Cooperation

"Haki? Garde knows Armament Haki, so why did Gat still buy Haki at the auction house?" Werther found this rather strange. If Ferdinand did not explain it clearly, then this matter would end here. Werther would definitely come back for revenge against that Celestial Dragon.

"Uh, it's kind of ridiculous. Garde can indeed use Armament Haki, but because of his head, he can't teach it. That's why Gat was so desperate to learn Haki. After all, he saw its power with his own eyes. You should know that if someone sends people to intercept my auction house's customers at the docks, whether they succeed or fail, I won't let it go easily. That was my auction, after all. If things go on like this, how am I supposed to do business in the future? Who would dare come to Tutu Island for an auction?" Ferdinand rarely showed such anger as he spoke.

This also answered another question in Werther's heart. Would such a large auction really allow customers to get robbed before they even left the island? How could they do business afterward? Who would ever go again?

After thinking it over, Werther found Ferdinand's words reasonable. If everything was true, then he really should consider cooperating with Ferdinand. Garde would be back before long, and if Werther fled now, Ferdinand might very well betray him to avoid being implicated. After all, this world had miraculous things like Vivre Cards. During that encirclement, Werther had left his head and blood behind on Tutu Island.

So Werther decided to cooperate with Ferdinand and deal with Garde, the real lunatic, together.

Once everything had been settled, the atmosphere became much more harmonious. They agreed to meet again in ten days. Since Garde would not return to Tutu Island for another twenty days or so, there was no need to rush.

In the end, Ferdinand generously offered to find a beautiful girl and send her over, only for Werther to fiercely ridicule him for his lack of sincerity. His whole body was covered in injuries; even eating hurt like hell. What was Ferdinand trying to do by sending him a girl? Make him just look at her?

After thoroughly mocking Ferdinand, Werther hung up the Den Den Mushi.

The corners of Werther's mouth curled upward slightly. "An interesting Celestial Dragon."

Thinking about it, it made sense. If all the Celestial Dragons in Mary Geoise were idiots with bubble helmets on their heads, the World Government would have perished long ago.

One should not forget that aside from the royal families currently in Mary Geoise, there were still many royal families scattered around the world, such as the Vinsmoke Family and the Donquixote Family. There were also ambitious families, not to mention the Revolutionaries and the pirates of the New World.

If all Celestial Dragons were trash, then their destruction would truly not be far away.

Werther stopped thinking about it and picked up a bag beside his bed. He took out an item from within—the Haki notes he had obtained after narrowly escaping death this time.

He opened the notes and skimmed through the beginning. Just like in the original story, it said Haki was a power that existed in every person's life, though ordinary people could never awaken it in their entire lives. All nonsense. He skipped straight to the later parts.

He began studying Armament Haki in detail.

What was Armament Haki? It was essentially a form of bodily energy. The stronger a person was, the stronger this energy became. For some unknown reason, this power could strike the true bodies of Logia users.

But that was not Armament Haki's only use. When it covered the body, it formed armor-like protection. The stronger the Armament Haki, the sturdier the armor. That was what Werther wanted.

He carefully began studying how to awaken Armament Haki. As he read the notes, he found a thoroughly infuriating line: to awaken Armament Haki, one's physical constitution had to be strong. As for how strong, it did not say at all.

Werther resisted the urge to throw the notebook away and continued reading.

Even after dinner that evening, Werther was still studying methods of training Armament Haki.

Werther realized that trying to learn Armament Haki quickly was simply a fool's dream. At least, he could not do it.

One had to fight constantly, consciously gathering Armament Haki during battle. This process of gathering it could never be completed overnight. It required long-term, repeated practice until one's body truly sensed Armament Haki. Only then could it be considered truly awakened.

To speed up the process, one needed all kinds of external stimulation, such as harsh climates and intense battles.

Places with harsh climates were truly difficult to find, but there should be plenty of uninhabited islands where he could fight. Once he dealt with Garde, he would ask Ferdinand where there were suitable deserted islands nearby.

He had originally hoped to awaken Armament Haki before dealing with Garde and strengthen his combat ability, but that now seemed impossible. He did not possess some heaven-shaking talent, so he would have to set Haki aside for now.

The biggest problem now was dealing with Garde, someone he had never met yet was destined to become his enemy.

In any case, the foundation of all this was recovering his body. Otherwise, how could he fight?

