Just a Little Talent

Next Stop—Impel Down!!!

September 3rd.

The World Government's official mouthpieces and semi-official media suddenly went into overdrive. Countless news channels—television, radio, mobile phones, newspapers, and more—worked in concert to blanket the world with one story: the pirate captain of the once-rampant World Pirates, "World Destroyer" Bundy World, had been captured by the Marines and thrown into the lightless Impel Down.

Bred learned of the news through the newspaper. Yet as he read, the corner of his eye occasionally glanced at the main force of P9, who had apparently arrived at the new home he had purchased on Ohara Island.

The main force of P9 had taken part in the operation to encircle and suppress Bundy World. In other words, the news of Bundy World's capture and imprisonment was not breaking news, but a massive news campaign meticulously planned by the World Government.

"Hey, hey! You don't even greet your superior when you see him? You rude little bastard!" Spandine truly was not a patient man. Bred's indifferent, disrespectful attitude thoroughly enraged him. His horse-like face stretched long as he prattled on, "He's your junior, isn't he? Laskey! Please discipline him properly..."

Laskey furrowed his brow and glared coldly at Spandine. Spandine's voice immediately weakened, and he gradually covered his mouth, possessing none of the authority expected of P9's commander.

"Sorry, today's newspaper was rather fascinating. I got absorbed in it." Folding the newspaper, Bred smiled. "Uncle Laskey! Hello, Father Anderson, and everyone else."

In Bred's view, today's newspaper was more than merely fascinating. It was absolutely incredible!

Bred was certain that the most important part of the newspaper was not the World Government capturing Bundy World and eliminating a terrorist who had wreaked havoc everywhere, nor was it the World Government flexing its impressive muscles through the capture of Bundy World.

The most important part was that the World Government had broken from convention and publicly revealed the process by which they had captured Bundy World—a process that should have been concealed!

The World Government had plainly informed the world that the force sent to subjugate Bundy World consisted of Marines working alongside pirates who hated Bundy World.

Justice had actually joined forces with evil. It was easy to foresee the public's alarm and unease; it would inevitably damage the image and credibility of the World Government, which styled itself as the guardian of world peace.

And yet, the World Government had done exactly that, breaking from convention.

Why?

Bred believed that the World Government's move was intended to weaken the deeply ingrained public belief that "justice and evil are irreconcilable," that "everything is either black or white," and that "Marines are Marines, pirates are pirates." It was like testing the Marines' reaction to cooperating with pirates, testing the public's reaction to Marines cooperating with pirates. The ultimate goal was to pave the way for the Shichibukai.

"You too, child," Anderson replied gently.

Spandine muttered resentfully, "'Everyone else'? Am I included in 'everyone else'? You little bastard, I'm your superior~"

"You are not my superior! I report directly to Cipher Pol's highest-ranking official, Minister Honest." Bred's tone was neither warm nor cold. "Even in our upcoming joint mission, you are not qualified to command me. My role is to formulate operational strategy and guide the mission's execution. To put it more simply, until you obtain Minister Honest's authorization to take full command of this mission, shut up! Be good and listen to my orders."

Spandine's mouth fell open. He was furious, aggrieved, and found the whole thing absurd. "D-Damn it..."

Laskey hesitantly signaled to Bred with his eyes, asking whether he was serious.

Bred slowly shook his head. Of course, he was merely borrowing Minister Honest's name to bluff Spandine.

The moment he met Spandine, Bred had judged him to be impatient, vain, and arrogant—the typical terrible idiot of a leader, incapable of accomplishing anything and bound to ruin things. He had to be suppressed from the very beginning.

"Where is that Poneglyph?" the burly man in a suit standing rigidly by the door interjected. He had long, voluminous orange curls, dark skin, round-lensed sunglasses, and a cold aura.

"In the basement of the world's largest library, the Tree of Knowledge," Bred said.

"Rustle!"

Bred rummaged through the coffee table drawer.

"My haul: a list of everyone who has come into contact with the Poneglyph so far." Bred waved the folder in his hand.

