Migratory Birds and Returning Home

Duen had probably developed some flaw in his personality after crossing over. Killing people caused no emotional ripples in him; it was as ordinary as eating and drinking.

He was not afraid of blood, but neither did he thirst for slaughter. Right and wrong only needed to pass through the neural centers of his mind for him to roughly distinguish them.

It was highly subjective, perhaps, but he saw nothing wrong with it. Pirate King Roger had once destroyed an entire nation's army because someone insulted his companions. That was all.

"Still alive?" Duen asked Simon calmly as he lay on the ground.

"Thank you..."

Simon forced out a faint smile, then looked mournfully at the corpses scattered across the ground. He had spent many years at sea and seen plenty of dead men, but this was the Goa Kingdom. Things might not end so simply...

Duen lowered his gaze in thought, then took out the red nose he had won from the lottery and put it on. Under his control, Red Nightmare peeled away from the blade, ran up his arm, and darted into his pupils.

Duen dug the red-headscarfed man out of the wall. He had deliberately struck the man with the flat of the heavy blade earlier, leaving him alive.

Blood streamed down the red-headscarfed man's forehead, and his consciousness was still muddled. He merely muttered instinctively, "You actually dared to attack me... You're dead for sure..."

Feeling the negative emotion points in his mind increase, Duen's pupils, wrapped in Nightmare, emitted two dim red glows like energy rings. "Is that so? What makes you think that?"

The red-headscarfed man felt his blurred vision gradually become clearer. The instant he closed and reopened his eyes, he saw the face of the man before him: a red nose, an orange pirate captain's hat, and a sinister, cunning smile on a face painted white.

He vaguely recognized this appearance, but he still sneered with outward bravado and inward fear. "Don't think that after what you did today... you can still escape the Goa Kingdom. The entire underworld will be your enemy!"

"Making threats in front of me, Buggy..."

At that name, the red-headscarfed man's eyes shot wide open. Blood from his forehead mixed with cold sweat and flowed even faster. A pirate... Buggy the Clown!

One of the rare great pirates in the East Blue with a bounty exceeding ten million Beli. Though there was a picture on his wanted poster, few had seen his true face. They only knew Buggy had one distinctive feature: a round red nose.

This man had to be Buggy!

Looking at the man before him, the red-headscarfed man inexplicably became certain of it. A chill ran down his spine. He... had actually gone against a great pirate drenched in blood!

Duen studied the faint reflection of a figure in the other man's pupils and asked coldly, "Who ordered you to do this? Tell me, and I'll spare your life."

"Y-you... Why are you helping him, Buggy the Clown..." Sweat kept streaming down the red-headscarfed man's cheeks as he asked tremblingly.

"Helping him? Don't get it wrong. I just suddenly felt like killing people. While I'm at it, I'll follow this lead and kill a few more interesting people to raise my reputation."

The red-headscarfed man swallowed. He did not think this eccentric great pirate was joking with him. His body shook as he revealed the mastermind. "It was the young master of the Bernal family, Bernal Joshua."

"Get lost... If you don't want to die, don't ever appear before me again."

After Duen delivered that heavily threatening warning, he swung his arm and flung the red-headscarfed man out of the alley. The latter dragged his badly injured body away in terror.

Duen silently removed the red nose. Two Nightmares, dim and lifeless after exhausting their energy, flew out of his pupils and dissolved into nothingness in midair.

The power of Phantom Mirror could not only make enemies experience nightmare-like fear and shock. It also possessed a degree of hypnotic power similar to the hypnosis used by Jango of the Black Cat Pirates. When fear and pain arose in an enemy's heart, the success rate of the ability increased greatly.

Duen's Nightmare Fruit ability was not powerful enough yet, so he needed to use a distinctive object like the red nose for visual guidance and psychological suggestion, making the target experience a concrete illusion.

If such a concrete illusion could not be exposed on the spot, it would remain preserved as a memory.

However, this technique derived from Phantom Mirror could not yet be used on too many people at once, and it was not guaranteed to work. It could also be broken free from immediately.

Duen did not want to be wanted by the Marines or the Goa Kingdom military police over a few killings. That was why he used this method and let the red-headscarfed man go, making him a living witness and steering the culprit of the incident toward Buggy, who was somewhere far away in the East Blue.

