The world is so big, I want to see it!

"Tempest Kick!"

Yang Cheng vanished from in front of Captain Nezumi. A second later, he appeared overhead and lashed out with his leg, sending a blue crescent-shaped slash hurtling down.

The man had already tried to kill him, so Yang Cheng certainly wasn't going to hold back.

After all, in a spar with real weapons, an occasional "slip" that caused an accident was perfectly normal.

But just as Yang Cheng's Tempest Kick was about to strike Captain Nezumi, Momousagi, who had been standing some distance away, suddenly appeared in front of him.

Momousagi didn't draw Kompira, the Great Grade Sword at her waist. Instead, she coated its scabbard in Armament Haki and shattered Yang Cheng's Tempest Kick with a single swing.

Seeing the furrow Yang Cheng's Tempest Kick had just carved into the ground, then Momousagi standing in front of him, Captain Nezumi collapsed in terror, looking as though he had narrowly escaped death.

If not for Momousagi, he would undoubtedly have been killed!

"That's enough. He's still a Marine Branch captain, after all. As a Marine rear admiral, I can't let you kill him like this.

"I'll take him to Enies Lobby for questioning, then have him locked up in Impel Down."

Momousagi also wanted to kill Captain Nezumi for disgracing the Marines' name and their justice.

But as a Marine rear admiral, she couldn't do that. She had to handle the matter officially and follow the proper procedures.

Besides, until he underwent questioning, Captain Nezumi was still a Marine Branch captain.

If Yang Cheng killed him here, it would cause considerable trouble. In the worst case, he might even be branded a pirate and have a bounty placed on his head.

After hearing Momousagi's words, Yang Cheng could only let the matter drop.

It wasn't that he didn't want to push his luck. The main problem was that he wasn't strong enough to take her on yet.

As a Marine Headquarters Rear Admiral and a future Admiral candidate, Momousagi was probably the strongest female Marine, excluding the now-elderly Tsuru.

Even with his Crimson World Unrestricted Spell, the current Yang Cheng had no chance of defeating Momousagi.

Even if he burned his own lifespan to use the Unrestricted Spell's ultimate art, freezing space and time, that tiny fraction of a second still wouldn't change the outcome against someone as powerful as Momousagi.

"With your talent and strength, staying in the East Blue would be a waste. Are you interested in becoming a Marine?

"I can vouch for you and recommend you to the Marine academy. With your potential, I'm sure it wouldn't take more than a few years for you to become one of the strongest people on the seas."

After dealing with Captain Nezumi, Momousagi walked up to Yang Cheng and addressed him with undisguised admiration.

Whether it was the way he had handled matters earlier or the strength he had displayed, Momousagi felt that someone with Yang Cheng's aptitude was being wasted on a little island in the East Blue.

He had taught himself the Six Powers from theory alone. And when he attacked just now, he seemed to have already anticipated that she would intervene.

That also led Momousagi to suspect that Yang Cheng might have already gained a rudimentary grasp of Observation Haki.

And she had just learned from Bellemere that Yang Cheng was only thirteen!

He had not only taught himself the Six Powers but also begun to awaken Observation Haki. He was practically another Rob Lucci!

And this was the East Blue! The person who had taught him since childhood was merely a retired Marine lieutenant from the East Blue.

Yet even under those circumstances, he had displayed such astonishing talent at his age.

Momousagi could already imagine what would happen if Yang Cheng went to the New World, broadened his horizons, and gained access to better resources.

Given time, he would surely become one of the New World's renowned powerhouses.

"Thank you very much for thinking so highly of me, but I don't plan to leave the East Blue just yet.

"Because of my adoptive mother, I did want to become a Marine before. But now... please give me some time to think about it.

"If I really do leave the East Blue someday, I'll consider your suggestion, Gion."

Become a Marine? How was that any different from being a dog for the Celestial Dragons?

The stronger he became and the higher his rank rose, the more restricted he would be. That was why Yang Cheng had ruled it out from the start.

Still, not wanting to become a Marine hardly stopped him from souring Momousagi's opinion of Captain Nezumi and dumping the blame on him.

And when Momousagi heard Yang Cheng's reason for refusing, her gaze grew noticeably colder as she looked back at Captain Nezumi, who had already been tied up.

Here was a perfectly good young Marine prospect. Thanks to his adoptive mother's influence, his eventually joining the Marines should have been a foregone conclusion.

But because of this idiot, he was now disillusioned with the Marines' "justice," and they had lost a future powerhouse.

Ever since Roger's death ushered in the Great Pirate Era, the pressure on the Marines had multiplied.

Although headquarters had kept expanding its recruitment, those who could truly become powerful remained few and far between.

They had finally found an outstanding prospect in the East Blue, only for an utterly useless branch captain to destroy his faith in the Marines.

On the return journey, Momousagi couldn't help getting angry whenever she thought about it.

And every time she got angry, she stretched out one of her long legs and kicked the battered, swollen-faced Captain Nezumi beside her.

As for Yang Cheng, after Captain Nezumi's downfall, he naturally managed to collect the bounties on the Arlong Pirates and the others.

To Yang Cheng's delight, Arlong wasn't the only member of the Arlong Pirates with a bounty. Besides his twenty-million-Beli bounty, the officers Kuroobi and Choo had bounties of nine million and five and a half million Beli, respectively.

Normally, a Marine Branch in the East Blue couldn't pay out such a large sum and would have to seek approval from above.

But Captain Nezumi had embezzled plenty of money over the years. Once his secret stash was found, there was more than enough to cover the bounties on Arlong's crew, so Momousagi authorized the payment on the spot.

Yang Cheng could more or less understand why the Arlong Pirates' bounties were almost unchanged from what they would be eight years later.

Captain Nezumi had been bought off by Arlong and covered up all their crimes, so naturally their bounties hadn't increased.

"Bellemere, I want to use this Beli to build a ship."

With thirty-four million five hundred thousand Beli in hand, Bellemere was now grinning from ear to ear.

That much money would be more than enough to raise Yang Cheng and the other two, and she would never have to miserably scrape by eating tangerines again.

"Are you planning to go out to sea?"

Bellemere had originally been happily counting the Beli.

When she heard Yang Cheng's words, she froze for a moment, then turned to him and asked.

Bellemere had long known that Yang Cheng and the other two would eventually grow up, leave Cocoyasi Village, and venture into the wider world.

She just hadn't expected that day to come so soon...