Chapter 49: Hunt a Bounty Hunter

Jake was no newcomer to the New World. He had joined the Rocks Pirates several years ago.

However, the Rocks Pirates were more like a pirate alliance, with many of its executives having their own smaller groups. This was a common phenomenon.

The Rocks Pirates weren't held together by camaraderie but by strength.

Thus, everyone in this crew fundamentally admired strength. Those without strength, or with insufficient strength, naturally sought to attach themselves to stronger individuals. The monstrously powerful executives mostly had their own factions.

Rocks himself didn't care about this at all.

What was wrong with pirates admiring strength? Those without strength were nothing in this vast sea.

Moreover, Rocks himself possessed absolute strength. Without it, he wouldn't have been able to gather those monsters.

Jake followed Charlotte Linlin.

Due to her childhood experiences, Linlin wanted to create a nation that accommodated all races, so she had a particular fondness for unique races. Although Jake was a half-fishman, he hadn't become a core member of what would later be one of the Four Emperors' crews.

Compared to Whitebeard, who adopted sons everywhere, Big Mom placed more trust in blood ties.

Although she was still a member of the Rocks Pirates, she had already given birth to several children. Even Katakuri, who would later become highly popular, was nearly ten years old now.

Though not yet ten, Katakuri had already made a name for himself within the Rocks Pirates.

He had inherited some of Linlin's talents, making him as strong as a monster. While this strength was still immature in the eyes of true powerhouses, it was something many ordinary pirates could never achieve in their lifetimes.

Katakuri's immense strength made him self-willed, but this had also caused harm to his sister. Now, Katakuri's personality had become much more reserved.

The Nightlight Pirates' minor incident didn't warrant much attention from these executives.

To be honest, while most Supernovas had the potential to become great pirates, they had to survive first. A Supernova taken down by a bounty hunter wasn't worth noting. In fact, if word reached their ears, they would likely just laugh.

Bounty hunters were a profession that couldn't be taken seriously.

Those who captured pirates for justice mostly became Marines. Those who did it for money were easily blinded by greed. When they realized that robbing ordinary people carried less risk and yielded more money, who would still risk their lives fighting pirates?

As a result, Marine bounties weren't really meant for bounty hunters. Instead, pirates seeking fame aimed for higher bounties, challenging great pirates and engaging in endless infighting.

The fall of the Nightlight Pirates didn't catch the attention of the higher-ups, but Jake took it seriously. After all, their captain was a Logia user, and recruiting him could have bolstered Jake's own faction, which would have been very useful for his development.

Jake clearly understood that although he had aligned himself with a great pirate like Charlotte Linlin, his position was still very awkward. To address this, he needed to form alliances and build his own strength.

Harlow, being a Logia user, was undoubtedly a good choice. After all, Logia users had a high floor. Once he learned Haki, he could become a valuable ally.

However, this plan was now ruined by Dan, and Jake had also lost a promising pirate crew he had recently recruited. This made him furious.

But from another perspective, if he could recruit the bounty hunter who had defeated the Nightlight Pirates, it might fully compensate for this loss.

That's right. Rather than killing Dan, Jake wanted to bring him into his own pirate crew.

In his eyes, this wasn't impossible. After all, most bounty hunters were notorious figures. Those driven by money usually valued their lives highly.

After all, no matter how much money you had, it was only useful if you were alive.

Jake didn't believe a bounty hunter could be stronger than a pirate like him. Even a typical Marine vice admiral wasn't his match.

"But how do we find that bounty hunter? The newspaper didn't mention what he looks like," someone asked. This person was a rookie who had just arrived from Paradise.

"Rookies are rookies. Don't you know about life cards yet?" a pirate mocked. "Some of the life cards haven't disappeared."

The pirates eliminated by the Nightlight Pirates, like Jett, were also newcomers to the New World. They didn't know Haki, and their life cards had only been made recently. In fact, they hadn't even been handed over to them before they set sail.

Thus, the female pirates captured by Dan didn't know about the life cards. Otherwise, being controlled by Dan, they wouldn't have chosen to hide this information.

Now, Jake ordered his men to bring out the life cards.

The life card belonging to Captain Jett had completely burned to ashes, but one life card was still intact and appeared to be in good condition.

"Only Shayna is left?"

A pirate leaned over to look and recognized the owner of the intact life card—a woman known as "Owl," though her real name was Shayna.

She was the only capable fighter on Jett's ship and a Zoan user with the Bird-Bird Fruit, Model: Owl.

The Nightlight Pirates had captured several female pirates after defeating Jett, but Shayna was the only one whose life card had been made.

Moreover, she was the one who had helped Dan find the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.

Jake watched as the piece of paper in his hand fluttered against the wind, pointing in the direction of Dan and his group.

"That woman, Owl, I remember she had a bounty too—30 million berries. The bounty hunter didn't turn her in to the Marines? That guy must be quite the ladies' man!" someone laughed. The life card's movement clearly wasn't toward a Marine base.

"Hey, hey, she's not exactly a beauty, is she?" someone retorted. This was true. Shayna wasn't particularly attractive, with ordinary looks and eyebrows thicker than Crayon Shin-chan's.

"That bounty hunter seems to be heading back toward Paradise."