Trading a Fake Secret for a Real Route

Cold rain pelted the white bone mask.

The gray-cloaked figure held the Seven-Tier Cloud-Pattern Recording Shell, pressing a fingertip over its opening as the lightning inside went out.

"Nika's secret in exchange for the complete route. You get one chance to name your price."

Su Hang stopped below the stone steps, his gaze sweeping over the recording shell.

"Prove first that what you have is genuine."

"The Bronze Compass will prove it for you."

The gray-cloaked figure raised the recording shell.

The lightning within spun in reverse, trembling in sync with the Bronze Compass in Su Hang's arms. Its needle pointed skyward first, then tilted toward the shell.

Lorne lowered his voice.

"The reaction matches the first half."

"That only proves it came from the same route."

Su Hang held out his hand.

"Play the contents. We'll talk after I see them."

The gray-cloaked figure withdrew the recording shell.

"You just paid two million to see half a route at the auction, and now you want to see the other half for free?"

"The first half lacks an exit. If the second half lacks an entrance, then putting two useless shells together will still send people to their deaths."

"You don't have to trade."

"You can try taking it."

Dense footsteps sounded from within the stone gate.

Belloc emerged from the venue with more than a dozen guards, transparent threads already wrapped around his fingers.

Yet the gray-cloaked figure did not look back.

"This is the young master's auction house. If you make a move, the other half of the route will be destroyed immediately."

Su Hang lightly rubbed his index-finger knuckle.

"That's why you dare stand so close."

Lorne swept his gaze over the alley entrances on both sides.

The auction house guards had sealed off the exits, while the bidders who had caused trouble earlier were also pouring outside.

If this standoff continued, it would only draw the Marines here.

Su Hang took out a folded sheet of paper.

"Rubber abilities weaken rapidly after entering seawater. The greater the area of bodily contact, the faster the ability shuts down."

Belloc let out a scornful laugh.

"Every three-year-old knows Devil Fruit users fear seawater. You think something like that can buy you an ancient route?"

"That's only the beginning."

Su Hang unfolded the paper.

It recorded the tides off Windmill Village, the direction of backflow, the time spent in the water, and the order in which different body parts lost strength.

"Four breaths underwater, and the arms lose their rebound. Seven breaths, and the legs can no longer exert force. After ten breaths, consciousness starts to blur."

The gray-cloaked figure's gaze paused on the tidal data.

"You tested it yourself?"

"I nearly died once."

"Nika can't resist seawater either?"

"No."

"The system didn't remove that weakness?"

Su Hang looked up.

That question was far too precise.

Ordinary underground factions would only care about rubber abilities.

But this person had directly separated Nika from the system. Clearly, he knew far more than everyone at the auction house.

"That's your second question."

The gray-cloaked figure fell silent for several breaths.

"This data isn't enough."

"You want the complete form, the conditions for awakening, the upper limit of its power. But you only have one route. It isn't worth that price."

"The route can lead you to opportunities in the sky."

"It can also send me and a shipful of people plummeting to our deaths."

Su Hang folded half the paper back.

"Real tides, real time in the water, real ability reactions. It won't be hard for you to verify. As for how much you can deduce from it, that depends on your skill."

Belloc spoke coldly.

"The young master can give you five hundred million Beli. Hand over Nika's complete secret, and the route is yours too."

"You used a broken route to cheat information out of me, and now you're naming a price with money you haven't even put on the table?"

Su Hang looked at the fingers wrapped in thread.

"A half-truth is often more expensive than a lie. You won't even part with the real thing, yet you want to buy the whole secret?"

The bidders rushing out of the venue had already gathered near the stone steps.

Someone recognized the recording shell in the gray-cloaked figure's hand and immediately raised a weapon.

"There's another half of the route!"

"The auction house really was hiding goods!"

"Return the deposits!"

Belloc's expression darkened abruptly.

"Complete the transaction and leave immediately."

The gray-cloaked figure tossed out the recording shell.

At the same time, Su Hang flung out the sheet of paper.

The two items crossed in the rain.

Lorne caught the recording shell first and swiftly placed it inside a leadwood box.

The gray-cloaked figure merely glanced at the paper before slipping it beneath his cloak.

"Deal."

"We're not done yet."

Su Hang blocked his path.

"You got verifiable intelligence. The route I received must also be verified on the spot."

"You were the one who demanded we trade first."

"I only agreed to hand over the information. I never agreed to shut up and accept counterfeit goods."

The guards behind the gray-cloaked figure raised their guns at once.

Belloc spread his ten fingers, and threads sealed off the stone steps.

"Su Hang, don't push your luck."

Lorne had already connected the shared Den Den Mushi.

