East Blue.
The Marine's 16th Branch.
This was a third-class branch. While it wasn't the smallest base in the Marine's system, in terms of scale, it ranked near the very bottom. After all, with the exception of Loguetown, every branch in the East Blue was merely third-class. That was the reality of the "weakest of the seas," compounded by the Marine's limited budget.
The standard complement for a third-class branch was 120 men, equipped with a single small warship. However, few branches in the East Blue were ever at full strength; most operated with only 50 to 80 personnel.
Currently, the reported strength of the 16th Branch was 80 men.
Of course, that was just the number Nezumi reported. In reality, there were barely fifty people; the rest were "ghost soldiers" existing only on paper. This was one of Nezumi's primary sources of income.
Even for marines in the four seas, the standard monthly salary was a full 100,000 Belly per person. Furthermore, if a soldier died in battle against pirates, there was a compensation payout of one million Belly.
Because the 16th Branch spent most of its time colluding with pirates, actual casualties were rare. Nevertheless, Headquarters still received annual reports from the 16th Branch detailing losses in personnel and equipment.
Nezumi was very meticulous with these numbers. If the losses were too high, Headquarters might send an inspector. But if they were too low, Headquarters would assume the 16th Branch was cowardly and avoiding combat. Thus, determining exactly how many "losses" to report each year was a delicate art.
As for the equipment reported as "lost," Nezumi simply sold it all on the underground black market.
'''
"What? The bounty hasn't been approved yet?"
"Incomplete data?"
"Impossible! I provided plenty of detail!"
"What? The sketch isn't enough? You want a photo?"
"Wasn't a sketch always fine before?"
"New regulations?"
"Fine! I'll find a way to get one as soon as possible!"
Inside the branch commander's office, Nezumi held a Den Den Mushi, his sleazy voice grating as he argued with the person on the other end. It was clear from his one-sided conversation that Headquarters had rejected the bounty application he submitted.
The reason was... missing information.
More absurdly, the "missing" information was that Nezumi had only provided a sketch rather than a photograph.
After hanging up, Nezumi's expression darkened.
"Dammit! Why change the rules now of all times?"
"Is Headquarters targeting me?"
'Knock, knock, knock...'
"Enter!"
"Captain! The harbor reports a ship is approaching our branch!"
"Pirates?"
"No, sir, it's a civilian vessel!"
"Then why bother reporting it? Just handle it the usual way!"
By "the usual way," Nezumi meant a very specific set of protocols.
If the visitors came to offer bribes, they were treated with hospitality. If they were victims of pirate raids seeking help, they were given a dismissive brush-off. But if they were escapees from islands controlled by the pirates the 16th Branch partnered with... they were detained and sent right back to the pirates to be dealt with.
The 16th Branch had played this game for years and had perfected it.
"Captain, the problem is... this is the same ship that was stolen from Sika Island!"
"Sika Island... the ship stolen by those two monsters?"
"Y-yes, sir!"
"Then why are you still standing here?! Order all marines to arm themselves and assemble at the harbor immediately! Tell the harbor crew to load every single cannon and sink them!"
"But..."
"They took down eight marines in an instant on Sika Island! Do you think we can handle them in a fair fight? If they set foot on this island... Hurry! Sink them at sea!"
"Yes, Captain!"
'''
At the harbor of the 16th Branch.
A Marine Lieutenant was currently directing a dozen marines as they pushed the 16th Branch's only three cannons into position.
"Lieutenant, the target is still three kilometers away. Should we fire now?"
"Fire my foot!"
The Lieutenant barked, stepping forward to smack the marine across the back of the head.
Three kilometers...
The most powerful naval guns at Headquarters could barely reach a bit over one kilometer. These small cannons? Even ignoring accuracy, they could maybe hit something at three hundred to five hundred meters.
The cannons in the world of One Piece were relics, much like the sailing ships they used. They were muzzle-loading smoothbores firing ancient spherical cannonballs. Truthfully, once a target was beyond two or three hundred meters, hitting it was purely a matter of luck.
Shortly after, Nezumi arrived with thirty more marines.
"What's going on? Why haven't you fired yet?"
"Captain, the target isn't in range yet..."
"Fine. Stay focused. The moment they enter range, sink them immediately!"
"Yes, Captain!"
Sailing ships were notoriously slow, and civilian vessels were even slower than Marine warships. It took a long while before Sean's ship finally drifted within the 500-meter mark.
"Fire!"
'Boom! Boom! Boom!'
"Quick, reload!"
"Yes, Lieutenant!"
'''
Approximately 500 meters from the 16th Branch.
On the ship from Cocoyasi Village, Sean and Ain stood at the bow.
"Ho ho, they're already opening fire!"
"Old man Sengoku, any thoughts?"
Beside them, Ain held a Visual Den Den Mushi. Everything happening here was being transmitted directly to Marine Headquarters.
"Dammit..."
The voice of Sengoku came through. To Sengoku, Nezumi—who was firing directly upon a civilian vessel—was nothing more than a cancer within the Marine.
"Tsk tsk, old man Sengoku, I've gotta say, these Marine cannons are pathetic. At a distance of 500 meters, the shells are missing by over a hundred meters!" Sean complained, watching the splashes of water in the distance.
The Den Den Mushi, in its characteristic way, mimicked exactly how dark Sengoku's expression was at that moment.
It was true that muzzle-loading smoothbores had poor range and frustrating accuracy. However, at 500 meters, they shouldn't have missed by a hundred meters.
The only explanation was... the marines of the 16th Branch were utterly incompetent. They lacked any semblance of professionalism; they likely never trained at all.
Sengoku had previously ordered a review of the 16th Branch's budget requests for the past few years. Every single report included a line item for training expenses, claiming they used at least 300 shells per month for live-fire practice.
At a glance, it looked like a branch that took training very seriously.
But looking at this now...
'Hmm?'
As the second wave of bombardment rained down, Sean noticed that one of the cannonballs was heading straight for him.
'Is this just a stroke of luck?'
Come to think of it, being constantly shelled was getting rather annoying.
In the next instant, Sean leaped over ten meters into the air. Like a soccer player trapping a ball, he hooked the blackened shell with the top of his foot.
"Not a bad shot. Have it back!"
After absorbing most of the shell's initial momentum, he unleashed a powerful whip kick, hurling the projectile right back where it came from.
A few moments later...
BOOM!!!
A violent explosion roared.
It didn't hit the ship, however; instead, it detonated at the harbor over four hundred meters away.
Watching the scene through the transmitted feed, Sengoku's mouth twitched.
Generally speaking, intercepting cannonballs during a naval battle wasn't rare; in fact, it was quite common. Whether it was slicing a shell in half with a sword, striking it with martial arts to knock it off course, or using various abilities to blow it up mid-air—all of that was normal.
But for someone to absorb the impact of a cannonball and then fling it back, as Sean had just done, was far less common. It required not only raw strength but also an incredibly high level of mastery in physical combat.
He was practically Garp 2.0!
After all, Garp was the only man in the Marine who enjoyed throwing cannonballs by hand. Though Sean had used his foot, the essence of the feat was exactly the same. Even if the speed of the shell he launched was far slower than Garp's, the principle remained.
'''
At the harbor of the 16th Branch, the scene was one of total chaos.
Three marines lay on the ground, their conditions unknown, and the cannon they had been operating was completely destroyed.
This left Nezumi absolutely terrified.
He muttered incessantly, "A monster... that guy is a monster!"