Several days later.
The alarm suddenly blared at the 16th Branch base.
"Base Commander, a large pirate ship is approaching!"
This sentence made Captain Nezumi jump in fright.
A large pirate ship meant at least several hundred pirates.
Of course, that wasn't the most crucial part. The crucial part was imagining how strong a captain who could lead so many pirates must be.
However, it was rare for pirates to attack a Marine base.
Had the pirates of the East Blue gone mad?
"Assemble... wait."
Captain Nezumi was about to order the soldiers to assemble but stopped mid-sentence.
"Vice Admiral Garp's ship is still at the dock."
Captain Nezumi suddenly remembered this.
He didn't know where Vice Admiral Garp had gone, but the soldiers on the ship were still there.
These were the elites who had followed Vice Admiral Garp to conquer the pirates of the New World.
Furthermore, Vice Admiral Garp's adjutant, Captain Bogart, was holding down the fort.
Captain Nezumi immediately calmed down and led his men to rush towards the docks.
Since there was no danger, he naturally had to show the right attitude.
It would be embarrassing if the fight was over before he even arrived.
The alarm continued to sound.
In the town surrounding the Marine base, the residents were all bewildered.
What in the world was going on?
"Prepare for battle!"
At the docks, Bogart gave a loud command.
The soldiers on the warship moved quickly, and the ship's cannons were already aimed in the direction indicated by the lookout.
Bogart was also a bit baffled.
Garp's warship was a standard Marine battleship, much larger than a pirate ship.
With such a large warship here, a pirate ship still dared to charge over?
He hadn't realized the pirates of the East Blue were this brave before.
Bogart had a suspicious look on his face as he stood on the bow, watching the rapidly approaching pirate ship.
With his eyesight, he could naturally see a figure standing on the bow of the speeding pirate ship.
As it got closer, Bogart raised his hand, preparing to give the order, but then his brow furrowed.
What the—that person looks a bit familiar.
The sense of familiarity made Bogart hold back the order to attack.
The Marine soldiers, for their part, didn't find it strange and remained on high alert.
"Wait, it's that guy!"
Cyrus had changed a lot in the past year, especially his physique.
He was much taller and more muscular than a year ago.
But his facial features hadn't changed much, though he had lost much of his youthful air.
Bogart found him familiar because he had only seen him from a distance back in Shimotsuki Village.
Now, thinking about the purpose of his current visit, he put two and two together and realized who it was.
But wasn't this guy a Pirate Hunter?
How did he become a pirate?
Captain Nezumi had also arrived and saw that the soldiers on Garp's warship were ready.
But they had yet to open fire.
He was puzzled, but he didn't dare to ask and could only watch obediently.
Then, along with some workers at the port, they watched as the speeding pirate ship approached the dock, only to suddenly slow down and pull alongside.
From the bow, Cyrus had spotted the dog-headed warship from afar.
Though he was puzzled, he didn't hesitate and directly ordered the pirates to slow down and approach.
The pirate ship came to a steady stop at the dock, not far from the massive Marine warship.
Bogart stood on the warship's bow, his hand on his sword hilt, looking down at the pirate ship.
From here, he could see clearly that the pirate ship was packed with pirates.
The proportions are wrong!
Wait, what is this?
With just a glance, Bogart saw that many of the pirates were injured, and there was a pile of heads in one area, which no pirate went near.
So, this guy went out to catch pirates, and then used a ship to transport them here?
But what is this situation?
How many Pirate Crews did he attack?
While Bogart was still puzzled, Cyrus leaped down from the pirate ship below, landing in front of Captain Nezumi on the dock.
"Hey, I brought you some merits."
Cyrus pointed at the pirate ship behind him.
Captain Nezumi looked completely lost!
"Huh?"
Cyrus's words had clearly caused Captain Nezumi's brain to short-circuit.
What kind of decent person catches pirates and brings the pirate ship along too?
Oh, it's Cyrus. Never mind then.
Captain Nezumi suddenly remembered that the first time he met Cyrus, the guy had brought in a whole ship of pirates in one go.
But this time?
He looked at the heads peering over from the pirate ship, a dense, dark mass of them.
He swallowed hard.
"What? You're not taking them?"
Seeing Captain Nezumi not answering, Cyrus frowned and spoke.
"We'll take them!"
A strange voice rang out. Bogart came down from the warship, followed by squads of Marine soldiers.
"They will assist you in detaining these pirates," Bogart ordered Captain Nezumi as he walked over.
"Yes, sir!"
Although they were the same rank, a Captain from Headquarters was one level higher than a branch Captain of the same rank.
Then, Bogart watched as the soldiers who boarded the pirate ship escorted the pirates off.
One by one, the pirates were brought down.
But there clearly weren't enough hands.
The first batch of several dozen pirates was escorted to the Marine base for detention.
"You're Cyrus?"
As Cyrus watched the Marines escorting his money bags away, Bogart spoke up beside him.
"Mm!"
Cyrus nodded.
"I am Vice Admiral Garp's adjutant, Bogart. I've seen you before, in Shimotsuki Village," Bogart introduced himself.
"Oh!"
Cyrus nodded, not turning his head.
This attitude made Bogart's lips twitch.
"Vice Admiral Garp came from Headquarters this time because of you."
"Me again? But I'm not interested in joining the Marines."
Cyrus shook his head directly.
"Why? Aren't you upholding justice by catching pirates? Is there anything more just than the Marines?" Bogart asked with a frown.
"Justice?"
Cyrus was taken aback and turned his head to look at Bogart.
He originally wanted to retort about the Marines' so-called justice, but after thinking about it, he gave up.
Some Marines were impossible to reason with.
"I catch pirates for money!" Cyrus thought for a moment and gave an answer.
"The Marines' salary is not low," Bogart immediately said upon hearing this.
"Not low? Then what's your salary?"
Cyrus was amused.
"Four million Belly a month!"
Bogart didn't hide it and answered the question honestly.
"Four million Belly, and you're a Marine Headquarters Captain. So an admiral probably makes double that at most, maybe a fleet admiral makes a bit more, and then there are benefits and such," Cyrus said in a relaxed tone.
Bogart nodded.
"Then do you know how much this ship full of weakling pirates is worth?"
Weakling?
Bogart had never heard this word, but he could roughly guess its meaning.
"I don't know!"
"Eighty million to one hundred million Belly."
Cyrus gave the answer, and Bogart fell silent.
That was two years of his salary.
And from his perspective, these pirates were very weak. He wouldn't even need to draw his sword to defeat them easily.
"How long did it take you to catch them?" Bogart asked, swallowing hard.
"About half a month, I guess. Of course, you can count it as a month," Cyrus said with a wave of his hand.
A month?
Bogart had to admit, he was tempted.