One Piece: Starting as a Marine Lieutenant, I Slack Off and Get Stronger

Ah Long grabbed his teeth, pulled them out completely, then put them on his hand and punched Smoker.

"Die, Navy!"

Smoker remained completely unmoved, even wanting to laugh a little. Well, a pirate with a bounty of 2000 million could only be this good.

puff~

The ferocious dragon punched Smoker through the chest, but only a puff of smoke appeared.

Ah Long looked at Smoker with a surprised expression. The feel of his skin reminded him of his experience years ago when a lewd-looking man draped a thin veil over him.

"Have you had enough trouble?"

Smoker clenched his fist and swung it backhand, hitting Aaron hard in the face. With a loud thud, Aaron flew out of the water.

Hearing the commotion outside, the orange-haired girl who was drawing a nautical chart quietly slipped out of the room and saw Ah Long fall to the ground, rolling more than a dozen times, his sharp teeth shattered all over the floor, and his nose was also knocked crooked, like a dead fish.

"what!"

Nami covered her mouth in surprise, unable to believe what she was seeing. Then she saw the Marines not far away and quickly hid, wondering if Captain Rat and Arlong had fallen out.

"Boss!!!"

"You despicable humans, I'll fight you to the death!!!"

Ain snorted coldly and charged toward a blue merman with protruding lips, knocking him to the ground with a punch.

"Damn it, drop your weapons! If you move again, I'll kill them!!!"

Ain turned his head and saw a white merman pointing a gun at a dozen or so trembling civilians.

Ain immediately raised his hand, signaling to stop the attack.

"Surrender! Your leader has been defeated. Stop making a futile struggle!"

Croobi swallowed hard, his voice a mixture of bravado and fear, and shouted, "Shut up! Tell your people to get out of here, or I'll kill them all!!!"

bang~

A bloody hole appeared between Chroobbi's eyebrows, and he collapsed to the ground in disbelief.

Karl, who was not far away, breathed a sigh of relief and blew away the smoke from the muzzle of his gun.

Arrest them all!

"Yes!!!"

Chapter 109 The Role of Bounties

Ten minutes later, the battle ended.

Three died and eight were captured alive, including Captain A Long and cadre Xiao Ba.

"Sir, there's a little girl here with a tattoo of the Arlong Pirates on her shoulder."

Carl beckoned with his finger: "Bring her over here!"

"Nami, that's Nami, big brother!" Nojiko quickly tugged at Karl's cloak, reminding him.

"Haha, don't worry!"

Nami was quickly brought over, and Nojiko hugged her tightly, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Nami, we're saved! You don't have to work for these bad guys anymore!"

"Yes! Sister, we're saved!"

Karl looked at the tattoo on Nami's shoulder, scratched his head, and instantly condensed a ball of white light in his palm, merging it into Nami's body.

"Hey! Nami, look! Your shoulder tattoo is gone!"

"Let me see! Wow!"

Nami looked at her shoulder, now fully restored, with a smile that mingled with tears in her eyes. Without the tattoo, she would no longer have to endure strange looks!

“Karl, this is evidence that the Arlong Pirates bribed rats.”

“Great, now we can go directly to Branch 16 to carry out the arrest.”

Smoker nodded, glanced at the two little girls huddled together, and whispered, "Who are these two little devils...?"

"Ignore them, mission accomplished, let's go!"

"Wait a moment!"

Karl turned around and saw Nami looking at him with a bright and determined gaze.

"Nami, is there anything else?"

Nami shook her head and said earnestly, "Thank you! Thank you for saving our village!"

Karl chuckled lightly: "You're welcome. We're from the Navy."

Nami stood there stunned, and by the time she came to her senses, the Marines had vanished without a trace.

On the shore, Karl refused Kensuke's offer to invite them to dinner and left Cocoyasi Village. Just kidding, they were navy, and there was no tradition of staying for a banquet after helping someone out.

Besides, the main task here is to collect evidence of rat corruption, and dealing with the Arlong Pirates is just a side effect.

Karl didn't care much about Nami, one of the main characters. After all, she was just a little girl. Although she had some talent for navigation, it was dispensable to him and didn't amount to much help.

