Following her directions, Alan walked all the way to the port. As soon as he reached the coast, he saw from afar two figures standing in front of a small boat.
One wore a straw hat; the other had three swords at his waist.
Even from far away, Alan recognized them instantly. They seemed to have noticed him too, and both turned their heads.
"Ah! It's that marine guy!"
Luffy raised his hand and pointed at Alan in surprise.
Zoro's expression instantly turned wary. His hand subconsciously went to his sword hilt as he stared at Alan with a serious gaze.
"Can't shake them off, huh? These annoying marines."
"Emmm..."
Alan rubbed his chin in thought, looked at the small boat beside them, then looked back at the two.
...
The standoff lasted less than a second.
Click!
Alan grinned, immediately raised his gun toward the two, and shouted toward the alley on the left: "I found Roronoa and that kid! They are here, hurry up and send reinforcements!!"
"Crap!"
Luffy's eyes widened in shock. He quickly turned and ran away.
"Run, Zoro!!"
"Tch! Damn marines, hey! You bastard, wait for me!"
Seeing Luffy run off, Zoro cursed through clenched teeth, withdrew his battle stance, and ran after him.
Only after they had run a good distance did Alan lower his gun with a smug smile and walk forward.
Generally, without overwhelming strength, pirates wouldn't fight marines proactively.
And someone like Luffy, who even if he had the advantage, would usually run first when seeing marines, only fighting if he had no choice.
Not to mention Alan's strength wasn't weaker than theirs. A bit of bluffing was enough to scare them off.
Arriving at where they had been standing, Alan looked at their boat and grinned in satisfaction.
"Now I don't even need to buy a boat."
He tossed his backpack on board, crouched down, and untied the rope from the wooden post, preparing to sail away.
At this moment…
"Um... You... Hello..."
A timid voice sounded behind him.
Alan turned around in confusion and saw a short, pink-haired kid wearing glasses step out from the corner of the alley.
"Excuse me... You're with the 153rd branch, right?"
The pink-haired kid asked while trembling.
Alan glanced at him indifferently. "Who are you?"
"Uh... My name is Koby! I want to join the Marines!"
Koby's face was full of fear and snot, but his voice was loud as if trying to give himself courage.
Koby?
Alan froze, looked him up and down, and finally realized… so it's you!
The kid who works 200 times harder!
Before Alan could speak, Koby puffed up his chest and shouted loudly: "I—I can work really hard! Whether it's cleaning or scrubbing the floors, even tough training is fine! I'll definitely endure it!"
After saying that, Koby bowed deeply while shouting: "Please! Give me a chance! I will definitely become an outstanding Marine!!"
Looking at Koby bowing before him, Alan's eyes showed interest.
He smiled and said, "Not bad. I can already see enough determination in your eyes. I believe you will become an excellent Marine in the future."
Hearing this, Koby suddenly opened his tightly shut eyes, showing his overflowing joy. He clenched his fists and looked at Alan excitedly.
"Really!?"
"Yeah, really. But I already resigned from the Marines."
Alan nodded while responding.
Hearing this, Koby froze. "Resigned? Then you..."
Alan smiled lightly and said casually, "I'm a pirate now."
Koby: "Eh...? A pirate...?"
Realizing it, Koby's eyes widened instantly, and his tears and snot flew out together.
"A pirate!!"
"Right, what was it you said you wanted to be?"
Alan grabbed Koby by the collar and lifted him like a chick, his smile turning sinister.
"I—I want to... Want to... to..."
Under Alan's vicious gaze, Koby burst into tears, his teeth chattering, and the area below his waist slowly turned wet.
"With that pathetic look, you dare talk big? You snot-nosed brat, screw your Marine dreams!"
Alan looked at him in disdain, then kicked him hard into the sea, sending up a huge splash.
…
On the half-slope.
Luffy and Zoro ran for quite a while, and seeing no Marines chasing after them, the two finally stopped.
"Strange, where are the marines?"
A question mark popped up above Luffy's head, and he looked back, puzzled.
"Luffy, look at that ship. Doesn't it look a little familiar?"
As if discovering something, Zoro suddenly spoke calmly and raised his hand, pointing toward the sea below.
Following his line of sight, Luffy quickly saw a small boat slowly leaving the shore. After staring for a few seconds, he saw Alan on it, waving at them.
"Eh!!"
Luffy's two eyes flew out in shock, and he angrily pointed at Alan while shouting: "He actually stole our ship, that despicable marine!!"
"Stupid marine! Idiot marine! Sink! Sink! Sink down!"
Luffy flailed around while cursing Alan.
Zoro looked at him speechlessly from the side. "Even if you keep cursing, it's useless. How could a ship just sink for no reason? If I knew this, I would've just fought him directly."
...
Meanwhile, on the small boat drifting away from the shore.
Alan leaned against the railing, lying leisurely on the deck. He took a sea chart out of his backpack and began to study it.
Unlike the idiots who just rely on barrels to drift, he had long prepared all the necessities needed for sailing in the East Blue.
Although the 153rd branch was just a small base, they still had complete sea charts of the East Blue.
After studying the chart for a while, Alan checked the current wind direction.
Before long, he determined his sailing route and destination.
From here, heading southwest would lead to the Twin Cape.
Along the way, he would first pass through the Gecko Islands, once the active territory of the Black Cat Pirates, and then reach the sea area where the ocean-going restaurant, Baratie, was located.
Alan's first target was there.
Before entering the Grand Line, he definitely needed to get a proper ship and some crew members.
Speaking of people worth recruiting in the East Blue, Zoro and Sanji were unquestionably at the top tier.
Whether in current combat power or future potential, both were SS-rank in Alan's heart.
Especially Sanji, he had cooking skills, combat strength, strategy, lustfulness, and perversion.
Once his beauty radar switched on, it was comparable to Enel's island-wide Mantra.