"Hearing all that makes me really happy. Since that's the case, I won't hide it from you."
Alan smiled in satisfaction, raised one finger, and said bluntly: "I'm going to become a pirate."
Everyone: "..."
The air instantly fell dead silent.
After a brief moment…
"Eh?!!"
Ripper and several rows of Marines had their eyeballs pop out, and their jaws crashed onto the ground.
"Pirate?!!"
"That's right."
Under their shocked gazes, Alan nodded with a smile and began his swindling speech: "The sea is so vast, don't you want to see it? To set foot on unknown waters, to climb mysterious islands, to search for ancient treasure..."
Alan painted a dreamy picture of adventure for the Marines, and then concluded: "Of course, I know not everyone can leave without hesitation, so I won't force anyone."
Alan paused, then slowly put on a serious expression before speaking solemnly: "Now then! My ship will only accept fighters who dare to challenge the limits of life! Now! Anyone who wants to sail with me, step forward!"
The next moment, under Alan's stunned gaze…
Thud! Thud!
All the Marines stepped backward one step!
Alan's eyes bulged, his jaw hitting the ground, then he shouted angrily: "Not even one?! That's too much!!"
"Ahem... It seems like it wouldn't be good if no one stayed to manage the base."
Ripper turned his face away awkwardly and muttered.
Once he said that, the Marines behind him immediately chimed in.
"As Lieutenant Commander Ripper's adjutant, it looks like I have to stay."
"Um... I think I should stay to protect the civilians in this sea area."
"Ahem, my family is still in town..."
"Didn't you just say all your family died?!"
Alan rolled his eyes and snarled.
…
This world is sometimes quite intriguing. The Marines don't seem like Marines, the pirates don't seem like pirates, yet the two sides are incompatible like water and fire.
Having just been liberated from Morgan's dark rule, they couldn't accept turning around and becoming pirates, doing things like burning, killing, and plundering.
Alan didn't force them, nor would he say something like forming a righteous and kind pirate crew, since he wasn't any sort of good person anyway.
Since he had decided to become a pirate, labels like good guy or bad guy no longer existed for him.
He was just a pirate driven by ambition.
...
After a while.
Outside the base's main gate.
Ripper commanded the Marines to return and clean up the mess after the incident, while he took a few subordinates with him to send Alan off.
"Although we can't go out to sea with you as pirates, you don't even have a ship right now, do you?"
Ripper took out a stack of Belly from behind him and handed it to Alan.
"There's no way they will let you sail away with a warship. This is a small token that everyone pooled together. It should be enough for you to buy a small sailboat in town."
"One... Two... Three... Four..."
Alan didn't refuse at all; he unceremoniously accepted the stack of Belly and counted it right in front of Ripper and the others.
After counting, Alan looked up at Ripper, frowned, and spoke in a tone full of disdain: "Only four million Belly? Isn't that a bit too stingy?"
"Four million Belly is a lot, okay!!"
Ripper and the others bared their sharp teeth and shouted loudly.
"Forget it, after all, you only earn that little salary each month, and you still have to fight pirates desperately to the death. Sigh, truly pitiful."
Alan shook his head and sighed, then turned toward the town while waving without looking back.
"I'm off. Just wait and see the day I become a great pirate and gain endless treasure. Don't be too jealous then."
Looking at Alan's departing back, veins popped on the foreheads of several Marines as they clenched their fists, barely holding back the urge to rush up and beat him up.
"Still as annoying as ever... That bastard..."
Ripper shook his head helplessly, then turned around and called his subordinates back into the base.
"There's still a pile of mess to clean up. Let's go back."
...
A breezy, sunny afternoon.
With his backpack hanging at his gun barrel that was resting on his shoulder, Alan hummed a carefree tune as he strolled along the countryside path, thinking about his next plan.
First, he definitely needed a medium-sized or larger sailboat, and he also needed to recruit some subordinates to operate the ship. Without these, he would feel embarrassed calling himself a pirate.
However, Shells Town didn't have a proper shipyard on the island. Even if there had been one, he couldn't have afforded it anyway.
With only six million Belly in hand, he could buy at most a small sailboat.
He would have to think about earning money to change ships later, or directly rob someone else's pirate ship.
Thinking of this, Alan rubbed his chin while recalling things.
Aside from Alvida, Buggy, Kuro, Arlong, and the others he remembered from his previous life, there were quite a few other pirates in the East Blue.
After staying in the 153rd branch for years, he had also gathered intel on a few Pirate crews and knew their operating bases.
Since he was now a pirate, stealing and robbing were normal operations; he would just go rob them when the time came.
Maybe he could even recruit some subordinates.
Alan already had an idea.
Since he planned to change ships later anyway, there was no need to buy even a small sailboat.
Just buying a cheap little rowboat would do.
Most of the East Blue's sea regions were relatively calm.
He had learned a bit of navigation at Marine Headquarters; as long as he checked the weather before setting out and didn't encounter storms, there shouldn't be any major problems.
"Let's go check out the town first."
...
Under the sunlight, the seawater shimmered with blue waves.
In Shells Town, several small boats were docked at the dock connected to the street.
After arriving in town, Alan bought some supplies and asked around to see where he could find a boat for sale.
Finally, from a restaurant lady, he learned that several small boats someone intended to resell had been docked at the east dock for a long time.