Finally.

Jadir was visible in the distance, and they had made good time on the way back. Unfortunately Jacques was starting to look somewhat the worse for wear and Morrow was starting to worry the guy would bite his tongue just to spite him. His attempts to remove his bonds had ended in nothing but inflamed joints around his wrists and ankles, and Morrow had only removed the gag once in an attempt to give him some water. The stream of threats and filth that spilled forth convinced Morrow that he really didn't need any humane prisoner treatment.

Whatever, as long as he doesn't die before I turn him over.

"Riera, do you want to follow me to the bounty office? I'll invite you to a meal afterwards."

"I'd like that, but I've got a lot of work to do myself now. Instead I'll call you for a meal as a reward some other time."

"Ok, that sounds interesting. Here's Jacque's purse. Don't say anything. It's not a lot but it will help you get back on your feet. If it really bothers you consider it a loan, I don't care."

She looked ready to refuse, but whatever she wanted to say simple need kept her mouth shut. She said a simple "Thank you." before wandering off down the street. She had been interesting company through the trip through the desert, and he didn't know if he would ever see her again.

"Now let's take care of you, shall we?"

He drew stares as he wandered through the streets with an obvious captive, but this was a town for bounty hunters after all. No one came to ask stupid questions.

Damn bureaucracy, it's everywhere.

Turning over a prisoner wasn't the simple 'turn over prisoner, get paid' that Morrow had envisioned when he set out for this job. They'd kept him there for hours while they had him sign papers and confirm it was indeed Jacques that he had brought in. He was feeling more than a little pissed off and hungry for some food when they finally came out with his money and let him go, and he decided to find a restaurant for some real food.

Morrow was actually not a big fan of alcohol, but he would drink fruit wines and hard cider when the occassion demanded it on Earth. Since coming here though, it was either alcohol, water, or whatever unholy local beverage the natives had, so he had discovered new appreciation for the wonders of alcohol. He ordered the relatively safe choice of a full slab of barbecue ribs and a bottle of apple mead.

A job well done deserves a good splurge.

He walked out of the restaurant satisfied an hour later and reserved a room at a hotel. It was time for some serious planning. He intended to go after a few bounties in order to build up some savings, but he also couldn't afford to put down his training. His latest escapade had definitely proved he wasn't very far up the One Piece power ladder. Forget the strongest, even some cannon fodder could pose a threat to him if there were enough of them, which was just intolerable.

He needed to order a new trident. He loved the current one when he bought it, but it was starting to feel short and too light. He was already 5'5, and if his memories were accurate his father had been well over 8' despite leopard sharks not being known for their size. It didn't hurt to prepare early.

He also wanted to visit dojos across East Blue and see if he could absorb any useful techniques. Fishman Karate had been a bit sparse with it's moveset, especially when it comes to weapons.

Let's do this step by step. Little improvements first.

"9997!"

"9998!"

"9999!"

"10000!"

Morrow finished his pushups before moving on to his scheduled practice of Fishman Karate. The problem was beginning to show itself in his physical training, as he simply didn't feel tired. It's not that he was being lazy, but time was starting to be the limiting factor with his current free methods. It took hours to work up light sweat, much less reach his limits, which had in turn slowed the growth of his strength.

He'd already placed an order for a full set of training weights from a shop in Jadir, but they would still take a week to be finished. It would cost him almost half of his reward money as well.

After the order came in, he was planning to pick a new bounty. This one would definitely be a pirate though, as he was thoroughly sick of the desert.