Major Nezumi and the Devil Fruit User

East Blue Marine Branch 16.

"Sir, sir!"

The anxious shouting jolted Major Nezumi, who had been squinting in his sleep, wide awake.

"You bastard, what's the rush?"

The Marine major, having been rudely awakened from his nap, glared furiously at the soldier who had burst into his office and roared.

"Sir, a pirate ship is heading toward the base."

Seeing the major's angry expression, the soldier who had entered quickly snapped to attention before reporting.

"Huh? Wait, a pirate ship?"

This news made the still-groggy Major Nezumi widen his eyes, his expression full of confusion as he looked at the soldier standing at attention.

"Yes, sir!"

The reporting soldier nodded repeatedly, indicating that his report was accurate.

"Has the base commander not returned yet?"

Major Nezumi stood up and asked with a frown.

"Uh, the base commander just left not long ago to report to headquarters."

The soldier replied cautiously upon hearing the question.

"Sound the alarm, prepare for battle!"

The somewhat sleazy-looking Major Nezumi gave the order directly. Upon hearing the command, the soldier saluted and turned to run outside.

Major Nezumi grabbed his long sword, his face still etched with confusion.

"There aren't any formidable pirates in the East Blue, let alone ones bold enough to charge a Marine base. What is going on?"

Clutching his saber, he walked out of the office. The alarm at the Marine base began to blare, and squads of soldiers quickly poured out to form ranks. Major Nezumi led hundreds of them toward the harbor.

The residents of the town outside the base were filled with confusion upon witnessing the scene.

A large group of Marines, led by Major Nezumi, arrived at the seaside pier and immediately saw a small pirate ship heading straight for the harbor.

"Prepare for combat!"

Having risen through the ranks from a mere soldier to a major, Nezumi was clearly not entirely incompetent.

The Marines lined up, weapons in hand, waiting for the pirate ship to draw closer.

On the pirate ship, Dunn stood at the bow, already spotting the lined-up Marines.

Behind him on the deck, a group of pirates were huddled in a defensive squat. Aside from the few controlling the ship's course, the others remained perfectly obedient.

"Slow down, dock the ship!"

Dunn turned his head to give the order, and the pirate ship, which had been moving at high speed, began to slow.

A moment later, the small pirate ship slowly pulled up to the pier. Dunn stepped off the ship and fixed his gaze on the front of the Marine formation.

He had whiskers like a rat, and his face looked somewhat sleazy.

"I am Major Nezumi, Vice Commander of Marine Branch 16, serial number 00733. You pirates actually dare to attack a Marine base!"

With that, Nezumi pointed his sword at Dunn.

"I'm not a pirate. Well, I'm a pirate hunter. I'm here to hand over pirates and collect the bounty!"

Dunn didn't care that Nezumi had mistaken him for a pirate; he stated the truth directly and gestured toward the pirate ship behind him.

Major Nezumi's expression stiffened. He looked up at the pirate ship and saw a row of heads poking out over the gunwale.

"A pirate hunter?"

Major Nezumi was bewildered, and the Marines, who were standing at the ready, exchanged confused glances.

"Oh, right, there's also the treasure on the ship. Help me exchange it for Berries and send it over together."

Dunn glanced at Major Nezumi and walked past him. The Marine formation instinctively parted to create a path.

Watching Dunn walk past the Marines and head toward the town, Major Nezumi and his men were completely baffled.

However, when they boarded the pirate ship and faced the pirates—who were not tied up yet offered no resistance—they began to speculate about Dunn's strength.

After identifying the pirate Doru, who had a bounty of 2.5 million Berries, they hauled him and the rest of the crew back to the base for a brief interrogation.

Doru and his crew had resigned themselves to their fate.

Pirates, or rather people in general on the high seas, were all bullies who feared the strong.

Take Dunn, for example: after he merely demonstrated his strength, this group of pirates, who had only been at sea for a year, had no thoughts of resistance and obediently sailed the ship to the Marine base themselves.

"Manipulating flames? And he didn't get hurt even after being slashed by a blade?"

Major Nezumi, having returned, muttered about the intelligence he had just gathered from the interrogation regarding the pirate hunter.

"A Devil Fruit user? A user related to flames?"

Major Nezumi, who had originally been thinking about embezzling the treasure and the credit for capturing these pirates, decided to play it safe.

This group of pirates lacked any real insight, but Major Nezumi had spent many years in the Navy and naturally knew of the existence of Devil Fruits.

Upon hearing Doru mention flames, he immediately thought of a Devil Fruit user.

"Sir?"

The marine's reminder brought Major Nezumi, who had just stepped out of the cell, back to his senses.

"That pirate hunter?"

"Convert the bounty and those treasures into Berries, send them to that pirate hunter, and ask about his situation. At the very least, we need to know his name."

Major Nezumi pondered for a moment; he had no desire to provoke the man without first figuring out what kind of ability he possessed.

As for a Logia-type, he didn't even dare to imagine it.

After all, the three Logia-type Vice Admirals currently in the Navy were at the height of their fame and seemed on the verge of being promoted to Admiral.

Those were Admiral candidates.

Inside the town tavern, Dunn sat at the bar, listening to the patrons discuss what had just happened.

The Navy escorting a large group of pirates back to their base was a truly rare sight in these parts.

"I heard they were caught by a pirate hunter—a whole ship's worth of pirates."

Someone clearly had the inside scoop.

"That's truly impressive. To capture so many pirates, he must be an expert on the high seas."

"That's for sure. They say there were dozens of them. To be able to catch that many, he must be incredibly strong."

Hearing the tavern patrons discussing him, Dunn, who was just beginning to step into this world, found it quite interesting and listened quietly until the sudden arrival of Navy soldiers silenced the tavern.

"Mr. Pirate Hunter, this is the bounty and the Berries converted from the treasure, totaling 9.53 million Berries."

The arriving marine saw Dunn sitting at the bar, walked over to salute him, and then handed over a bag.

In an instant, the eyes of the tavern patrons who had been gossiping just moments ago were all fixed on Dunn.

"Many thanks!"

Dunn glanced at the bag and took it directly.

"Um, we need to register the bounty collection."

Seeing Dunn take the bag, the marine waved his hand, and a soldier behind him holding paper and a pen stepped forward, staring straight at Dunn.

"We need to register who collected the bounty to report it up the chain of command."

"My name is Dunn. I just set out to sea."

Dunn swept his gaze over the two marines and answered.

"And then?"

"That's all!"

Seeing Dunn shake his head, the two marines exchanged a look before one of them asked again.

"And what are your plans for where you're headed next?"

"Next? I'll continue hunting pirates. After all, I am a pirate hunter."

Dunn raised an eyebrow as he spoke.