“It seems like life in Chen Town isn’t as easy as I thought.”
Allan had a thoughtful look.
“I’ve also seen many people travel towards the Crescent River to live there.”
Gin added, according to what he has investigated, because of a large number of migrants coming to Chen Town to live.
Competition was becoming harder and harder, and with the heavenly tribute collection amidst this crisis, some people were forced to the Crescent River where they were not taxed because the collectors didn’t go there.
This was actually the kindness of the Mayors of both Chen Town and Lina Town, as long as they turned a blind eye, and the people in the Crescent River didn’t develop too much as to not get found, they could avoid the tax collection.
So there were three types of people in Chen Town, people who had enough money to pay for taxes, people who were on the verge of not being able to pay the taxes, and those who couldn’t pay the tax.
The people Gin met were the second type of people in Chen Town.
Hearing that they’ll be transported into a hidden place but still be paid a decent amount for an extended amount of time seemed like music to their ears.
People believed because Gin showed enough berries and Gin’s unusual power won them over.
“Hmm behind the beauty of Chen Town as a paradise, the dirt has also gathered and the Crescent River has become the garbage dump.”
Allan muttered.
As beautiful as flowers were, they all grow on dirt, so Allan wasn’t really too surprised.
“Gin, how big is Pelican Island?”
Allan asked.
“About as big as Goat Island.”
Gin replied.
“Maybe this can serve as our main base of operations.”
Allan said.
There were hundreds if not thousands of islands surrounding the Echo Islands, it was the perfect place to raise pelicans and place the monitoring base in.
“Then it's decided, after we collect enough money, the Pelican Island will become our main base, next we’ll need to create a foundation in Chen Town.”
Allan said with a smile, Gin was quite thorough when he wanted to be, and according to Gin, there were no hidden dangers recorded in the history of Echo Islands similar to Water 7’s annual tsunami.
As for transportation, Allan actually asked Gin about this.
Although Gin could act as transportation, this was not a permanent method, so Gin asked if he could send his pelicans out to find bigger birds, even if it wasn’t a pelican, with Gin’s fruit taming a small group for transport should be fine.
There have been many giant birds in one piece and Allan was confident he’d be able to tame some with his Conqueror’s Haki once he grasped its usage, Luffy has actually shown this multiple times by beating the poor animals to submission.
And with Gin’s devil fruit, they only needed to find the giant bird and Allan was sure to succeed.
The very next day, Allan arrived in Chen Town, their first destination was the 77th Marine Branch with Captain Pudding Pudding as the Base Commander, Allan remembered in the anime that Captain Pudding Pudding was a Commodore, it seemed like after 12 years or within 12 years Captain Pudding Pudding would be promoted.
If Allan remembered correctly, Captain Pudding Pudding was one of the marines who held justice true to their heart in East Blue.
Now he finally found out why bounty hunters liked it in Chen Town.
With an upright leader like Captain Pudding Pudding, none of the bounty hunters were scared that the bounty they worked hard for would be confiscated or extorted by the Marines.
Chen Town was also more peaceful because of Captain Pudding Pudding’s reputation of hating evil, although Captain Pudding Pudding was easily handled by the Arlong Pirates, that was because they were in the sea and the enemy were fishmen, imagine if Luffy and the crew met the Arlong Pirates at sea? Going Merry would be ground into planks and the One Piece Anime would finish early.
Of course, Dragon might come to save the day if that ever happened.
But Captain Pudding Pudding and his crew should not be weak.
With the number of bounty hunters going in and out of Chen Town, and it being relatively peaceful, it can be seen how powerful they actually were.
“This is good, with Captain Pudding Pudding, it will be easier for us to grow in Chen Town as a bounty hunting family.”
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Allan smiled.
The reason he chose Chen Town was actually that he discovered that the 77th Marine Branch was in Echo Islands.
Allan remembered how Commodore Pudding Pudding refused Arlong’s bribe.
Hence, Allan was sure that the 77th Marine Branch would not be the corrupted type, while the 16th Marine Branch should already be corrupted to some extent, judging by the fact that Captain Nezumi was the future Branch Commander and all the Marines in the 16th branch were complicit with Arlong in his crimes.
It's just that Allan didn’t expect that the Base Commander would already be Captain Pudding Pudding at this time.
Arriving in Chen Town was refreshing to their senses, the beachside looked clean and full of people while the port side was a bustling scene of ships docking and departing.
Some moored at the distance because of lack of space, but Allan saw more ports being built.
“It seems like we chose well.”
Allan smilingly said.
“Kaku and I will go to the Marine Base to retrieve the bounty, Gin, you’re more familiar here so find a temporary place for us to stay, we’ll start hunting immediately after we settle down, Fossa, you stay and take care of the boat, although it's relatively peaceful here, don’t be too complacent and stay alert.”
Allan said as he went away with Kaku and five other boys, Allan was contemplating on a name for the first ten boys he and Gin recruited.
Boy Scouts?
Allan thought.
“Kaku? What do you think of creating a team called Boy Scouts? The members would be the people below 20 years old with good potential, we can pick family members, personnel, or combatants from them.”
Allan explained.
Kaku thought about it, they didn’t have a proper hierarchy inside the family, just that Allan was the head, but the subordinates should have proper distinction.