"Mia, we have the second half of the recording shell. Prepare the projection."

A reply immediately came from the other end of the Den Den Mushi.

"Point the image at the tracing paper. Report the cloud column height first."

A blue projection unfolded above the leadwood box.

After the rising water column pierced the lower clouds, it veered east and entered a narrow wind corridor.

Lorne read off the measurements one by one.

"Cloud base: four thousand seven hundred meters. First thunderstorm layer: six thousand two hundred meters. Upper wind corridor: six thousand eight hundred meters."

"That's wrong."

Mia did not hesitate in the slightest.

"The white mineral deposits that fell in Rogue Town twenty years ago came from above seven thousand four hundred meters. If the upper wind corridor is only six thousand eight hundred meters, the minerals couldn't have crossed the thunderstorm layer."

The gray-cloaked figure said, "Cloud heights vary from year to year."

Mia shot back immediately.

"What was the sea pressure differential?"

The other party did not answer.

"What was the water column's angle?"

Still silence.

"The lower wind speed in the image is thirty-seven knots. At that angle, when the ship reaches six thousand eight hundred meters, it will still be inside the thunderstorm's core. It can't possibly reach the rising wind corridor."

Lorne looked toward the lower right corner of the projection.

A faint scratch ran across the altitude marker.

The original number had been scraped away and recarved as six thousand eight hundred.

"The data was altered."

Belloc suddenly jerked his threads.

The leadwood box was sliced into three pieces, but Su Hang's arm, wound up in advance, pulled the recording shell away.

Bang!

Su Hang clamped five fingers over Belloc's face and slammed him hard against the stone wall.

The wall cracked on impact.

"The transaction isn't over, and you're already trying to destroy the evidence?"

The threads sliced open Su Hang's sleeve, yet he did not retreat even half a step.

Belloc's head was pressed against broken stone, and the arrogance on his face finally turned into fury and alarm.

"Let go! This is the young master's territory!"

"Tell Doflamingo to come get his man himself."

The gray-cloaked figure raised both hands.

"The original record can be provided."

"Now."

"Let Belloc go first."

Su Hang pressed down harder.

Cracks crawled several feet across the stone wall. Blood ran from Belloc's nose, and his ten fingers could no longer control the threads steadily.

"You aren't qualified to add conditions."

The gray-cloaked figure took a small sound shell from his waist.

"The original altitude was seven thousand six hundred meters. The entrance to the wind layer lies eight hundred meters above the thunderstorm core. You need to use the second rising current to pass through."

Mia's voice came from the Den Den Mushi.

"Project it."

The sound shell lit up, and the original observation chart overlaid the second half of the route.

The lowered wind layer returned to its original position, while a narrow northward-slanting passage appeared at the thunderstorm exit.

The Bronze Compass immediately stopped spinning wildly and pointed steadily toward the end of the passage.

Lorne quickly copied down every measurement.

"We have it."

Only then did Su Hang let go.

Belloc slid down the stone wall, clutching his blood-covered face.

"The young master won't let you go."

"Tell him to get in line."

Su Hang put away the recording shell and turned into the rain.

The gray-cloaked figure remained where he was. Only after the Dawnbringer Merchant Guild vanished into the alley did he remove the white bone mask.

Beneath the mask was not the trader's true face, but a mechanical Den Den Mushi that mimicked human speech.

Inside the old execution ground's secret chamber, Grave removed the control wires.

The observation results from the White Reef Torpedoes and the auction were posted side by side on the wall.

Strength, crew, opportunities, secrets—behind every item was marked the order in which Su Hang had chosen.

A government agent stared at the final line.

"He traded a real weakness for a route. That means he really wants to go to the sky."

"He wants to go, but he refuses to accept false data that could get his crew killed."

Grave adjusted the Black Den Den Mushi.

"Release news of an early ocean current."

"The true tide window is still twenty-one days away. Will he believe it?"

"Send the Rogue Town Weather Observatory's seal, the observer's signature, and the deep-sea pressure data with it. Use real data for everything. Only change the date."

The agent asked, "Is White Tower Strait ready?"

"Twelve Seastone cables and three layers of interception nets. As long as the Dawnbringer chases this so-called opportunity into the strait, Nika will be stripped away completely."

Grave put away the two records of Su Hang's choices.

"White Reef proved he would risk himself for strangers.

The auction house proved he would not gamble his crew on a route. Now they would see whether an opportunity that came only once a year could make him forget his own rules."

The Dawnbringer had just cast off when an emergency message cylinder stamped with the weather station's insignia shot over from shore.

Mia broke the seal. One glance at the contents made her face change drastically.

"The Rising Current has arrived early. If we miss it in three hours, we'll have to wait another year."