It seemed the Navy was used to this sort of thing.
Or rather, the Navy unit led by Garp had encountered many instances of pirates attacking civilians.
That was why these marines could get to work in an orderly fashion as soon as they docked.
The Navy doctors quickly entered the town to treat the wounded, while the other marines swiftly searched the village.
Of course, they weren't searching for treasure, but for anyone who was injured but not yet dead.
Other marines were collecting the bodies of the Fish-men and villagers.
Watching all this, Cyrus turned back to look at the sea behind him. His expression was calm, but his empty right hand slowly clenched into a fist.
He felt no sense of belonging to this world.
As someone from the real world, he always felt out of place here.
Even when he had killed pirates before, it hadn't felt real to him.
Now, seeing people he had met a few times die under a pirate's blade left him in a foul mood.
The faint sound of footsteps came from behind.
A young woman approached, leading a little girl by the hand.
"Thank you. You saved our village, you saved my sister!"
The young woman looked at Cyrus's tall back, her eyes filled with gratitude.
"Don't thank me!" Cyrus was naturally aware of their approach.
Though he didn't turn around, he was perfectly clear on their expressions.
The young woman's face showed gratitude, while the little girl's showed fear.
"I'm a Pirate Hunter. I only came here to capture pirates for their bounties." Cyrus added another sentence.
The young woman had clearly never been in such a situation and was at a loss as to how to respond to Cyrus's reply.
Her face flushed red as she stared at his back.
"You should go back. Live your lives well."
Sensing the young woman's expression, Cyrus sighed softly and said.
"Mommy and Daddy are dead!"
As soon as Cyrus said this, the little girl burst into tears.
"It's okay, I'll take care of you!"
The young woman picked up the little girl and comforted her gently.
As if sensing her sister's determination, the little girl buried her face in the young woman's embrace, sobbing softly.
Holding her sister, the young woman glanced at Cyrus one more time before turning to leave.
"How was it?"
Just as the young woman left, Garp's voice rang out.
Cyrus turned to look at the tall old man approaching and shook his head slightly.
"Not good!"
"What do you mean, not good? Doesn't it feel good to be thanked?"
Cyrus's reaction just now had made Garp a little curious.
He could tell that Cyrus was a person who held justice in his heart.
Or rather, Cyrus had his own code of conduct, and that code was somewhat benevolent.
"Sorry, but it really doesn't."
Cyrus turned to look at Garp, shaking his head directly before speaking again, his tone somewhat unfriendly.
"How can you still smile? If I had been any later, many more people might have died."
Cyrus said.
"That's why I say the Navy is short-staffed. There are too many pirates now, and more set sail every year."
Garp looked at Cyrus, seemingly with an ulterior motive.
"But I've heard that some people are forced to become pirates because they can't afford the Heavenly Tribute."
As soon as Cyrus said this, Garp's expression turned awkward.
Because Cyrus was right.
In fact, if those countries that couldn't afford the Heavenly Tribute were attacked by pirates, the Navy wouldn't even dispatch a rescue team.
And that was an order from the World Government.
"With your strength, you can do anything you want on this sea."
Cyrus turned and looked Garp straight in the eyes.
"But after joining the Navy, you have to constantly think about how to do things. Even you can't just act as you please, can you, Vice Admiral Garp?"
Garp was silenced by Cyrus's words.
This young man knew quite a lot.
Or rather, he saw things with such clarity.
"What if, and I'm just saying what if, the Navy could clean up the pirates in the future?"
Garp spoke of a far-fetched dream.
This made Cyrus burst out laughing. He looked at Garp and suddenly began to roar with laughter, bending back and forth.
"Hahaha, Vice Admiral Garp, are you trying to make me laugh? Well, you succeeded."
Garp's face darkened as he watched the wildly laughing Cyrus. He was getting hard—his fists were getting hard.
"This sea is so vast. If you want to completely control it, the number of marines would have to increase several times, even more than ten times over. That burden would bankrupt the World Government, and then there would be no money to support those World Nobles."
"After all, the purpose of the World Government's existence is just to ensure those World Nobles live well."
"On the contrary, if the Navy really had the ability to completely suppress the pirates, then in the eyes of the World Government, wouldn't you just be pirates under a different name?"
Cyrus laughed for a good while before composing himself and speaking to Garp.
"It's a real shame you're not in the Navy's political department. If you joined the Navy, you might really be able to accomplish something."
"What the hell does that have to do with me!" Cyrus said haughtily, tilting his head back.
Garp was taken aback!
"In the end, it's still your problem. Besides, peace is hard to come by in this world, because the gap between people is just too great."
Cyrus raised his hand and clenched his fist, coating it in Armament Haki.
"When the disparity in individual strength is too great, true fairness will never exist. You can't expect everyone who wields power to be like me. Who knows, after a while, I might change my mind too."
Cyrus's words about himself were not wrong.
Right now, he couldn't imagine what he would do in the future.
He was just finding things to do for now. Perhaps, in the near future, after experiencing a few things, his perspective would change.
Garp listened quietly to Cyrus, pondering what he had just said with a deeply impressed expression.
Tsuru would definitely like this young man.
How did his brain work?
He himself was decades old and had never thought of these things.
Garp scratched his short hair, his gaze on Cyrus filled with even more regret.
"Let's go. I'll take you back first. I guess you're eager to trade these Fish-man Pirates for bounties. After all, money is needed here."
With that, Garp leaped up, kicking up a fierce gust of wind and a cloud of yellow sand as he jumped toward the ship not far away.
Cyrus glared at Garp's back with a dark expression, suspecting the old man had done that on purpose.
Then, he too leaped up and landed on the warship.
Garp turned to look at Cyrus who had just jumped over, laughing heartily and scratching his head with a smug look.
"Mr. Cyrus!"
Bogart called out with a serious expression upon seeing Cyrus.
"Thanks for your trouble!"
Cyrus nodded at him.
"Alright, are all the pirate corpses moved?"
Garp cut them off and asked.
"Yes, they've been brought onto the ship."
"Then let's return to the Naval Base." Garp said with a wave of his hand.
"Yes, sir!"
Bogart saluted and went to get busy.
Cyrus placed the sword in his hand to the side, clenched his fists, and looked at Garp.
"Garp the Fist, let me test your fists."