As the Kōta and his crew encountered the Mad Bull Pirates, back at Marine Headquarters, their matters were being discussed.
In a large office within the towering central building of Marine Headquarters.
This time, not only Sengoku and the other two Admirals, but essentially all the Vice Admirals currently stationed at Headquarters were seated in this office.
They sat in two rows on the floor.
Sengoku sat at the head of the right-hand row.
Sengoku looked at the only person standing and said, "Brannu, tell us! What is the agenda for this grand meeting?"
"Yes! Fleet Admiral,"
Brannu gave a military salute.
In private, they usually called Sengoku "Mister Sengoku," but in public, they all addressed him as "Fleet Admiral."
Brannu straightened his expression and spoke seriously, "There are mainly two matters."
"The first is about an East Blue pirate crew."
"The second is about Fire Fist Ace."
"Wait, Brannu."
At this moment, a burly man on the right, whose eyes were almost closed even when open, with a thick brown beard, wearing an orange double-breasted suit with a dark red tie, smoking a cigar, smiled and stopped Brannu.
"What is it, Momonga-san?"
Brannu looked at Momonga in confusion.
"It's nothing much. I'm interested in Ace's matter, but a pirate crew from the East Blue, is there anything special about it?"
Momonga directly asked the question on the minds of most Vice Admirals present.
It wasn't that they looked down on the East Blue, but ever since the Pirate King Roger, no pirate from the East Blue had ever required their serious attention.
The Vice Admirals all turned to look at Brannu.
"No need to rush, sirs. I will be talking about this pirate crew next."
He gestured to several photos on the blackboard.
Besides the photos that had appeared in Sengoku's office last time, there were also photos of the Arlong Pirates on the blackboard.
And among them was a close-up photo of the headless Colonel Nezumi.
It was unclear when these guys had taken the photos.
They had burned down Arlong Park after receiving the money.
So, if they took photos, it should have been when Kōta and Kuina were collecting the money from Ahua and the other two.
Brannu pointed to a photo of Kōta and his crew confronting the Krieg Pirates and said.
"The first time we discovered these people was when they were fighting the Krieg Pirates."
Then he pointed to Kuina, Kōta, and the giant ship split in two.
"From the post-analysis, their captain, Kōta, should be a great swordsman, and this young girl, Kuina, should be at least a sword master."
"Great swordsman?"
At this, the Vice Admirals collectively shed their condescension, and a hint of solemnity flashed in their eyes.
Brannu glanced at Sengoku and continued, "Since we didn't find any dangerous actions from them last time, and they also didn't fly a pirate flag, we didn't pay too much attention to it."
Sengoku nodded and said, "Yes! This was something we discussed last time. Since it wasn't a major issue, we didn't notify everyone, only the East Blue branches."
Then his eyes flashed with brilliance, and he said sternly, "But this time is different. The World Government has requested us to issue bounties."
As soon as he received the news, he had the East Blue Marines investigate the whole matter.
Of course, he also learned about the collusion between Colonel Nezumi and the Arlong Pirates.
Regarding this matter, as long as Nezumi was alive, it could be handled. But with Nezumi dead, it was no longer just a pirate issue.
According to the World Government's intentions, Nezumi's death could not be revealed to the public, and even within the Marines, it should be downplayed as much as possible.
After all, it was quite disgraceful, wasn't it?
"Continue, Brannu,"
Sengoku ordered, staring at Brannu.
"Understood, Fleet Admiral."
Brannu turned and pointed to the remaining photos.
"From these photos, we can see that after Kōta and his group defeated Krieg, they went to the Baratie, the sea restaurant. Their sailing route clearly shows that they were originally heading directly to Loguetown."
"But for some reason, they suddenly turned from Baratie towards the Gomon Islands and directly found the Arlong Pirates who had been stationed there."
"Arlong Pirates?"
Momonga asked, "Is it the pirate crew formed by the fish-men who were with the Sun Pirates, alongside the Shichibukai 'Knight of the Sea' Jinbe?"
"Yes, Momonga-san."
Brannu replied, "The captain of the Arlong Pirates, Arlong, was originally imprisoned in Impel Down. Jinbe, using his Shichibukai privileges, had him released."
He pointed to the photos of the Arlong Pirates and continued, "Their captain Arlong and his cadres Kuroobi, Chew, and Hatchan were all crew members of the Sun Pirates."
"Hmm! I knew this guy looked familiar. So it's the fish-man Arlong."
