East Blue Marine 16th Branch.
"Officer, Officer!"
The anxious shouts startled Lieutenant Commander Rat, who had been squinting.
"Damn it, what's with the rush?"
Lieutenant Commander Rat, the Marine Branch Lieutenant Commander, who had his nap disturbed, glared furiously at the Marine soldier who burst into his office and roared.
"Officer, a pirate ship is heading towards the base."
The Marine soldier who entered saw Rat's angry expression, quickly stood at attention, and reported.
"Ah? Wait, a pirate ship?"
This news made Lieutenant Commander Rat, who was still half-asleep, widen his eyes and look at the standing Marine soldier with a puzzled expression.
"Yes, Officer!"
The reporting Marine soldier nodded repeatedly, indicating that he had not misreported.
"Has the Base Commander not returned yet?"
Lieutenant Commander Rat stood up and asked with a frown.
"Uh, the Base Commander went back to the headquarters for a report, he just left not long ago."
The Marine soldier, upon hearing the question, answered cautiously.
"Sound the alarm, prepare for battle!"
Lieutenant Commander Rat, who had a somewhat shifty appearance, directly gave the order. The Marine soldier, hearing the command, saluted and turned to run out.
Lieutenant Commander Rat, who grabbed the long saber beside him, still had a puzzled look on his face.
"There aren't many strong pirates in the East Blue, let alone those who directly attack a Marine Base. What's going on?"
As he walked out of the office with his saber, the alarm at the Marine Base sounded. Teams of Marine soldiers quickly poured out and lined up. Lieutenant Commander Rat directly led hundreds of Marine soldiers towards the port.
The residents of the small town outside the base, upon noticing this situation, all looked puzzled.
A large group of Marine soldiers, led by Lieutenant Commander Rat, arrived at the seaside dock and immediately saw a small pirate ship charging straight towards the port.
"Prepare for battle!"
To become a Marine Lieutenant Commander, Rat was obviously not someone who knew nothing; after all, he had risen step by step from a Marine soldier to this position.
The Marine soldiers lined up, holding their weapons, waiting for the pirate ship to approach.
On the pirate ship, Dunn stood at the bow, already seeing the lined-up Marine soldiers.
Behind him, on the ship's deck, a group of pirates squatted with their heads in their hands, except for a few who were controlling the ship's direction; the other pirates were all obedient.
"Slow down, dock!"
Dunn turned and gave a command, and the swiftly moving pirate ship's speed decreased.
A moment later, the not-so-large pirate ship slowly docked at the pier. Dunn stepped directly off the ship, his gaze falling upon the Marine's formation.
He had a rat-like mustache, and his face looked somewhat shifty.
"I am Lieutenant Commander Rat, Deputy Base Commander of Marine 16th Branch, number 00733. Pirate, how dare you attack a Marine Base!"
Saying this, Rat pointed his saber at Dunn.
"I'm not a pirate. Uh, I'm a Pirate Hunter. This time, I'm here to deliver pirates and collect bounties!"
Dunn didn't mind Rat mistaking him for a pirate. He directly told the other party the truth and even raised his hand to point at the pirate ship behind him.
Lieutenant Commander Rat's expression stiffened. He looked up at the pirate ship and then saw a series of heads poking out from the ship's side.
"Pirate Hunter?"
Lieutenant Commander Rat was a bit confused, and the Marines who were standing by in strict formation looked at each other in bewilderment.
"Oh right, there's also the treasure on the ship. Help me convert it into Berries and then send it over together."
Dunn glanced at Lieutenant Commander Rat and walked past him. The Marine formation subconsciously split to form a path.
Watching Dunn walk through the path opened by the Marines and head towards the town, Lieutenant Commander Rat and a group of Marines were utterly bewildered.
However, when they boarded the pirate ship and faced the pirates who were not tied up but showed no resistance, they all began to speculate about Dunn's strength.
After recognizing Doru, the pirate with a bounty of 2.5 million Berries, they immediately escorted Doru and the other pirates back to the base and conducted a brief interrogation.
Doru's group of pirates had accepted their fate.
Pirates, or rather people, in the Grand Line, are all bullies who prey on the weak and fear the strong.
For example, Dunn, after merely displaying his strength, this group of pirates, who had only been at sea for a year, had no thought of resisting and obediently piloted the pirate ship to the Marine Base themselves.
"Controls fire? Wasn't injured even after being cut by a saber?"
The returning Lieutenant Commander Rat mumbled the information about the Pirate Hunter that had just been extracted during the interrogation.
"A Devil Fruit user? A Devil Fruit user related to fire?"
Lieutenant Commander Rat, who had originally thought about embezzling the treasure and the credit for these pirates, became honest.
This group of pirates was not very knowledgeable, but Lieutenant Commander Rat had been in the Marine for many years, so he naturally knew about the existence of Devil Fruit.
When he heard Doru mention fire, he immediately thought of a Devil Fruit user.
"Officer?"
The Marine soldier's reminder brought Lieutenant Commander Rat, who had just come out of the cell, back to his senses.
"That Pirate Hunter?"
"The bounty and the treasure converted into Berries, send them to that Pirate Hunter. Also, ask about his situation; at least we need to know his name."
Lieutenant Commander Rat thought for a moment. Without clarifying what kind of Devil Fruit user the other party was, he didn't want to provoke him.
As for a Natural System, he didn't even dare to imagine it.
After all, the three Vice Admirals with Natural System Devil Fruit in the Marine were currently riding high, seemingly about to be promoted to Admiral.
Those were Admiral candidates.
...
Inside the town's tavern, Dunn sat at the bar, listening to the people in the tavern discussing what had just happened.
Marines escorting a large group of pirates back to the base was truly rare here.
"I heard they were caught by a Pirate Hunter, a whole ship full of pirates."
Someone was clearly well-informed.
"That's truly impressive, to have caught so many pirates. He must be a master of the seas."
"Definitely. They say there were dozens of pirates. To be able to catch so many, he must be very powerful."
Hearing the discussions about himself in the tavern, Dunn, who was just beginning to explore this world, found it quite interesting and listened quietly until Marine soldiers suddenly arrived, making the tavern fall silent.
"Mr. Pirate Hunter, this is the bounty and the treasure converted into Berries, a total of 9,530,000 Berries."
The arriving Marine soldier saw Dunn sitting at the bar, walked over, saluted, and then handed him a bag.
In an instant, the tavern guests who had just been discussing all turned their eyes to Dunn.
"Thank you!"
Dunn looked at the bag and took it directly.
"Um, collecting bounties requires registration."
The Marine soldier saw Dunn take the bag, gestured, and a Marine soldier behind him, holding paper and a pen, came forward, staring intently at Dunn.
"We need to register who collected the bounty; it needs to be reported."
"My name is Dunn, I just set sail."
Dunn's eyes swept over the two Marine soldiers, and he answered.
"And then?"
"That's it!"
Seeing Dunn shake his head directly, the two Marine soldiers exchanged glances, and one of them asked again.
"What is your next destination?"
"Next? I'll continue searching for pirates, after all, I'm a Pirate Hunter."
Dunn raised an eyebrow and said.