Be Furious, Corvin

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After two months, Corvin finally saw the outside world again.

Walking out of the weapons shop, whether because he felt freedom again or because he had put down a heavy weight, his whole body felt comfortable.

Even the stink of rats in the alley no longer seemed so sharp.

"Comfortable."

Corvin tilted his head up toward the sunlight slanting down over the eaves and lightly moved his legs, feeling almost as if he had become weightless.

Then he looked ahead.

The narrow alley was messy and disorderly. Trash lay everywhere. Dusty wooden crates were piled along both walls, giving off a moldy smell.

"Might as well run a little."

Corvin bounced in place a few times, then suddenly shot forward, dragging up a strong gust that sent trash rolling across the ground.

Ignoring everything else, he raced through the winding alley.

Whenever he passed people, he left only stunned faces behind him.

Those people did not even see Corvin's face clearly. By the time they reacted, all they could see was trash scattering messily through the air.

At Nightfall.

As a hidden intelligence broker, the bar's business was as quiet as ever.

Only one regular sat at the counter: Wolf Rat.

Behind the counter, Tatamu, dressed in his bartender uniform, wiped glasses as usual.

Creak.

Corvin pushed the door open and entered.

At the sound of the door, Tatamu and Wolf Rat looked over immediately.

They were both intelligence workers, though of different kinds.

To each of them, anyone who walked into the bar could be a potential customer.

Unexpectedly, the person who entered was Corvin, absent for two months.

"Hey. Been a while."

Corvin stepped into the bar and greeted them.

Tatamu looked a little surprised when he saw him walk in, then smiled. "Welcome."

Wolf Rat promptly hid the flicker of caution he felt toward Corvin and put on the expression of a man seeing an old friend after years apart.

"Usopp! Where have you been all this time?"

Wolf Rat hopped off his chair, opened his arms, and walked excitedly toward Corvin, apparently planning to give him a huge hug.

"Nowhere special. It's complicated to explain."

Corvin dodged the hug with a sidestep, casually brushed the question aside, and walked straight to the counter.

Wolf Rat was not embarrassed at all. He naturally lowered his arms and sat beside Corvin.

"Then tell us. Tatamu and I have nothing better to do anyway."

"Well, it's a long story."

Corvin sighed and raised a finger toward Tatamu, signaling for a drink.

Wolf Rat took on a ready-to-listen posture and said expectantly, "That's fine. You can take your time."

This might be the first time he would hear something about the weapons shop directly from Corvin's mouth. That made him slightly nervous.

Corvin said, "Since it's too long, let's not talk about it."

"Heh... heh..."

Wolf Rat's cheek twitched.

Corvin ignored his reaction and asked Tatamu for the bounty posters in the drawer.

Tatamu paused while mixing the drink, opened the drawer, and handed the posters to Corvin.

Corvin accepted the stack and began reading carefully.

With Corvin so focused, Wolf Rat could not interrupt. He could only drink in silence.

Five days after the Sharp-Horn Pirates were destroyed, he had received Corvin's identity from Gion.

He learned not only Corvin's real name and background, but also the mastermind behind the attack on the Ashford family's ship.

After all, the Marine intelligence network was not useless.

When it investigated a specific target, it could uncover most things that needed to be found.

At the time, the surprising part had not been that the mastermind was Bege's gang. It was the fact that Corvin was still alive.

'Ashford Corvin.'

Wolf Rat took a drink and silently repeated the name.

The owner of that name was sitting right beside him.

Close enough to touch.

As for the name Usopp, still remembered by the pirates of Mad Hatter Town...

Forget it. Wolf Rat did not have time to correct the alias into a real name.

In this place, false names were common. Aside from pirates chasing reputation, plenty of people used them, including Wolf Rat himself.

'How do I make Corvin and the gang clash without leaving traces?'

From Gion, Wolf Rat had not only received information on Corvin. He had also received orders.

The order was to push Corvin and Bege's gang into opposition, further testing Phantom Gun's attitude.

This would be the final test.

As he thought, Wolf Rat looked toward the bottles lined across the liquor cabinet. His gaze finally stopped on a brand of white rum.

There it was.

Wolf Rat glanced sideways at Corvin, who was browsing the bounty posters, then at the drink Tatamu had just finished mixing.

This was not the right moment to mention that bottle of white rum.

At the very least, he needed to wait until Corvin was no longer focused on the posters and until his glass was empty.

With that in mind, Wolf Rat patiently waited for the opportunity.

Corvin memorized the contents of the bounty posters while drinking the glass Tatamu had handed him.

Ten minutes later, Corvin reached the last poster, and the drink in his glass was almost gone.

When he saw that, Wolf Rat said, "Tatamu, I suddenly feel like drinking Ashford-brand white rum. Pour me a glass."

"All right."

Tatamu turned and took the white rum down from the liquor cabinet. Then he took a fresh glass and poured it seventy percent full for Wolf Rat.

The clear liquor flowed into the glass with a pleasant sound, and the bar counter filled with the rich scent of hard liquor.

Corvin looked at the bottle in Tatamu's hand.

Ashford brand.

He went very still.

Wolf Rat noticed Corvin's reaction and recommended it at exactly the right time. "Usopp, this Ashford white rum is good stuff. Want a glass?"

Corvin nodded.

Tatamu noticed and poured one for Corvin as well, then placed the bottle aside.

Wolf Rat raised his glass and took a sip. First he let out a long sound of satisfaction, then sighed with feeling.

"A few months ago, this brand of white rum was still exclusive to the Ashford Trading Company. You couldn't drink it whenever you wanted. Now it's different. You can find it through almost every channel."

Corvin's face did not change.

Wolf Rat continued, "Come to think of it, we should thank Capone Bege's gang for being able to drink this here."

"Capone Bege's gang?"

The familiar name sharpened Corvin's attention.

Wolf Rat glanced at him and followed the opening.

"That's right. To expand their private liquor channels, Bege's gang didn't just attack the Ashford Trading Company's ship. Afterward, to swallow the business, they wiped out the Ashford family."

"After that, the gang took over Ashford's assets and released a lot of the liquor stock. This rum is one of them."

At this point, Wolf Rat pretended to drink while observing Corvin's reaction.

Corvin fell into thought without the anger Wolf Rat had imagined, but Wolf Rat was not surprised.

He had long since experienced Corvin's infuriating mentality.

Still, there was some reaction.

'Be furious, Corvin.'

'Then hurry up and go cause trouble for Bege.'

Wolf Rat thought silently.

What he did not know was that Corvin felt no so-called hatred.

He had fallen into thought only because he was considering the possibility of hunting Bege.

Since he had inherited this identity, if he had the ability and confidence, taking revenge for the body's original owner along the way was not a problem.

But he had no interest in taking over the mess left behind.

The memories that could affect him had already been sealed away in a corner.

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