Assassination and Escape

After throwing Luo out of the second-floor window for the twentieth time, Corazon lit a cigarette, feeling rather troubled.

He hadn't expected a kid to be so persistent.

But he should be reaching his limit by now. He was already covered in injuries.

Luo, however, didn't think so.

He would never give up!

Corazon caught the murderous glare in his eyes.

With a helpless sigh, he went outside and sat down wherever he could.

This time, he planned to block the way himself and not give Luo a chance to get inside.

Another reason was that he was afraid he might accidentally kill Luo if he threw him out a few more times.

That would go completely against his original intentions.

"Once I get rid of this guy, I hope the other kid still lying in the infirmary will be easier to deal with." Corazon thought to himself, then got lost in his thoughts.

By now, Luo was practically blinded by rage.

He'd tossed every warning and the Blood Family Rules to the back of his mind.

All he knew was that if he couldn't deal with Corazon, that bastard, he'd never have a chance to join the Donquixote Family.

Luo gritted his teeth and looked around. Seeing no one nearby, he let evil take hold of him!

"I'll kill him! As long as nobody sees me, nobody will know I did it!"

He found the short knife he'd dropped nearby on his first day, then crept toward the distracted Corazon.

Just as Abel and Baby-5 came out of the building, they saw Luo holding the short knife and viciously stabbing Corazon in the back.

"Ah!"

Baby-5 let out a startled cry.

Corazon and Luo both turned their attention toward her at almost the same time.

"Damn it! I've been spotted, and at a time like this!"

But he'd already drawn the bow; he had to loose the arrow. Luo couldn't worry about anything else, and gritted his teeth as he plunged the knife in.

Thud!

Though Corazon had sensed the murderous intent behind him, for some reason, he didn't dodge. He merely twisted slightly to avoid a vital spot, then took the blow.

"I did it!"

Luo was overjoyed. All he had to do now was deal with the witnesses.

One of them was just a little girl, and he'd also spotted Abel, whom he hadn't seen in days!

If the two of them worked together, they still had a chance of covering this up.

It had to be said that Luo was still a little naive at this stage.

In this world, many people didn't need so-called evidence to do what they wanted.

If Corazon really died here, then when Doflamingo returned, he'd simply kill everyone under suspicion to avenge his own brother. That was all.

"Luo, you're definitely dead now!"

Fat Buffalo had appeared some distance behind Luo at some point. He was holding a giant ice cream and looked like he'd just returned from running an errand.

As luck would have it, he'd witnessed Luo's assassination attempt on Corazon with his own eyes. He was so startled that the ice cream fell from his hand.

Luo turned and saw Buffalo had returned. He was utterly speechless.

Couldn't you guys have shown up two minutes earlier?!

You didn't show up early or late—you just had to appear at the crucial moment!

Luo was so frustrated he could've spat blood.

Even in a two-on-two fight, his and Abel's chances of winning were slim now. Abel's arms were broken, and the chubby Buffalo looked like he had plenty of "fighting power."

Besides, all the other guy had to do was shout a couple of times, and people would come running. Then it would all be over.

At that thought, Luo made up his mind.

Run!

He didn't want to die—or rather, he couldn't die yet.

So he had only one choice: run.

And so he wouldn't get Abel involved, he didn't even say goodbye. He turned and bolted.

"You won't get away! You're dead!"

Buffalo shouted as he chased after him.

He wondered if catching Luo would count as a great achievement.

When the Young Master came back, wouldn't he reward him with eighty or a hundred ice creams?!

For ice cream, he'd give it everything he had!

Abel watched Luo vanish in the blink of an eye, feeling utterly speechless.

He knew why Luo had run, and he knew why Luo hadn't said anything to him.

But... there was really no need!

At the same time, he had no intention of chasing after him. Buffalo had actually gotten one thing right for once: Luo couldn't escape.

He'd be caught eventually, so why waste the effort?

Then he saw Corazon stand up, spitting blood, and walk inside with a knife still stuck in his back.

Abel suddenly wondered if the guy had deliberately taken the stab just to scare Luo off.

Whatever the case, Corazon was a bona fide lieutenant commander at Marine Headquarters. There was no way he hadn't reacted at all to Luo's vicious sneak attack.

But if he'd done it on purpose, just to drive Luo away, then everything made sense.

Even the most useless person couldn't be this useless.

When Corazon passed Abel and Baby-5, he suddenly reached out as if to grab Abel's head.

"Damn it, I was expecting that!"

Cursing under his breath, Abel had been watching Corazon's movements closely. He immediately dodged backward, keeping Corazon from getting him.

Seeing how quickly Abel reacted, Corazon hesitated for a moment. He'd been planning to press his advantage, but then he pretended nothing had happened and walked away.

"Could you not tell anyone that Luo stabbed Corazon?"

After Corazon left, Abel began helping Luo cover his tracks.

"I'm needed again! Mm, I won't tell~" Baby-5 happily covered her mouth.

He'd successfully taken care of one witness. The only one left was the chubby Buffalo. Corazon himself definitely wouldn't say anything.

"Baby-5, do you know what Buffalo usually likes?"

"I do! Buffalo likes gambling."

"Gambling?"

Abel nodded thoughtfully. He'd learned another one of Buffalo's weaknesses. "Anything else?"

"Also... does liking ice cream count? Buffalo loves the deluxe ice cream from the dessert shop in town. Since one serving costs 500 Beli, he often borrows money from me."

That was it!

Abel planned to bribe Buffalo.

The guy didn't look very bright, but he wasn't actually that stupid.

The reason Abel thought he could bribe him was that he figured Buffalo disliked Corazon. After all, according to Baby-5, the two of them had been "tormented" by Corazon plenty of times.

In that case, for the sake of a deluxe ice cream, Buffalo should be willing to help Luo keep quiet.

As long as Baby-5 and Buffalo didn't say anything, and neither he nor Luo said anything, and the injured Corazon didn't say anything, then when Doflamingo came back, the matter would naturally be dropped.

Abel immediately put on an incredibly bright, handsome smile and asked the little girl, "Could you lend me some money? I really need it."

P.S. I've confirmed that I caught it. Even after taking medicine, my fever keeps coming back, and I feel absolutely miserable. Now all I can taste is sourness, and my head's been in a fog the whole time. I can't believe this.