Besides, the people who died here were all desperate underworld criminals. The red-headscarfed man was unlikely to seek out the security forces, who stood on the opposing side, and expand the incident's impact. And he probably did not have the courage to provoke "Buggy" again over a few dead men.

Duen walked over and helped the astonished Simon to his feet. "Can you stand?"

Simon came back to his senses. Though he did not understand what had just happened, he did not ask questions and simply nodded. Rising was still extremely difficult for him, and whenever he touched his left arm, his entire body trembled uncontrollably.

Duen said, "Let's go back first."

Simon's residence was less than a kilometer away. They kept a low profile as they traveled through dark corners, and Duen wrapped Simon's bloodstains in a wide cloak. Thus, they returned to Simon's home without drawing much attention.

After pushing open the front door, Simon staggered forward two steps in exhaustion and barely managed to sit in a chair. He coughed up several more mouthfuls of thick blood, and his condition looked poor.

Hearing the door open, Nami came downstairs from the second floor. She was startled when she saw Simon's condition and asked Duen beside him, "You beat him up like this?"

What an unusual train of thought...

The corner of Duen's mouth twitched. "It was actually the opposite. I saved him. As for what happened, he should explain it himself."

Simon pointed at a small spare medical kit on the cabinet and said softly, "That..."

Nami hurried over, opened the spare medical kit, and took out bandages and hemostatic medicine for Simon. "What happened?"

"Thank you..."

Simon carefully began dressing his own wounds. After hesitating for a moment, he said, "It should have been that bastard noble from High Town, Bernal Joshua... He doesn't want me getting close to Elena, so he hired those men to threaten me."

Hearing the name again from Simon, Duen asked, "Who is this person?"

"A bastard noble notorious for his lust. He has tried every possible way to harass Elena, and he's used all kinds of open and covert methods to suppress Jeffrey's family business and properties. If Elena had not held out so stubbornly, her parents would have already yielded to Bernal Joshua's methods..."

As he spoke, Simon gritted his teeth furiously. In his agitation, he accidentally pulled at his wound again. A patch of crimson spread uncontrollably across his abdomen, and pain made sweat pour from his forehead.

Nami could not bear to watch any longer and stepped forward to apply medicine and bandage Simon's wounds.

Duen asked, "Do you know where this guy lives?"

Simon answered, "High Town... He's a noble, so he must live in High Town."

"What about his habits and schedule?"

Hearing Duen's question, Simon froze for a moment before answering, "He might appear around Elena's house, but I'm not sure."

Duen thought for a moment. "That makes things difficult..."

Simon looked at Duen as if he had made up his mind, then said, "There's a Pleasure Street southwest of Border Town. There's an intelligence network there for this kingdom. They should have information on him."

"You two..." Nami looked up at Duen. "You aren't thinking of..."

"I'm only seeing the favor through to the end," Duen said lightly. "I made a mess, so I need to clean it up."

Nami seemed to consider it as she nodded faintly, then said seriously, "Mr. Simon, if we help you get rid of that bastard noble, how much commission can you pay us?"

Duen's eye twitched slightly. "Don't talk like that... You're making us sound like some assassin organization."

After thinking it over, Simon made a major decision. "One million Beli."

Duen said, "You too, stop it. This has completely turned into a blatant underworld deal."

With a resolute expression, Simon said, "Mr. Duen, I'm not afraid of bearing infamy, nor do I fear death. But I cannot stand by and watch Elena fall into Bernal's clutches. Even migratory birds have the desire to return home. My parents have passed away, and Elena is my only home, the place where I keep my hopes. No matter what, I want to protect her, whatever methods I have to use, whatever way it must be done..."

A trace of sorrow blended into his unwavering conviction, forming a somewhat heavy atmosphere that spread through the room.

Sunlight shone through the windowsill, stirred by the breeze. It seemed to meet an invisible barrier and lost some of its brightness, leaving only scattered mottled patches and halos that faintly illuminated the dim floor.

"Migratory birds... returning home... Hmm..."

Duen looked at Nami with an unnatural expression and asked, "You probably don't understand that, right?"

Nami asked back in confusion, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Don't connect it to such a strange topic, Mr. Duen!" Simon roared in embarrassment and anger.

"Negative emotion points from Simon +10..."

Nami still looked utterly bewildered. "Eh... What exactly are you talking about?"