Like a vicious dog pouncing on food, Spandine nearly snatched the folder from Bred's hand. Well, he desperately wanted to preserve what little remained of his privileges as P9's commander.

A moment later.

"You're joking, aren't you, you little bastard?!" Spandine cried in disbelief. "Have you gone crazy trying to claim credit? Did you just find some random information and use it to pad the numbers?!"

Anderson held out his hand without saying a word. Spandine immediately presented the folder with both hands. The humble display was both comical and pitiful—utterly spineless.

"The targets' names, genders, ages, places of origin, even photographs and personal histories... I have never seen an agent gather such detailed information on so many people in such a short time. Especially since Esdeath and the others returned to Mary Geoise and mentioned in conversation that the Hunter Association knew you were government agents during the Hunter Exam. If the Hunter Association knew you were with the government, then the Hunters could not possibly have lowered their guard around you. Yet this list includes quite a few Hunters." Anderson chose his words carefully. "It isn't that I don't trust you, but could you tell me how you did it, child?"

Bred lounged back against the sofa and said, "The reason I bought this less-than-ideal house was that it is close to the Tree of Knowledge, within the range of my Observation Haki."

The ten members of P9's main force all turned their gazes through the window at the towering, lush Tree of Knowledge.

They looked at one another.

"Two hundred meters? No, two hundred and twenty meters?!" Laskey estimated the distance from the house to the Tree of Knowledge, his expression strange. "Are you a monster, Bred?"

Bred said faintly, "Just a little talent."

"..."

Although they knew he was with the government and were extremely wary of him, they did not dare expose him rashly. They could not determine his purpose in coming to Ohara Island. Was he after one of them? Or was he after the Poneglyph? They were still guessing." Bred spoke eloquently.

"I used Observation Haki to distinguish the auras emitted by those who came into contact with the Poneglyph, marking them according to the subtle differences. Then I went to the Tree of Knowledge library, where the Poneglyph was hidden, and read books while waiting for the rabbits to come to me. After all, people need to eat, drink, relieve themselves, and sleep. Those who came into contact with the Poneglyph would eventually have to leave the Tree of Knowledge library's basement! Then, using Observation Haki and those marks, I matched them up and confirmed their appearances."

"Those capable of researching Poneglyphs are nothing more than history Hunters, ancient relic Hunters, archaeologists, and historians! For history Hunters and ancient relic Hunters, I logged onto the Hunter Association's website and browsed the list of licensed Hunters. As for archaeologists and historians, most are famous figures in academic circles, so I just checked boring rankings like the annual lists of prominent academics."

In the end, Bred said, "Easy and pleasant."

"..."

"Actually, I have adjusted the 'casting a long line to catch a big fish' strategy. There is no longer any need for all of P9 to toil away. It will not be too late to gather everyone when it is time to reel in the net. For now, just leave one or two people with outstanding Observation Haki behind to assist me, and that will be OK!" Bred stretched. "Oh, it has to be Observation Haki. Nen's En has a similar effect to Observation Haki, but it isn't covert."

"To be frank, the range of my Observation Haki does not reach two hundred and twenty meters." Laskey could not help feeling awkward. He exhaled. "The only one among us whose Observation Haki reaches two hundred and twenty meters is..."

"I will stay and assist Bred," Anderson said.

"Take care, everyone," Bred said bluntly, seeing them off.

At first, Bred had not wanted to involve himself too deeply in the "casting a long line to catch a big fish" strategy. The reason he had changed his mind was that he had considered how long the strategy would take to execute. Far from the World Government's center of power, he could not obtain any soft or hard resources from the World Government to support his growth. The Hunter Association, which knew he was a World Government undercover agent, was the same. He could only create his own resources.

Without question, Anderson's guidance was an excellent soft resource.

PS1: I saw some readers asking for a reader group. Let's wait for now. The results feel pretty average, and it doesn't seem like many people are even voting with recommendation tickets. Even if I made one now, there probably would not be many people in it, so there's not much point.

PS: Thanks to readers [Forerunner] and [Angry D Banana] for their 100-point coin tips each. Thank you.