By the beach outside town, seven figures stood or crouched around two combination cases, seemingly waiting for someone. They wore crisp black suits over white shirts, black ties, and polished leather shoes. If not for the mysterious white masks they all wore, anyone seeing them would have thought these guys were either gangsters or insurance salesmen.
After who knew how long, one of them finally lost patience and shouted, "Why hasn't the ship arrived yet? It's already late."
The man who seemed to be the leader spoke up. "Don't be so impatient. Anything can happen at sea. It's only delayed for a while, no big deal. Wait quietly."
"Don't make it sound so easy. The 'cargo' we're escorting back to Mary Geoise this time is no ordinary thing. It concerns the genius scientist Vegapunk's latest technology. If we don't deliver it to headquarters on time, we'll be in deep trouble. The Five Elders won't let us off." The opposing voice lacked some confidence, likely because he did not dare challenge the leader.
"Who would have thought that a scientist worth the Five Elders' attention would be hiding in some backwater town in the West Blue? Too bad he didn't know what was good for him. He would rather die than leave with us, or we wouldn't have had to leave with only the documents. I really don't understand why that old man was so stubborn. With the World Government backing him, he could get mountains of funding for whatever research he wanted, yet he refused to leave even if it killed him!" The others joined in, complaining that scientists were all eccentric freaks with terrible tempers.
"We should be grateful his research was nearly complete. Otherwise, we would have had to remain undercover beside him for much longer." The figure