The Unknown Person

Tonight, there was no moon, and the stars were few.

The lightless night was profoundly dark, lonely in its gloom... and the only light within it came from the faintly glowing bubbles.

A nimble figure moved through the night... Although Areas 1 and 16 differed by only a number, that did not mean they were close together.

Even as he ran, Reg did not stop thinking. After meeting Shakky, he had three things to do:

1. Secure a temporary place to hide.

Obtain information on merchant ships heading to Water Seven.

Buy an Eternal Pose for Jaya Island.

All three matters could be solved with money, so Reg was not overly worried... He could hardly go to the harbor as a child and ask ships one by one.

Once he left the Sabaody Archipelago, he would not need to worry so much. Other islands did not have the habit of trading slaves... A child appearing on the streets would not stand out nearly as much.

Reg was not going to Water Seven to see his teacher, Colin... He was going to find Tom at the shipyard, order a sturdy ship capable of reaching Sky Island, and then use the Eternal Pose to head for Jaya Island.

The sailing distance between the two was not especially far... Barring any accidents, he could arrive in less than a week.

"Area 1... I finally made it."

After glancing at the glowing number on a nearby tree trunk, Reg accelerated once more... If only he had a bubble bike. That would save him a lot of effort.

"Hotel... hotel... There are lights!"

After running a while longer, Reg stopped, panting heavily... He had run for at least over an hour.

If he had a bubble car, the journey from Area 16 to Area 1... would not even take 0 minutes.

Following the light with his gaze, Reg... spotted white stairs beneath the bubbles' faint glow.

"Found it..."

Reg began running again... In his memories, Shakky's bar was located atop an enormous tree root.

Now that he had seen the white stairs, there could be no mistake... After climbing onto the huge root, Reg used the building's lights to make out the general scene before him:

It was an oval, multi-purpose residence. Its brick-and-stone walls were covered in moss, while directly above the stairs stood a spherical second floor.

The lights and rising bubbles illuminated the moss-covered wooden sign above: it was indeed "Shakky's Rip-off Bar."

Though the sign looked far from welcoming, Reg still breathed a sigh of relief... He had finally arrived.

The two windows along the wall showed no silhouettes, nor was there any sound of clinking glasses and lively drinking. Everything was quiet.

A white wooden plaque hung on the wooden door, bearing the word "Close"... The bar was not open for business, yet the lights were on.

"Whew..."

Reg took a deep breath and patted his face as his Observation Haki spread out... There were two "breaths" inside the building, quite far apart from each other.

"Are they getting ready to close... No, is someone drinking alone?"

Reg let out a soft sigh outside the door and stepped forward, preparing to knock... Fortunately, he had not come after they had already gone to sleep.

If he had knocked then... the chances of getting ripped off would have been much higher.

Reg, preparing to knock, had no idea that from the moment he chose this place... from the moment he began moving, he had already been discovered.

At the arched bar counter inside, a handsome middle-aged man with short blond hair and a vertical scar over his right eye frowned slightly.

"What is it, Rayleigh?"

The one who spoke was a mature, curvaceous woman with short hair and straight bangs... She wore a rose-red short-sleeved T-shirt printed with a black spider, and held a lit cigarette in her right hand.

"Nothing... You should check for yourself." Rayleigh smiled and took a sip of his drink.

Judging by the aura he gave off and his height, he was possibly a Devil Fruit user.

Or... a member of the World Government's P Organization. Only in a place like this would they send out children who were young yet stronger than ordinary people.

"Probably an ability user..."

Having reached his conclusion, Rayleigh remained calm and composed... If it were the latter, Area 1 would probably already be surrounded by warships packed tightly together.

"After all these years, you still haven't changed that habit of yours... Hah."

Shakky brought the cigarette to her red lips, her large black eyes blinking... No one kept their Observation Haki active at all times. Haki consumed energy.

Normally, she only used it when conducting "business."

Of course, Rayleigh did not care about that. He was a powerful man... And since he had sneaked onto this island, he naturally had to be careful.

"Judging by the build, it's a child... Do you want to hide?" A surprised Shakky flicked ash from her cigarette twice in succession.

"It's not a large Marine force... Why would I be so timid?" Rayleigh teased with a smile.

"Then why are you hiding your presence?"

Shakky simply rolled her eyes at Rayleigh... Rayleigh smiled awkwardly. It had been a long time since he had seen that expression.

"Anyway, the matter we needed to discuss is already over... We might as well see what this guest wants." Rayleigh gently pushed his glass forward.

With her cigarette between her lips, Shakky poured Rayleigh another drink. "It's 1 o'clock. A child appearing in Area 1 at this hour... however you look at it, that's strange."

"He stopped... No, it looks like he's using Observation Haki... Are you really not going to hide?" Shakky's lips curled upward, clearly interested.

"Kids these days are really terrifying..."

Rayleigh raised an eyebrow and took a sip of wine, showing no intention of getting up... He had already ruled out the possibility that this child belonged to the P Organization.

"Phew... Once he comes in and sees a living person like you, he'll probably be even more scared."

Shakky stubbed out her cigarette and shot Rayleigh an exasperated look. "You should be grateful for this guest... Otherwise, after finishing your business, you'd probably find time passing unbearably slowly."

Hearing the resentment in Shakky's voice, Rayleigh merely smiled... A smart man would never answer a question at a time like this.

Knock, knock, knock... Soft knocking sounded at the door.

"Hmph..."

With a soft snort, Shakky walked toward the door... Since Rayleigh had no intention of hiding, she might as well invite the visitor in.

Jingle... Accompanied by the pleasant chime of bells, Shakky opened the wooden door and saw a young, adorable face.

Just like she'll look decades from now... No, even younger.

Reg was surprised when he saw Shakky... She truly knew how to preserve her looks.

Women... Sometimes, you really couldn't judge their age by their faces. It was terrifying.

"What a cute little brother. What's your name?" Shakky asked with a sweet smile.

"Big sister, my name is Reg... I'd like to stay here," Reg said, smiling back when he saw her smile.

"Looks like you have plenty of Beli... Come in." Shakky's lips curved upward as her gaze swept over the bag behind Reg.

"Mm."

Reg scratched his head and followed her inside... She seemed pretty friendly. It didn't look like he was very likely to get ripped off.

But after entering, when Reg saw another figure through the curves of Shakky's body, he had the urge to turn around and run... His Observation Haki hadn't sensed him at all!

There were only two possibilities for this:

1. This person was an extremely powerful assassin, capable of completely concealing their presence... Like Mountain Hag on Tower Forest Island. Reg had been completely unable to detect her until she came within a few meters of him.

Reg also knew of someone else: Lafitte, the "Demon Sheriff" of the Blackbeard Pirates... This man had infiltrated the Marine Headquarters camp alone, and no one had noticed him before he spoke.

There had been quite a few people present at the time... Fleet Admiral Sengoku, Headquarters Chief of Staff Tsuru, Doflamingo, Hawkeye, and Kuma. None of them had noticed him before he revealed himself.

It wasn't that Lafitte was stronger than all of them, but that he had carried out a perfect infiltration without carrying any hostility... Reg guessed that he had used hypnosis.

2. This person's Observation Haki was incredibly strong—strong enough to completely hide their own presence for a certain period of time... During the Summit War, hadn't Whitebeard used this very method to get behind Akainu without Akainu reacting at all?

The same went for Red-Hair, who saved Koby from Akainu... No one present had noticed when he arrived.

No matter which kind he was... neither was someone Reg could afford to provoke.