The Boy Scouts seemed like a good start so Kaku agreed.
“Then we’ll tell Fossa when we get back.”
Allan said with a smile while dragging a line of prisoners behind him, two lines with Kaku being the second made the people gawk in surprise.
As for why Allan took the lead, it was because he was the leader and the only one who looked older in the family.
Kaku and Gin still looked like preteens, the Marines might think too much if Allan did not come.
“Hello there Mr. Marine, we’re here to turn in a bunch of pirates we caught.”
Allan said with a respectful smile.
“Please wait for a while, we’ll have to notify Captain Pudding Pudding.”
The marine said a bit surprised.
He recognized the three captains Allan brought, in the East Blue, these three were considered big-time.
After a few minutes, Captain Pudding Pudding came with his signature purple hair and ponytail, but he seemed much younger, and right now he only had two ponytails but it was eye-catching enough.
“Jack the Robber, Bob the Destroyer, and Rugged Rock Rocky.”
Captain Pudding Pudding said in surprise.
“You caught all of them?”
He suddenly asked Allan.
“It’s not just me Captain Pudding Pudding sir, I belong to the Jaeger Family and we’re mainly bounty hunters, after hearing about Captain Pudding Pudding and the 77th Marine Branch’s reputation, we decided to stay here and treat this place as our home, so we hope you’ll take care of us in the future Captain Pudding Pudding Sir.”
Allan explained with a smile.
“Jaeger Family? As long as you don’t do any crime then you’ll be fine.”
Captain Pudding Pudding said nonchalantly.
It wasn’t very obvious but Allan saw a tad bit of pride appear on Pudding Pudding’s face, everyone likes compliments, especially if you’ve worked hard for it.
“Thank you Captain Pudding Pudding sir, if Captain Pudding Pudding sir has anything to ask, we, the Jaeger Family will definitely help to the best of our abilities.”
Allan said with a smile.
This kind of promise was a promise for the future, if there came a time where the Marines had to ask a bunch of kids for help, then Allan had the situation would not be optimistic.
“You’re quite young and capable, why don’t you join the Marines?”
Captain Pudding Pudding solicited.
“My name is Jaeger Allan sir, I’m only 11 years old this year, this is my brother Kaku, as for joining the Marines, please pardon my refusal, although I admire the Marines, my parents were killed because the Marines didn’t protect us, as much as I want to understand their position and difficulties, it’s still hard for me to do so, so I currently just want to hunt pirates, earn money to raise my siblings, and live a good life, if I change my mind in the future, I will definitely come to the 77th Marine Branch to join.”
Allan said politely.
“11 years old? What a pity, if you really change your mind and decide to be a marine, just come to me and I’ll introduce you to the headquarters myself.”
Captain Pudding Pudding said with appreciation, he was a bit dismissive with Kaku since he looked his age unlike Allan.
Over the years, Pudding Pudding has seen many potential Marines become bounty hunters instead, most of them hate the pirates that victimized them but also dislike the Marines for failing to protect them, so they could only become bounty hunters if they wanted revenge.
As excellent as Allan was, Pudding Pudding didn’t want to force it, although it really was a pity, he’ll just make sure that the kid in front of him would not be pushed towards the pirate’s side.
When he grows older and matures, maybe Allan would change his mind.
The Marines behind Pudding Pudding already took the prisoners away and a bag containing 21 million berries was given to Allan and Kaku.
“Thank you very much Captain Pudding Pudding sir, we’ll definitely try our best to catch more crooked pirates in the future!”
Allan said with a smile, although he wanted to try some things and maybe get closer to Pudding Pudding.
But looking at Pudding Pudding, this respectable person who can maintain the peace of an entire archipelago, any tricks he knew of would seem disrespectful.
Seeing Allan’s admiration, Pudding Pudding couldn’t help but sigh at the current state of the Marines, ever since the damned Pirate King Gold Roger set off a storm on his execution, pirates have become more and more rampant, meanwhile, the Marines became more and more corrupt, at least in the four seas this was the case, but Pudding Pudding was helpless, he could only try to keep the peace of Echo Islands to the best of his ability.
Bounty hunters like Allan were a huge part of his ability to keep the peace.
Not a lot of people see this reality, just treating bounty hunters well enough and not treating them with contempt or playing tricks on the bounties they worked hard for resulted in Chen Town or the Echo Island becoming a hub for bounty hunters, because of the respect they receive from the marines, bounty hunters in turn would not allow anyone to act unruly within the bounty hunting community, pirates avoid the Echo Islands for this reason.
“Then, see you next time Captain Pudding Pudding sir, thank you very much for the hard work Mr. Marines!”
Allan said with a slight bow, Kaku and the five boys also bowed slightly.
The Marines behind Pudding Pudding suddenly had smiles on their faces, and although they didn’t know why, Allan and his group’s gratitude seemed very effective.
Putting aside the fact that Allan and his group brought notorious pirates for bounty, the group looked more like a bunch of young boys giving their thanks.
Seeing the scene, Pudding Pudding couldn’t help but sigh.
Marines have always tried their best to protect the people so most news was about their victory.
The failures people hear about usually mean heavy casualties or total annihilation, in more extreme cases, the records wouldn’t even be disclosed to the public to keep the name of Marines clean.