Marcus, J and Nicholas in civilian clothes walked out of the marine base together before Nicholas asked, "Where are you going now?"
Marcus with a large money sack casually tossed over his shoulder glanced towards J as he said, "I'm not sure about J, but I'm heading towards the ship yards."
J with a much smaller bag tied onto their bubble wand and hung over his shoulder nervously glanced around as he said, "Ummm, I don't feel safe returning to my hideout with this money…"
"Plus I only have some old clothes and things that don't matter there." J said before they focused on Marcus and asked, "Mind if I stick with you for a bit so I'm not robbed instantly and can buy passage off this island?"
Marcus shrugged as he started walking and said, "Doesn't matter to me."
As the group headed towards the ship yards Nicholas asked, "Why are we heading towards the ship yards? Did you dock there?"
A smile played across Marcus's face as he said, "I just turned in two pirate captains for their bounties… It's time to loot their ships!"
Nicholas and J's eyes widened before Nicholas asked in disbelief, "You're gonna loot their ships?"
"Yup. It's an easy way to make more money… If I was with my brothers we would strip everything of value and then sell the ships. But since they aren't here, I'll just take their treasure and then sell them for whatever I can get."
J's eyes lit up as he asked, "Can I get a cut if I help?"
"Sure, we can split it three ways."
"Three ways?" J asked before Nicholas shook his head and said, "I can't do that, it's against the marine guidelines and also you shouldn't do it either… It's illegal to collect treasure from pirate ships and any ship involved in piracy is supposed to be turned over to the marines."
Marcus shared a glance with J as he said, "I guess we split it fifty fifty now. Didn't realize Nicholas over here was such a stickler for the rules."
J nodded in agreement as Nicholas said in an annoyed tone, "I'm a marine captain, of course I follow the rules…"
"Well you're currently off duty, so just pretend you didn't see anything… Or go back to the base and wait a couple hours and I'll come find you to hang out."
Nicholas shook his head as he said, "I'll just join you and keep myself busy looking for other pirates to arrest."
Marcus threw out a mock salute as he said, "Such dedication from our courageous marine captain, working even when he's supposed to be off."
Nicholas punched Marcus in the arm as he said, "Shut up."
Marcus smirked slightly as he said in a mocking tone, "Sir, yes, sir!"
A moment later Marcus and Nicholas burst into laughter and J even joined them after a moment. Once they finished Nicholas studied Marcus for a few moments before he asked, "So were you able to find that mysterious sword master to train you or did you do self training?"
"I found him and we ended up training almost the entire time, after we last met. Give or take a few weeks… What about you? What happened to Hina?"
Nicholas gave a helpless shrug as he said, "I caught too many high bounty pirates and it made me and Hina the same rank. After the promotion I trained at headquarters for a couple months and then I was sent here for more hands-on training."
"So you go out to the lawless zone and hunt pirates?"
Nicholas smiled slightly as he said, "Pretty much. I have to watch out for some of the bigger named pirates, but the base commander normally steps in if one of them shows up."
J listened quietly as Marcus and Nicholas caught up with each other on the way to the ship yards. Once there, Marcus quickly asked around and found out the location of both pirate ships before he headed for the closest one. As they approached close to the first one, Marcus glanced towards J and said, "Make some bubbles so we can carry the loot."
J nodded and stopped by a tree root close by to make bubbles as Nicholas said, "I'll head towards the other ship and see if I can find any pirates."
Marcus smirked slightly as he asked, "Oh, you sure you don't want a cut?"
"Don't over think it, I'm just going to hunt pirates!" Nicholas said as he took off before Marcus said with a chuckle, "Alright, we'll catch up with you soon."
Nicholas waved without looking back before he disappeared from view. J quickly finished making ten decent sized bubbles before they headed towards the ship. When they arrived, they found a couple people left on the ship to watch over it. Apparently they didn't know their captain and the main leadership of the crew was already captured. Marcus confidently walked up the gang plank as one of the pirates curiously asked, "You looking to join up kid?"
"I'm here to collect whatever treasure you have and then sell your ship."
All the pirates on the deck started to laugh and after a few moments one of the pirates pulled out a pistol and aimed it at Marcus as he asked, "You looking to die kid?"
"I've already turned in your captain and collected his bounty… Now I'm here to claim salvage rights on this ship and any treasure you have."
All the pirates started laughing again, except for the man holding the pistol. His eyes narrowed as he studied Marcus for a few moments before he pulled the trigger. When the gun went off everyone stopped laughing as they looked towards Marcus who didn't seem to move. A moment later a distinctive 'ting' rang out before two things clattered to the ground besides Marcus as he slowly slid his sword back into its sheath.
All the pirates and J looked towards what fell to the ground and easily noticed the two halves of the bullet cleanly cut in half. All the pirates instinctively took a step back besides the pirate who shot at Marcus, who was frozen in place. Marcus glanced over everyone on the ship as he said in a threatening tone, "Bring out all the treasure you have on the ship… I won't ask again."
The pirates quickly scrambled to fulfill Marcus's command as the man who shot Marcus dropped to his knees while he shook in fear. Marcus glanced at the man as he said, "Get up and help them."
