Chapter 30: Shells Town
♂While sailing, Ian was also checking the system in his mind.
After two years, Ian's experience had finally increased again. On Buggy's pirate ship, he had taken down nine pirate lackeys, each providing him with 150 experience points. As for the experience gained from defeating Cabaji, it was even greater—a whopping 4,300 points!
The stronger the opponent, the more experience they provided—Ian had already confirmed this. With this new batch of experience, he was close to leveling up to six.
Levels were secondary; what Ian really wanted now was to obtain better cards to use. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but glance at Cabaji. He didn't even remember what Cabaji's current bounty was; he would have to take him to the Marines to find out.
With that in mind, Ian asked Cabaji curiously, "By the way, what is your Buggy Pirates doing in the East Blue anyway?"
If he remembered correctly, Buggy should have a map of the Grand Line. For other pirates, heading to the Grand Line might be a difficult task, but for Buggy, it was simple. After all, he had followed Pirate King Roger and conquered the Grand Line once before. Having a map but not using it, instead staying in the East Blue for so long—Ian wondered what Buggy was planning.
Ian was curious about this, so he asked Cabaji. As an executive of the Buggy Pirates, he should know some inside information.
Cabaji had lost too much blood and was now feeling cold all over. He was probably even more eager than Ian to reach land, because once ashore, even if Ian handed him over to the Marines, they would treat his injuries.
Hearing Ian's question, he replied weakly, "How would I know? We all follow Captain Buggy's orders... I said, can't your boat go any faster?"
"I haven't eaten, so I have no strength!" Ian shot him a glare. He didn't feel like rowing faster now.
After all, he had jumped into the sea to catch fish because he was starving, only to have his things stolen by these guys, forcing him to fight on an empty stomach. Just thinking about it made Ian's tone toward Cabaji sour.
Cabaji was on the verge of tears. He felt that Ian was his worst nightmare. Now, even begging to be captured by the Marines required him to first check Ian's mood...
However, perhaps Cabaji wasn't destined to die just yet. As the two were talking, the outline of an island's landmass appeared faintly in the distance.
…………………………
Outside the dock of a small island, a short, frail boy was sitting in a small boat, fishing. He had pink hair and wore round glasses. Because of his nearsightedness, he looked a bit dazed.
His fishing rod had been in the water for a long time without any movement. Feeling mentally exhausted, he tilted his head back and yawned.
The tears from the yawn blurred his vision. Just then, he seemed to see a small boat in the distance heading toward him.
Thinking he might be mistaken, he quickly rubbed the moisture from his eyes and looked again. Sure enough, there really was a small boat.
"Is it a fisherman returning from sea?" he thought.
The boat drew closer, and the boy saw a figure stand up on the small vessel, waving and calling out to him, "Little brother, is there a Marine base on this island?"
The boy had never been addressed with such a term before. For a moment, he felt as if he had grown up a bit, scratching his head and grinning foolishly.
The person on the newly arrived boat was, of course, Ian. Seeing someone on the opposite boat, he had asked the question. But instead of answering, the other person just laughed stupidly. Ian thought to himself, "Is this kid slow-witted?"
When the two boats got closer, the boy finally saw Cabaji, covered in blood, lying in Ian's cabin. He screamed in fright and stammered, "He... what happened to him? How... how did he get so badly injured?"
Ian noticed that the pink-haired boy looked somewhat familiar, so he answered a bit more, "Oh, this guy is a pirate. I caught him and need to hand him over to the Marines. Do you know the way to the Marine base?"
Hearing this, the boy relaxed a little and said, "I... I know. How about I take you there?"
Ian was pleased. That would be great.
So, under the boy's guidance, Ian docked the boat at the pier, tied it up with a rope, and then grabbed Cabaji and jumped ashore.
"You're really strong!" the boy said, looking at Ian with envy. "Big brother, are you a pirate hunter?"
"Yeah!" Ian nodded. "But I just started out. This guy is the first pirate I've caught."
