Chapter 96: The Prey Has Arrived!

Soon, the two newcomers, brimming with excitement, signed the agreement and departed.

The woman in the cowboy hat gazed melancholically at their retreating figures, one unable to tell what she was thinking.

The Den Den Mushi on the table suddenly rang out, "Buru Buru Buru Buru."

She paid it no mind, continuing to sit quietly until the Den Den Mushi was hoarse from calling, at which point she finally lifted the receiver gently:

"What is it, Boss?"

"Those two newcomers have been recruited, haven't they?"

From the other end of the receiver came a man's deep, resonant voice, "Once this matter is settled, head immediately to Rapeseed Flower Port; put everything else aside for now."

"Has something happened?"

"That girl has escaped; Mr. 1 has already departed from the capital to pursue her. You are to converge and encircle her from Rapeseed Flower Port. The day for the transaction with Boss Hua Zha is approaching soon; she is a crucial bargaining chip and absolutely cannot be allowed to flee Alabasta."

"Understood. But Boss, shouldn't you be near Rapeseed Flower Port right now? Why go the long way around and specifically recall me?"

"Because I have more important matters to attend to."

The deep voice snorted coldly, "Marine Headquarters has just entrusted me with a somewhat troublesome target; I must prioritize cooperating with them, otherwise, wouldn't all the acting I've done for so long have been in vain?"

Click!

The call ended; the woman in the cowboy hat rested her chin on her hand, propped on the table, tilting her head slightly.

A troublesome target?

In recent years, the Boss has been tirelessly playing the role of a national hero.

Whenever free, he hunts pirates everywhere, accumulating them in batches to deliver to the Marines, earning him the title from Marine Headquarters of the most trustworthy ally among the Seven Warlords.

Therefore, this target must also be a pirate.

It's just that, although she has joined Baroque Works for several months now, this is the first time she has heard the word "troublesome" used by their arrogant Boss to describe rookies from Paradise.

Her eyebrows lifted slightly.

Oh my, oh my, could it be...

Is the target Marine Headquarters has entrusted the Boss to deal with that rookie who has been making waves recently?

Beneath the lighthouse at Twin Cape.

Four or five hours passed quickly; it was now afternoon, the minimum time required for the Log Pose to become fully magnetized at Twin Cape.

Now that the magnetization was complete, it was time to depart.

The mess left behind after the banquet had been cleaned up; after a short rest, everyone emerged from the cabin and, seeing the brand-new, spotless deck, could not help but display looks of astonishment.

"Wow! Was it cleaned up this quickly, and so thoroughly!"

"It looks even newer than when we first left the drydock!"

"Of course."

Smoker tossed the broom and mop aside, proudly lifted his chin, and exhaled a cloud of smoke, "With the aid of the Moku Moku no Mi, this is trivial, not worth mentioning."

Moving at high speed with "Soru," combined with a body transformed into smoke elements, allowed for omnidirectional, full-coverage scrubbing of grime and sweeping away of dust.

Many dead angles that are usually difficult to clean simply could not escape his grasp.

Nami pressed her forehead.

To think, everyone here is a legitimate Logia-type Devil Fruit user.

Isn't the point you're proud of... a bit strange?

"Let's go, let's go, thanks for the treat~!" Crocus had already boarded his own small boat, laughing heartily as he waved goodbye to everyone, while Laboon nearby tilted his head back and emitted a long, mournful cry.

Zeff stepped forward and gave him a huge bear hug; these two old men, who had harbored minor grudges since their last meeting, had reached a reconciliation after a single banquet.

Before turning away,

Crocus gazed deeply for a moment at the Twin Lighthouse, bathed in Jin Guang under the sunlight.

Just as everyone assumed that this old man, who had guarded the tower for decades, was about to speak some heartfelt words of confession to his two old companions he had lived with day and night,

they heard Crocus say with deep anguish:

"Today is already the 29th; damn it, if I had just worked two more days, I could have collected this month's salary!"

So that's what you were worried about!! Everyone collapsed in despair.

After leaving Twin Cape, the Curtain Fall continued its journey.

The Grand Line has a total of seven routes, and as captain, Siano naturally chose the Whiskey Shanfeng–Little Garden route.

He was still waiting to meet those two legendary giants from a century ago as soon as possible, so he could happily fleece them along the way.

【You sacrificed Crocus's single bed, gaining 1100 points】

【You sacrificed Smoker's cigar box, gaining 900 points】

【You sacrificed Jaba's cloak, gaining 3200 points】

These were fresh spoils just fleeced; adding the previous 400 from Laboon, Siano's remaining points surged again by 5600, reaching 41100.

Siano was quite satisfied with this.

This was only the first stop after entering the Grand Line; for the harvest to be so abundant already far exceeded expectations.

Once the sailing status stabilized, he glanced at Nami, who was lying on the table charting the sea map, quietly carried a glass of orange soda over to her, and then set off for the training room to cultivate.

Passing the other two training rooms, one could hear continuous dull thumping sounds emanating from within.

Sister Sister Guyina was at the open-air kendo training ground on the second floor, so of the two inside here, one was naturally Nojiko, and the other was likely Smoker.

