Identity

The alley was dimly lit.

The only place bright enough was beside the skull-shaped oil lamp at the entrance of Tatam's Nightfall Bar.

Half of the woman's body was hidden in the shadows, but whether in her posture or the tone of her voice, she radiated an overbearing air of superiority.

Under the pressure of the woman's presence, Wolf Rat's lips moved, but he couldn't say a word. He was even forced to lower his head slightly by her gaze.

"He's just a pirate. Given your current situation, it wouldn't matter even if you killed him."

The woman looked in the direction Maud had fled, her meaning unmistakable.

In other words, you'd been shot by someone, then shamelessly licked his boots to apologize. After he sensed that the situation was unfavorable and fled, you didn't even have the courage to chase him.

Wolf Rat subconsciously glanced at Tatam.

He had explained the reason to Tatam about ten seconds ago.

But now, facing this woman who was, in the strictest sense, his superior, he had to explain it again in a different way.

"That guy just now is from the weapon shop."

"What?"

The woman was startled. Her figure suddenly flashed, and she subconsciously used Soru from the Six Powers, chasing after Maud in the direction he had fled.

The next second, she appeared dozens of meters away, but she didn't use Soru a second time. Instead, she silently stared ahead.

Wolf Rat silently watched the woman's slightly flustered back, really wanting to say: Go on, chase him. Why did you stop?

But he still wanted to live a few more years.

So naturally, he could only keep those words to himself.

The woman stood there silently for several seconds before turning around and walking toward Wolf Rat.

When she reached Wolf Rat, she tilted her head and glanced at Tatam, who was standing at the bar's entrance.

From the moment she had shown herself until now, this was the first time she had looked at Tatam.

Even though Tatam had already revealed his intent to attack earlier, she had ignored him outright.

To a certain extent, just like her imposing aura, it showed her immense confidence in her own strength.

"Don't kill him."

Wolf Rat said in a deep voice, "This has nothing to do with him, and I can guarantee that he won't cause trouble."

The woman said nothing, but her thumb pushed the hilt of her blade open slightly.

Seeing this, Wolf Rat's expression turned cold. He stepped directly in front of Tatam and looked at the woman. "Trust me."

"I trust you, but not him."

The woman's thumb continued pushing the hilt upward.

"Oh. Then I'll have no choice but to walk away."

"..."

Seeing Wolf Rat's attitude, the woman was puzzled, but she could only release the hilt of her blade and compromise for the first time.

Wolf Rat's work was extremely important to them.

If he walked away, they might not be able to find another suitable candidate for a long time.

Seeing the woman give in, Wolf Rat breathed a sigh of relief. He turned back to Tatam and said, "Go inside first."

Tatam frowned but refused to move.

Wolf Rat's gaze gradually grew stern.

Seeing this, Tatam cast a discreet glance at the woman who had placed immense pressure on him, then silently turned and walked into the bar.

The bar's door closed.

Only then did Wolf Rat withdraw his gaze and turn back to the woman.

"A few days ago, I accepted a commission from some pirates. The job was to find the murderer who killed their companion. Unfortunately... that murderer came from the weapon shop."

"You were exposed?"

The woman thought of something, and her expression changed.

Wolf Rat shook his head. "These past few days, I haven't been sure whether that old man noticed me, but just now, I became more inclined to believe that he hadn't."

"Or rather, he simply didn't consider me worth noticing. Otherwise, I might have already become a corpse in a gutter."

"But even if he came after me, he couldn't possibly discover my true identity. So you don't need to worry about that. At worst, you'd just have to find a new replacement."

The woman's gaze softened somewhat, and she nodded.

Wolf Rat continued, "These past few years, I've never dared to get too close to that weapon shop, nor have I dared observe that old man directly. My instincts told me that even taking a purposeful glance at him might become a trigger that brought me infinitely close to death."

"Mm. Caution is a good thing."

The woman's eyelids drooped, and her wine-red eyes were filled with coldness.

"After all, our opponent is Ghost Gun. His powers of observation and perceptiveness are both among the very best."

"If that's the case, you shouldn't have come looking for me."

"Nothing will happen tonight."

The woman spoke meaningfully.

Wolf Rat let out a soft sigh, understanding the basis of her confidence.

It was nothing more than the convenience brought by this grand occasion.

He glanced toward the auction and asked, "How many of you came?"

The woman raised three fingers.

"Three? Forget it. It probably won't affect me."

Wolf Rat turned to look in the direction Maud had left and returned to the main topic.

"That guy just now is the murderer the pirates are looking for. Running into him here was a stroke of fate, and it gave me the only opening I could ask for."

At this, the woman suddenly recalled Wolf Rat's bootlicking behavior just now and immediately understood.

"You want to use him?"

"Yes."

"But he's only a rookie. He isn't the first, and he won't be the last."

"This time is different. That old man... acted for his sake."

"Hmm?"

The woman's gaze changed.

Acting meant increasing the chance of exposure.

Even so, Ghost Gun had still made a move.

That indirectly showed how much importance Ghost Gun placed on the person from earlier.

This might be...

Thinking of this, light appeared in the woman's eyes, causing her attractive face to brighten as well.

Wolf Rat was momentarily entranced.

The woman's long-standing dominance often made him unconsciously forget that she was a very charming woman.

Wolf Rat abruptly shook his head, driving away the thorny fantasies.

Some women might be beautiful, but they were not to be touched—or even thought about.

"Rat, I don't care what your plan is. As long as you succeed, I can guarantee that all the effort you've put in over the past few years won't be wasted!"

"There is something I've never understood. Since you have been bent on getting rid of that old man, you must have a motive worth mobilizing so much force for. So why don't you simply transfer enough combat power from headquarters to attack him? Why go through all these roundabout methods instead?"

"You think we don't want to? No matter whether it's..."

The faces of those two elders appeared in the woman's mind, and she stopped herself in time.

Wolf Rat grew even more puzzled. "Then why exactly?"

"Because..."

The woman gritted her teeth. "He runs fast."

"..."

Wolf Rat was rendered speechless.

The woman took a deep breath.

"In any case, getting a bird to walk into its cage of its own accord is never easy."

Maud ran very fast.

He didn't stop until he had run through several streets.

"Could that person be sick?"

Maud shook his head slightly, took out three guns, and loaded them one by one.

Before he possessed Yasopp's godlike reloading speed,

Maud had to complain inwardly about the inconvenience of flintlock guns every time he reloaded.

"The harvest isn't bad. Before midnight, I might be able to find a few more suitable prey. At this hour, the auction should still be going on, right?"

After loading the ammunition, Maud looked toward the auction.

The instant he looked over,

several consecutive explosions came from that direction.

Maud froze.