Marcus headed over to the local marine base after he ditched his costume to pick up a stack of updated bounty posters. When he arrived at Grove sixty six he found it was exactly the same as the last time he visited the place over a year ago. He approached the main gate of the base he found the place was a bee hive of activity as groups of marines rushed around inside.
Marcus let a full squad leave the gate before he stepped up to the guards and said, "I'm here to collect a set of the newest bounty posters."
The marine sized Marcus up for a moment before he pointed towards one of the smaller buildings that almost looked like a melted candle as he said, "You can collect the bounty posters from the information center… But don't wander around or cause problems. Collect the posters and leave."
Marcus nodded slightly before he headed towards the indicated building and quickly found the main entrance. After Marcus stepped inside and closed the thick, solid wood door, the din of the outside activity was replaced with the sound of a quiet office. Marcus heard the faint sound of paper shuffling while someone hummed to themselves from down the main hallway. On each side of the hallway were a couple of doors each with a different name. But at the end of the main hallway before it opened up was a sign that hung from the ceiling and read, 'Information Desk'.
Marcus quickly walked down the hall and quickly noticed the large desk just past the hallway. The desk was circular and people could easily walk around either side to head deeper into the building or to one of the side pathways. Seated near the left in the middle of the circle desk was an older man with glasses. He was in the middle of sorting papers when Marcus stepped up and cleared his throat. The man didn't even glance up but stopped humming as he said, "Give me a minute."
The man quickly resumed humming as he continued with his task before he stuffed everything into a large folder and closed it up. After he placed the folder down he pushed with his feet and his chair rolled towards Marcus as the man spun around. The man stopped in front of Marcus behind the desk and adjusted his glasses before he asked, "Yes? What can I help you with, young man?"
The man quickly assessed Marcus with a single look and before Marcus even opened his mouth the man added, "If you're here to enlist, take the left hallway and just follow the signs."
"I'm just here for the newest bounty posters."
The older man frowned slightly as he gave Marcus a second glance that lasted longer this time before he said, "Bounty hunting on Sabaody is a lot more dangerous than anywhere else on the Grandline… You'd do better if you joined up with the marines lad… You'd definitely live longer."
Marcus smirked slightly as he said, "If my own family can't talk me into joining, you have no chance…. So bounty posters?"
The man shot backwards towards the other side of the desk as he spun around while Marcus heard the man mumble to himself, "Stupid kids always want to chase money, just to wind up dead."
Marcus didn't drop his smirk as the man quickly grabbed a stack of bounty posters from a cabinet under the desk before he rolled back over. He reluctantly handed them to Marcus as he said, "Here you go kid."
As Marcus took them from the man he asked, "Do you happen to know if any of them are currently on or around Sabaody?"
"I don't have that type of information and even if I did, it's not something the marines share with civilians."
Marcus thumbed through the bounty posters for a few moments before he nodded towards the man as he said, "Not a big deal, just thought I would ask."
Marcus waved the posters as he started to turn around and said, "Thanks for the help."
Marcus studied the wanted posters more thoroughly as he exited the building and left the marine base. From there the first thing he did was head towards ship coating groves to do a bit of reconnaissance and find out which pirate crews were currently on the island. When he arrived he quickly moved through each dock area and easily found a handful of notable pirate ships. After cross checking with the new bounty posters, he found over ten pirates with bounties that would easily total over six hundred million if he collected them all.
Marcus stopped by each dock yard and inquired about the location of the pirate crews. But every one of them said the same thing, they didn't know and were only paid to coat the ship. Marcus wasn't really surprised by the answers even if he was hoping to get a lucky break. With the knowledge that certain pirate crews were on the island, Marcus headed off to get his sword before he started his search.
Since Marcus wanted to be as efficient as possible, he picked up his sword and then headed straight for Grove thirty. His plan was to start at the farthest point of the lawless zone and then work towards the marine base. Any pirate with a bounty he found along the way would most likely be captured unless he knew they were decent people. While he couldn't be completely sure, it was normally easy to figure out which pirates were scum by how they treated normal people.
Scum like pirates didn't care and would do whatever they wanted, especially when it came to interacting with civilians. Plus their bounty posters always included their crimes and while Marcus would believe everything on the poster. If people had rape, mass murder and kidnapping listed as part of their crimes, Marcus tended to believe it.
While Marcus's only experience with other pirates was Shanks and his crew, he knew there were more pirates like them in the world. So if he ran into those types, he would let them go… After a quick spar to see how strong they were.
Marcus wasted little time and when he made it to Grove thirty he started searching bars and restaurants for anyone with a bounty. The first few places were duds but at the last bar before he reached the bridge to Grove twenty nine he found someone. It was a crew member with a bounty of fifty million, which was a decent price for someone not in the command structure of the crew.
Marcus walked into the bar boldly with the man's bounty posters in hand and stepped up to the man who was busy drinking with some crew mates. Everyone in the bar quieted down as Marcus approached the table and a few even started to place bets on what was about to happen. The man in question and his buddies stopped drinking and focused on Marcus who held up the poster and he double checked the man's features.
