Chapter 19: Loguetown
"Marine brother, since Vice Admiral Garp's already left, how about you go ahead and settle the Blood Wolf Pirates' bounty for me? Save me another trip, right?"
Jiang Qize turned back to Lieutenant Commander Rega with a friendly smile.
"Settle it? With what money? You'll have to claim it at the branch office," Rega snapped, glaring at him in irritation.
He never imagined that a bounty hunter as famous as this one across the East Blue could act like such a shameless rascal.
"Alright then. But, Marine brother, which branch are you from?"
"Loguetown. Why?"
"Perfect! I was just heading there too. We can go together," Jiang Qize said with a grin.
Of course, there was another thought running through his mind—maybe he could bum a few meals off the Marines.
After days at sea living on dry rations, he was sick of the taste.
"Do what you want," Rega replied flatly. He was already getting used to the man's shamelessness. Then he turned to his men and ordered, "We're moving out!"
"Heh heh…"
Jiang Qize narrowed his eyes and chuckled, then told Camon to load the bounty-bearing corpses back onto their ship before following the Marines' vessel.
Over the past five days, he had hunted down five pirate crews—basically one per day—earning a total of 20 million Berries.
He used 10 million to enhance the Mosasaur's speed, making it even faster.
However, his own strength hadn't improved much; he was still at the level of a Navy Rear Admiral.
The remaining 10 million he spent on upgrading the Wukong Pterosaur.
That creature was his air force, invaluable for scouting—it usually stayed high in the sky, acting as his eyes and ears.
Its stats had now undergone a dramatic improvement:
[Name]: Wukong Pterosaur
[Species]: Pterosauria
[Abilities]: Super Vision (able to see clearly within 10,000 meters), Subsonic Flight (speed at half the speed of sound), Razor Claws (extremely sharp talons)
[Strength]: Navy Headquarters Captain-level!
That 10 million Berries went into everything that could be strengthened except Haki. Even its size had increased—it now stood a meter tall, with a wingspan of two meters.
All in all, the past few days had been quite fruitful.
"Once I get to Loguetown, I need to find a cook. Otherwise, I'm not gonna survive," Jiang Qize muttered as he stood at the ship's bow.
He wasn't the type of bounty hunter who stayed in one place. Since he'd be spending long stretches out at sea, a cook was absolutely essential.
For the next stretch of time, he simply followed the Marines' ship until they reached Loguetown.
…
Marine Branch Base — Loguetown
"Thanks a lot, Lieutenant Commander Rega."
Jiang Qize smiled brightly at Rega while eyeing the chest full of Berries before him.
"Hmph." Rega just glared at him, clearly fed up with this shameless man.
"Well then, I'll be off," Jiang Qize said cheerfully, giving a short laugh as he turned to leave.
Outside the doors, his Mosasaur stood waiting—a massive, ferocious creature radiating raw power, its blue, vertical pupils glowing faintly.
A crowd had gathered around it, murmuring and pointing.
"So huge! Looks like someone's actually keeping it as a pet."
"With a mouth that big, I bet it could swallow me whole!"
"That's a dinosaur… a beast! Can't believe it's here in town!"
Most of the onlookers were Loguetown residents, and since this was right outside a Marine base, they weren't too worried about danger.
"Move it! Out of the way!"
A harsh, menacing voice suddenly cut through the crowd.
Everyone turned to look—and from the back of the crowd, a lean, sharp-featured young man with a vicious face shoved his way forward, forcing a path open.
(Show your support and read more chapters on my Patreon: [email protected]/psychopet. Thank you for your support!)