Famous Throughout the East Blue

"We don't have a title for now, but don't worry. We're just bounty hunters."

Seeing this, Li Mingyuan responded calmly.

"Oh? Then that really is worth celebrating. Since when have bounty hunters in the East Blue become so formidable? A powerful person like you appeared without me even knowing."

"If more people like you emerge in the East Blue, then the East Blue will surely become even more peaceful in the future."

Captain Nezumi gave a sinister laugh, clearly not believing Li Mingyuan's explanation.

However, he did not continue pressing the matter. He merely lightly stroked his whiskers and continued in a joking tone, "Come to think of it, it does happen occasionally. Some idiot pirate from who knows where defeats other pirates but can't bear to part with their bounty, so they disguise themselves and try to claim it at a Marine base... Of course, I believe you two aren't pirates like that. After all, with the eye of a Marine captain, I can recognize most wanted criminals."

"But if you're merely bounty hunters, then surely you have no reason to hide your identities? Since you don't have a title, now would be a good time to think of one. As news of the Arlong Pirates' defeat gradually spreads, I imagine your name will resound throughout the East Blue as well."

"Haha! How enviable. A fledgling bounty hunter's first outing, and he successfully takes down the highest-bounty pirate in the East Blue. This feels like it could be the beginning of a new East Blue legend."

As he spoke, Captain Nezumi let out a snickering laugh with an expression as rat-like as ever.

Li Mingyuan, who had already looked down on the man, frowned even more deeply.

If he kept looking at Captain Nezumi's stupid face, then perhaps before the man could make trouble for him, his fist would physiologically strike first and smash into that face.

Worried about that possibility, Li Mingyuan could only give a light cough.

"Captain, if the identity check is complete, shouldn't you be handing over the bounty now?"

Li Mingyuan reminded him, "As for a title, it isn't important at all. Just call me a bounty hunter."

"I don't care about empty fame."

Captain Nezumi, who had still been laughing, was interrupted by Li Mingyuan and immediately shut his mouth in annoyance.

He gave Li Mingyuan an unhappy, awkward glance. He had not expected this guy to be so tactless. What was going on? Could there really be someone in this world uninterested in both fame and fortune? That should have been impossible.

"No problem. We Marines like people like you. It's only natural to fear trouble!"

Though he subconsciously felt that something was increasingly off, Captain Nezumi's expression on the surface became ever more cordial.

He rubbed his nose and forced himself to continue the conversation with a flattering smile. "You want the bounty as soon as possible? Of course, that's no problem. After the Marines inspected the heads of the Arlong Pirates' officers earlier, I personally notified the finance officer and had him prepare the bounty immediately. But you know, this isn't a small amount of money. Having to suddenly produce such a large bounty caught us off guard as well, so we naturally needed a little time to prepare it properly."

After saying that, Captain Nezumi gave the two Marines behind him a meaningful look.

One of the Marines left the room, then quickly returned, as though the bounty had been waiting outside the door all along. He carried a huge sack in his hand and set it on the table.

"It's all thirty-four million five hundred thousand Beli. It's all here."

Captain Nezumi said with a smile, "You can count it slowly here. If there's any problem, notify me at any time. But let me make this clear first: once you confirm it and leave the Marine base, if you later claim the amount was wrong, we won't entertain it. You should keep that in mind."

Too lazy to deal with Captain Nezumi's fake smile, Li Mingyuan took the sack and handed it to Carina at his side. At a Marine base like Smoker's, it would have been one thing, but at Captain Nezumi's base, he truly did not dare skip checking the bounty. If the man had set some kind of trap for him, that would not have been surprising at all.

Everyone had their specialty. When it came to counting money, Carina was naturally the better choice.

At the same time, as a former thief, this was Carina's first time entering a Marine base in her life. She had been curiously looking around at everything, only coming back to her senses when she saw the sack Li Mingyuan handed her.

"Mm, it's so heavy!"

