Marine Branch 16, East Blue.
"Sir! Sir!"
An anxious shout jolted Major Nezumi, who had been dozing off with his eyes squinted.
"Dammit! What's the hurry?"
Nezumi, the Marine Branch Major with a face like a rodent, glared furiously at the seaman who had burst into his office, roaring in annoyance.
"Sir, a pirate ship is heading straight for the base!"
Seeing Nezumi's rage, the seaman quickly snapped to attention and reported the news.
"Huh? Wait... a pirate ship?"
The news forced Nezumi's eyes wide open. He looked at the standing seaman with a bewildered expression.
"Yes, sir!" the reporting Marine nodded repeatedly, confirming he hadn't made a mistake.
"The Base Commander isn't back yet?" Nezumi stood up, his brow furrowed.
"Uh, the Commander went to Headquarters to report on duty. He only left a short while ago," the seaman answered cautiously.
"Sound the alarm! Prepare for battle!"
The shifty-looking Major Nezumi gave the order immediately. The Marine saluted and sprinted out of the room.
Grabbing his long sword, Nezumi still looked puzzled. "There aren't any powerful pirates in the East Blue, let alone any crazy enough to launch a direct assault on a Marine base. What's going on?"
As he stepped out of his office, the base's sirens wailed. Squads of Marines quickly poured out to form ranks. Nezumi led hundreds of soldiers toward the harbor.
The residents of the small town outside the base noticed the commotion, their faces filled with confusion. Under Nezumi's lead, the massive group of Marines reached the pier, only to see a modest-sized pirate ship charging straight into the port.
"Prepare for combat!"
To reach the rank of Major, Nezumi clearly wasn't completely incompetent; he had climbed the ranks from a common seaman, after all. The Marines lined up, weapons at the ready, waiting for the ship to dock.
On the pirate ship, Dunn stood at the bow, having already spotted the Marine formation. Behind him on the deck, a group of pirates were huddled on the floor with their hands over their heads. Aside from the few steering the vessel, the rest were staying perfectly still.
"Slow down. Pull into the dock!" Dunn ordered. The fast-moving ship began to lose momentum.
A moment later, the small ship nudged the pier. Dunn stepped off directly, his eyes landing on the man at the front of the Marine ranks.
The man had a thin mustache like a rat's whiskers and a greasy, shifty face.
"I am Major Nezumi, Vice Commander of Marine Branch 16, ID number 00733! Pirate! How dare you attack a Marine base!" Nezumi pointed his sword at Dunn.
"I'm not a pirate. Well, I'm a bounty hunter. I'm here to deliver these pirates and collect the bounty," Dunn said calmly, ignoring the fact that he'd been misidentified. He gestured casually toward the ship behind him.
Major Nezumi's face froze. He looked up at the pirate ship and saw a row of heads peeking over the railing.
"A bounty hunter?"
Nezumi was stunned, and the Marines—who had been ready for a bloodbath—looked at one another in confusion.
"Oh, right. There's treasure on the ship, too. Exchange it for Berries and bring it to me," Dunn said, walking past Nezumi. The Marine ranks instinctively parted to let him through.
As Nezumi and his men watched Dunn walk toward the town with total indifference, they were left utterly bewildered. However, once they boarded the ship and found a crew of pirates who weren't even tied up yet offered zero resistance, they began to speculate about Dunn's strength.
After recognizing the pirate "Doru," who carried a 2.5-million-Berry bounty, they hauled the entire crew back to the base for a brief interrogation.
Doru's crew had already resigned themselves to their fate. Most pirates in the East Blue were bullies who folded the moment they met someone truly powerful. After Dunn had displayed his power, these rookies—who had only been at sea for a year—had no intention of fighting back. They had obediently steered themselves straight into the Marines' jaws.
"He controls fire? He was slashed by a sword but remained uninjured?"
Major Nezumi muttered to himself, reviewing the intelligence gathered from the interrogation.
"An Ability User? A fire-based Ability User?"
Nezumi had originally considered embezzling the treasure and taking credit for the arrest, but he quickly changed his mind. These pirates lacked experience, but Nezumi had been in the Marines for many years. He knew exactly what a Devil Fruit was. The moment Doru mentioned the flames, he thought of an Ability User.
"Sir?"
A Marine's voice snapped Nezumi out of his thoughts as he exited the cells.
"That bounty hunter...?"
"Calculate the bounties and the value of the treasure. Send the Berries to him immediately. Also, find out more about him—at least get a name," Nezumi said. Without knowing exactly what kind of ability Dunn possessed, he didn't want to provoke him.
As for the possibility of a Logia type, Nezumi didn't even dare to consider it. After all, the three Logia Vice Admirals at Headquarters were currently the rising stars of the Marines, seemingly on the verge of being promoted to Admiral. Those were "Admiral Candidates"—beings far beyond his reach.
In a tavern in the town, Dunn sat at the bar, listening to the patrons discuss the recent events. The sight of Marines hauling a massive group of pirates back to base was a rare spectacle here.
"I heard they were caught by a single bounty hunter. A whole ship's worth of them!" one person said, clearly well-informed.
"That's incredible. To catch that many pirates... he must be a top-tier expert of the seas."
"Definitely. They say there were dozens of them. You'd have to be a monster to take them all down."
Dunn found it amusing to listen to people talk about him. He sat quietly until the sudden arrival of Marine soldiers silenced the tavern.
"Mr. Bounty Hunter, here is the bounty and the converted value of the treasure. A total of 9,530,000 Berries."
The arriving soldier spotted Dunn at the bar, stepped forward, saluted, and handed over a heavy bag. Instantly, every eye in the tavern fixed on Dunn.
"Thanks." Dunn checked the bag and took it.
"Um, we need to register you for the bounty collection," the soldier added. He gestured to a Marine behind him who held a pen and paper.
"We need to record who collected the bounty for our reports to Headquarters."
"My name is Dunn. I just started my journey," Dunn replied, his gaze sweeping over the two soldiers.
"And...?"
"That's it."
Seeing Dunn shake his head, the two Marines looked at each other. One of them asked again, "And your next destination?"
"Next? I'll keep looking for pirates. After all, I am a bounty hunter," Dunn said with a slight shrug.
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