Jogo (Part 1)

Thud thud thud thud thud...

Hurried footsteps rang out from upstairs.

The bandage-wrapped captain of the Acne Pirates rushed down the stairs.

He anxiously looked around.

The first floor of the Wild Sunflower Tavern was silent. Its wooden tables and chairs were neatly arranged, but the place was empty, without a single customer.

Behind the counter, a bartender wearing an eyepatch and a white shirt stood ramrod straight, quietly polishing a glass.

"Calis, where is he? Where's the kid who brought me here?" the captain asked urgently.

Wild Sunflower was the tavern Jogo had introduced him to back then.

The man named Calis glanced up at him without stopping what he was doing.

"Archer, are you in a hurry?"

The captain of the Acne Pirates—or rather, Archer—charged up to the counter and grabbed Calis by the wrist.

"That kid saved my life! I can't just watch him do something stupid!"

"Tell me where he is!"

Calis's movements paused. Somewhat surprised, he studied the expression on the man's face, then shrugged. "He left."

"When?"

"A few hours ago. He left after bringing you and your new companions here."

Archer seemed stunned. Deflated, he sat down at the counter.

"What, is someone going to do something even the captain of the Acne Pirates thinks is foolish?"

Calis pushed a glass of the cheapest rum toward Archer.

Rarely, Archer did not touch it. Instead, he restlessly clawed at his hair.

He slapped the letter Jogo had left behind onto the table.

"Look at this, look at what it says...

What does he mean, he had to leave...

What does he mean, something happened while I was unconscious...

What does he mean, the Capone Family didn't hurt him, that he's fine now, and I don't need to worry about him... And here... here...

What does he mean, the Capone Family head already agreed not to trouble me for now... What does he mean, there was no turning back for any of us now, and that I should keep moving forward bravely..."

Archer clenched his fists, humiliating tears welling in his eyes.

"Damn it!!!"

"Did this brat make a deal with the Capone Family to save the Acne Pirates?!"

"What an idiot! The Acne Pirates aren't worth paying such a huge price for!"

Calis raised an eyebrow. "You think that kid saved you because he made a deal with the Capone Family?"

"What else could it be?"

Archer said irritably,

"Don't tell me he single-handedly slaughtered everyone in the Capone Family before rescuing us?"

"I'm not joking with you, Calis!"

"Do you have any idea how powerful the Capone Family is?"

"That kid... You could tell he had lofty ambitions. The Capone Family must have tortured him terribly somewhere I didn't know about, until he was finally forced to bow his head... Damn it!!"

"Again, it's happening again!!"

He slammed his fist heavily onto the table, his face filled with the regret of someone whose own incompetence had forced another person to sacrifice himself.

Calis's gaze turned strange.

Torture?

He remembered that young man with the huge pack on his back, his easygoing smile, and tranquil eyes... as well as the Capone Family driver beside him, pale as death, trembling whenever he looked at the boy, as if he had suffered some unspeakable torment.

Rubbing his chin, Calis's lips curled slightly.

"I suddenly remembered. That kid you mentioned seemed to have left you a gift. It's in the attic. Want to take a look?" he said unhurriedly.

Archer froze, then rushed upstairs.

The attic window was open, and several Wild Sunflowers grew in the flower box.

Sunlight spilled in through the windowsill, illuminating a wooden box.

Archer eagerly reached out, but the instant his fingertips touched the box, he snatched his hand back as though shocked.

Suddenly, he was afraid to open it.

Afraid he would see something he should not see.

Afraid the past he could never drink himself into forgetting would play out before his eyes again.

"Again... just like before..."

"Why are you people always so stupid?"

Pain and sorrow flooded his eyes as his trembling hand accidentally bumped into a chair.

Clang!

The box rolled off the loosened chair.

Rumble~

Something round rolled out—a head with a gaping hole in it. The Capone Family head's head rolled across the floor, staring at Archer with unclosed eyes.

Huh?

His grief was interrupted.

Archer stared blankly at that familiar face. Gradually, his mouth opened wider and wider.

"What?!"

A cry of shock erupted from the attic.

The Capone Family head's head!

The Capone Family head was dead!!

Jogo's gift to him... Jogo had killed him!!!

Jogo... that kid who had set sail from Ohara less than a month ago... had killed the head of the Capone Family, one of the Five Great Mafia Families of West Blue!!!!

He suddenly pulled out the note in his hand.

Now that he looked at the message again, it took on an entirely different meaning.

"The Capone Family didn't hurt him... That's right, he was the one who hurt the Capone Family."

