Of course, his brief moment of excitement passed quickly. You'd be... ahem. Bogard was a Marine Headquarters colonel, after all, and he quickly pulled himself together.
There were plenty of rotten apples in the Marines, but there were also many who truly believed in justice.
It was Dunn's words that left Bogard unsure how to respond.
Joining the Marines definitely wouldn't bring him gains like that.
Unless you were a corrupt Marine.
As for the Marines' justice, Bogard would have liked to discuss it with Dunn, but Dunn clearly wasn't interested.
"Tell Base Commander Nezumi I'm at the usual place. Just calculate the bounty and bring it over."
Dunn waved a hand and headed toward town.
The town was already buzzing.
It was rare to see such a grand spectacle: Marines were escorting pirate after pirate back to the base and locking them up.
They had been coming nonstop, and everyone had turned out to watch.
The people from the tavern had joined the crowd in the street. The tavern's owner, Old Komodo, had come out too.
As he watched the pirates being escorted past one by one, Old Komodo recognized quite a few of them. They were all wanted criminals.
"Is the Navy planning some big operation? I haven't heard anything about one. The Marines from this base don't seem to have gone out, either. Where did they catch all these pirates?"
Old Komodo looked utterly bewildered.
To catch this many pirates, the Navy would have had to send out plenty of people. And whoever caught them would get the credit.
If Marines from another base had caught them, they wouldn't be bringing them here.
"I heard a pirate ship came right to the dock and ran into a warship that happened to be there. The pirates surrendered on the spot."
Someone spoke up, showing off how well informed they were, though they clearly only knew part of the story.
"The tavern isn't open today?"
A voice made Old Komodo turn around. He saw the tall Dunn standing there with his sword in his arms.
"It's open, it's open. I just came out to watch the commotion."
Old Komodo hurried back into the tavern as he spoke.
"The usual. A glass of juice!"
Dunn followed him inside and sat down at the counter.
"Sure!"
Old Komodo didn't ask any questions. He lowered his head and got to work, peeling a fresh orange to make juice.
"Any new wanted posters?"
As Old Komodo busied himself, Dunn asked.
"Wanted posters?"
Old Komodo paused and looked up at Dunn.
Wait. Could he have been the one who caught all those pirates?
Old Komodo knew Dunn was a pirate hunter.
No, there were too many pirates. How could one person possibly catch so many?
Old Komodo chuckled and shook his head.
"There aren't many new ones. The East Blue is the Weakest Sea, so there aren't that many pirates to begin with. Most of them have only just set sail and aren't even wanted yet. But there is one big one recently."
As he spoke, Old Komodo slid the freshly squeezed juice over to Dunn.
"One big one? Tell me about it."
Dunn sounded curious.
"I hear he's a pirate from the New World. After returning to the East Blue, he almost ran into the Marines in Loguetown, but he got away. Supposedly, his crew is made up of Fish-Men, and their leader is called Dragon or something."
Old Komodo lowered his head and pulled out a stack of wanted posters, flipping through them.
"Arlong!"
Dunn said.
"Right, right. Arlong. I hear he's under some big pirate from the New World. His bounty is a full twenty million."
Old Komodo was clearly impressed by the bounty.
It might not be much in the New World, but in the East Blue, it made him a great white shark.
"Do you know where he is?"
Dunn watched as Old Komodo pulled out a wanted poster with Arlong's picture on it.
"No. That pirate just arrived in the East Blue, and even the Marines don't know much about him. Apart from escaping the Navy's pursuit, there's no other news so far."
Dunn nodded.
"But this place isn't too far from Loguetown. If that guy comes around here, he'll cause quite a stir."
Old Komodo glanced at Dunn and sighed.
"These are islands, after all. To pirates, this place is a fat piece of meat."
The Conomi Islands consisted of several nearby islands. They might once have been joined together, before rising sea levels or the sinking of certain areas split them apart.
The 16th Branch Base, Cocoyasi Village, and more than twenty nearby island villages were all in the Conomi Islands.
Dunn didn't respond.
The commotion outside continued. The sheer number of pirates being escorted away had drawn the whole town out to watch, and cheers could be heard from time to time.
Some people had probably recognized a few of the pirates.
"Do you know what's going on with all those pirates outside?" Old Komodo asked, seeing Dunn look toward the street.
"I caught them," Dunn replied casually.
Old Komodo froze, at a loss for words.
"Don't joke around. Those aren't just one or two pirates. How could you catch so many by yourself? But you really do seem to know what happened. Why not sell me the story?"
Old Komodo grinned.
He could make money from the story—at the very least, he could tell it in the tavern.
A secret like this was perfect for drawing in customers.
After all, people around here were pretty curious.
"Sure. One hundred and fifty thousand Belly!"
Dunn turned back with a smile and named his price.
"One hundred and fifty thousand? That's way too expensive. Wait, isn't that what I charged you for the information I sold you?"
Old Komodo stared at him, speechless.
This kid was pretty vengeful. But hadn't Old Komodo only charged him a hundred thousand Belly afterward?
"Think about it. Whoever caught all those pirates must be a big shot. Would information about someone that important come cheap?"
"Fair point!"
Old Komodo nodded, then reluctantly pulled one hundred and fifty thousand Belly out of the counter and handed it to Dunn.
Dunn didn't hesitate to take the money.
"I'm the one who caught those pirates. I ran into them all gathered together, so I rounded them up and brought them back."
Dunn said it seriously.
Old Komodo's face turned pale, then red.
Was this kid trying to scam him?
Just as Old Komodo began to doubt everything, two Marines came in carrying large bags.
When they saw Dunn, they set the bags down and saluted.
"Hello, Mr. Pirate Hunter. The colonel asked us to bring over your bounty. It comes to ninety-one million, seven hundred and seventy-seven thousand Belly in total."
"Have you finished escorting them all back?"
Dunn asked the two Marines.
"Not yet, but the colonel said he didn't want to keep you waiting too long, so he had us calculate the bounty first."
Dunn understood and nodded.
The two Marines saluted and left.
"See? I told you it was me. I wasn't lying!"
Dunn spread his hands.
"So it really was you?"
Old Komodo felt his mind go blank.
This kid seemed to be far beyond anything he'd imagined.
Just how strong was he, to catch so many people all at once?
While Old Komodo questioned everything he thought he knew, Bogard at the dock got in touch with Garp, who had gone back to his hometown to visit his grandson.
"Vice Admiral Garp, he's back."
Before you continue