Of course, the temptation was only for a moment.
You'll find... ahem, he was a Headquarters Captain, after all.
Bogart adjusted quickly.
Although there were many scoundrels in the Marines, there were also many Marines who truly had justice in their hearts.
But Cyrus's words left Bogart unsure how to respond.
Joining the Marines would definitely not bring such a haul.
Unless you were a corrupt Marine.
As for the justice of the Marines, Bogart wanted to chat with Cyrus about it, but Cyrus was clearly not interested.
"Tell Base Commander Nezumi I'll be at the usual place. Just calculate the bounty and send it over."
Cyrus waved his hand and then walked towards the town.
By now, the town was in an uproar.
Such a grand scene was truly a rare sight. One pirate after another was being escorted to the base for detention by the Marines.
It was almost non-stop, and everyone had come out to watch the spectacle.
The people from the tavern were all out on the street watching the excitement, and the tavern owner, Old man Croc, had also come out.
Watching the pirates being escorted one by one, Croc even recognized quite a few of them; these were guys with bounty posters.
"Did the Marines have a major operation? But I haven't heard anything. The Marines from this base don't seem to have been deployed. Where were all these pirates caught?"
Croc looked completely bewildered.
To catch so many pirates, the Marines would surely have to deploy a large number of people, and whoever caught them would get the credit.
If they were caught by Marines from other bases, they wouldn't have been sent here.
"I heard a pirate ship came right to the docks, happened to run into a warship there, and the pirates just surrendered on the spot."
Someone spoke up, showing off how well-informed they were, but they clearly only knew half the story.
"Is the tavern not open today?"
A voice made Croc turn around, and he saw the tall Cyrus watching him, a sword cradled in his arms.
"It's open, it's open. I was just watching the commotion." Croc said, hurrying back into the tavern.
"The usual, a glass of juice!"
Cyrus then entered the tavern and sat down at the counter.
"Alright!"
Croc didn't ask any more questions, simply lowering his head to get busy, peeling a fresh orange to make juice.
"Are there any new bounty posters?"
Watching Croc work, Cyrus asked.
"Bounty posters?"
Croc, who was busy, froze for a moment and looked up at Cyrus.
Wait, could it be that he was the one who caught those pirates?
Croc knew Cyrus was a Pirate Hunter.
No, that's too many pirates. How could one person possibly capture so many?
Croc chuckled and shook his head.
"There aren't many new bounty posters. After all, the East Blue is the weakest of the seas. There weren't that many pirates to begin with, and most are just rookies who've recently set sail and don't even have bounties. But there is a big one recently."
As he spoke, Croc pushed the freshly squeezed juice in front of Cyrus.
"A big one? Tell me about it!"
Cyrus's curiosity was piqued.
"They say it's a pirate from the New World. After returning to the East Blue, he nearly ran into the Marines at Loguetown but escaped. I heard it's a ship full of Fish-men, and their leader is called something-long."
Croc lowered his head and took out a stack of bounty posters, shuffling through them.
"Arlong!" Cyrus said.
"Right, right, it's Arlong. He's supposedly a subordinate of a great pirate from the New World. His bounty is a full twenty million."
Croc was clearly in awe of this bounty.
Although it was nothing in the New World, in the East Blue, he was a great white shark.
"Is there a location?"
Cyrus asked, looking at the bounty poster Croc had taken out, which featured Arlong's picture.
"No. This pirate just arrived in the East Blue. Even the Marines don't know the specifics. Other than escaping from the Marines' pursuit, there's no other news at the moment."
Cyrus nodded upon hearing this.
"But this place isn't too far from Loguetown. If that guy runs over to this area, I'm afraid he'll cause a huge stir."
Croc glanced at Cyrus and sighed.
"This is an archipelago. In the eyes of pirates, this place is a juicy piece of meat."
The archipelago was composed of several adjacent islands.
The islands might have been connected initially, but rising sea levels or subsidence in some areas had separated them.
The 16th Branch base, Cocoyasi Village, and more than twenty other island villages were all part of the Conomi Archipelago.
But Cyrus didn't respond.
The commotion outside was still going on.
The escort of such a large number of pirates had apparently drawn the entire town out to watch, and cheers could be heard from time to time.
Perhaps they had recognized some of the pirates.
"Do you know what's going on with those pirates outside?"
Seeing Cyrus turn his head to look outside, Croc asked out of boredom.
"I caught them!" Cyrus replied casually.
Croc was stunned, then speechless.
"Don't joke around. That's not just one or two pirates. How could you catch so many by yourself? But it seems you really do know something. How about selling the information to me?"
Croc said cheerfully.
In his hands, this information could be turned into cash. At the very least, he could talk about it in the tavern.
This kind of secret information was a great way to attract customers.
After all, the people here were very curious.
"Sure, one hundred and fifty thousand Belly!"
Cyrus turned back, smiled at Croc, and directly quoted a price.
"One hundred and fifty thousand? That's too expensive. Wait, isn't this the amount I charged you for information?"
Croc's eyes widened, a look of speechlessness on his face.
This young man really held a grudge. But hadn't he only charged him one hundred thousand Belly later on?
"Think about it. The person who could capture so many pirates must be a big shot. Can information about such a big shot be cheap?"
"That's true!"
Croc nodded, then reluctantly took out one hundred and fifty thousand Belly from under the counter and handed it to Cyrus.
Cyrus accepted the money without ceremony.
"The one who captured those pirates was me. I ran into them gathered together, so I just rounded them all up and brought them back."
Cyrus said seriously.
Croc's face turned pale, then red.
This young man wasn't trying to scam him, was he?
Just as Croc was feeling suspicious, two Marines walked in carrying large sacks.
After seeing Cyrus, the two Marines put down the sacks and saluted.
"Hello, Mr. Pirate Hunter. This is the bounty the Captain had us deliver. It's a total of ninety-one million, seven hundred and seventy thousand Belly."
"Is the transport finished?" Cyrus asked, looking at the two Marines.
"Not yet, but the Captain said we couldn't keep you waiting too long, so he had the bounty calculated first."
Cyrus understood and nodded.
The two Marines saluted again, then turned and left.
"See, I told you it was me. I didn't lie to you!" Cyrus said with a shrug.
"It really was you?"
Croc was dumbfounded.
This young man seemed to be beyond his imagination.
To capture so many people at once, just how strong was this young man?
While Croc was questioning his life, Bogart at the docks contacted Garp, who had gone back to his hometown to see his grandson.
"Vice Admiral Garp, he's back."
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