After a day of sailing, Rono arrived at the waters surrounding the town by the afternoon of the next day.
"Pirates are coming!" Chaos broke out at the docks—people were scrambling in panic. By the time Rono reached the pier, dozens of fully armed Marines were standing guard.
"The Mad Sword Pirate Crew, what do you think you're doing? The Rear Admiral will be here any minute—do you want to end up in prison?"
Rono leapt onto the helm and raised both hands high. "It's a misunderstanding! I'm a bounty hunter. I killed off the entire Mad Sword Pirate Crew. I'm just here to claim the bounty."
"Oh? So young, and you're claiming to have taken out the whole Mad Sword Pirate Crew?" said Rear Admiral Cassel, who had just arrived. "Oh! I get it. A few days ago, they tried to rob a merchant ship but ran into the Sapphire. They fled in disgrace. This kid probably got lucky and finished them off. If what he says is true, that is."
"Do you have any proof?" Cassel asked in a deep voice.
"Of course I do!" Rono started tossing bodies off the deck one by one onto the pier. Cassel signaled with his eyes, and a Marine slung his rifle and ran over to inspect them.
"Report, Rear Admiral. Confirmed. These are indeed senior members of the Mad Sword Pirate Crew."
Cassel nodded. The moment Rono threw down the first corpse, he already had his answer. The inspection was just a formality.
"You can go to Marine Headquarters to collect the bounty. But you're still so young—have you ever considered joining the Navy to fight pirates and contribute to this great sea?"
"Sure, why not? Let's go." Rono immediately leapt down from the helm and walked toward the town.
"There's no rush—you don't need to answer right away. When you feel ready, we—"
…Wait, you're agreeing already? I was just saying that offhand! I even had a whole prepared speech! And why are you acting so familiar, you brat?! I didn't even finish my pitch!
Rear Admiral Cassel was clearly stunned, but being a Rear Admiral, he quickly recovered. "Alright then. Do you know the way?"
Rono, already several meters ahead, paused. He silently stepped back to stand beside the Marines, eyes looking at nose, nose looking at mouth, mouth looking at heart—completely composed.
Everyone: "..."
Cassel took a deep breath, suppressing the urge to rant. He ordered his men to clean up the bodies and took the lead heading back.
---
"Name?"
"Rono. Wolf Rono."
"Age?"
"15."
"Height?"
"About 1.84 meters. I think I've grown again recently."
"Devil Fruit user?"
"Mhm, yep…"
The physical exam was completed quickly. Since the world of One Piece didn't have diagnostic machines, everything was self-reported. Under a supervisor's guidance, Rono received two Marine uniforms, some daily necessities, and a bank card with nearly 50 million Berries in bounty money.
If he had already been a Marine, the capture would've been logged as military merit, and he wouldn't receive money. But since Rono claimed the bounty as a bounty hunter, the payout was honored.
Not that he could've claimed it as military merit anyway—no Marine would let some unknown kid walk in and immediately get a promotion.
---
In his office, Cassel lit a cigar and looked at two reports in front of him. The first was the physical report, which he skimmed. Then he focused on the second one:
"A petty thief from Crescent Moon Village. Only went out to sea about half a month ago and suddenly gained great strength. According to Sapphire's captain, Asiya, the boy trained hard every day. But villagers said he was lazy just a year ago. The boost could be due to a Devil Fruit ability."
These reports were gathered over the past few days. Normally, the Navy wouldn't investigate new recruits this thoroughly, but Rono was different. What other rookie could take down an entire pirate crew alone?
If he were a spy sent by a major pirate crew, they'd never let him rise to high ranks. But if he checked out, they might even uncover a trail leading to something bigger.
Cassel read through the report again, then pulled out a Den Den Mushi and dialed a number.
"Brrru~ Brrru~ Kwa-chak."
"Moshi moshi, this is Marine Headquarters. Rear Admiral Cassel, what's the situation?"
"It's like this…" Cassel explained Rono's situation, then shared his own judgment. "This boy has extraordinary talent. If the intel is accurate, he reached this level in just one year of training. I recommend initiating B-level surveillance. If his background is clean, he could reach Admiral level in under ten years."
As he spoke, his tone became grave, like he feared being overheard.
The Den Den Mushi mimicked Cassel's serious expression. The other side was silent for a while. Even the Den Den Mushi furrowed its little brows.
"We'll need to verify. Headquarters will send someone." There was still some doubt in their voice.
"Then I'll leave it to you." Cassel hung up, snuffed out his cigar, and called for the messenger.
"Tell that private who arrived the day before yesterday to come here."
About ten minutes later, a red-haired youth kicked the door open. "Old man! What do you want? I was about to head back to the arena!"
"..."
Cassel was speechless. Old man? I'm only 30! And what's with that tone? We're not that close!
"You broke government property. Pay a fine on your way out," Cassel said, pointing to the busted door lock.
Why do I feel secretly pleased about that? No, no, I must be mistaken. I'm a just and righteous Marine. I need a vacation. I must be overworked.
"…Old man, you called me here just for that?" Rono looked at him with a "Seriously?" expression. If you hadn't called me, would I have kicked it down?
"Ahem, of course not." Cassel straightened up. "It's like this—I see great potential in you. Here's a Marine Headquarters recommendation letter. Not for ten million, not even nine! Just 9.98 million Berries! Take it home today!"
"…I'll go pay the fine." Rono turned without a second glance and walked out.
A gust of wind blew in through the window, leaving Rear Admiral Cassel in disarray. That's a Marine HQ recommendation! How could he walk away?! Isn't that every Marine's dream?!
"Hey hey hey, don't go! Fine, how about 100,000? Take it!" Cassel said, face full of pain as he handed over the letter.
Rono's response was to speed up.
Just as he was about to step out of the office, Cassel panicked. "Fine fine FINE! You little brat! I won't charge you anything, alright?!"
A sudden gust of wind sent the envelope flying toward Rono—
—and it stabbed into the back of his head. Lodged in.
"…Oh crap, something went wrong. He's not dead, is he?!" Cassel froze in place, still in the throwing pose.
"I'm not paying for that door then," Rono said coolly, turning his head to look at Cassel, completely unfazed by the envelope sticking out of his head. He casually pulled it out and stuffed it into his uniform pocket, then walked toward the arena.
Cassel numbly nodded, watching Rono leave the office.