Five minutes later
Jim Carrey and Sammy knelt submissively in a dogeza pose before the railing, a string of large bumps rising on their heads, faintly steaming.
"So you're bounty hunters, huh…"
After a friendly, heart-to-heart conversation, Nao finally figured out their identities. Stroking his chin, he sighed. "Damn, so neither of you are pirates?"
Why do you look so disappointed, like your wish didn't come true?!
If we had been pirates, were you seriously planning to just kill us on the spot?!
"Bounty hunters, through and through, sir," Jim Carrey said, his heart aching, but his face solemn and serious. "There are many wanted posters in the cabin that we've collected, and a few heads we haven't had time to cash in yet. If you search carefully, you'll even find commendation letters from Marine branches for us. All of this can prove I'm absolutely not lying about my identity…"
He had no idea what Nao's exact rank was—there were no insignias on his shoulders—but since he was in Marine uniform, calling him "sir" felt like the safest bet.
"Ah, I wasn't doubting that." Nao scratched his head, a bit bashfully. "I just want to know if you two will tell anyone what you just saw…"
"No way!" the woman with the big wavy hair—Sami—cut in immediately. "We're famous in the biz for keeping our mouths shut. Rest assured, sir. What we saw today won't leave this ship!"
"Bullshit!" Jim Carrey barked, turning on her. "What do you mean 'what we saw'? We didn't see anything at all!"
Sammy blinked, then quickly nodded her head like a pecking chick. "Yes, yes, that's right…"
Now that's the right attitude.
Only then did Nao contentedly withdraw his sword from beside Jim Carrey's neck.
"Bounty hunters and Marines, in a way, are a mutually beneficial alliance," Nao said idly. "So, I hereby declare that I'm commandeering your ship. No objections, right?"
The sun was rising higher, and continuing to fly with the Bamboo-Copter wasn't exactly low-key. He didn't want a repeat of that Dracule Mihawk incident, so a boat was definitely safer.
"No objections! Absolutely none!" Jim Carrey agreed without hesitation. He chuckled, revealing a mouthful of broken, blackened teeth. "You're the boss, we'll go wherever you want!"
"Excellent," Nao said. "Then let's head for Picardo Island, the faster the better. Thank you for your trouble."
"Picardo Island?" Jim Carrey paused.
"What, is that your target island too?" Nao's eyebrow slightly raised. He immediately guessed.
"Yes, sir," Jim Carrey nodded. "We're after a pirate with an 18 million Berry bounty. According to reliable source, that guy just landed on that island yesterday and should still be there."
"What a coincidence then."
Nao scrutinized the cunning, chubby man. "But I wouldn't have guessed. You two actually dare to go after an 18 million Berry pirate? So confident in your strength?"
"Well…"
Jim Carrey smiled slyly, then suddenly extended an arm, dark Haki swirling around it. "Don't underestimate us, sir. Never mind pirates worth over ten million, even fat sheep with bounties of thirty or forty million have fallen into our hands."
"Armament Haki?" Nao was genuinely surprised this time. "No wonder…"
While Armament Haki was common in the New World, it was still quite rare in the first half of the Grand Line.
Nao had taken down plenty of pirate captains in the past month, but only two or three had even begun to show signs of using Haki.
"With that kind of skill, why not join the Marines and build a real name for yourself instead of drifting around as a small-time bounty hunter?"
Nao spoke half-jokingly, half-seriously. "Let's say I'm recruiting—if you two want in, I can get you through the door. Stick around for a year or so, and you'd be at least officer rank."
"Heh heh, everyone has their own ambitions. I'm not really interested in being a Marine," Jim Carrey smacked his lips. "No money to earn, have to take orders, suffer hardships with no freedom… Oh, no offense to your profession, it's just…"
He grinned again, his eyes narrowing like a fat weasel. "If it weren't for the money, who'd want to be a bounty hunter?"
"Then you've been doing this for so long, you must have saved up a lot of money?"
"Not much, not much," Jim Carrey chuckled. "You wouldn't believe it, sir, this line of work isn't easy. Not only do you have to compete with rivals, but you also have to worry if the bounty you're about to get will be snatched by the Marines first…"
"But it used to be fine, actually. We always operated in these waters, familiar with the terrain, so we could always get ahead of the Marines."
As he spoke, his face turned gloomy. "But ever since about a month ago… things got tough. The G-2 Branch, they found some monster from somewhere, hunting pirates out there all day long, even more actively than us."
"All the valuable pirates we could deal with in the vicinity have been slaughtered by that bastard. From fifty or sixty million down to twenty or thirty million, almost none were missed. All within his hunting range…"
"It scared off a lot of pirates who had just entered the Grand Line. We haven't found a decent 'fat sheep' in ages. To catch one with a bounty of around ten million this time is already quite lucky…"
He prattled on, while Sammy occasionally interjected with indignant additions. It was clear she was also full of resentment towards the "bastard" Jim Carrey was referring to, who was taking their livelihood.
Neither of them noticed that Nao, who had been silently listening to their conversation, now had an increasingly strange expression.
These two are talking about me, aren't they?
Newly arrived pirate crews getting scared off and taking detours, bounty hunters whose livelihoods are based on this, filled with resentment, not getting any jobs for a long time, completely broke…
So, my month of frantically racking up battle achievements actually had such a huge impact on the waters near the G-2 Branch?
…
An hour later
The small boat successfully reached Picardo Island. The three boarded the island and parted ways at the town's crossroads.
Jim Carrey and Sammy, the bounty hunter couple, eagerly rushed straight towards their target, running so fast they vanished in a flash, as if terrified their marked "fat sheep" would be snatched by someone else, their money-grubbing nature fully exposed.
As for Nao…
He watched their retreating figures, thought seriously for a moment, and decided not to get involved in that commotion.
After all, the battle achievements a pirate captain with over ten million Berries could offer were negligible to him. There was no need for him to eat all the meat, leaving not even a drop of soup for those two unlucky souls…
Among the ships anchored in the harbor, a large black-sailed pirate ship stood out. Its pirate flag matched Domino's earlier description.
Nao then relaxed; this meant the Max Pirates had indeed landed on this island and were still lingering, not yet having left.
"A pirate captain with an 85 million Berry bounty, huh…"
After asking around a bit, he found the tavern where the Max Pirates were located. The moment he pushed open the swinging doors and entered, his thoughts were probably something like this:
"Their strength shouldn't be weak, I guess. I just wonder how many minutes they'll last against me…"
… Tokikake's Diary …
It feels like it's been a long time since I fought alongside Gion.
This time, I was actually assigned to a mission in the South Blue with her, and on the same ship! It's simply wonderful!
But Gion doesn't seem to be in very high spirits.
I've seen her call the G-2 Branch several times, but the person she's looking for always seems to be unavailable, which makes her very unhappy. She often stands at the bow, frowning while the sea breeze blows.
It worries me so much. What's wrong? Does she have family there she's worried about but can't reach?