Bounty Matters

"Bounty hunter?"

Hearing those words from a pirate ship was hard to believe, yet upon further thought, it seemed perfectly reasonable. If he was a bounty hunter, then hunting pirates aboard a pirate ship was only natural.

But the Black Cat Pirates had always been famous throughout these seas for their schemes. Was this bounty hunter identity even real?

Or was this part of a scheme...

"State your name!"

Colonel Warren was doubtful. Though he secretly hoped the boy aboard the ship was a bounty hunter rather than a pirate, he did not dare gamble the town on a fifty-percent chance.

Duen did not answer. He turned around and tossed a dark figure down.

As the figure fell closer, the surrounding Marines hurriedly retreated, afraid he had thrown down a cannonball. But upon closer inspection, they realized it was a man.

The thin man wore round glasses. A long, narrow bloody gash ran diagonally across the black butler's suit covering his upper body. If he had not violently coughed up blood the moment he hit the ground, he might have been mistaken for a corpse.

"H-He..." Warren's eyes widened, his shock beyond measure. "Hundred Plans Kuro!"

As the base commander of Marine 15th Branch, Warren had always paid close attention to and remained wary of this notorious pirate who often appeared in these waters. Several times, after receiving intelligence on him, Warren had considered putting to sea to hunt him down.

But Marine 15th Branch was not even a large Marine base by East Blue standards. If they gathered their forces and sailed out, Shells Town's defenses would become extremely weak. If other pirates invaded, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Most Marine bases in East Blue were like this. Their troop numbers were practically equal to the size of the towns they protected. That was not necessarily bad; those forces were just enough for passive defense, but when it came to actively attacking pirates, they came up short.

After all, the funding allocated from above was always limited. Firearms and shells, base maintenance, salaries and allowances, pensions for those killed in battle—adding up all those expenses was no small sum.

Any extra expenses had to be reported to Marine Headquarters, then wait for approval and pass through layer after layer of procedures before the funds could finally be released. By then, a portion of the original allocation might already have been shaved away.

Because of the financial burden, most Marine base commanders stationed in East Blue towns preferred defense over actively seeking out and attacking pirates.

To some extent, that did achieve the goal of "protecting civilians," but the rampant pirate problem was not entirely unrelated to the Marines' inaction.

Warren took a deep breath, suppressing his shock. He ordered the Marines to take Kuro into custody, then looked up at Duen standing on the Black Cat. "Did you defeat Kuro?"

"No..." Duen slowly shook his head.

"No?" Doubts immediately arose in Warren's mind. Indeed, the boy before him was so young that he probably did not possess the strength to defeat Kuro. Then who had done it?

"What I mean is..." Duen pointed his thumb at the entire ship behind him. "I defeated the whole Black Cat Pirates."

"Negative emotion value from Warren +88..."

Warren's face darkened. "There's no difference at all!"

Under Warren's orders, the Marines boarded the Black Cat and took all the pirates on deck into custody. As for the treasure aboard, Nami had already moved it elsewhere.

"Black Cat Pirates: thirty-two pirates in total. Combatant Buchi, bounty of two million Beli; vice-captain Jango, bounty of six million Beli; captain Kuro, bounty of sixteen million Beli... Also, the deceased Giant Hammer Pirates captain Lobita, bounty of nine million Beli."

As Warren listened to the clerk's report, the shock he had barely managed to suppress rose up again. He stared at Duen in disbelief. Why was Giant Hammer Lobita involved too? Had he taken care of the infamous Giant Hammer Pirates as well? Just how had this kid done it?

Is he a monster...?

Duen, who had already come ashore, stood off to the side with his arms crossed, completely unconcerned with Warren's stare. He glanced at the clerk. "How much is that altogether?"

The clerk had spent four or five years at this base and had never tallied such a huge bounty amount. His teeth trembled slightly as he answered, "Thirty-five million Beli in total..."

"Thirty-five million Beli." Duen smiled at Warren. "Colonel Warren, please pay out my bounty."

"Whew..."

Warren let out a long breath and said evenly, "Before we pay the bounty, would Mr. Duen be willing to come to the base with me and tell me what happened?"

"If I tell you, can I collect the bounty?"

"I'm afraid not... Any expenditure over five million Beli must first be reported to Headquarters or one of East Blue's larger branches for approval. Besides, the base does not have that much Beli in storage..."

Warren spoke seriously. "However, the Marines will not mistreat a righteous person who defeats pirates. If Mr. Duen provides a statement, I will issue a written certificate in the name of Marine 15th Branch. You can then take that certificate to Loguetown to collect the bounty."

"That sounds troublesome."

Duen sounded somewhat helpless. He glanced sideways at Nami behind him. "Wait for me in town."

Nami gave him a smile that said, "Go on, don't worry," and waved.

Led by Warren, Duen entered the enormous chimney-shaped Marine base. Sitting comfortably in a rattan chair in the office, he briefly and clearly explained what had happened.

As the base commander of Marine 15th Branch, Warren was one of the more level-headed people in the Marines. He also showed Duen, such a powerful bounty hunter, his respect.

During this time, Duen also asked about the bounty process, and Warren had no reason to withhold anything.

Generally speaking, when bounty hunters brought a pirate's head to a Marine base, they could collect the bounty on the spot as long as the amount fell within the stipulated limit.

However, different Marine bases had different payment limits. At a base like Marine 15th Branch, any bounty exceeding the five-million limit had to be documented and reported upward for approval.

Still, the reporting procedures were complicated, and most bounty hunters disliked such long waits. Therefore, a compromise had emerged: the base's communications soldiers would contact another, larger Marine base and have it make the payment on their behalf.

Naturally, the Marine branch making the payment would take a portion of the Beli as a processing fee. Though this was not an explicitly written rule issued by Marine Headquarters, any bounty hunter who had worked for a few years knew this unspoken custom.

At the Marine branch in Loguetown, a place bounty hunters often visited, there was no limit on pirate bounty payments. In other words, even if someone captured Arlong, the highest-bountied pirate in East Blue, the Loguetown Marine branch could pay out the bounty on the spot.

Moreover, as the gateway to East Blue, countless pirates came there to resupply. This further motivated bounty hunters, and among their circles, it was known as "the Loguetown everyone loves."

Broadly speaking, the Marines were strained in their fight against pirates due to their limited manpower. Thus, not only did they refrain from suppressing bounty hunters, they even helped some build their reputations in order to deter pirates.

In the original story, Roronoa Zoro made an enormous name for himself throughout East Blue in just two years, and the Marines had certainly helped fuel that reputation behind the scenes.