and brought them back by ship?
But what on earth was going on?
How many pirate crews had he attacked?
While Bogard was puzzling over it, Dunn jumped down from the pirate ship and landed in front of Colonel Nezumi on the dock.
"Here, I brought you some credit."
Dunn pointed at the pirate ship behind him.
Colonel Nezumi looked utterly confused.
"Huh?"
Dunn's words had clearly short-circuited Colonel Nezumi's brain.
What kind of person captured pirates and brought in their ship along with them?
Oh, it was Dunn. That made sense.
Colonel Nezumi suddenly remembered that the first time he'd met Dunn, the guy had rounded up an entire shipload of pirates and brought them in.
But this time...
He looked at the heads peeking out over the sides of the pirate ship, watching them. There were so many that they formed a dense, dark mass.
He swallowed.
"What? You don't want them?"
Seeing Colonel Nezumi not answer, Dunn frowned.
"We'll take them!"
A new voice rang out. Bogard came down from the warship, followed by rows of Marine soldiers.
"They'll help you lock these pirates up."
After walking over, Bogard gave Colonel Nezumi the order.
"Yes, sir!"
Though they held the same rank, a Marine Headquarters Colonel outranked a branch Colonel by three grades.
Then Bogard watched as the soldiers boarded the pirate ship and escorted the pirates off.
One pirate after another was brought down.
But there clearly weren't enough hands.
The first group escorted several dozen pirates to the Marine base to be detained.
"You're Dunn?"
Dunn was watching the Marines escort his bags of money when Bogard spoke beside him.
"Yeah!"
Dunn nodded.
"I'm Bogard, Vice Admiral Garp's adjutant. I saw you in Shimotsuki Village."
Bogard introduced himself.
"Oh!"
Dunn nodded without turning around.
Bogard's lips moved at his attitude.
"Vice Admiral Garp came from Headquarters this time because of you."
"Because of me again? But I'm not interested in joining the Marines."
Dunn shook his head.
"Why not? Aren't you capturing pirates to uphold justice? Is there anything more just than the Marines?"
Bogard asked with a frown.
"Justice?"
Dunn paused and turned to look at Bogard.
He'd originally wanted to fire back with a couple of remarks about the Marines' so-called justice, but after thinking it over, he gave up.
Some Marines were impossible to reason with.
"I capture pirates for money!"
Dunn thought about it and gave him an answer.
"The Marines' pay isn't bad."
Bogard replied at once.
"Not bad? Then how much do you make?"
Dunn grinned.
"Four million Belly a month!"
Bogard answered honestly without trying to hide it.
"Four million Belly, and you're a Marine Headquarters Colonel. So the officers probably make at most twice that, and maybe an Admiral earns a bit more. Then there are benefits and things like that."
Dunn spoke casually.
Bogard nodded.
"Then do you know how much this shipload of weaklings is worth?"
Weaklings?
Bogard hadn't heard the word before, but he could roughly guess what it meant.
"No idea!"
"Eighty million to a hundred million Belly."
Dunn gave him the answer, and Bogard fell silent.
That was two years of his salary.
And from what he could tell, these pirates were weak. He could easily beat them all without even drawing his sword.
"How long did it take you to catch them?"
Bogard asked, swallowing.
"About half a month, I guess. But you can count it as a month."
Dunn waved a hand.
A month?
Bogard had to admit, he was tempted.
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