East Blue Marine Branch 16.
"Sir, sir!"
The urgent shouts woke Major Nezumi from his doze.
"Damn it, what's the rush?"
Roused from his nap, the Marine Branch major glared furiously at the Marine who had rushed into his office and barked at him.
"Sir, a pirate ship is heading for the base."
Seeing Nezumi's furious expression, the Marine came to attention and quickly reported.
"What? Wait, a pirate ship?"
The news made the still-groggy Major Nezumi open his eyes wide. He stared at the Marine at attention, puzzled.
"Yes, sir!"
The Marine nodded repeatedly, making it clear he hadn't gotten the report wrong.
"The base commander hasn't returned yet?"
Major Nezumi stood up and asked with a frown.
"Um, the base commander went to headquarters to give his report. He only left a little while ago."
The Marine answered cautiously.
"Sound the alarm! Prepare to engage the enemy!"
Major Nezumi, whose appearance was somewhat sleazy, gave the order. The Marine saluted, turned, and hurried outside.
Major Nezumi picked up the long sword beside him, still looking confused.
"There aren't any particularly powerful pirates in the East Blue, let alone ones who'd charge straight at a Marine base. What's going on?"
He left the office with his sword in hand. The alarm sounded across the Marine Base, and squads of Marines quickly poured out and formed up. Major Nezumi led several hundred Marines toward the port.
The residents of the town outside the base watched the commotion in confusion.
Led by Major Nezumi, a large crowd of Marines reached the seaside dock. Looking up, they saw a small pirate ship heading straight for the port.
"Prepare to fight!"
To have become a Marine major, Nezumi clearly wasn't completely incompetent. After all, he had worked his way up from an ordinary Marine.
The Marines formed ranks and waited with their weapons ready for the pirate ship to approach.
On the pirate ship, Dunn stood at the bow, already watching the Marines form up.
Behind him, on the deck, a group of pirates crouched with their hands over their heads. Apart from a few keeping the ship on course, the rest were behaving themselves.
"Slow down and pull in to shore!"
Dunn turned and gave the order. The pirate ship, which had been moving quickly, began to slow.
A moment later, the small pirate ship eased up to the dock. Dunn stepped off and looked toward the front of the Marine formation.
He had ratlike whiskers, and his face looked somewhat sleazy.
"I'm Major Nezumi, deputy commander of Marine 16th Branch, serial number 00733. You pirates actually dared to attack a Marine base!"
As he spoke, Nezumi pointed his sword at Dunn.
"I'm not a pirate. Well, I'm a Pirate Hunter. I'm here to deliver these pirates and collect the bounty!"
Dunn didn't bother correcting Nezumi for mistaking him for a pirate. He simply told him the truth, then raised a hand and gestured toward the pirate ship behind him.
Major Nezumi's expression stiffened. He looked toward the pirate ship, then saw a line of heads peeking over its side.
"A Pirate Hunter?"
Major Nezumi was baffled, and the Marines who had been standing ready for battle exchanged bewildered looks.
"Oh, right. There's treasure on the ship, too. Convert it into Belly for me and bring it over with the rest."
Dunn glanced at Major Nezumi and walked past him. The Marine formation instinctively parted to let him through.
Major Nezumi and the Marines stared in confusion as Dunn walked through the gap and headed toward town.
But when they boarded the pirate ship and saw the pirates—unbound, yet making no attempt to resist—they began speculating about Dunn's strength.
After identifying Doru, a pirate with a bounty of two and a half million Belly, they took Doru and the other pirates back to the base and briefly interrogated them.
Doru's crew had accepted their fate.
Pirates on the high seas—or people in general—were all bullies who backed down when faced with someone stronger.
Take Dunn, for example. After he had merely shown off his strength, the pirates, who had only been at sea for a year, hadn't even thought of resisting. They had obediently sailed their own ship to the Marine Base.
"Control fire? He wasn't hurt even after being cut with a sword?"
As he returned, Major Nezumi murmured over the information they had just obtained about the Pirate Hunter.
"A Devil Fruit User? Someone with fire-related powers?"
Major Nezumi, who had been considering pocketing the treasure and taking credit for capturing the pirates, immediately abandoned the idea.
The pirates weren't very knowledgeable, but Major Nezumi had served in the Marines for many years. He knew that Devil Fruits existed.
As soon as he heard Doru mention fire, he immediately thought of a Devil Fruit User.
"Sir?"
A Marine's reminder brought Major Nezumi back to his senses as he came out of the prison cell.
"That Pirate Hunter?"
"Convert the bounty and the treasure into Belly and deliver it to the Pirate Hunter. And find out more about him. At the very least, we need to know his name."
Major Nezumi thought it over. Until he knew what kind of power the man had, he didn't want to provoke him.
As for a Logia, he didn't even dare consider it.
After all, the three Logia Vice Admirals in the Marines were currently at the height of their fame and seemed about to be promoted to Admiral.
They were Admiral candidates.
In the town's tavern, Dunn sat at the bar and listened to the patrons discussing what had just happened.
It was rare to see the Marines escorting a large group of pirates back to the base around here.
"I heard they were caught by a Pirate Hunter. An entire ship full of pirates."
One of them clearly had good sources.
"That's impressive. He caught so many pirates—he must be an expert on the high seas."
"Definitely. They say there were dozens of pirates. Anyone who could catch that many has to be strong."
Hearing the tavern patrons discuss him, Dunn, who had only just begun exploring this world, found it quite interesting. He listened quietly until a Marine suddenly arrived, silencing the tavern.
"Mr. Pirate Hunter, here's your bounty, along with the treasure converted into Belly. It comes to nine million five hundred and thirty thousand Belly in total."
The Marine who had arrived spotted Dunn sitting at the bar, walked over, saluted, and handed him a bag.
In an instant, all the tavern patrons who had been talking turned to look at Dunn.
"Thank you."
Dunn glanced at the bag and took it.
"Um, we need to register the bounty claim."
Seeing Dunn take the bag, the Marine gestured. Another Marine holding paper and a pen stepped forward and stared directly at Dunn.
"We need to record who claimed the bounty and report it to headquarters."
"My name's Dunn. I just set out to sea."
Dunn's gaze swept over the two Marines as he answered.
"And then?"
"That's all!"
When Dunn simply shook his head, the two Marines exchanged a glance, then one of them asked another question.
"Where are you headed next?"
"Next? I'll keep looking for pirates. After all, I'm a Pirate Hunter."
Dunn raised an eyebrow as he spoke.
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