Chapter 24: Spreading Throughout East Blue

East Blue, Coconut Town.

Marine 131st Branch.

“Commander Rogge, this is a recent incident in the nearby waters.”

In the highest office, the Lieutenant Commander handed a stack of documents to Commander Rogge, who was sitting behind his desk, smoking a bit stiffly.

Rogge took the documents and took a cursory look.

[An armed Pirate Group with a total bounty of 3 million Berries attacked a merchant ship passing the maple leaf route, causing an estimated loss of nearly 20 million Berries, with fewer casualties]

[Crew, captain of 5 million Berries, was killed by Ron, an unknown pirate hunter, who refused to join the Marines.]

[……]

There were not many incidents recorded in the file, only three or four. All of them were about pirates or pirate groups with a total bounty of more than 3 million Berries.

In the past, Rogge would carefully examine and think about countermeasures, one by one, for each case. But at that moment, he was not in the mood. After giving it a fast look, he threw the document on the table.

“Don’t bother me with these little things!”

“……Yes Yes.”

Seeing that Rogge was so annoyed, the Lieutenant Commander couldn’t help but answer in panic.

Rogge smoking intensely, spat out the smoke, and looked at the Lieutenant Commander and lieutenants standing on both sides of the office. He suddenly shouted: “Nothing new about what I asked for?”

“Still … tracking …”

The Lieutenant commander voice shuddered.

Rogge slammed the table and stood up, angrily: “Still tracking? A warship has been destroyed, and the headquarters’ blame has just come down. Who will take responsibility? You?! Kono yarou “

“Commander Rogge…”

Watching Rogge angry, the captain trembled in response: “We misjudged the strength of the Hammer Pirates. Even if we manage to trace them now, we must send at least a medium-sized warship to deal with them, and the thing is… there is only one medium-sized warship in our base… “

The standard structure of East blue branches was two small and one medium-sized warship. Now, that one of the small warships was sunk by the pirates, the only remaining option was to send the medium warship to deal with Hummer Ruff and his crew. The problem was that the marines were dealing with pirates, which never stayed in one place for too long. Hence, the marines wouldn’t have time to send warships to pursue these criminals.

In East Blue, Pirate Groups with a total bounty of more than 10 million Berries were a pain in the A** for a single branch to deal with. Even if a branch could win against these outlaws, it was often impossible to successfully track them down.

In particular, the captain of the Black Cat Pirates, Kuro, caused headaches to the marine branches. But recently, the Axe-Hand Morgan just caught a fake Kuro and was promoted from chief petty officer to captain, which made commander Rogge so flustered and restless. An unknown soldier managed to reach the rank of captain before he could…

“Please calm down, Commander Rogge…”

The lieutenant next to the captain whispered, “The government has increased the reward of Hammer Ruff from 8 million Berries to 12 million Berries. This is indeed beyond the scope of our branch. I don’t think the headquarters will be too severe with him.”

Rogge glanced at the faces of the standing lieutenants, lowered his eyelids, took a few slow steps in the middle of the crowd, and took a deep breath.

It was true that he wouldn’t be punished severely, but it would be too hard for him to get any kind of promotion.

Moreover, the pirates, which had bounties that reached more than 10 million Berries, were indeed extremely difficult to deal with. That’s why, even if it was just a common marine soldier, if he managed to catch a pirate with a reward of more than 10 million Berries, he could be directly promoted to a lieutenant or even a captain.

Moreover, no one knew whether the Hammer pirates would continue to operate in the waters under his jurisdiction or not…What should be done to make those groups of B* leave this area?

Rely on Pirate Hunter?

Don’t even joke about that!

It was unusual that Pirates having a bounty of 10 million Berries to get caught or killed in this area, after all, there were only a handful of pirates having such bounties in East Blue.

Just as Rogge paced back and forth, depressed and fidgety, a rush of footsteps came from outside the office, and soon a lieutenant appeared at the door.

Everyone in the room looked over.

“Report … report to the commander! a pirate hunter has arrived at the base…” The lieutenant’s voice was flustered, as if he saw a ghost.

Rogge frowned and shouted: “It is just a pirate hunter! why are you so worked up?!”

The lieutenant swallowed his saliva as he looked at the commander, and then he said trembling “but, but … the guy brought Hammer Ruff’s head…”

Not a single breath was taken after hearing the lieutenant’s words.

the entire office went silent, as if a soul ripper passed by.

…

“He is outside at the office that hosts Pirate Hunters”

“Are you sure you’re not mistaken?”

Rogge repeatedly asked the same question.

The lieutenant nodded, and said, “I’ve compared it many times, and even asked Lieutenant Natta to confirm it for me. We are 100% sure sir.”

Rogge took a deep breath, looked at the office in front, and walked over. His heart was still trembling, and his eyes were agitated.

He was able to Hunt and kill the 12 Million-Berries-bounty Hammer Ruff!

Who the F*** is he?!

Things were different for pirates’ hunters in comparison to marines. For instance, pirate hunters didn’t have the luxury of having a fleet under there command, nor advanced weapon… not to mention having a warship.

Pirate hunters could kill pirates, either by sniping them down from afar or just by relying on overwhelming strength. The former usually won’t grant the pirate’s head. Only the latter case could bring the pirate’s head to be able to receive the reward!

Entering the office, Rogge saw Ron standing there.

It was a young man with a natural and peaceful look. He didn’t carry any kind of weapon. At first glance, he couldn’t detect any sign of strength…. Rogge could see only a small, thin, and weak looking guy in front of him.

Rogge frowned for a second, however, as their eyes met, his heart shook and then started pounding really fast. He felt a sense of oppression coming from Ron’s eyes.

It was from the kind of spiritual oppression…It was like a demon aura resonating.

Ron, whose spiritual attributes exceeded 30 points, could be said to have ten times the mental strength of ordinary people. Under such a huge gap in spirit, even if it wasn’t deliberately, the gaze in Ron’s eyes were completely different from any ordinary people.

It was a look full of confidence, nobility, and power.

“I am Commander Rogge of the 131st branch. First of all, I would like to greet you on behalf of the branch … I wonder if Mr. Ron would like to join the marine and contribute to the stability of the sea.”

The Rogge’s doubt disappeared seeing such gaze. He took a deep breath and slowly spoke to Ron. The words were fixed, a sentence that must be said to each Pirate Hunter.

“I like freedom.”

Ron said in an easy voice.

Rogge nodded, and said, “I see … here is the bounty of Hammer Ruff, a total of 12 million Berries, you can count it.”

Ron smiled slightly, took the money suitcase from Commander Rogge, felt its weight, and then said, “No need to count, I trust the marines.”

After receiving the reward, Ron went outside, and his back gradually disappeared in the eyes of the many standing marines, still in shock.

It was only when Ron completely disappeared that the marines regained their conscience.

A lieutenant whispered softly: “Even if he does not join the Marines, knowing the existence of such pirate hunter who could kill Hammer Ruff, I think many pirates will shudder, and their actions will be restrained a lot.”

“Well, it’s a good thing.”

…

A few days later.

The news that the Pirate Hunter ‘Magician’ Ron hunting down 12 million Berries Hammer Ruff spread rapidly throughout East Blue. It was the intention of the marines after all.

A large number of average pirates were disturbed.

Even those pirates standing at the top of East Blue frown after hearing the news. It wasn’t a matter of fear, but there was no harm in remembering the name of “Mage Ron”.