The World Government's First Eye

"Search every inch of Benns's clothes. He still has a tracking device on him."

Su Hang pushed open the tavern's back door.

Benns was tied to a chair with ropes, the blood at the corner of his mouth already dry.

Benn Beckman crouched beside him, two bullets pinched between his fingers.

"We searched his holster and the soles of his shoes. We even took apart the fish basket. All we found was ordinary gunpowder and this Den Den Mushi."

"What about his collar?"

"Checked. Nothing."

"Cut open the lining."

Benns raised his head.

"A brat who just ate a Devil Fruit really thinks he's somebody?"

"When you ran into the tavern, you protected your collar three times. You didn't even touch your gun after it fell."

"I was afraid you'd tear my clothes."

"A government informant cares about a coat that reeks of fish?"

Beckman used the tip of his knife to pick apart the collar stitching.

A Vivre Card the size of a fingernail fell onto the table.

One corner of the paper had already burned away, and what remained was drifting northward.

Shanks looked out the window.

"The backup is getting closer."

"Benns, how long until your companions arrive?"

"Hand over Su Hang, and I can plead for leniency on your behalf."

"I asked for the time."

"The World Government lost that fruit for eight hundred years. Do you know what that means? One village means nothing. One ship of pirates means nothing!"

Shanks dragged over a chair and sat across from him.

"You want to trade the villagers' lives for your own?"

"I'm saving them."

"With cannon muzzles?"

"As long as Su Hang comes with me, the patrol ship won't fire."

Su Hang leaned against the table.

His right arm hung at his side, his fingers absentmindedly reaching toward the floor.

"You won't even tell us who commands the ship. What makes you think you can guarantee that?"

"The government's orders are the guarantee."

"Benns, you didn't care about Luffy when you fired those shots."

"That brat threw himself at a classified target."

"So anyone in the way deserves to die?"

"Nika cannot fall into outsiders' hands!"

When Benns mentioned Nika, his right hand pressed against his sleeve again.

Even as the rope reddened his wrist, he did not stop.

Su Hang watched that crease.

"Beckman, cut open his right sleeve."

"You dare!"

Benns twisted his shoulders, and the chair legs bounced twice against the floor.

Beckman held down the chair back and sliced through the fabric with his knife tip.

There was only an ordinary layer of lining inside.

"There's nothing."

"It's hidden in the stiff edge of the cuff."

"That's just a ring of stitching."

"Every time he mentions the fruit, his thumb presses against the same spot."

Su Hang raised his right hand.

His index finger stretched across the table and passed by Benns's wrist.

The extended fingertip touched the cuff, but the angle was off, and it poked into Benns's nostril first.

"You're asking to die!"

"Don't move. I still can't control it properly."

"Get your hand off me!"

"Found it."

His fingertip hooked a thin thread and pulled out an oil-paper roll as thick as a chopstick.

Benns opened his mouth to bite it.

Beckman used his knife hilt to hold up Benns's chin.

The oil paper unfolded. There were no words on it, only six groups of interwoven short lines and the image of a cliff.

Shanks took it and studied it for a moment.

"A Sea-Route Cipher."

"Can you decipher it?"

"An old signal system used by government patrol ships. The Red-Haired Pirates intercepted one before."

Beckman took out a pencil and marked directions beside several groups of short lines.

"The pickup ship won't enter the harbor. It's waiting beyond the northern cliff for Benns to send a confirmation signal."

Su Hang pointed to the final group of lines.

"What about this?"

"Target not retrieved. Execute lockdown."

"Does lockdown mean arrests or cannon fire?"

Benns turned his face away.

Shanks tapped the oil paper with his knuckles.

"Answer."

"Hand over the ability user, and I'll cancel the lockdown."

"We have the cipher. You can't cancel anything."

"The Den Den Mushi on the ship recognizes me."

"Then let the Den Den Mushi speak for you."

Su Hang picked up the gray-shelled Den Den Mushi and checked the winding key on its back.

Benns stared at his hand.

"You want to impersonate me?"

"I only need to tell the pickup ship that the fruit is still in the box."

"They'll verify the password."

"It's in the cipher."

"Without my voice, you won't fool the inspector."

"Bon Clay isn't here, so we really can't imitate your voice."

Benns did not understand the name, and his cheek twitched.

But Beckman picked up the broken wooden box on the table.

"If a voice isn't enough, we can send them something."

Su Hang tapped the bottom of the empty box.

"Put an ordinary fruit inside, then tuck the cipher back into his cuff. Make the pickup crew think Benns is bringing the target to North Cliff."

Shanks shook his head.

"Government agents won't just inspect the box."

"So I'll take it there."

"You can't even control your arm. How will you escape if you run into a patrol ship?"

"They want Nika. If they see me, they'll fire immediately. If they see the box, they'll verify it first."

"You're planning to use yourself as bait?"

"I drew the fire here. I can't leave it to burn down the village."

Benns laughed, bloody foam spilling from his mouth.

"You really think you can fool the government? There are people on that pickup ship who specialize in identifying Devil Fruits. The moment they open the box, cannonballs will tear you apart."

"That's still better than having the cannons aimed at the village."

Shanks pressed the empty box back onto the table.

"This isn't something you have to handle alone."

"The fruit is in my stomach. I'm the one they're after."

"You don't even have a ship to leave East Blue."

"Your ship is docked in the harbor."

"You stole my fruit and now you want to borrow my ship?"

"I can pay rent."

"You don't have a single Beli on you."

"Put it on my tab."

Beckman lit a cigarette and examined the watermark on the back of the oil paper.

"Captain, his plan can work, but the fake box will only fool them through the first round of signal verification. Once the pickup crew docks, they'll still search the village."

"Then the ship can't dock."

Su Hang pointed at the cliff symbol.

"Keep them outside cannon range, then send the false signal out to sea."

"Who's sending it?"

"Me."

"We're right back where we started."

Shanks pressed his palm against the box lid.

"Su Hang, taking responsibility is fine. Throwing your life away isn't."

"Then do you have a faster way?"

"I do."

"Say it."

"The Red-Haired Pirates will go to North Cliff. You stay in the village and learn how to pull your hand back."

Su Hang's index finger was still tangled in Benns's cuff. It took two tugs before it came loose.

"If the government doesn't see the ability user, they won't believe it."

"They'll see me."

Shanks picked up the cipher.

"The one who stole the fruit once stealing it a second time is perfectly believable."

Benns suddenly clenched his back teeth.

A faint crunching sound came from between them, and a bitter medicinal smell mixed with the scent of blood.

Beckman reached out and gripped his jaw.

"He had something hidden in his teeth."

"Get back!"

Benns braced his shoulders and snapped the chair back.

The ropes slipped from his wrists, and his skin immediately flushed dark red.

Su Hang reached for his collar.

But his five fingers fell half a foot short, tearing off only a strip of cloth.

Benns crashed through the eastern window.

After landing, he did not look back. He sprinted along the northern path out of the village.

Beckman raised his gun and aimed at the back of Benns's leg.

"Do you want him alive or dead?"

"Alive. He knows where the cannons are."

Su Hang climbed over the windowsill.

The moment both feet hit the ground, his legs went weak. He caught himself against the wall before he could fall.

Benns had already reached the street corner, the drugs making his strides faster and faster.

Shanks rushed out through the front door.

"Benns, what exactly is at North Cliff?"

The figure ahead grabbed the corner of a wall, used it to propel himself into the narrow alley leading toward the mountain path.

"Don't follow me! The Village-Annihilation Cannon has already been set up at North Cliff!"