Shells Town.
Standing at the gates of the Marine base with a sack slung over his shoulder, Zoro felt his head buzzing.
When he had first left Shimotsuki Village and rowed out to sea, his mind had been full of only two things: the world's greatest swordsman, and the legend of the Sword Demon, Dugu Qiubai.
He had even made a fairly careful plan for himself.
If he could not find Dracule Mihawk in East Blue, then he would find a way to enter the Grand Line.
And for that, he needed money.
Travel expenses. A larger ship. Supplies.
The fastest way to get all of that was obvious—
become a bounty hunter.
The plan itself had been perfect.
The reality, however, was absurd.
Because right at the start, a criminal with a five-hundred-million-beli bounty had practically fallen out of the sky and landed on his head.
The problem was, Zoro did not want a single coin of that reward.
He had not captured the rabbit himself.
Even now, standing at the Marine base gate, the whole thing still felt unreal.
What kind of criminal willingly delivered himself to be turned in?
There had to be some insane scheme behind this.
Just as Zoro was hesitating over whether to knock, the tightly shut gates suddenly swung open.
A middle-aged Marine officer stormed out, looking thoroughly annoyed.
Before Zoro could react, two Marine soldiers hurried after him.
"Morgan, our mission right now is to capture the red rabbit, not stay obsessed with the Black Cat Pirates!"
"Besides, weren't the Black Cat Pirates already captured by Captain Tina? Why are you still angry about it?"
Morgan stopped at the gate, his face dark as he barked, "I'd been tracking the Black Cat Pirates for so long, only for Tina to swoop in and snatch the credit at the last second. Tell me—shouldn't I be angry?"
"But Captain Tina already explained it, didn't she? She only ran into the Black Cat Pirates by accident—"
The Marine soldier broke off mid-sentence and turned toward Zoro, who was standing nearby.
"Hey, you. Why are you standing around in front of the gate? Move along, move along!"
Zoro ignored him completely.
Instead, he fixed his gaze on Morgan, the broad, powerfully built officer standing before him, and asked, "Are you Morgan of this base?"
"That's right. I am."
Morgan sized him up from head to toe.
"A bounty hunter?"
Zoro nodded, then pulled out the wanted poster Droopy had given him and pointed at the picture of Da Hong.
"If someone were to capture this red rabbit, where would they go to claim the bounty?"
The two Marines beside Morgan burst into laughter on the spot.
"Pfft—listen to this guy. You talk like you've actually caught it."
"Kid, go find somewhere cool to sit. If you really managed to catch that rabbit, I'll stand on my head and eat dirt."
Morgan did not laugh.
Instead, his eyes swept down toward the sack beside Zoro before he said briskly, "If you really captured that damned red rabbit, hand it over to me. Once I report it to my superiors and verify that it's truly the wanted target, I'll make sure the full five hundred million is paid to you without a single coin missing."
Hearing that, Zoro quietly let out a breath.
Then he crouched down and quickly untied the mouth of the sack.
The moment the sack opened, the red rabbit inside came fully into view for Morgan and the two Marines.
"!!!"
The two soldiers' eyes bulged almost at once.
"R-Red rabbit!"
Before the words had even finished leaving his mouth, one of the Marines suddenly rushed forward as if his brain had stopped working. He reached out and pinched Da Hong's face.
Then he broke into crazed laughter.
"It really is the red rabbit! Morgan, we've struck it ric—"
Boom!
His laughter ended abruptly.
In the next instant, the Marine was sent flying like a cannonball, arcing high through the air before crashing heavily into the base courtyard.
The sudden scene jolted Morgan and the remaining Marine back to their senses. Both instantly turned to stare at Da Hong, who had now risen out of the sack.
"Red rabbit! The red rabbit—"
In the courtyard, the Marine who had been punched away staggered to his feet and screamed with all the strength he had left:
"The red rabbit's been captured!"
The moment his voice rang out, the base erupted.
Figures began flooding out from inside—densely packed Marines pouring toward the gate in a swarm.
…
…
"What? The red rabbit was captured by a bounty hunter? It's at Branch 153 in Shells Town right now?"
"Great! Set course immediately!"
"We've been searching for almost three days without finding a trace, and some random bounty hunter picked up the prize? You've got to be kidding me! Did that guy step in luck?"
"Move, move! New destination—Shells Town, Branch 153! Full speed ahead!"
As word spread across East Blue that the red rabbit had been captured by a bounty hunter and delivered to Marine Base 153 in Shells Town, the warships that had been searching the sea immediately changed course and began rushing toward Shells Town.
On one of those warships stood Garp, his internal injuries mostly healed by now.
More than anyone present, he understood how strong Da Hong really was.
So when he first heard that the rabbit had been captured by a bounty hunter, his immediate reaction was disbelief. Surely they had caught the wrong one.
Even after Kizaru, who had reached Shells Town ahead of him, confirmed that the report was genuine, Garp still found it hard to believe.
A monster strong enough to beat him that easily had really fallen into the hands of a bounty hunter?
And not just any bounty hunter—but a green-haired rookie who had only just set out to sea?
At the port of the Shells Town Marine base, one warship after another arrived and docked.
Vice Admirals Gion, Momonga, Onigumo, and Yamakaji disembarked in succession, surrounded by large groups of Marines as they headed straight for the prison.
Soon after, Smoker and Tina also arrived in a hurry, all of them wanting to see with their own eyes the evil red rabbit bold enough to slaughter the Goa Kingdom's royals and kill Saint Charloss by itself.
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