Marine Branch 158

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Out at sea, a sailing ship flying the Sharp-Horn Pirates' flag cut through the waves.

The deck was full of laughter.

"Brothers, we finally have a real ship!"

A man wearing a pirate hat raised his cup high, his face shining with oil.

"Yeah!"

Around him, seven or eight pirates raised their cups in excitement.

"Drink up and celebrate our great first step!"

"Cheers!"

Everyone happily emptied their wooden cups of fresh water.

After stealing the ship, they had discovered all the liquor aboard had already been carried off.

Fortunately, the fresh water and food had been left behind.

For now, they could only use water in place of wine.

The pirate in the hat finished his water, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, then grabbed a half-burnt roasted pork leg and tore into it.

"Brothers, I promise you, once we reach Kaka Island, I'll fill the kitchen with hard liquor. Then we'll drink as much as we want!"

"Mighty captain!"

His men shouted.

"Ha ha ha!"

The pirate in the hat enjoyed that very much and laughed loudly.

Up on the mast, Marine Colonel Robbie crouched on a crossbeam, watching the hat-wearing pirate and his men enjoy their food with open disdain.

"That's it?"

Robbie stared at the man's back, speechless.

These pieces of trash did not even know enough to station a lookout. No wonder they had not reacted at all when the warships entered firing range.

And he had used Geppo to reach the mast, yet these idiots still had not noticed him.

Had Headquarters really transferred him to a West Blue branch just to deal with this bunch of fools?

He had no idea how the Sharp-Horn Pirates had ever taken down Bolkin's armed merchant ship.

Geppo.

Robbie kicked off the air and dropped behind the hat-wearing pirate before anyone could react.

The happy atmosphere on deck froze.

The pirates in the middle of eating gawked at the white-coated officer who had appeared out of nowhere.

"What's wrong with you?"

The man in the hat asked, confused.

Following his men's stares, he sensed something and slowly turned. When he saw Robbie's officer coat, his face tightened.

Robbie looked at him and frowned. "You're not Kazt."

The man in the hat suddenly sprang up, his right hand flying toward his sword hilt.

But before he could draw the blade halfway, Robbie snapped his neck with one hand.

"Trash."

Robbie tossed the corpse aside and looked over the remaining pirates with open disdain.

"All right. Let's have a proper chat."

Three minutes later, several more corpses lay on the deck.

Robbie walked to the edge of the deck and raised a hand, signaling the warships to come closer.

Before long, the two warships arrived near the Sharp-Horn ship.

Planks extended from the warships and bridged onto the pirate ship's rail.

Sturdy Marines crossed in quick succession, reaching the deck of the pirate ship.

"Colonel Robbie!"

The Marines first glanced at the corpses on deck, then stood at attention and saluted.

Robbie nodded to them.

A Marine captain walked up to Robbie and said in confusion, "These men aren't Sharp-Horn Pirates."

"You can tell by looking."

Robbie gave the corpses a cold glance, then looked at the bloodstains scattered across the deck, still not fully washed away.

"I questioned them. The Sharp-Horn Pirates are finished. Supposedly, a guy named Usopp killed them. These wastes just picked up the remains and stole the ship."

"Pirates killing each other?"

"Don't know. Don't care."

Robbie kicked a corpse out of his way and headed toward the warship.

The captain looked at Robbie's back and asked, "Colonel Robbie, then how should we report the operation against the Sharp-Horn Pirates?"

"Do I have to teach you that too?"

Robbie turned and looked at the tense-faced officer.

"Or were you planning to hand the credit to some nobody?"

The captain fell silent.

"After the search is complete, sink the pirate ship. Take a few photos as proof while you're at it. That should be enough of an explanation for the Bolkin Trading Company."

"Understood!"

Ten minutes later, the two warships fired several cannonballs, sinking the Sharp-Horn Pirates' ship.

On the deck of a warship, Robbie watched the pirate ship sink crookedly into the sea.

"Usopp, huh... There isn't anyone by that name in the West Blue."

Robbie thought silently.