The man in question was tall, easily taller than Marcus and he was still seated in a chair. The man had a thin build with long brown hair tied in a ponytail. He placed the bottle in his hand on the table as he asked in a growling tone, "You lost boy?"
Marcus took another look at the poster as he asked, "Maybe, are you Stick Richard of the Rockler Pirate crew?"
The man narrowed his eyes for a few moments before he let out a laugh and said, "Get a load of this kid, I think he's trying to be a bounty hunter."
His crew mates and other people in the bar started to laugh before Marcus put the bounty poster in his pocket and said, "I'll take that as a yes… Please step outside, I'd rather not damage the bar placing you under arrest."
The entire bar erupted into roaring laughter as the man in question flipped off Marcus and said, "Fuck off kid and leave before your mom has to come pick you up in a body bag."
A crazy grin similar to what Garp would show when he trained Marcus spread across his face before Marcus said, "I was hoping you would say that."
Before the laughter even stopped or the man could reply, Marcus kicked the edge of the table towards the man with all of his strength. One moment the man and his friends were still there laughing and the next moment half of them were gone and a massive hole was in the side of the building. The room went deathly silent as Marcus glanced around at everyone and said, "Hope you all liked the show, make sure you pay the bar owner extra before you leave so he can repair the damage."
One of the bolder people in the room stood as he said, "What?!? No way, you pay for it, you're the one who caused the damage!"
Marcus turned towards the man as he asked, "Do you wanna be next?"
The man quickly sat back down as he shook his head so Marcus turned and walked out of the hole he just created. Richard was still dazed along with his other friends when Marcus reached them. Instead of letting him recover, Marcus jumped towards the man and punched him in the head a few times to knock him out. Most people on the street took off and the few that stayed only cautiously watched from the side, ready to run at any moment.
With his first bounty captured, Marcus grabbed the man and carried him like a sack of potatoes over one shoulder while his feet dragged on the ground. Marcus moved from Grove thirty to twenty nine and as he walked, quickly realized he would either need to keep the pirates awake, or find something to carry them with. As Marcus walked to the next bar he noticed a teenager who made bubbles that could be used to carry items.
Marcus approached the androgynous looking teenager who only had a small sign and a bubble wand before he held up his bounty as he asked, "Can you make a bubble so I can carry this guy around?"
The teenager was thin and dressed almost like a beggar with their worn, oversized clothes that were more patches than the original material. They had sharp almond shaped eyes that constantly scanned around them for threats. Their cheek bones were sunken like they were malnourished and Marcus couldn't tell what their natural hair color was because of how dirty their short hair was. Their eyes briefly paused as they warily glanced from Marcus to the unconscious pirate before they nodded slowly and said in an overly gruff almost fake voice, "Yes, for ten belly."
"I'll give you a million belly if you follow me around and carry all the bounties I collect today."
The teenager's eyes stopped moving for once and almost popped out of their head as they asked while their voice cracked, "One million?!?"
Marcus pointed to the man on his shoulder as he said, "I'll pay you from this guy's bounty, he's worth fifty million."
The teenager looked at the pirate for a few moments before they quickly glanced around and noticed other people eyeing Marcus and the bounty on his shoulder. The teenager slowly shook their head as they said in their gruff voice, "I'd like the money, but if I follow you I won't live long enough to collect it."
Marcus followed the teenager's gaze as he said, "Don't worry about those small fry, they won't be able to touch you if you stick with me."
The teenager glanced back and forth for a few moments before they gritted their teeth and shoved out their hand as they said, "Fine! I'll trust my life to you for ten million belly!"
Marcus was about to shake their hand when he froze in place and asked, "Ten million?"
"Damn right, if I'm gonna trust a stranger with my life, then it's not gonna be cheap!"
"Five million!" Marcus said before they replied, "Nine million!"
"Six!"
"Eight point five million!"
Marcus narrowed his eyes slightly as he said, "Seven million!"
"Eight point two five!"
"Eight million and not a penny more!" Marcus said before the teenager's hand shot out like a snake and quickly shook Marcus's as they said, "Deal!"
Marcus shook his head slightly as he said, "Fine…"
The teenager quickly used their bubble wand to gather up some resin from a tree root before they created a decent sized bubble. After the bubble formed, Marcus quickly tossed the pirate into it and watched it sink down to a few feet off the ground. The teenager quickly made a few more bubbles before they connected them together and then attached a string to them. Then they glanced at Marcus as they asked, "Where are we going now?"
"To search for more bounties… I'm Marcus by the way."
"J." J said as they started following Marcus with the bubbles and the wand in their hand.
"J? Like j-a-y?"
J shook their head as they said, "Just the letter J."
Marcus nodded slightly before he glanced back at the sign they were leaving behind as he said, "You're forgetting your sign back there."
J didn't even look at it as they said, "It's not mine, I stole it this morning along with this wand."