Special Visitor

For the sake of a Devil Fruit, all manner of shady characters from the West Blue had gathered in one place.

This was supposed to be a grand feast for pirates and underworld denizens.

Yet, a few profit-blinded bounty hunters had also risked disguise to sneak in, along with navy spies who feared neither life nor death in their quest for intelligence.

Beyond these, there were even a few special guests.

A sea breeze blew gently as an unremarkable small pirate ship slowly sailed into the inner harbor of Mad Hatter Town.

By then, the waters near the dock were already packed with vessels, leaving no extra space.

But this small pirate ship, relying on its size advantage, squeezed through the larger ships, finding a spot to moor among the crowded fleet.

From this, one could tell the helmsman's skill was extraordinary.

On the deck, a youth with wavy golden short hair and a scar over his left eye tossed the anchor into the sea.

Splash—

The anchor hit the water, sending up a spray, and sank straight to the bottom.

After dropping the anchor, the youth clapped his hands and praised without turning his head, "Haku, your helmsmanship is as impressive as ever."

"Did you forget again?"

The tall man at the helm didn't acknowledge the praise but instead gave an odd reminder.

"What?"

The youth asked, puzzled.

Smack—

No sooner had he spoken than the back of his head took a chop.

The one who struck was a girl in a short dress and black tights, with a slender figure.

The wide swing of her chop caused the red hat with goggles on her head to fall onto the deck, revealing orange hair beneath.

The girl now wore a look of mild anger, not bothering to pick up the hat.

She glared at the bewildered youth and said, "How many times do I have to remind you? Use the aliases, aliases! Do you even know what an alias means?!"

"Ha, sorry, sorry, I forgot."

The youth suddenly realized, but smiled carelessly, then bent down to pick up the hat and helped the girl put it back on.

The girl puffed out her cheeks, looking fed up with him.

"So, Steel Pipe, I want you to confirm one more time. What should you call me? And what should you call Haku?"

"Clara and Spine."

"Good. If you mess up again, you'll face the consequences!"

The girl, now alias Clara, clenched her fists and waved them a few times, then walked toward the cabin.

The youth, called Steel Pipe, rubbed the back of his head and muttered to himself, "But even if it's an alias, couldn't you pick something less ridiculous than Steel Pipe?"

"What are you dawdling for? Hurry up and get ready. We're disembarking."

Clara's urging voice came from inside the cabin.

"Coming, coming."

Steel Pipe quickly walked toward the cabin.

A moment later, their outfits had changed slightly, each now wearing dark-tinted sunglasses.

Steel Pipe had added a black top hat, while Clara had taken off her previous hat and tied up her hair instead.

A notable detail was the water pipe strapped to Steel Pipe's back.

"Ha... Spine, I'll leave the ship to you."

Steel Pipe almost blurted out Haku's real name again, but a glare from Clara reminded him, and he corrected himself in time.

At the cabin door, Haku, now alias Spine, nodded solemnly and said, "Leave it to me. As for you two, be careful."

"Relax, we're not up to anything."

Steel Pipe waved at the man and jumped off the ship with Clara.

The two walked side by side along the dock.

Clara glanced at Steel Pipe and lowered her voice helplessly, "I really can't with you. That's just a stolen pirate ship. Even as a joke, don't casually call it 'home.'"

"Eh, don't sweat the small stuff. At least it gave us a ride and provided a convenient disguise."

"That's true, but... forget it."

Clara sighed softly, then turned serious, "I have to warn you, the main goal of this operation is to gather information. Don't you dare go wild."

Steel Pipe pressed down on his hat brim slightly and said earnestly, "I know. The primary task is to figure out the general troop layout at the 'Labor Factory.' If conditions allow, getting a detailed map would be even better."

"Good, as long as you know."

Clara nodded, then began observing the flow of people around them.

"Even the docks are this crowded—hard to imagine how many pirates and underworld figures are gathered inside the town."

"Heh, with such a spectacle, it only makes our work easier."

Steel Pipe's gaze skimmed over the surrounding environment and terrain like a dragonfly touching water; with every glance, he committed the corresponding details to memory.

"Clara."

Suddenly, Steel Pipe's eyes sharpened slightly. He took Clara's hand and quickly retreated to the side of the road.

Pulled aside so abruptly, Clara's face filled with confusion.

"Sorry, I'm a bit sensitive to killing intent. It's not aimed at us, though..."

Steel Pipe explained, while subtly glancing at a group of pirates not far behind them, charging forward with murderous auras.

Alerted by Steel Pipe's reminder, Clara also noticed that pirate crew. She took a quick look and then averted her gaze.

The two tacitly slowed their pace together.

Soon, the pirates overtook them, heading toward the streets inside the town.

Clara watched the backs of the pirates, carefully recalling intelligence related to West Blue pirate crews. After a moment, she said in a low voice:

"It's the Sharp Bull Pirates. They're not famous in the West Blue, but their captain, Kazt, is a Zoan Devil Fruit user—no pushover. A few days ago, one of the armed merchant ships belonging to Bolgin, one of the West Blue's largest trading companies, was attacked by a group of pirates. It was probably them."

Steel Pipe replied calmly, "Ordinary pirates couldn't take down a Bolgin trading company armed merchant ship. It must have been a joint operation between pirate crews."

Clara nodded. "Yeah, that's highly likely."

"As long as we don't start a conflict, it doesn't matter."

Steel Pipe withdrew his gaze.

In this grand spectacle, there were plenty of figures far more formidable than the Sharp Bull Pirates.

Hearing Steel Pipe's words, Clara looked at him with a strange glint in her eyes.

Noticing her odd stare, Steel Pipe asked in confusion, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Nothing. I'm just a bit surprised that your level of awareness has hit the mark this time. It gives me the strange feeling that you've finally matured."

"..."

The two walked side by side into the street.

Looking around, the streets were filled with pirates carrying swords and guns, mostly in pairs or small groups, with few lone travelers.

Just walking a few hundred meters, they could see multiple patches of blood on the ground.

The crowd surged, and along with the clamor came the clash of swords and the sporadic gunfire from farther away.

Following the sound of clashing blades, they saw a pirate just cut down a fellow pirate in front of him.

"Haha, idiot, that's what you get for messing with me."

The blood-soaked pirate laughed wildly, but didn't forget to loot the money and weapons from the corpses on the ground.

The onlookers around cheered for the victorious pirate, as if they had just watched a bloody, brutal dogfight.

"What a mess."

Watching this scene, Clara sighed softly.

Steel Pipe, however, kept his gaze straight ahead, his face expressionless.

In such chaotic times, this was nothing new.