In any case, he had come to settle the matter of Bolkin's merchant ship being raided.

The fewer complications, the better.

And if credit was handed to him, he had no reason to refuse it.

Quietly memorizing the name Usopp, Robbie entered the cabin.

Three pirate crews had joined the raid on Bolkin's merchant ship.

The Sharp-Horn Pirates were only one of them. He still had to lead his men to deal with the other two.

As long as they kept watch over these waters, the targets would show themselves sooner or later.

At Nightfall.

Wolf Rat, his wounds recovering nicely, sat at the bar, listlessly nudging his glass.

"Tatamu, it's been three days. Why hasn't Usopp come?"

"He said 'see you tomorrow' that night, but even the day after tomorrow has come and gone, and I still haven't seen him."

Wolf Rat sighed like a man who had lost his purpose in life.

Tatamu shook his head.

Counting this time, Wolf Rat had said something like that more than ten times.

Tatamu was truly too lazy to respond.

"Could he be afraid to go out?"

Wolf Rat muttered to himself.

Over the last few days, every tavern in town had talked about Corvin to some extent.

If Laffitte had not done something big enough to pull some of the heat away, Corvin might have been praised straight into the sky.

After all, in a town as large as Mad Hatter Town, only a handful of resident pirates carried bounties above thirty million.

Yet unreasonable people like Corvin and Laffitte had appeared, killing Kazt and Dennis one after the other.

In the eyes of Mad Hatter Town's pirates, Corvin and Kazt had a grudge between them, so their fight at least made sense.

Laffitte was different.

He was dangerous through and through.

Most of the people Laffitte killed had no grudge against him at all.

No matter how Wolf Rat thought about it, he could not understand why Corvin had shut himself indoors, and he did not dare go to Sol's weapons shop to check.

If it was because of reputation, that made even less sense.

In a place like this, reputation was the perfect pass, something most pirates desperately wanted.

"Usopp, Usopp... what happened to you?"

Wolf Rat sighed again, but the next second, the sentence felt wrong.

Smack.

He suddenly slapped himself.

The baffling action drew Tatamu's attention. Wolf Rat's eyes were wide, his face grave.

"What the hell is wrong with me? I sound lovesick. Ugh, no. I don't like men!"

Wolf Rat's face went pale, then green, then looked as if he had seen a ghost.

Tatamu silently watched Wolf Rat have his little breakdown and decided not to comment.

The Marine branches across the Four Blues were mostly named by number.

In the West Blue, at Marine Branch 158.

Gion sat behind a desk, head lowered as she reviewed the files the intelligence division had just sent her.

Before long, someone knocked on the door.

"Come in."

Gion did not lift her head.

A Marine major pushed the door open and entered.

"Rear Admiral Gion, just now the base received Colonel Robbie's victory report. He eliminated the Sharp-Horn Pirates with no casualties."

"You don't need to report something like that to me."

Gion felt a brief flicker of helplessness.

She was only staying here temporarily, but because of her rank, every major event at the branch base had to be reported to her.

"Yes, ma'am!"

The major stood at attention and saluted, then prepared to leave.

"Wait."

Gion suddenly raised her head and looked at him.

The major stopped at once and turned back. He kept his admiration off his face as he met Gion's gaze and said formally, "Do you need something else, ma'am?"

"You said the Sharp-Horn Pirates?"

"Yes."

"Never mind. You may go."

"Yes, ma'am!"

The major turned and left.

Gion lowered her gaze to the papers on her desk and murmured, "The Sharp-Horn Pirates."

With Wolf Rat providing information, she understood the link almost immediately. She knew exactly what that no-casualty victory report really meant.

But she had no interest in arguing over it.

She understood too well that in any massive organization, things like this could never truly be avoided.

"Ashford Corvin."

Gion turned her attention to the two names in the file.

One was Usopp. The other was Ashford Corvin.

The name Usopp had been crossed out, while beside Ashford Corvin, Gion had written two habitual words: Dangerous.

Beside the file recording the names lay a report about the Ashford family's merchant business being raided by pirates.

Among the names listed there was Capone Bege.

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