Chapter 66: Bounty Hunter Group
"You're saying... he's been looking up Bann Bannor Island in the Ilucia Kingdom?"
In the room, Smoker was biting a cigar, shirtless, slowly stacking stones one on top of another like a tower. Upon hearing the report from the Marine soldier at the door, he asked without turning his head.
"Yes, Captain Smoker!" The Marine soldier raised his hand in a salute.
"Got it. You're dismissed."
Smoker acknowledged, and after the Marine soldier left, he leaned back in his chair and began to think.
Although Ian held the title of swordsmanship instructor, he wasn't a true Marine yet. Smoker couldn't let him run rampant in the Marine base, so he had arranged for people to keep an eye on Ian's activities. Lately, aside from teaching swordsmanship to the Marines, Ian had just been fishing by the shore in Loguetown—nothing out of the ordinary. But suddenly, he went to the archives to look up maps of the West Blue, which was strange. So, after Ian left, the Marine soldier in the archives naturally reported this to Smoker.
"West Blue? Bann Bannor? What kind of place is that?"
There were too many islands on the sea, and Smoker certainly couldn't know them all. He didn't know where Bann Bannor was, but he did know the Ilucia Kingdom.
It was one of the member states of the World Government. Every time the World Conference was held at Holy Land Mary Geoise, the king of the Ilucia Kingdom would attend. Having been stationed at Marine Headquarters, Smoker had heard of it. When the Marine soldier mentioned the name in his report, Smoker immediately recalled it.
"The Ilucia Kingdom? I've heard that in recent years, there have been quite a few uprisings and riots in that country, with the Revolutionary Army's shadow behind them. Why is this guy Ian inquiring about that country's territory?"
Smoker didn't know much about Ian's affairs, so he had no clues to connect the dots.
But when he thought of Ian, the image of that bear-like hat involuntarily came to mind, followed by the illusion of the eye on Ian's forehead.
For some reason, Smoker suddenly had a bad feeling. His intuition told him that Ian might grow into a dangerous person.
But he couldn't pinpoint exactly where the danger lay.
Shaking his head, Smoker had to set the thought aside. He couldn't suspect someone of being good or evil based on baseless guesses. Besides, regardless, Ian's identity was that of a pirate hunter. From that perspective, at least, he was still on the side of "justice."
Ian had no idea about Smoker's suspicions. At that moment, he was at the hospital, visiting Johnny and Joseph.
During the battle below the execution platform square, Ace had carried them off to the side, sparing them from Buggy's later cannonballs and the fight between the Marines and pirates. Their injuries hadn't worsened. After Smoker and Tashigi had cleaned up the mess, the two were sent to the hospital for treatment. However, since they had been beaten by the Krieg Pirates for a long time, their injuries were severe, and they were only now starting to recover.
When Ian entered the hospital, he found the two guys wrapped in bandages from head to toe, but still maintaining their cool demeanor. Johnny had even put his sunglasses back on. They were wolfing down food, leaving the nurses and doctors nearby stunned.
"What tenacity!" Ian sighed, walking in to greet them. "You two are okay? Eating like that already?"
Johnny and Joseph looked up, and when they saw Ian, they couldn't help but raise their hands excitedly and shout, "Ian, big brother!?"
"I'm sorry for dragging you into this," Ian said, finding a chair by their beds and sitting down. The doctors and nurses tactfully left to let them talk.
Hearing Ian's words, Johnny and Joseph shook their heads. "Don't say that. We should thank you for avenging us!"
"What are your plans from now on?" Ian didn't want to exchange thanks back and forth, so he asked directly, "Do you want to come with me to the Grand Line?"
This incident had given Ian some fondness for Johnny and Joseph. Their loyalty was unquestionable. Although their strength was lacking, they were good at gathering information and knew a fair bit about navigation. Ian didn't want to travel alone, so he asked them this. If they agreed, he wouldn't mind taking them along.
