"Report! Fleet Admiral Sengoku!" The messenger knocked on the Fleet Admiral's door and entered.
"What is it?" Sengoku set down the intelligence report he had been writing and looked up.
"Reporting, Fleet Admiral! The Moss Pirate Ship you told me to keep an eye on has made another move!"
"Let me see!"
After handing the intelligence report to Sengoku, the messenger reported:
"Fleet Admiral, Commodore Bulin Bulin of the 77th Marine Branch led the branch's main officers against the Moss Pirate Ship and was completely wiped out in the Mog Sea. Not a single person on the pirate ship was injured. The ones who acted were Captain Mark and that golden bird called Chiu Chiu."
Sengoku browsed the report in his hands while listening to the messenger's account, his brow tightly furrowed.
After reading the report, Sengoku gradually sank into thought.
A moment later, he said, "Raise their bounties another tier. Mark them as the highest level of danger in the East Blue, then send this intelligence report of mine to Smoker!"
Sengoku opened a drawer and handed the messenger a document from inside.
After the messenger left, Sengoku looked at a bounty poster on his desk, the gravity in his eyes especially intense.
"Gaban! Roger... what exactly are you trying to do..."
A few days later, the Moss Pirates' bounty posters were updated.
After the Marines learned that Commodore Bulin Bulin and his warship had both been buried at Mark's hands, Mark's danger level had been labeled as extremely dangerous by the East Blue Marines.
Mark, who was heading toward Loguetown, also received the bounty posters delivered by a news gull.
Captain: Mark, bounty: 70 million Beli.
Crewmember: Chiu Chiu, bounty: 10 Beli.
The bounties for the entire crew had increased by 1,010 Beli.
Since Daisy had not made a move, she was now the only member of the Moss Pirates without a bounty.
"Boss! This is unfair, way too unfair!" Chiu Chiu complained. "Why is my bounty only 10 Beli? I was a main force in battle too! Why..."
Mark set down his own bounty poster and picked up Chiu Chiu's. The moment he saw that two-digit bounty, he burst out laughing.
Daisy curiously leaned over, and then...
The two of them laughed out loud.
Chiu Chiu picked up Mark's bounty poster, stared blankly at it for a long while, then shouted, "This is too unfair!!!"
"Ahem, Chiu Chiu... you need to learn to stay calm. This... maybe the Marines made a mistake when they issued the bounty poster!" Mark said, barely holding back his laughter.
"Really?"
"Probably... it should be true."
Chiu Chiu looked at his bounty poster in grief and indignation, then shouted, "Next time, I'll definitely use my strength to tell those Marines that Chiu Chiu's bounty is absolutely worth more than 10 Beli!!!"
Of course... next time, it might rise to 50 Beli.
Mark did not say those thoughts aloud.
"Looks like the World Government's attitude toward pets on pirate ships really is exactly what I thought."
Even though Chiu Chiu had displayed formidable abilities, he still could not escape that fact.
Mark could even imagine the classic scene if Chiu Chiu were ever surrounded by a group of bounty hunters.
Bounty Hunter B: "Boss, why don't we catch that bird?"
Bounty Hunter A: "That bird's bounty isn't even enough to buy me a meal. Why would I waste the effort?"
Bounty Hunter C: "Th-that... Boss is right..."
Then not a single one of the bounty hunters made a move against Chiu Chiu...
The small incident aboard the Moss quickly passed.
After that, Mark and the others continued toward Loguetown.
That place... was the only route from the East Blue to the Grand Line, and also the place where the Pirate King had set out and met his end.
Loguetown—
Tashigi adjusted her glasses and looked at the white-haired man before her. "Captain Smoker, Fleet Admiral Sengoku told us that we must be careful of Mark!"
"Mm..."
Smoker took a puff from his cigar.
"Who would have thought there was an old pirate hiding in our East Blue, and that he had even raised such a vicious little pirate? At sixteen, he nearly destroyed two branches..."
Smoker's face was filled with coldness.
After Mark destroyed the 16th Marine Branch, he went on to wipe out a group of key officers from the 77th Marine Branch. The entire 77th Marine Branch now existed in name only.
And from the intelligence in his hands, Smoker learned that the other side was extremely powerful.
One person had destroyed the White Ghost Pirates, then two people and one bird had destroyed the fish-man Arlong, who had ruled Orange Town for over a decade.
"He has acted only four times since setting sail, and every time has been a major move. Just as expected of the evil Pirate King's lineage! Pirates like this should be sent to the gallows!" Smoker said coldly.
Tashigi said, "I heard that Mark is also a Devil Fruit User, but we still don't know what his Fruit ability is!"
"Fruit ability..." Smoker looked at the Jitte in his hand and sneered. "Isn't that perfect? As long as he comes to Loguetown, Black Axe and his Moss Pirates will be destroyed here!"
"The East Blue... should not have such an unpredictable element!"
A bounty of 70 million Beli—even all the major pirates in the East Blue combined did not have bounties that high...
And he was Gaban's adopted son, with all his skills coming from Gaban.
If someone like that went to sea, he would surely bring enormous instability to these waters.
That was why Sengoku valued Mark so highly...
Rather than valuing Mark, it would be more accurate to say that he valued the Pirate King Roger's former crew.
"Captain Smoker, if Headquarters knows where Gaban is, why don't they arrest him?" Tashigi voiced the doubt in her heart.
Smoker took a deep drag from his cigar, letting the smoke settle in his lungs for a long time.
His voice was somewhat hoarse as he said, "The Pirate King's forces... are terrifying..."
"This..." Tashigi was somewhat baffled.
Smoker tossed away the cigar butt, lit another cigar for himself, and walked ahead.
He had no intention of explaining it to Tashigi.
As a core figure in the Marines, he naturally knew how powerful the Pirate King had been.
Back then, the Pirate King had conquered these seas not only through his own strength, but also with the help of his crew and many other forces.
Some nations hidden in the shadows, along with certain organizations and factions, had all helped the Pirate King Roger.
Moreover, Roger had not been captured by Garp. He had chosen to turn himself in only after learning that he did not have long to live.
Otherwise, even if the Marines had been given several more chances, they still would not have been able to catch him.
Although Roger was now dead and his former crew had all chosen retirement.
They appeared to have withdrawn from these seas, but the Marines knew that their influence had already become immense. If any one of them was touched... the consequences...
It would definitely lead to another great sea war.
Just one person Smoker knew of—the Pirate King's first mate, the Dark King Rayleigh—was currently in Sabaody.
Yet the Marines had made no move against him at all, making their fear abundantly clear.