"You say you're Marines? And from Headquarters?"
Thirty kilometers off the coast of the island, aboard a small sailing vessel, several villagers from Cocoyasi Village stared with wide eyes.
They had initially assumed they were merely trading one nightmare for another—escaping Arlong only to fall into the hands of other pirates. Just as despair had set in, the plot took a sudden turn.
The two ruthless pirates had completely changed their demeanor. First, they untied the ropes binding the villagers, and then they offered a sincere apology.
And finally... they claimed to be Marines?
"Officer... I don't quite understand. If you are Marines, why did you attack other Marines just now and kidnap us?"
"Regarding that," Sean replied, "we are operating under the orders of Fleet Admiral Sengoku. We entered the East Blue in secret to investigate the affairs of Marine Branch 16. Until the investigation is complete, we cannot reveal our identities."
"I see. Has the Marine finally discovered that Branch 16 is colluding with Arlong?"
"Colluding with Arlong? You mean that fishman, Arlong? Please, tell me more!" Sean looked shocked.
Of course, he was acting.
Ain, however, was not. Her expression shifted to one of genuine confusion and anger. A Marine branch colluding with the Arlong Pirates? What on earth was going on? She turned to the villager, waiting for the explanation.
"It happened like this. About three years ago, the Arlong Pirates arrived at Cocoyasi Village and demanded a tribute for our lives. Regardless of gender or age, every single person had to pay a tribute every month. 100,000 Belly for an adult, and half of the for a child. Anyone who couldn't pay was executed!"
"In three years, over twenty people from our village have been brutally murdered because they couldn't afford the payment!"
100,000 for adult and 50,000 for a child, every month?
In the world of one piece, 50 or 100 thousand Belly wasn't a fortune, but for ordinary civilians, it was a staggering amount. Especially when they still had to save money for daily survival; it made the burden nearly impossible.
"Those despicable pirates! Why didn't you seek help from the nearest base at Branch 16?"
"Seek help from Branch 16?" the villager replied with a hollow, bitter laugh. "Of course we tried... but every single person who secretly left the island to go to Marine Branch 16 was sent back without exception. Some were even delivered directly into Arlong's hands by the Marines themselves!"
"How could this happen... Did you not try to reach other branches?"
"We wanted to, but Arlong destroyed all the large ships in the village. Sailing a hundred miles across the open ocean on a small wooden raft is no different from committing suicide!"
So that was it.
In his past life, Sean had wondered why the villagers didn't just go to a different branch. At the very least, they could have tried to reach Loguetown; surely Smoker wouldn't be complicit with such scum?
But hearing this, he understood. With all their ships destroyed, they might have been able to sneakily chop down trees to build a crude raft, but could a raft survive a hundred or even several hundred miles at sea? A single stray wave would have capsized them.
Aside from the nearby Branch 16, they had no way to reach any other Marine presence.
"Sean, what do you plan to do?"
At that moment, Ain's eyes were practically sparking with rage. She was genuinely livid.
"The Arlong Pirates, huh? Ain, interested in taking a trip to Cocoyasi Village?"
"Just the two of us? We aren't notifying Teacher Zephyr?"
"No need. Their assessment lasts for a week. There's no reason to interrupt the process for a bunch of low-level fishmen."
"True!" Ain nodded.
She didn't disagree with Sean's logic. To the people of the East Blue, Arlong might seem monstrously strong, but to those from Headquarters, Arlong was nothing special. In the Grand Line, he would be a mere small-fry.
'''
Marine Branch 16.
"What do you mean, attacked?! And the people from Cocoyasi Village—both the people and the ship—were stolen?!"
"Useless! You're all useless!"
"Did anyone get a photo of the attackers?"
"What? No?!"
"You idiots, what 'are' you good for?"
"Oh, you can draw a rough sketch? Draw it immediately and get it to me!"
'Slam!'
After screaming into the Den Den Mushi for a long while, Nezumi slammed the receiver down in a fit of rage. About an hour later, the sketch arrived.
Nezumi looked at it and nodded with satisfaction.
If Sean were here, he would have roasted the drawing skills of these Marines.
'Is that supposed to be me?'