The man nodded quickly as he crawled towards the door leading into the ship. After he disappeared, J approached closer and picked up the bullet that was cut in half as he asked, "What the hell was that?"
Marcus smirked as he said, "Just having a bit of fun. First time doing that with a bullet though… Wasn't even that hard either."
"It wasn't hard?!? You just cut a bullet shot at you in half!"
Marcus shrugged as he said, "My grandpa trained me with rocks and he threw them faster than that bullet."
J stared incredulously at Marcus for a few moments before the first pirate rushed onto the deck with a treasure chest filled with loot. Marcus glanced towards it as another pirate quickly followed with another chest. Within ten minutes Marcus and J had six bubbles filled with all the treasure from the ship. Once finished Marcus glanced towards the nervous pirates and said, "Collect whatever you can carry and then get off my ship."
The pirates cautiously shared a glance before they took off into the ship. After they disappeared Marcus turned towards J and said, "Go find one of the dock masters and tell them you wanna sell a ship."
"Will someone actually buy it?"
Marcus nodded as he said, "We might not get what it's worth, but we can easily sell it super cheap and make ten million just to get rid of it-"
"Ten million! That means I'll get five million! I'll be back!" J cut off Marcus before he ran off the ship and headed towards a dry dock not far away without waiting for Marcus to finish saying, "But I would rather get as much as possible."
A few minutes after J took off, the pirates all emerged from the ship carrying large bags on their backs along with their arms full. Marcus glanced at them and let a little of his conqueror's haki leak out towards the man who shot at him. The man in question almost collapsed as he shook in fear before Marcus pulled back his haki and said, "You should be glad I never considered you a threat…"
The man in question never responded as he fled from the ship in terror. About fifteen minutes later J returned with a couple people and pointed towards Marcus and the ship. Marcus currently stood in front of the ship with all the bubbles filled with treasure and his money bag. J moved to stand next to Marcus before he said, "I found two people interested in the ship, but they asked about retaliation."
Marcus nodded towards them as he said, "I already turned in their captain and his officers so you don't need to worry about anyone looking for the ship…"
"Let us check the condition first."
Marcus waved towards the ship as he said, "Be my guest, but make it quick."
Both men disappeared onto the ship before J nervously asked, "Shouldn't we go with them and make sure they don't steal anything?"
Marcus chuckled as he shook his head and said, "Why? The main value is the ship, cannons and the ammo. Everything else doesn't really matter. Plus the goal is to get rid of it quickly for the best price. We will be lucky if they buy it for half of what it's worth…"
The two men took fifteen minutes or so before they came out of the ship and shared a look. After a few moments one of the men finally turned towards Marcus and said, "How much do you want?"
"A ship this size in decent shape and not already stocked with weapons is probably worth…" Marcus said as he raised up two fingers and continued, "At least this much new."
The shorter of the two men frowned as he asked, "You really expect us to pay that much?"
"No, but I expect a reasonable offer."
The taller man also frowned as he said, "What about the risk? We'll have to deal with crew members who might come looking for the ship and also the marines…"
Marcus shrugged as he said, "That's not my concern, I just wanna be properly compensated for my time and effort."
"Didn't you already clear out all the treasure on the ship? Isn't that enough compensation already?"
Marcus narrowed his eyes as he said, "What I did with the ship before you got here doesn't matter… If you're not interested, leave and don't waste my time. I'll find someone else who wants to take the risk instead."
The shorter man quickly shook his head as he said, "No need, no need, we'll take it."
"Then give me an offer."
Both men whispered to each other for a few moments before the shorter one said, "Fifty million."
"I want at least one hundred and forty million."
The shorter man shook his head as he said, "Seventy million, we still need to make a profit."
"I'm pretty sure just the cannons are worth that much if you sell them off… At least give me a reasonable offer."
The taller man glanced at all the cannon ports he could see and after a few seconds leaned down and whispered to the shorter man for a moment. The shorter man nodded a couple times before he finally said, "One hundred million, that's as high as we will go."
J's eyes lit up at the number and Marcus slowly nodded as he said, "It's not what I wanted, but I still have another ship to sell…"
"Another ship?!?" Both men asked at the same time.
Marcus nodded as he said, "Took out two pirate captains, but the second one is a lot less famous."
The men whispered to each other for a few moments before the shorter one said, "Let us see the other one and we might buy both of them from you…"
Marcus shrugged as he said, "Fine, but I expect a better price if you buy both."
"If it's similar to this one we'll offer two hundred and fifty million for both. But we need to see the other ship first."
Marcus rubbed his chin for a moment before he said, "If the other ship is bigger, let's do three hundred million for both."
"Fine, but it depends on how big the ship is."
When Marcus and the others reached the ship they ended up finding Nicholas next to a large pile of pirates. He looked perfectly fine, not even his clothes looked touched as he stood calmly next to at least a hundred people. Marcus smirked slightly as he asked, "Have fun?"
Nicholas shrugged slightly as he pointed towards a ship and said, "It wasn't even a challenge… That should be the ship you were looking for."
Marcus glanced at the massive seven mast ship before he turned towards the two men and asked, "That should be worth an extra twenty million on top of the three hundred, right?"
"Let us check the ship first and then we'll decide."
Marcus grinned as he said, "You can check it after I clear it out of treasure."