Hidden Agendas

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Settle in, take your time, and let's see what waits in the dark 🖤

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Inside the tavern, noise and shouting filled the air. Nearly every seat was taken, and even the half-ring bar had no space left between stools.

Business was clearly good.

After looking around, only a few inconspicuous seats near the corners remained.

Corvin sat in one of them. On the small round table in front of him were rum and side dishes the waitress had just brought over.

He did not touch the food or drink. He focused on listening to the surrounding conversations.

"I heard something happened at the auction last night?"

"What, you didn't know?"

"I drank too much last night. If I hadn't heard people talking on the way here, I wouldn't know anything. What happened?"

"They say the big underworld families caused trouble fighting over the Devil Fruit. It was a Devil Fruit, after all. Who wouldn't want it?"

"Oh? Did someone steal it?"

"No. The people who started trouble were all killed by the gangsters. The Devil Fruit was eaten by Capone 'Gang' Bege, the guy who paid for it."

"Tch. How much did it sell for again?"

"I heard more than a billion. No idea if it's true."

A hiss of shocked breath followed.

"That much? If I had over a billion, I could go anywhere in the world."

"Idiot. If you had that much, I'd rob you first."

"What did you say?"

Bang.

A wooden mug slammed hard onto a table.

Immediately afterward came the dull sounds of fists striking faces and bodies.

In a tavern like this, arguments often ended in fists.

Corvin looked away and thought silently, 'Capone Bege? He's in Mad Hatter Town too? Sunny's notebook didn't have any information on him. Did he come from somewhere else specifically for the Devil Fruit?'

'So this is when he ate his Devil Fruit.'

Information about Bege and the ability of his Devil Fruit surfaced in Corvin's mind.

Listening to most of the tavern talk about the Devil Fruit incident, and understanding Capone Bege's reputation and position, Corvin could not seriously consider targeting him for now.

It was hard to imagine a man with that much status and influence eventually choosing to go to sea.

People had their own ambitions.

"Did that fish-man slave get away in the end?"

At a table not far from Corvin, several pirates were discussing the fish-man slave.

Corvin followed the voice and discreetly looked toward that table.

"No. Died in an alley. Heard an undertaker killed him."

"An undertaker? What, did undertakers expand their business to fish-man corpses now?"

"Don't ask me. Besides, when the auction house people found the body, it didn't look like any parts had been cut off."

"Meaning...?"

"Hey, if the story's spreading everywhere, don't take it too seriously. I could say the fish-man slave was killed by a prostitute. Would you believe me?"

"Ha! Drink, drink."

Listening to that table, Corvin frowned slightly and sighed inwardly.

He was not surprised that someone had found out.

After all, whether on the street or around the buildings near the alley, the one thing that place had not lacked was people.

The reason he sighed was that, after killing the fish-man slave, his mind had been fully immersed in the joy of the rich return. He had not considered cutting away several important parts from the fish-man's body to match his undertaker disguise.

'I'll need to remember that next time.'

Corvin noted the lesson and picked up his cup, taking a small sip.

He remembered that he was currently a customer. If he went too long without drinking, it would look strange.

What Corvin did not know was that, because of the fish-man slave, the auction house had followed the clues and found Arthur, who owned a similar work mask.

If Arthur had not been inside the auction house at the time, he might have been invited to the auction house for tea and a long conversation.

Because of that, Arthur also learned that someone had been impersonating him to do shady things.

Corvin set down the cup and quietly observed the other customers.

His intelligence channels were limited, so he could only gather useful information this way.

Every time the tavern door opened, he instinctively glanced over.

Creak.

The old wooden tavern door opened.

Corvin looked over by reflex. When he saw Wolf Rat enter, he quickly looked away.

'The lunatic from last night who seemed desperate for friends?'

Looking down at the food and drink on the table, Corvin was slightly surprised.

He had clearly shot Wolf Rat last night, but now the man looked completely fine. He was even dressed in an absurdly flashy way.

So that was Zoan recovery.

Heat stirred faintly in Corvin's chest.

At the time, he had decisively run because he did not have confidence.

Now things were different. After receiving the return from the fish-man Sam, with his current strength and enough preparation, he should have at least a fifty-fifty chance.

Corvin calculated silently.

At the tavern door, Wolf Rat looked around and quickly found Corvin sitting in the corner.

Compared with the bare-armed men around him drinking and spraying spit as they talked, Corvin looked young and tender. Even seated in a corner, he still stood out.

'Found you. And this is perfect timing.'

Wolf Rat walked toward Corvin without showing anything on his face.

Only a few seats remained in the tavern, and though Corvin's table was small, it had clearly been designed for two people.

Under those circumstances, choosing to sit beside Corvin would not seem too deliberate.

If there were wider and more comfortable seats nearby and he still squeezed in at Corvin's table, then people who did not understand the situation might think he was into men.

'He's coming this way?'

Corvin noticed Wolf Rat's movement. He glanced at the empty seat in front of him and felt a headache.

Last night in the tavern, the situation had seemed much the same.

The difference was that Laffitte's reputation and presence had been strong enough to draw most pirates' attention.

Now, this Zoan user, whose eyes carried a cold edge while his overall impression leaned toward sleazy, did not attract nearly as much notice.

'Good thing I wore a mask last night and lowered my voice. Next time, I'm never coming to a tavern this full.'

Corvin thought silently.

The clothes he had worn last night had not been an undertaker's uniform, but they had been deliberately bulky to conceal his build.

Because of that, Corvin believed the chances of Wolf Rat recognizing him were low.

Footsteps came closer.

Corvin lifted his head and watched Wolf Rat approach, then sit down calmly in the seat across from him.

Seeing nothing strange in Wolf Rat's reaction, Corvin became even more certain that he had not been recognized.

"Hey, you're a good-looking kid."

After sitting down like a stranger, Wolf Rat looked at Corvin with exaggerated amazement, as if he had never seen such a handsome man in his life.

At the same time, he thought to himself: start with a compliment and open the door to a conversation.

Hearing the awkward line, Corvin gave Wolf Rat a polite smile and had no intention of responding.

This guy really was desperate for friends.

Seeing what he considered a good opening, Wolf Rat first raised a hand to signal a waitress. Then he looked back at Corvin and squeezed out a friendly smile he had trained hard to perfect.

He believed that smile was perfect for winning goodwill.

He had no idea that, to outsiders, it looked like his face was about to cramp.

"Kid, let's get acquainted. I'm Wolf Rat. You?"

Corvin looked at Wolf Rat's indescribable smile, paused for a beat, and simply gave a name.

"Usopp."

"Your name is Usopp? How should I put this... wonderful. Truly wonderful."

Wolf Rat clapped at once, admiration all over his face.

"What's wonderful about it?"

Wolf Rat had no answer for that.

At that moment, the tavern door opened.

Hearing it, Wolf Rat used the chance to turn toward the door.

A tall woman entered, dressed revealingly, with bright red lips.

She held a white skunk by a leash, and more than ten sturdy men followed behind her.

"Tch. Usopp, look. A beauty."

Seeing the woman, Wolf Rat's eyes narrowed slightly. He used her arrival to shift away from the awkward moment.

Corvin allowed a faint smile. He did not pursue the question and looked toward the woman entering the tavern.

At the same time, he keenly noticed the atmosphere inside the tavern changing.

Another pirate with a reputation like Laffitte?

And a woman.

Could it be...

Corvin searched through the information in the notebook.

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