"The Capone Family head won't trouble me for now... That's because the Capone Family head is dead! Of course he doesn't have time to trouble a small pirate like me!!"

"And telling me to bravely face the future... Damn it, once the Capone Family recovers, I'll be the first one they come after, won't I?!"

Archer stared blankly at the note. After a long while, he finally could not hold it in any longer and burst into laughter.

Sitting on the floor, he laughed louder and louder until he could barely catch his breath, tears streaming from the corners of his eyes.

"You brat, you fooled me!"

Wasn't this different from the past?

Creak... creak...

Calis walked into the attic. Seeing the head that had rolled onto the floor, a trace of surprise flashed through his eyes.

"Looks like you finally made yourself a good friend?"

"A friend? I suppose so... He's quite an extraordinary guy." Archer caught his breath, climbed to his feet, and carefully packed away the head.

"Tell me about him. I happen to have some liquor." Calis handed him the drink.

Archer took it. The two leaned against the window and looked outside.

It had just rained. Wild Sunflowers beaded with raindrops swayed in the breeze, while in the distance, a burned-out house sent wisps of black smoke into the sky.

Archer could not help laughing again.

"That guy's name is Jogo..."

"JO!!! GO!!!!"

Blue skies, the open sea, and a cargo ship speeding away from Sunflower Island.

Inside the dark cabin, Capone Bege knelt on the floor, tightly clutching the intelligence sent back from Sunflower Island, his eyes bloodshot.

Several freshly faxed photographs lay scattered across the floor.

They were all photographs of a charred corpse, taken from different angles.

Short and fat, with no head.

But judging from the rings and other accessories found on the body, it was not hard to guess that this was the corpse of the current head of the Capone Family.

In the photographs,

a crowd had gathered in a circle, seemingly whispering information to one another.

Everyone who heard it looked utterly changed, staring at the corpse on the ground in horror.

The camera had precisely captured their expressions.

Bege gripped the photographs as tears streamed from his eyes. Clenching his fists, he pounded the floor over and over.

He roared as if venting all his fury.

At first, he had not been sure who had done this.

Until the latest report arrived just now—the dungeon was empty!

The Acne Pirates his father had captured had been rescued before the fire!

"Who else could it have been but Jogo?"

"Only he would come save those people! Only he knew about that shipment of the Capone Family!"

"And that identical arson method after killing Gotti!"

"He must have lured the Marines here too!"

"It was all him!"

"It was all him!!!"

Capone Bege was in tears, gritting his teeth hard.

"Just you wait, Jogo!"

"I won't let you go! I'll definitely kill you!!"

Knock, knock knock!

A series of knocks sounded outside the cabin.

Bege hurriedly wiped away his tears and lowered his voice. "What is it?"

Vito's voice came from outside.

"Lord Bege, we're almost at Dendrobium Island."

After a while, the cabin door opened and Bege stepped out. A cigar hung from the corner of his mouth. His eyes were faintly red, but his expression had returned to its usual steadiness.

"Make preparations. I think news of Father's death has already made its way back," he said in a deep voice.

Vito looked at Bege with concern. "Lord Bege..."

Bege raised a hand to stop him.

"I know. I am the head of the Capone Family now."

"The family's interests come first. Until the family is stable, I won't do anything that harms the family's interests."

He paused.

"I know what I need to do."

At a time like this, there was no way he could launch a massive retaliation if he wanted to stabilize the family.

But... what about hiring someone to assassinate him?

"Jogo..."

Bege stared at the island drawing closer in the distance, his eyes filled with malice.

"I'll find you a worthy opponent!"

"The ship's docking! Move aside, the ship's docking! Get the cargo unloaded first!"

On Sunflower Island, the Marines were bustling about inside the hidden cavern.

Having just won a major battle, the bandaged Marines wore excited expressions as they rushed about everywhere.

"We won... It's finally over!"

Hina wiped the blood from her face and sat atop a stack of wooden crates, bracing herself with her hands and leaning back slightly. Beneath her Marine miniskirt, her milk-white thighs rested naturally together, her toes touching the ground, while her full chest rose and fell softly.

Though her face was full of exhaustion, she could not hide the joy in her eyes.

"We won!"

"Hina's merits are secured!"

She wanted to find someone to celebrate with. The first person she thought of was the Marine soldier who had been the first to speak up in support of her aboard the warship.

Without him, there would have been no daring and perilous assault this time.

She had to thank him properly!

"His name was Jogo, right?"

Her beautiful eyes swept across the cavern, searching for that familiar figure.