This was the East Blue!
Cyrus calmly looked at the pirate before him, Doru, who had a bounty of 2,500,000 Belly and a wild expression on his face.
Going by the stereotype, most pirates were clueless about their own strength. When not facing a crisis, they were typically arrogant and conceited.
A bounty of 2,500,000 was small fry, even in the weakest of the four seas, the East Blue.
What caught Cyrus's attention, however, was the green tag floating above Doru's head.
[Elite Pirate]
Was this the data-fied system's evaluation of an enemy?
Cyrus's gaze swept over the heads of the other pirates who had gathered around.
They all had gray tags.
[Lackey], [Small Fry], [Riffraff]
Were these fixed evaluations, or were they relative to his own strength?
Cyrus pondered this.
But his calm demeanor enraged Doru, who was holding the blade to his neck.
In the year since he'd set sail, he had attacked several islands. Although he hadn't plundered any valuable treasures, all the weaklings he faced had shown him expressions of fear.
Yet this kid before him, with a blade at his throat, dared to let his mind wander.
Feeling the eyes of the surrounding pirates on him, Doru felt his authority was being challenged.
"You arrogant little bastard!"
A vicious look appeared on Doru's face, and his tone turned grim. He suddenly put force into his right hand, swinging the cutlass through Cyrus's neck.
It was too easy!
Doru froze for a second, then his eyes shifted to Cyrus, who was now looking at him.
The wound on his neck, where the blade had passed through, was burning with orange-red flames, and not a single drop of blood flowed out.
After the flames died down, the wound had already healed.
[Current HP: 100%]
Doru subconsciously took a step back, staring at Cyrus in terror.
Though not the sharpest tool in the shed, what he had just witnessed made him understand that the person before him was not someone he could handle.
Cyrus glanced at Doru, retracted all the flames coiling around his body, and walked toward the pirate ship docked at the shore.
The surrounding pirates were as silent as cicadas in winter, hastily clearing a path and watching Cyrus's back as he departed.
Gulp!
Doru swallowed hard.
"Captain?"
A pirate who looked like a sub-leader cautiously approached and called out, startling the terrified Doru.
"Damn it!"
Startled, Doru seemed to fly into a rage out of shame, his cutlass trembling slightly in his hand.
"Board the ship!" Doru finally managed to say after a long pause, under the gazes of his crew.
This was a deserted island. If they didn't get on the ship, they would die anyway.
Once the fire burned out, there would probably be nothing left on the island.
As for swimming to another island?
They had only one choice: return to the ship and await their unknown fate.
Cyrus, of course, understood this as well.
Aside from knowing this was the East Blue of the pirate world, he was ignorant of everything else, so he needed guides.
Of course, to him, these pirates were also walking money bags.
After all, the profession of Pirate Hunter existed in this world.
A short while later, Cyrus sat on a wooden crate. Before him, dozens of pirates stood opposite, their faces filled with apprehension.
"Where is the nearest Marine base?"
Cyrus asked as he sized up the pirates.
At his question, the group of pirates looked at each other, then their gazes fell upon Doru, who stood at the front.
Doru naturally noticed this and couldn't help but curse inwardly.
"The 16th Marine Branch!"
"Set sail for the 16th Branch," Cyrus said with a nod and a smile.
"But we're pirates!" Doru's eyes nearly popped out of his head as he shouted subconsciously.
The other pirates also began to stir restlessly.
Snap!
Hearing this, Cyrus raised his hand and snapped his fingers. A spark erupted from his fingertip.
The next moment, with a whoosh, the spark expanded, instantly becoming a large fireball over a meter in diameter.
The restless pirates retreated in terror, staring aghast at the fireball floating above Cyrus's fingertip.
"Set sail!"
Cyrus spoke again, and this time, the pirates scrambled to get busy.
No one wanted to find out what it felt like to be hit by that fireball.
All the pirates started working. Even those with nothing to do pretended to be busy, terrified of catching Cyrus's attention.
Only after the fireball disappeared did the pirates on the ship collectively breathe a sigh of relief.
As for Doru, he apprehensively gathered the treasure they had collected from the island into a bag and presented it to Cyrus.
In the face of an unknown and immense terror, even a fool knew what choice to make.
"Is this the East Blue?"
Cyrus glanced at the treasure, not having a good sense of its value, and decided to ask about what he really wanted to know.
"Yes, my lord!"
Doru's previous arrogance had completely vanished. He was now incredibly docile, one step short of kneeling to answer.
"Do you know of Foosha Village?" Cyrus asked.
Doru looked completely blank.
"Do you know of Shimotsuki Village?"
Doru looked even more confused.
"Do you know of Garp?"
Seeing Doru's expression, Cyrus asked again.
"Marine Hero Garp?"
Doru hesitated before speaking, clearly puzzled to hear the name Garp from Cyrus's mouth.
'Oh, so he knew Garp.' Cyrus nodded.
It seemed Doru wasn't completely ignorant.
"Who is the Fleet Admiral of the Marines?" Cyrus asked again.
Doru's expression turned blank once more.
'This guy knew a few things, but not much.'
After a full half-hour of questioning, Cyrus still couldn't get a clear picture of the current situation.
Even though Doru knew of Garp, he only knew the name, that he was a big shot far beyond his reach.
He didn't even know Garp was also from the East Blue.
As for the current date, he was completely clueless.
Just when Doru, feeling useless for his ignorance, thought the calm-looking Cyrus was about to lose his temper, he pulled out a newspaper and hastily departed.
Sea Circle Calendar 1511.
In the corner was Doru's picture and bounty: 2,500,000.
Perhaps that was why he had kept it.
"The Empress of Amazon Lily and Captain of the Kuja Pirate Crew, Boa Hancock, with a bounty of 80,000,000, has accepted the Marines' offer and become a Royal Shichibukai."
Cyrus stared at the big news that took up an entire page of the newspaper.
Then, looking at the somewhat youthful face of the Pirate Empress, Cyrus blinked.
'So, there are about ten or eleven years until Monkey D. Luffy sets sail?'
Cyrus recalled the memories in his mind.
He couldn't remember the exact year, but it should be 1521 or 1522.
Of course, Cyrus was only thinking about this to confirm the current timeline and formulate his next plan—or rather, his plan to get stronger.
The Flame-Flame Fruit gave him a solid foundation, and the data-fication was his home turf.
But he would not give up on Haki and Swordsmanship.
Since he was in the East Blue, he had to make a trip to Shimotsuki Village.
It was likely the easiest place for him to learn how to train Haki and acquire decent Swordsmanship.