Pluton

After spending some time demonstrating the utterly useless art of swinging a pocket watch with the bored young lady, Ruidio began practicing a new move he had only recently learned on the grass outside the village. In a fantasy novel, it would have been a special movement technique.

[Mastered: Silent Step (first glimpse)]

Sure enough, without enough proficiency, it worked only sporadically. Ruidio occasionally still couldn't get a feel for how to use his legs and feet, and sometimes even tripped over himself. Fortunately, his coordination was good enough that he could recover from a stumble with a one-handed flip instead of falling flat.

Kaya seemed envious of his energetic training and watched quietly with her chin propped on her hand.

After practicing all morning, Ruidio's movements grew increasingly polished. He hardly ever faltered anymore, and his footwork rarely got tangled.

Though he wasn't as fast as Kuro had been yesterday, he could now perform it consistently. And just as the move's name suggested, he moved without a sound... Kaya kept turning her head to find him, covering her mouth and gasping in surprise.

[Mastered: Silent Step (beginner)]

Ruidio understood. His control over the muscles throughout his body had probably improved, allowing him to master even a difficult physical technique like Silent Step more quickly.

The immediate objective of this voyage was now complete.

Ruidio called Kaya over and left with her, enjoying the countryside scenery as he pondered...

His primary goal on this voyage was, of course, to find opponents like Kuro, who were just right for honing his abilities.

His secondary goal was to complete a few tasks along the way, as he was doing now. He gave Kaya the names of people who should have been from several nearby villages, and she led him to them.

He had found these names with today's three radar searches.

Based on Ruidio's experience with the tasks found by the radar, [near] usually meant he could reach the client within one day; [medium] was about three days; [far] was around ten...

And [ultra-far] meant the system had determined that he wouldn't be able to reach the location even in thirty days.

Ruidio was currently in the East Blue, so if the radar found tasks in the South Blue, West Blue, North Blue, or anywhere along the Grand Line, they would all be [ultra-far].

On a map, some of those places might not have been all that far from the East Blue in absolute distance, but the Red Line and the Calm Belt were two natural barriers that divided the entire blue planet into four. Crossing them was no ordinary undertaking...

All three of today's radar searches had unexpectedly returned [near] results, so the clients were definitely residents of this island. None of the tasks were even one star in difficulty: delivering something to a neighboring village, looking after a child, buying something, and so on.

Normally, Ruidio wouldn't have paid the slightest attention to such trivial tasks.

But he was out for a stroll today anyway, and he had Kaya tagging along, so he decided to do them while he was at it. Whenever they found a client, Ruidio tapped the person while they weren't looking to accept the task, then took out a coin and tossed it to Kaya.

[You have hired Kaya for approximately 1 hour]

The tasks Ruidio accepted could be completed by him, by the clients themselves, or by people he hired.

All the rewards went to Ruidio.

He took Kaya around the neighboring villages and casually cleared the three daily tasks, though the rewards added up to only eleven essence...

Kaya had enjoyed herself, and her steps were light when they returned to the mansion.

Ruidio brought out a beach chair and lay down in the mansion's yard, stretching comfortably.

[Name: Ruidio]

[Overall strength: ★★★]

[System inventory (2/3): Seastone x131000; weapons x2; (empty)]

He squinted at the sun and clenched his fist, feeling the strength that had grown much greater than before, then found Robin's unaccepted task in the system's task list.

Just then, Kaya came out of the mansion and found him in the yard. She waved a letter in her hand. "Ruidio."

Ruidio took it and saw the words on the envelope: "To Ruidio, from Nami."

The sea breeze blew as Nami leaned over the ship's wheel, gazing blankly at the vast, sparkling sea ahead.

"Nami, do you have a dream?"

The question Ruidio had asked her yesterday still echoed in her ears...

Tears glistened in her eyes as she smiled faintly and murmured to herself, "You really seemed like you could do anything. I almost, just barely managed to stop myself from asking you for help. Ruidio, you dodged a bullet. Aren't you going to thank me?"

Although Ruidio had worked out the finances for her, Nami didn't think it was simply a matter of money. The hundred million Beli Arlong had named might not have been the price of buying Cocoyasi Village, but the price of buying her, a genius navigator.

My talent is worth that much! Nami looked at the bag of gold worth 1.5 billion beside her, determination in her eyes. If that was the case, Arlong would definitely keep his promise.

A single line of neat yet graceful writing filled the unfolded letter:

You don't like the pink ship, so I'm taking it with me. I'll leave you Black Cat's ship. Maybe we'll meet again, but don't come looking for me. I have to give it a try, or I really won't be able to accept it. Say hello to Bonney for me! (Hand-drawn cat face)

Kaya said, "What did Nami write?"

Ruidio didn't mind and showed her the letter.

Kaya read it carefully and felt a little regretful. She had thought Nami and Ruidio got along well, so why had Nami left without a word when everything seemed fine?

"You don't seem upset?" Kaya glanced at Ruidio and couldn't help asking, "Nami won't even let you look for her. I think that's too much. Can you still call her a friend?"

"Because she thinks looking for her would be suicide for me."

"She's not a bad friend," Ruidio said. "She was just scared out of her wits when she was little. It doesn't matter. She can't get away anyway."

A question mark appeared over Kaya's head. What did he mean, she couldn't get away?

