It had taken him a year to get to this point, but Morrow had the feeling he was finally wearing out his welcome with the Arlong Pirates. Kuroobi and others had made several pointed comments trying to get him to join lately, and he didn't know what they would do if he kept playing the fool.

I've already achieved my goals with Fishman Karate anyway. What is left is only Kuroobi's personal moves, but he won't teach them to any but his apprentice and I don't need them anyway to invent my own.

Morrow was also starting to get bored with his little hut in the woods and his self-enforced scraps with the island's monsters for combat practice. An austere life didn't bother him, but his only contact with people were a group of racist fishmen and human villagers who both hated and were scared of him. Not exactly good conversation partners.

Morrow even had a good plan for after he left, which was to go around doing bounty hunting for money and combat experience. The only snag was that he didn't know how turning bounties in would go since he couldn't enter a navy outpost.

Either way, next lesson will be the last one.

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"Thank you for your teaching Mr. Kuroobi, but it's time I left these islands. This will be the last time."

"You kid, are you sure? Mr. Arlong already said you are invited to join, and he doesn't take refusal lightly. You could even be an officer in a few years."

"I'm sure my dreams do not lie in these islands. I hope you'll understand."

"...alright. Let's just pretend you said nothing, and it's best you say nothing to anybody else. Give me a full set of tile punches!"

The session continued much like the last one, and they both knew he had nothing here to learn anymore. His gap with Kuroobi was simply accumulation of physical strength and combat experience, which only time could fill. He had showed up only to give a goodbye since he felt he owed it.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

He opened the door to leave, only to hear one last "Good luck, kid." He turned around to look at Kuroobi and gave him a bow.

"Thank you teacher."

He shut the door and left. Nobody stopped him as he walked through the halls, and Morrow almost thought he'd miss the place. He had been unable to accomplish one of his other goals while he was here, which was to tell Nami goodbye. He left his number for his snail in case she needed help, but they hadn't talked enough for her to shake off her initial wariness so he didn't think she would call unless she wanted to pit him.

Oh well, can't expect everything to go to plan.

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Morrow's fear of sea kings had faded over the years as his strength skyrocketed, and he was now confident that even if it was a king he couldn't beat fleeing would be easy. So he planned a slightly ambitious swim to an island out of Arlong's reach, and it was one that hadn't appeared in the manga.

Jadir Village served as one of many gathering points for bounty hunters in East Blue. It offered bars of all sorts, weapons shops, hotels, and most importantly information exchanges. Morrow was going there to get an up-to-date list on all active East Blue bounties before deciding which to start with.

It only took him 2 days before he pulled up on the shores of the quiet town, and looking around it was much more deserted than he would have figured. What struck Morrow however, was the clean state of the buildings and streets. Much like mercenaries on Earth, bounty hunters had a seedy reputation for being little more than rowdy killers for hire. He expected more carousing in the streets and litter everywhere.

Did I land in the wrong place? I don't think my navigation is that bad...

He found a random passing girl working on the docks and asked her.

"Hello there miss, is this the town of Jadir?"

"Eek! A monster!"

Right, forgot. At least she didn't faint like Basil did or that would have been awkward.

"I am a fishman, not a monster, and my name is Morrow. Is this Jadir?"

The girl, a nice looking redhead now that he bothered to notice, visibly calmed down under his tone before looking apologetic. Morrow was grateful she didn't freak out more, as people were already turning to stare. He didn't need people misunderstanding even more.

"Sorry, that was rude of me. My name is Caterina, and this is Jadir Village. What's a fishman doing here?"

"I'm here for work. Could you point me to the bounty office?"

She looked a bit skeptical, but still pointed it out.

"You can find the office on the third street on the left. If you want to buy information, you can get it at the pub across the street from the office."

"Thank you miss. I'd better get going then."