However, to his surprise, Johnny and Joseph exchanged a glance and then shook their heads. "Ian, big brother, thanks for the offer! But we know our strength is too weak. If we go to the Grand Line, we'll definitely hold you back. It's better to stay in the East Blue and catch small-time pirates."
Ian understood immediately. These two didn't have grand ambitions, so he didn't press further. "Alright. If anyone bullies you in the future, just use my name."
Johnny and Joseph grinned. "You don't need to say that—we will. You're our big brother!"
Ian couldn't help but laugh. These two were still the same, always quick to take advantage. But they had good hearts, and Ian didn't mind them using his name. He believed that after killing Krieg, his name would intimidate many pirates, giving Johnny and Joseph a bit more safety.
After thinking for a moment, he added, "By the way, if you stay in the East Blue, you might run into my junior brother in two years. His name is Roronoa Zoro. If you meet him, help him out. That guy has no sense of direction—without someone to guide him, he could get lost all the way to the bottom of the sea!"
"Really? We'll remember that!" Johnny and Joseph replied. "Don't worry, Ian, big brother!"
After chatting for a while, Johnny and Joseph asked Ian, "Big brother, have you figured out how to get to the Grand Line?"
Ian scratched his head. "Actually, I thought about hitching a ride on a Marine ship through the Calm Belt. That way, I'd just be a passenger. But the Marines from Headquarters that Smoker brought here went back to report a while ago, so now I don't have a good plan."
"You can't take risks alone, Ian, big brother!" Johnny said. "Even if you had a ship, you couldn't handle it by yourself."
"I know that," Ian replied. "But you two don't want to come with me."
"You could try recruiting people in Loguetown!" Joseph suggested. "Maybe there are other bounty hunters willing to join your ship."
Before Ian could respond, Johnny objected, "Better not recruit here. The bounty hunters in the East Blue are about as strong as we are. Even if you take them to the Grand Line, they'd be useless."
Ian thought about it and found it reasonable. The bounties on pirates in the East Blue were generally low, so the local bounty hunters weren't very skilled. He asked Johnny, "So what do you suggest?"
"Find them on the Grand Line!" Johnny said. "Since you're set on being a pirate hunter, you could form a bounty hunter group. There are plenty of pirates on the Grand Line, but also many bounty hunters. Some people who can't make it as pirates and want to go straight might join you. Their strength might not be great, but they know the Grand Line well, which is better than recruiting from the East Blue."
Ian's interest was piqued. He was right. Relying on his own strength alone wouldn't work. Without people, gathering information would be hard. He could only catch pirates as they came, waiting for them to show up. But with subordinates, he could gather intel and strike proactively.
Johnny's suggestion reminded Ian of Crocodile's Baroque Works. Although it was a secret criminal organization, on the surface, it operated as a bounty hunter group.
And not just that—there were plenty of bounty hunter groups on the Sabaody Archipelago. Their composition might be mixed, but such organizations did exist.
Seeing Ian's thoughtful expression, Johnny knew he was considering it and continued, "As for getting to the Grand Line, Ian, big brother, you don't have to go alone. You could join a merchant convoy!"
"Huh? A merchant convoy?" Ian asked in surprise. "Are there merchant convoys brave enough to go to the Grand Line?"
"Of course there are. The only entrance to the Grand Line is Reverse Mountain, and it's dangerous, but the lure of commercial profit is too strong!" Johnny explained. "For example, liquor from the East Blue doesn't sell for much here, but once it's shipped to the Grand Line, the price goes up five times or more. If you're lucky enough to bring back specialties from the Grand Line islands, the profit is even higher. So every year, many merchant associations form fleets to head to the Grand Line. It's the same in the other three seas. Loguetown is the closest place in the East Blue to the Grand Line entrance, so finding a merchant convoy is easy."
Joseph nodded. "That's right. And now you're the most famous bounty hunter in the East Blue, Ian, big brother. Those merchant convoys will be scrambling to recruit you. You can even make some money on the side!"