He finally understood why Sanji's wanted poster looked the way it did in the original story. This was simply the "Marine style" of artistry. The portrait in Nezumi's hand was even more absurd than Sanji's.
"Captain, are we really reporting this to Headquarters to issue a bounty? I feel it would be better to handle this privately."
"Didn't those idiots tell you? One person took them all on and wiped out eight of them in an instant. They couldn't even see how he attacked! Handle it privately? Do you think you're capable of that?"
"This..." The adjutant hesitated.
Taking out eight soldiers of Branch 16 instantly, especially when they were stationed in different positions and had no time to react... even the pirates in the East Blue with bounties in the tens of millions probably couldn't pull that off.
While the adjutant was spiraling in thought, Nezumi had already picked up the Den Den Mushi and contacted Headquarters.
"This is Marine Headquarters!"
"I am Captain Nezumi, Chief of Branch 16. I have an emergency report!"
"Captain Nezumi, please proceed."
"Two heinous criminals have appeared in the East Blue. They launched an unprovoked attack on a Branch 16 patrol ship, causing multiple injuries. Furthermore, they kidnapped a large number of civilians. I request an immediate bounty on their heads—at least 30 million Belly!"
Nezumi was practically spraying saliva into the snail as he spoke.
"Understood, Captain Nezumi. Your request has been recorded and will be processed for report. Anything else?"
"Yes. Because the warship was severely damaged and we lost weapons, Branch 16 needs to apply for a special expenditure of approximately 3 million Belly!"
"Understood. I will include this application in the report. Finally, please send the photos of the two pirates as soon as possible."
"Will do! Sending them now!"
Beside him, the adjutant who had overheard the entire conversation was completely stunned.
Good grief. His Captain wasn't just putting a 30 million bounty on those two; he was actually claiming the warship had been severely damaged and equipment lost just to request a special allocation of 3 million Belly.
As for what that 3 million Belly would be used for once it arrived? Was that even a question? It was going straight into Nezumi's pocket, obviously.
However, the adjutant had still underestimated his superior.
"Listen closely. Once the bounty is issued, notify Arlong to take them out. Then, we'll arrange for someone to collect the reward in his place and skim off a 10 million Belly service fee. Understood?"
'Hiss...'
The adjutant let out a sharp intake of breath. His Captain really didn't let a single opportunity to make money slip through his fingers!
'''
Two hours later.
Marine Headquarters, Conference Room.
Today was the weekly routine meeting, focused on evaluating newly emerged pirates. Of course, they didn't perform a full assessment on every single newcomer—the Fleet Admiral and the other high-ranking officials weren't that idle. The meeting only covered new pirates with bounties exceeding ten million.
After finishing the presentations for the other three seas and finalizing the bounty amounts for those pirates, it was finally the East Blue's turn.
However, most of the high-ranking officers in the room seemed disinterested.
The East Blue... though it had been glorious once, it was now the weakest of the four seas. In the other three seas, pirates with ten-million-plus bounties were common, but in the East Blue... anyone with a ten-million bounty could be considered a regional powerhouse.
Soon, the Captain responsible for presenting the intel produced two sketches.
"Fleet Admiral, this is the information that just arrived from the East Blue. Since they couldn't get a photo, we only have sketches. According to Captain Nezumi of Marine Branch 16, this duo—one man and one woman—appeared just today. They attacked a warship without provocation, leaving numerous Marines injured, several critically, and causing severe damage to the vessel. After the attack, the pair went ashore and kidnapped a large number of civilians. Captain Nezumi recommends a bounty of 30 million Belly for each."
The Captain continued his presentation, pointing to the two sketches according to protocol. Meanwhile, the expressions of the other people in the room turned strange.
"Tsuru... this is Sean, isn't it?"
"It has to be. And the other is definitely Ain!"
"So, we're currently discussing whether the bounty amounts for Sean and Ain are reasonable?"
"That seems to be the case!"
Tsuru nodded with a straight face.
Fortunately, Sean wasn't there to witness this; otherwise, he would have been complaining hysterically. 'How on earth did you recognize me from those sketches?! This is absolutely ridiculous!'