In short, any ideas you have are unacceptable, otherwise you'll face severe consequences.

In the lounge.

Smoker flipped through the transaction records between Aaron and Colonel Rat, his face turning ashen.

"That bastard, he can be bought off for 1000 million Berries, just how poor is he?"

Carl laughed and said, "Ten million is quite a lot! Otherwise, at his salary, it would take him more than ten years to earn that much!"

To be honest, Karl's monthly salary is only 100 million Berries, but the benefits are pretty good. He gets free meals and accommodation, has a lot of power, and is provided with transportation. His salary is basically enough to live on.

But the Navy doesn't just rely on a fixed salary; the bulk of their income comes from bonuses.

Where does the prize money come from? Pirates!

For each pirate with a bounty of different amounts captured, headquarters would distribute one-third of the pirate's bounty as a reward to the commander who captured the pirate as an incentive.

When Karl first joined the Navy, he had a hard time understanding what the purpose of bounties was.

Send bounty hunters to catch pirates? To incite a competition among pirates?

Gradually, Karl understood.

The so-called bounty is a reward that will surely attract brave men.

The Navy's purpose in offering bounties to pirates is to gather heroes from all over the world to fight them.

Since pirates dare to go out to sea to burn, kill, and plunder, there will surely be righteous people who will strike back against these pirates. As a reward, they will receive their own compensation from the Navy.

For the navy, the most important function of bounties is to allow the navy to have a general assessment of the pirates' strength when they encounter them, so that the naval commanders can issue orders to attack, retreat, or call for rescue.

For example, if an ordinary naval soldier suddenly encounters an ordinary pirate, and the navy simply prints a wanted poster saying that the person is a pirate without specifying the bounty, then the naval soldier is very likely to be completely confused.

He didn't know what kind of powerful force was behind the other party, nor did he understand the extent of their strength. If he rashly rushed up and fought to the death, he might just be killed outright.

But if you choose to retreat and avoid a direct confrontation just because the other party looks fierce and intimidating or seems powerful, only to find out later that the other party is just a small fry, how embarrassing would that be?

Secondly, there are bonus incentives, or performance-based rewards. The harder you catch pirates, the more bonuses you get and the faster you level up.

Although we only received one-third, warships, manpower, materials, and compensation for fallen soldiers all cost money. Receiving one-third was already quite good; it was better than nothing.

For example, during the time Karl went from major to major general, he earned more than 2 million bounties just from capturing pirates, which was more than ten years' worth of his salary.

It can only be said that for those with strong abilities, making money is very easy, but for a naval officer of Captain Rat's caliber, getting 1000 million Berries without embezzling and taking bribes is as difficult as climbing to the sky.

For pirates, a bounty is both a recognition of their strength and a death warrant. Unless you can become one of the Four Emperors, you will face endless pursuit by the Navy and bounty hunters.

Even someone as strong as Roger was chased all over the world by Garp back then, especially after he became the Pirate King, when a whole bunch of his peers wanted to challenge him.

However, it is undeniable that the existence of bounties has indeed fostered a competitive atmosphere among pirates, to the point that some pirates commit crimes in order to gain fame and thus increase their bounties.

As for bounty hunters, Karl won't comment too much. In any case, their existence can help the Navy deal with some small fry, allowing the Navy to focus on dealing with the great pirates.

Simply put, it's somewhat useful, but not much.

Cocoa West Village.

Nami and Nojiko came to Bellemere's tombstone together and sobbed softly. After a long time, the two little girls finally emerged from their grief.

"Sigh~ I wish Brother Karl and the others could have come sooner, then..."

Nojiko wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes and looked directly into Nami's eyes: "Nami, don't say that, let bygones be bygones!"

"Yes, you're right. From today onwards, I will study even harder to become an excellent navigator!"

Nochiko smiled. She had no talent for drawing; all she wanted was to take over Bellemere's responsibilities and protect their orange grove.

"Go for it, Nami! Maybe one day you'll become a Marine too!"

Nami nodded without saying a word, placed the flowers on Bellemere's tombstone, and then left hand in hand with Nojiko.

After the two little girls left, Kensuke emerged from the bushes and stood before Bellemere's grave.

"Ugh......"