Momonga nodded and then said, "I apologize, Brannu. Please continue. I captured this guy and sent him to Impel Down six years ago. I was just curious how he ended up in the East Blue again."
He was a Vice Admiral from the New World and generally did not pay attention to the affairs of the Four Seas, let alone a pirate with a bounty of 20 million.
He was unaware that Arlong had been released and had formed a pirate crew.
"Alright, Momonga-san."
Brannu paused and then said, "Based on the situation, they were either directly targeting Arlong, or they suddenly received some news and went there."
"As for the reason, it's currently unknown."
He knew the reason, but he couldn't say it. He couldn't possibly say that a pirate went there to defeat Arlong and liberate the villagers, could he!
"Then what about the death of this Colonel Nezumi?"
At this point, another Vice Admiral asked.
"As for Colonel Nezumi…"
Honestly, he didn't care at all about the death of a scourge like Nezumi. If he hadn't been killed by Kōta and his crew, Headquarters wouldn't have let them off.
But since Nezumi was dead, this was another incident.
The World Government, for the sake of its reputation, had no intention of letting Kōta and his crew off.
After all, to them, it was just one more pirate crew.
Brannu thought for a moment, then decided to stick to the script.
"The World Government states that Nezumi received orders to hunt down Arlong's group, and he happened to encounter Kōta's crew, leading to his death."
"Is that so…!"
The Marines present were not fools. Nezumi clearly looked like a coward; how could he dare to hunt down the Arlong Pirates?
Although they knew there were issues, they didn't ask.
There were many things in the World Government and the Marines that could not be questioned.
Brannu pointed to the last photo and said, "This is the latest photo. They have already hoisted a pirate flag on their ship. It seems they have officially established themselves as a pirate crew."
He adjusted his glasses, turned his head, and said with a stern expression, "Their murder of fellow Marines this time is a provocation to the Marines and an insult to the World Government's prestige. We must retaliate."
He paused and looked at the Vice Admirals in the room, saying,
"We are here today to discuss how to set their bounties."
The Vice Admirals of the Marines were collectively silent at this moment.
This was clearly a task from the World Government.
They were asked to discuss.
How were they supposed to discuss?
They had no idea!
A great swordsman who hadn't committed any heinous crimes; setting too high a bounty would be unreasonable.
Setting it too low would be utterly useless.
They pondered for a while, and then, as if by telepathy, they all looked up at Sengoku.
"It's your turn, Sengoku-san."
Sensing the gaze of the Vice Admirals, Sengoku's lips twitched.
It was precisely because it was difficult that he had called all these Vice Admirals to discuss it. Now, why were they all looking at him?
Sengoku knew he couldn't avoid it. A sharp glint flashed in his eyes as he stared at the photos on the blackboard and said,
"If the bounty is too low, the government will be dissatisfied. If it's too high, it will be unreasonable."
He lowered his head and pondered for a moment, "Then let's make it 70 million!"
Then he turned his gaze to Kuina's photo, "As for this young girl, let's set her bounty at 30 million! To round off their pirate crew's total bounty."
The Vice Admirals around him nodded in unison as Sengoku made his decision.
Since Sengoku had made the decision, it meant that the initial bounty for this pirate crew was a hundred million.
A hundred million!
Never had a pirate crew received such a high bounty upon setting sail.
For a bounty of a hundred million, most Vice Admirals were only slightly surprised, as it didn't concern them much.
However, for the Vice Admirals of the branches in the first half of the Grand Line, it was somewhat concerning.
Judging by their route, this crew would reach the Grand Line before long and might intersect with them.
Putting aside the hundred million for now, this was a pirate crew with a great swordsman, making it difficult not to pay attention.
"Oh… right, Fleet Admiral, since you've set the bounty, shouldn't you also decide on their epithets?"
At this moment, Brannu spoke to Sengoku.
"Do I have to do everything? Then what are you all here for!"
Sengoku took a deep breath, suppressed his urge to complain, and said indifferently as a perfunctory reply, "The boy will be called Silver Hair. The girl will be called Blue Hair."
Everyone present twitched their mouths in unison.
"Hey! Isn't this too perfunctory?"
"Do you have to be so casual?"
However, seeing the gloomy aura emanating from Sengoku, they still didn't dare to speak up.
They stared at the photos of Kōta and Kuina on the blackboard.
They couldn't help but sigh.
"Truly remarkable!"
"It seems the Grand Line is about to become lively again!"