With that thought, Werther changed his bedding, replacing the blanket soaked in his own blood. Then he changed the medicine on his wounds. After another round of torment, he lay quietly in bed and slowly used the Lightning Stimulation Method to stimulate his cells and enhance his recovery.

In the blink of an eye, the time of his appointment with Ferdinand had arrived. Ferdinand did not arrange to meet Werther on Tutu Island, first to show his sincerity, and second to avoid the spies of the Furious Lion Pirates.

Ferdinand brought only one person with him: the cold beauty Werther had seen by the sea.

Once the two ships drew close, Ferdinand boarded Werther's ship. The cold beauty followed him without leaving his side, apparently serving as his guard.

"Werther, you look like you're recovering well. This is my younger sister, Gabriel Catarina." Ferdinand seemed very satisfied with this cooperation and even introduced his sister to Werther.

Werther's first reaction was, The gender is wrong. Then he felt a pang of frustration. The name Catarina really was too misleading.

But he had not expected this cold beauty to be Ferdinand's younger sister. That meant she should also be a Celestial Dragon, which once again overturned Werther's worldview.

Ferdinand still resembled a Celestial Dragon in every way except his personality, but Catarina did not seem to have even the slightest trace of one.

"Hello, Sister Catarina. My name is Werther. We met before. Let's talk in the dining room. I cooked a meal." With that, he led the siblings, Ferdinand and Catarina, toward the dining room.

When he was not fighting, Werther was quite normal. So he decided to use a custom from his old hometown: whatever the matter was, discuss it over the dinner table. At the very least, the atmosphere would be much more relaxed.

Catarina merely nodded and said nothing. Perhaps it was because of her voice that she did not like speaking.

"Oh? I never expected you to know how to cook, Werther. That truly surprises me. If your cooking is as good as your killing, then I'm in for a treat today." Ferdinand found this rather strange as well.

Shouldn't assassins generally have cold faces and never smile, especially a freak like Werther?

Before coming, Ferdinand had prepared himself to be ignored. But after arriving, he discovered that the man before him was completely different from what he had imagined. There was none of the madness or bloodlust Werther displayed while killing. Instead, he was smiling and appeared quite polite.

Ferdinand was even more satisfied. After all, no one wanted to cooperate with a lunatic. Although the man before him would still turn into that state in battle, he seemed quite easy to get along with now. With the terms Ferdinand had offered, there would definitely be no problem.

The three arrived at the dining room on Werther's ship. When Ferdinand truly saw the meal Werther had prepared, he was shocked—not because it was meager, but because it was too lavish. There were even several uncommon delicacies.

Werther was not a professional chef, but as a foodie who had tasted delicious dishes from many places during his past missions, he had occasionally used "special" methods to ask chefs for cooking advice. Naturally, his cooking skills were not poor. More importantly, Werther had spent a great deal of money stocking his ship with many precious ingredients.

After the three sat down, Werther and Ferdinand chatted while eating. Ferdinand repeatedly praised Werther's cooking, while Catarina praised it with actions—by lowering her head and eating.

After some casual conversation, Werther learned that the siblings could only barely be considered Celestial Dragons. More precisely, they were exiled Celestial Dragons. Ferdinand did not elaborate on the specific reason. He only said that the two of them had been driven out of Mary Geoise before they were even ten years old and had lived outside for more than a decade. As for their previous residence in Mary Geoise, it had merely been for appearances.

Otherwise, how could such a dishonorable business have been handled by a Celestial Dragon? Just thinking about it was impossible. The siblings were also unusual figures within the World Government. They did not hold especially high status, but because of their former identity as Celestial Dragons, they were deeply trusted by the World Government.

After laying their identities bare, the three began further negotiations. Because Ferdinand had once participated in the attempt to kill Werther, he was willing to offer a Human-type Devil Fruit as compensation. In return, Werther would join forces with Catarina to kill Garde.

Afterward, the three formed an alliance. Werther could provide the siblings with martial support, while Ferdinand could provide Werther with channels to purchase all sorts of rare items and access to classified information whenever he needed them.

Both sides were quite pleased to have formed the alliance, and Werther specifically brought out a bottle of fine wine to celebrate.

As for how much of it was genuine and how much was false, only they knew in their hearts. Catarina, who appeared cold, was actually the least calculating of them all. She kept her head down, eating as she fought on her own battlefield—the dining table.