[Hired: Nami (approximately 27 days remaining)]

Heh, heh, Cat Burglar, did you think my 1.5 billion in gold would be that easy to take?

After Kaya left him alone for some quiet, Ruidio put the matter aside for now, opened Robin's unaccepted task, and selected teleportation.

Grand Line, Alabasta—

The scenery around Ruidio changed in an instant. One moment he had been on the lawn in Kaya's yard; the next, he was in a spacious, cool room that looked like some big boss's office.

Hmm?

A big boss?

The floor-to-ceiling window ahead was filled with water, and enormous crocodiles ten to twenty meters long swam behind it. In front of the glass wall stood a broad-backed man in an overcoat, his hair slicked back and gleaming.

He immediately noticed the stranger who had appeared in his office. He turned around grimly, revealing a stitched scar across the bridge of his nose and a cigar clenched in his mouth. "Kid, how did you get in here?" he asked coldly.

Ruidio raised a hand. "Hold on a second."

Chapter 23: Pluton

Ruidio knew that ultra-long-distance teleportation came with a certain margin of error.

But he hadn't expected the error this time to send him straight into Crocodile's office. Then again, that meant Robin should be in the giant casino where Crocodile's office was located right now, didn't it?

"..."

Crocodile clenched his cigar between his teeth. Seeing the uninvited guest looking around, he grew impatient. "Tell me who you are and how you got into my room, and I'll give you a quick death."

Ruidio smiled. "A quick exit?"

"A quick death," Crocodile said coldly. He revealed the golden hook on his left wrist beneath his coat, looking every bit the savage pirate.

"I think dying of old age would be best," Ruidio said.

Facing a Shichibukai whose current combat strength far surpassed his own and who was a veteran Logia Devil Fruit user, he instead relaxed. He strolled leisurely around the spacious office while glancing at the task in the system list.

"Crocodile, how about we make a deal?"

"Who do you think you are, some nobody qualified to negotiate with me?" Crocodile flung out a hand, his entire right arm turning into a cloud of flying sand that rushed at Ruidio, who acted as though no one else were there.

Ruidio used the Silent Step he had learned from Kuro and slipped soundlessly to the other side. With a boom, the flowing sand struck the wall, leaving cracks across it.

In that moment, faced with Crocodile's attack, Ruidio hadn't given it much thought. He had used the move instinctively, and it had actually worked. He was a little surprised himself.

The Six Powers' Shave?

Crocodile's eyes narrowed. No, the movements aren't as crisp as Shave, and it isn't fast enough.

As if nothing had happened, Ruidio said, "As long as you stop causing the drought in this country, I'll grant your wish and tell you where to find what you want most. How about it?"

"Kid..."

Bloodshot veins appeared in Crocodile's eyes as he said icily, "Who told you this country's drought had anything to do with me?"

"Never mind that. With so many subordinates, could you possibly know which one was seen moving Dance Powder? Do you know everyone under you? This operation covers such a large area, has gone on for so long, and involves so many people, yet you expect it to stay completely secret?"

Ruidio scoffed and looked at him. "Just tell me whether you agree. As long as you do, I'll tell you where Pluton is."

"Hmph!"

Crocodile sneered. "Why would I care where an old relic of the previous era like Rayleigh is? There's something wrong with your head. You came here looking for death, didn't you?"

It's a translation issue. Are you picking a fight?

Ruidio said irritably, "Pluton, Pluto, whatever you want to call it. The Ancient Weapon you've dreamed of finding."

Crocodile sat casually at his desk, cigar in his mouth, and blew out a puff of smoke. "The legendary Ancient Weapons are all named after gods from mythology... Uranus, god of the heavens; Poseidon, god of the sea; and Pluton, god of the underworld!

"You don't even understand where the names come from, yet you dare spout such nonsense here? Do you think I'd believe your so-called information?"

Oh, I almost forgot. This is the version where the ancient gods are all fighting each other.

"Anyway," Ruidio said, "think it over. I'll come back for you in ten minutes."

With that, he turned and walked toward the door.

"Leave?"

Crocodile's entire body turned to yellow sand, sweeping after him and reaching his back in an instant.

"What gave you the illusion that you could leave this room alive?"

The yellow sand condensed into a sharp blade and slashed swiftly across Ruidio's neck.

Whoosh!

In an instant, Desert Spada sliced diagonally into the door and the walls on either side.

The lower half of the heavy metal door slowly toppled forward with a crash, leaving a straight, smooth diagonal cut above the opening.

Right before Crocodile's eyes, Ruidio suddenly vanished into thin air at the last possible moment before the attack struck.

"..."

The yellow sand gathered again into Crocodile's form. Expressionless, he looked up at the corridor outside, but there was no sign of the kid there either.

Ruidio returned to the teleportation point in the yard of Kaya's mansion in Syrup Village in the East Blue. He wandered off to find a sketchbook, then wrote, drew, and scribbled in it under Kaya's curious gaze.

"Is that a terrain map?" Kaya asked. "What a strange place."

"The place is strange, but the people are even stranger," Ruidio said.

Rip!

He tore out the page and strode away. "I'm going out for a bit."

"You're still hurt. You really shouldn't..."

Kaya picked up her skirt and hurried after him, but when she turned the corner, Ruidio was nowhere to be seen. Only the curtains swayed gently in the corridor.