After two days of rest, Luo's injuries still hadn't fully healed, but he was well enough to get around.
Even his conspicuous hat had been wrapped in cloth and stuffed inside his clothes at Abel's insistence.
And it wasn't just the hat. Abel had gone so far as to wrap the bandages taken from other parts of the body around Luo's face, leaving only his eyes exposed.
Then he had draped black cloth over him like a cloak.
There was no choice. The getup was a little strange, but it was better than letting anyone see the white patches on his face.
When they went into town this time, Abel noticed there were clearly more soldiers patrolling the streets.
It was probably because of the chaotic battle at the port the day before, which had left everyone on edge.
Still, that was a good thing. After an incident that big had drawn everyone's attention, hardly anyone would still care about the few drifters who had died earlier.
Inside a clothing store, Senor was trying on a new suit.
The female shopkeeper and the wealthy ladies who had come with their husbands to buy clothes all looked lovestruck, seemingly drawn to the manliness Senor exuded.
"Wrap up all these suits."
"Sir, may I know your name?"
"Sorry, but I'm destined to be just a passing stranger in your life, so... forget me."
With the swelling on his face not yet gone, Senor set the money on the table, lit a cigarette, and walked out beneath the admiring gazes of all the women.
He was... he was just too charming!
The shopkeeper's face flushed, and she actually fainted on the spot.
He hadn't gone far when Senor suddenly stopped. He'd just remembered that he'd been so focused on finding a tactful way to turn the woman down that he'd forgotten to take the new suits he'd bought.
"Sigh... never mind. I'd better head back as soon as possible."
Senor wanted to go back for the clothes, but he didn't want those women to fall in love with him all over again just because they saw him, so he let it go.
Meanwhile, the area around the port was a hive of activity.
Many workers were busy repairing and rebuilding the buildings destroyed the day before. After all, every extra day of delay meant a huge loss of money, and no merchant could bear that.
What's more, all the remaining weapons aboard the Donquixote Family's smuggling ship had been used in the battle the day before. With nothing left to trade, Senor had no choice but to head back first.
So the goods that hadn't yet been fully collected were rushed over as quickly as possible, out of fear of the Donquixote Family's reputation, and piled up at the port.
As a result, any other ships hoping to leave first could only wait in silence.
The resulting chaos of people and cargo would be a great help to Abel and Luo's next plan.
"Have all the goods arrived?"
"Most of them have been handed over. We still haven't heard anything about the wine we ordered."
"Then hurry up and go ask them!"
"Yes, sir!"
But before long, the crewman sent to inquire returned with bad news.
"What? They're out?"
"The other party said someone raided his wine cellar yesterday and didn't leave him a single barrel of wheat wine. He says there's no way he can complete our deal now."
"And you believed him?"
"I..."
"Do you see this flag? No one in the North Sea gets to keep goods that belong to the Donquixote Family. I don't care whether that guy was telling the truth or not. In any case, I want to see at least a hundred barrels of wine here before noon. Understood?"
"Yes! I'll get it done!"
"Move! Take every barrel of wine in here!"
At the order of a short, stout man, more than a dozen fearsome pirates immediately rushed into the tavern.
"Gula! What the hell are you doing? There are patrols all over the place. Do you want to die?"
"Heh heh, Old Drunkard, don't try to scare me. If I can't deliver the goods I owe the Donquixote Family today, I'm dead either way. Since I'm going to die regardless, why not drag a few more people down with me?!"
Old Drunkard was both shocked and furious. A few of his men tried to fight back, but they were immediately knocked to the ground.
He'd heard that the other man's wine cellar had been robbed. In fact, he'd even taken pleasure in the news. He'd never expected that his gloating would backfire so badly.
Gula's men weren't vicious enough to pull this off on their own. The Donquixote Family must have sent people.
Remembering the two pirate crews that had been wiped out, Old Drunkard immediately backed down. In a low voice, he said, "What exactly do you want? Spell it out. I'll help if I can, but if you go too far, I'd rather smash every bottle of wine in here and die with you, you bastard!"
At that, Gula finally relaxed, and a smile spread across his face.
"Don't worry, brother. I won't make things difficult for you. Just let me take half the wine in your place today. Wait, hear me out."
"I won't take it for free. I'll pay you the purchase price plus a five-percent profit."
"Don't complain that it's too little, either. The next tavern won't get an offer like this. Think it over."
Hearing that there was another tavern, Old Drunkard immediately understood what Gula meant.
"Really?"
"Of course. Don't you think there are too many taverns near the port right now?"
"Fine! For that alone, I'll help you."
The two old foxes struck a tacit deal in the blink of an eye.
As a result, the other taverns all suffered.
The lucky ones only got shaken down for a hefty sum. As for those who didn't know when to back down or couldn't read the situation, the least they could expect was to have every drop of wine in their shop carried off. At worst, they were beaten so badly they nearly lost their lives.
What had started as a huge crisis was turned into an opportunity by Gula, the fat man. He even used the Donquixote Family's name to bully his way into publicly eliminating his competition.
Even the soldiers outside, upon hearing that the Donquixote Family was taking care of business, immediately pretended not to see anything and hurriedly led their men away.
Seeing this, the smug smile on Gula's fat face grew even wider.
What he didn't know was that, right under his nose, two little brats had quietly hidden themselves inside one of the empty barrels.
As the pirates carried away the wine, they hadn't paid the slightest attention to the difference in weight. As long as a barrel wasn't empty, they took it!
Without realizing it, Gula had been a tremendous help.
Even Abel probably couldn't have imagined that his gleeful free shopping the day before would cause such a huge chain reaction.
At last, before noon, more than two hundred barrels of wine had been loaded onto the ship.
Senor had no idea how the wine had been obtained, so he simply paid Gula in full and then boarded the ship, ready to leave.
Having turned disaster into fortune, Gula's chubby face was now grinning like a chrysanthemum.
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