It seemed that with the formal entry into the Grand Line and the continuous increase in the number of crew members,

the crew members, who prided themselves as the main combat force, were beginning to feel some pressure, silently commencing a competition among themselves.

Siano chuckled lightly.

Compete, compete; the enemies we will face in the future are only going to get stronger, so competing a bit now is all for the good.

In a day or two, it might not be obvious, but as time passes, I believe the crew will soon realize just how powerful the aura buff from the Falcon Statue truly is.

When positive feedback arrives sooner and in greater abundance, those pleasantly surprised will devote even more energy to diligent cultivation.

If this virtuous cycle continues, Siano believes it won't be long before the overall strength of the Curtain Fall Adventurer Guild ascends another tier.

…………

In the blink of an eye, five days had passed.

Whiskey Peak.

This island, dominated by desert-style architecture, featured hundreds of houses scattered along both sides of the harbor.

Though it appeared to be merely a small town of modest scale, how could it be as simple as it seemed, given that it served as one of the starting points for seven shipping routes?

In reality, this place was a nest for bounty hunters.

Hundreds upon hundreds of hunters were stationed here, targeting rookie pirates who had just entered the Grand Line, sometimes acting alone, sometimes joining forces.

Within this seemingly tranquil harbor, they wove an invisible net of slaughter.

Snap.

Two unfamiliar figures stepped onto this land.

One was an afro-haired man wearing a stand-collared outfit, and the other was a golden-haired young girl who carried an umbrella even at night.

Immediately, several pairs of sinister eyes focused on them from behind the windows of surrounding houses, but upon seeing a large crowd of bounty hunters swiftly gathering around the newcomers, they all withdrew their gazes with apprehension.

"So this is Whiskey Peak?"

The afro-haired man named Mr. 5 walked at the very front with his hands behind his back, asking casually, "How many hunters are there in total here, and how many of them belong to us?"

"Honorable Senior Agent."

The Billions before him adopted a humble demeanor, bowing deeply before grinning and saying:

"Although our Baroque Works only began operations here a few months ago, progress has been remarkable; currently, out of a total of twelve hundred bounty hunters here, over five hundred are ours, accounting for nearly half, and we are continuously recruiting and expanding!"

"Oh? Not bad."

The afro-haired man raised an eyebrow in praise, "I will report your work progress truthfully; perhaps this merit will earn you a promotion to Frontier Agent."

"If I can truly be promoted, I would be extremely grateful to you!" the Billions exclaimed immediately with excitement, giving ample face, which made Mr. 5, who had only become a Senior Agent a few days prior, feel thoroughly gratified.

"It really is comfortable to be blessed as a Devil Fruit user."

He sighed inwardly, reflecting that his Bomb-Bomb Fruit was simply too powerful, possessing strength far beyond what ordinary people could imagine.

Otherwise, based on his seniority alone, on what grounds could he have become a Senior Agent immediately upon joining?

After all, Baroque Works maintained a strict hierarchy, boasting a pyramid-like structure.

At the very top stood the mysterious President and Vice President;

in the middle were nine Senior Agents and more than ten Frontier Agents;

the dividing line was the number 5.

In other words, male-female pairs ranked within the top five would be promoted from Frontier Agents to Senior Agents.

Originally, there should have been exactly ten individuals, but rumor had it that a certain Mr. 2 was a gender-ambiguous okama, thus requiring no partner and occupying two seats alone, which reduced the total number of seats to nine.

And at the very bottom were the numerous Billions and Millions.

The Billions standing before him was a veteran of considerable seniority, yet paradoxically ranked several tiers below himself, meaning a single word from him could decide the other's life, death, or fate.

"Ahem."

Mr. 5 clenched his fist and coughed a few times against his mouth to mask his face, which had turned red from excitement, before asking in a deep voice:

"Speaking of which, your primary mission is, after all, to collect pirate heads here to raise funds for the Works, yet the target amount for this month seems to have yet to be submitted; it is precisely because of this matter that I received orders to come here specially with Miss Valentine to see what exactly is going on."

"Th-this... has headquarters already started urging us?"

The Billions instantly turned pale with terror and hurriedly explained, "This isn't our fault, sir; you must clarify the situation to our superiors on our behalf!"

"The reason we cannot meet the target is that recently, for some unknown reason, the number of pirates crossing Reverse Mountain to enter the Grand Line has suddenly decreased drastically!"

"No matter how thoroughly we prepare or how high our hunting success rate is, without enough prey coming to our door, we can only stare helplessly, powerless to do anything!"

"The number of rookie pirates arriving recently has suddenly dropped significantly?"

Mr. 5 frowned, exchanged a glance with Miss Valentine, and then suddenly sneered:

"Where did you get such nonsense, what absurd reasoning! Do you think pirates are fish, that catching them has an off-season and a peak season?"

"It does seem a bit strange, but this is the absolute truth..."

The Billions, sweating profusely from anxiety, was about to order his subordinates to bring out this month's records when a joyful shout suddenly rang out from the distance:

"Hey! Prey has taken the bait and is about to enter the harbor; everyone take note, fall into position, and prepare for the hunt!!!"

(End of Chapter)