“You’re saying those guys planned to pin all the crimes on us after we left?” Nami listened to Zoro’s explanation with veins bulging on her forehead.
“How can they be so shameless?!” ‘It was clearly all their doing!’ She had even considered letting them off earlier, and this was how they intended to repay her?
“Kain, blow them up,” Luffy said calmly while looking at the Marine base in the distance.
“Okay.” Kain nodded and glanced at Nami.
“Nami, sail the ship at least two nautical miles away from here.” The explosion would be too powerful.
If they stayed too close, they could get caught in the blast.
Once the Going Merry was a safe distance from the Marine base, Kain raised a finger.
“Detonate.” BOOM!
An incredibly shocking scene unfolded before the Straw Hat Pirates.
In the blink of an eye, the distant Marine base was engulfed in a terrifying explosion!
The force of the blast was so immense that it shattered the ground beneath the base, causing it to collapse into the sea.
There was absolutely no possibility of anyone inside surviving this blast.
Everyone aboard, other than Kain, wore expressions of utter disbelief.
“K-K-Kain…” Usopp slowly turned towards him and asked with great difficulty, “Do you usually carry something this dangerous around with you?” This wasn’t a low-powered bomb.
If it exploded accidentally on the ship, they would all be blown to pieces!
“Relax.
I made it myself, so I know exactly how it works.” Kain waved his hand dismissively.
“As long as I don’t activate it, it won’t explode.” “So this is the power of a scientist…” Sanji took a drag from his cigarette, his eyes flickering with thoughts that no one could guess.
“All right, that menace is gone.
Once the Marine Headquarters discovers what happened here, they’ll naturally send new personnel to take over.
When that happens, conditions in this area will improve.” Kain waved his hand before turning towards Luffy.
“So, where are we heading next?” Luffy didn’t answer.
Instead, he looked at Nami.
After a moment’s thought, Nami said, “Our destination is the Grand Line.
The next place we need to go is Loguetown.
We have to pass through there and enter Reverse Mountain.
That’s the only way to reach the Grand Line.” For pirates travelling from the Four Seas to the Grand Line, it was the only available route.
“Yosh!” Luffy waved his arm dramatically.
“Everyone!
Our destination is Loguetown!
Full speed ahead!” “Yeah!” ×5 …..
“It’s outrageous!
Absolutely outrageous!” Sengoku slammed his fist onto the desk, his face filled with fury as he spoke.
“They actually had the audacity to destroy a Marine branch?!” Their courage was beyond reckless!
Vice Admiral Tsuru remained silent, carefully reading through the intelligence report.
After a moment, she looked up and said calmly, “I’ve already reviewed the situation at East Blue Branch 16.
Those people can no longer be called Marines.
They’re nothing more than parasites.” “Even so, they shouldn’t have been the ones to handle it!” Sengoku’s anger showed no signs of fading.
“Even if every last one of them deserved to die, it should have been Marine Headquarters that carried out the punishment!” Now that it had been done by a group of pirates, it was practically a slap in his face.
Hearing this, Tsuru nodded.
He did have a point.
In fact, they had already received the news after Arlong had been defeated and they had even begun preparing to send people to deal with the situation.
What they hadn’t expected was that Branch 16 would be destroyed shortly afterwards.
“So what?” Garp looked up at Sengoku.
“Arlong occupied that region for eight years.
Eight whole years!” “Do you know how the people there lived during those eight years?” “If you ask me, they deserved it!” Garp said coldly.
“If it had been me, I would have beaten every last one of them to death, too!” “I know they deserved to die, but they shouldn’t have been killed by them!
Don’t you understand that?” Sengoku roared in frustration.
Garp fell silent.
Of course he understood, but his grandson was the one who had done it so he couldn’t exactly arrest him himself.
Sengoku knew Garp’s personality well enough to know it was pointless to argue with him further.
Instead, he turned to Tsuru.
“Release the bounty notices.
The Straw Hat Pirates.
Destruction of a Marine branch.
A serious crime.” “Captain – Straw Hat Luffy.” Bounty: 50,000,000 Belly.
“Oh, and that scientist called Kain.” Bounty: 30,000,000 Belly!
Sengoku’s eyes flickered thoughtfully.
He wasn’t sure what abilities the scientist possessed besides playing with explosives, but talented people like that were rare among pirate crews.
It was better to eliminate such threats early on.
If the Straw Hat Pirates continued to grow stronger, they would become much harder to deal with in the future.
As for whether a Marine officer or Admiral should be dispatched now…
Sengoku glanced at the silent Garp and sighed inwardly.
After all, he was his old friend’s grandson.
Sending someone of that level would be excessive.
As for how he knew there was a scientist aboard the Straw Hat Pirates…
Never underestimate the Marine intelligence network.
If they wanted to investigate something, they could uncover almost any information they desired.
At the same time, it was somewhat ironic.
Such a powerful intelligence network had somehow allowed the Arlong Pirates to dominate East Blue for so many years.
“Garp, any objections?” “No.” After answering with a single word, Garp stood up and left.
As he left, Tsuru opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something but ultimately remained silent.
“Don’t mind him,” Sengoku said, unconcerned by Garp’s attitude.
“Since his grandson chose to become a pirate, he should be prepared for the consequences.” Especially after everything he had done.
He had defeated Kuro, Krieg, Buggy the Clown, and Arlong.
All of them were well-known pirates in East Blue, and on top of that, he had destroyed a Marine branch.
In that context, a bounty of 50 million Belly wasn’t even that high.
With Sengoku’s order, the bounty posters began rolling off the presses and spreading across the entire world.
(End Of This Chapter)