Carina opened the sack slightly and stared at the stacks upon stacks of Beli inside. She could not help clicking her tongue. "This is the first time I've ever seen this much Beli. Thirty-four million five hundred thousand? That's outrageous."

Looking at the enormous sum before her, Carina's eyes were practically going blank.

Unlike Nami, even at her wealthiest, Carina had never possessed savings exceeding twenty million Beli. Most of it had been scattered treasures piled up haphazardly, not fully converted into cash. Now, thirty-four million five hundred thousand Beli had all been turned into banknotes and stuffed into one sack. Though the sack was not actually that big, the visual impact was still overwhelming. Just the weight when she lifted it filled Carina with happiness.

Her eyes had already turned into symbols of money, and Carina rapidly began counting the Beli. The banknotes flipped endlessly through her hands, her practiced movements so swift that her fingers almost became blurry afterimages.

As Carina began counting the Beli, Captain Nezumi, who had earlier failed to get anything out of them, thought it over and remained unwilling to accept his fruitless attempt. He began cautiously probing Li Mingyuan again.

Li Mingyuan answered him sporadically, completely ignoring Captain Nezumi's expression and never revealing anything useful. After a short while, aside from Li Mingyuan's awkward-to-pronounce name, Captain Nezumi still knew nothing about his background.

"Hoo hoo hoo... I don't think I've ever felt this fulfilled before. Counting such a huge sum of Beli all at once—even Nami probably hasn't had an experience like this."

"What a shame. If only this money were mine."

Carina let out a long breath and looked at Li Mingyuan with a refreshed expression.

"I've confirmed it. Not a single Beli is missing, and it's all genuine. No counterfeits."

"Is that so?"

Li Mingyuan nodded slightly. It seemed the boring conversation could finally end.

He turned his head and looked at Captain Nezumi beside him again.

"Thank you for your support, Captain. If the opportunity arises, perhaps I'll come here again to claim a bounty."

"Then I'll take my leave."

Li Mingyuan rose with Carina, preparing to leave.

Since his second round of probing had also yielded nothing, Captain Nezumi's gaze toward Li Mingyuan had become exceedingly gloomy. Yet when he saw Li Mingyuan about to depart, he hurriedly stepped forward and sent him off with a pasted-on smile.

"The pleasure is mine. If there are more bounty criminals like this, we're always happy to welcome you."

"Clearing threats away from civilians is precisely the duty of us Marines."

"Goodbye!"

Captain Nezumi followed Li Mingyuan and Carina all the way out. Sending them out of the reception room was not enough; he even escorted them beyond the Marine base before reluctantly stopping and watching their figures grow farther away.

Only after confirming that the two could no longer see or hear him did Captain Nezumi snort coldly. He seemed to be deep in thought, his expression shifting unpredictably as he stood there in silence for a long time.

Seeing this, the Marine behind Captain Nezumi cautiously asked, "Captain?"

"Did you remember the physical characteristics of those two people? Go back immediately and draw their portraits."

Captain Nezumi turned around and said in a low voice, "When reporting the Arlong Pirates' situation to our superiors, remember to submit those two portraits as well. Especially the man among them—mark him clearly. He's an exceptionally strong bounty hunter. Perhaps he can be recruited into the Marines. Make sure he receives special consideration."

"Uh—"

The Marine looked at Captain Nezumi in confusion. "Is that all we're reporting?"

As a Marine who had been following Captain Nezumi since the latter began dealing with the Arlong Pirates, he could hardly believe what he had just heard. He had not expected Captain Nezumi, whose expression had looked incomparably ugly earlier, to not only refrain from embellishing the report in revenge, but seemingly actually intend to report those two normally.

Especially that final line about special consideration. If Li Mingyuan caught the higher-ups' attention within the Marines, then one day he might truly be recruited into the organization. Captain Nezumi was going to recommend someone he disliked to the Marines?

For a moment, the Marine could not help wondering whether he had misheard.