After saying that, Ian suddenly remembered something and asked him, "By the way, what's your name?"
"My name is Koby!" the boy said.
Koby? Ian looked at him in surprise. No way, what a coincidence? Looking more closely at the boy, there was no mistake—he indeed had that dazed look.
Although Ian knew that this kid would later meet Luffy, join the Marines, and follow Vice Admiral Garp, he didn't think much of it. That was a long time in the future. For now, Koby was just an undeveloped little kid.
"Alright, Koby! I'm Ian. Can you take me to the Marine base?" Ian asked him.
"Yeah, sure!" Koby glanced fearfully at Cabaji and instinctively walked on the other side of Ian.
This place looked like a small town, much more prosperous than Ian's Shimotsuki Village. The streets were clean, lined with shops, and seemed quite lively. Ian wondered if this was the town where Koushirou had bought medicine for Kuina.
Since Cabaji, whom Ian was carrying, was covered in blood, the passersby looked at the three of them in surprise and tried to stay out of their way.
However, Ian noticed that although the people avoided them, they didn't look particularly scared. Was it because there was a Marine base on the island?
He asked Koby, who nodded and said, "That's right, Ian big brother. This is Shells Town. Marine Branch 153 is stationed here on the island, and just a few days ago, a Marine hero emerged here, so the people aren't afraid of pirates."
"Shells Town?" Ian was stunned. This was Shells Town?
He quickly asked, "What Marine hero? Don't tell me it's Morgan?"
"So you've heard of it too, Ian big brother?" Koby said in surprise. "Yeah, it's Chief Petty Officer Morgan. Oh, no! He's been promoted to Lieutenant now. Because of his achievements, he recently captured Captain Kuro of the Black Cat Pirates! So he got promoted. Now the whole town is talking about it, calling him a hero."
Black Cat Pirates, Captain Kuro, and Morgan—a series of familiar names stirred Ian's memories, making him frown.
Koby didn't notice Ian's change in expression and continued enthusiastically, "I heard that battle was terrible. A whole ship of Marine soldiers died, and even Lieutenant Morgan's jaw was shattered by that vicious Captain Kuro! Luckily, Lieutenant Morgan still managed to catch him and bring him back."
"Now the whole town admires him!" Koby said with sparkling eyes. "I feel the same way. I want to join the Marines someday, and then I'll become a Marine hero like Morgan, catching all the vicious pirates!"
Hearing this, Ian naturally noticed the festive atmosphere in the town. It seemed Koby was telling the truth—the townspeople were celebrating the downfall of the Black Cat Pirates.
Ian looked at Koby, who was lost in his dreams, with some pity. He really wanted to say, don't admire that Morgan. Because not long from now, this Ax-Hand Morgan would be promoted to Captain, and then you people of Shells Town would taste his tyranny. He's not a Marine hero at all. Even the Captain Kuro he caught is fake!
And when he becomes Captain and takes over Shells Town, this arrogant and conceited man will do whatever he wants in this Marine town. The people who admire him now will be terrified of him in a few years.
Of course, Ian wouldn't say these things to Koby now. Even if he did, no one would believe him. He just said to Koby, "Earlier, I saw you fishing? Do you like fishing?"
"Yeah!" Koby nodded.
"In the future, when you go out to sea to fish, be careful," Ian could only say this vaguely, leaving Koby confused.
He wondered if this reminder would prevent Koby from foolishly boarding the wrong ship and being captured by the female pirate Alvida to do hard labor.
As they talked, the Marine base came into view. It was a tower-like structure, narrow at the top and wide at the bottom, resembling a nuclear cooling tower. The tower was painted with camouflage patterns, had many windows, and bore the Marine's unique seagull emblem in an M shape. At the top, the Marine flag flew, and some cannons were arranged.
When Koby led Ian near the tower, patrolling Marine soldiers noticed them. Seeing the weapons on Ian's back and the seriously injured person he was carrying, the soldiers immediately became alert. They raised their guns at Ian and shouted, "Stop! This is a Marine base. What are you doing here?"