Hearing the Marine's questioning tone, Captain Nezumi gave him an annoyed glance and stroked his little mustache. "Marine, are you questioning my decision?"

"Ah! No..."

"Hmph. That's why a person like you has no future."

Captain Nezumi shook his head, looking disdainful. "Use your brain and think carefully. What benefit is there in offending those two? Since they aren't pirates, we can't make a move against them first. That man is indeed somewhat arrogant, but at least he's better than those disgusting, lowly Fish-Men, isn't he?"

"As long as there's profit in it, I don't even mind cooperating with those Fish-Men. At this point, what does any of this matter?"

Though Captain Nezumi was indeed extremely displeased with Li Mingyuan, the destruction of the Arlong Pirates meant that he had lost both a source of income and a means of secretly attacking his rivals.

Even so, he had no intention of becoming enemies with bounty hunters of unknown strength.

He had risen to the rank of captain because his mind was flexible and he understood mutual interests. Whoever benefited him was someone he would befriend. In the end, if being friendly with Li Mingyuan could bring advantages, why would he not do it?

Besides, the redemption of a bounty on a criminal at Arlong's level in the East Blue had to be reported anyway. If the higher-ups truly developed some interest in someone powerful who was not a pirate, then adding fuel to the report would only be disadvantageous for him.

"Not only must we report it, we must also report the Arlong Pirates' true situation. If the higher-ups learn what Arlong had been doing in the East Blue, they'll place greater importance on the Arlong Pirates, which means they'll also place greater importance on that bounty hunter."

"The destruction of the Arlong Pirates is already an irreversible fact. Fortunately, our dealings with them never spread. Under these circumstances, the key is how to minimize our losses."

Captain Nezumi patted the Marine on the shoulder and smiled sinisterly. "You still have much to learn, Marine."

The Marine nervously swallowed.

Faced with Captain Nezumi's gaze, he could not say no.

At the same time, Li Mingyuan left the Marine base carrying the bulging sack.

Though he had already left, he still did not lower his guard. He remained alert to the possibility of Captain Nezumi retaliating at any time, secretly observing his surroundings as he walked back with Carina.

Only after fully returning to the ship did Li Mingyuan finally relax.

Although he was somewhat surprised that Captain Nezumi, who had looked so displeased, had not resorted to dirty tricks, that at least spared him the effort of going on another killing spree. Barely, it counted as a good thing.

After all, he had been killing all day long. Killing and killing from morning to night was exhausting too.

"Hehe, hee hee hee."

Carina hugged the sack, still giggling foolishly with a blissful expression.

Li Mingyuan glanced at the sack. The newly claimed bounty was thirty-four million five hundred thousand Beli. He already had fifteen million Beli of his own, plus eighteen million Beli from the Arlong Pirates' treasure. That was already close to seventy million Beli. Adding all the various thank-you payments, the portion of stolen money seized aboard the ship, Carina's ransom, and Nami's promised savings, the total easily exceeded one hundred million Beli.

Even on the Grand Line, that amount was not nothing. In the East Blue, there was even less need to say it—on any random island, he could probably live as extravagantly as an emperor.

There was certainly enough money to live comfortably, but if he wanted to accomplish major things, this amount still seemed somewhat meager. He still could not afford to spend lavishly.

Following the principle that more money was always better, stockpiling grain and biding his time before claiming the throne was what he ought to do.

"Hey, how do you feel now?"

Carina, who had been grinning foolishly, suddenly bumped Li Mingyuan's shoulder and struck up a conversation. "Stop looking so serious. How about telling me what you really think? You said all that to the Marine, but now that the defeat of the Arlong Pirates has been confirmed, your reputation will likely spread across the entire East Blue before long."

"With this huge sum of money, along with the money you already had, you're not short on money now, and you have fame too. Even if you retired right here and now, that would count as a perfect bounty hunter career, wouldn't it?"

"Hmm?"

Li Mingyuan looked at Carina beside him.