On the fifteenth floor of the King of Gold Hotel.
A petite, furtive figure darted past the entrance to a long, dim corridor.
Only after making sure no one was in the corridor did the figure, dressed in a tight black leather suit, slip inside.
"What luck. I never expected a turn of events like this. Looks like I'll have to move up my plans. The four hundred billion Beli is out of reach, but there are other prizes. Hee-hee-hee."
Carina laughed in delight.
She had infiltrated Ark Maxim long ago, posing as a singer while secretly plotting to steal the treasures aboard.
Carina crouched and crept down the corridor, soon vanishing into its narrow depths.
Where she had stood moments before, another figure slowly emerged from the darkness.
"You're good at hiding. I almost lost you."
Werther chuckled and followed Carina without a sound.
With so many factions gathered aboard Ark Maxim, Werther did not want to alert anyone just yet. He had a feeling Fox Cat was heading somewhere important.
As an accomplished thief, Carina was skilled at both stealth and shaking off pursuers. Those skills had kept her alive.
Without his keen senses and Swordsman's Intuition, Werther would barely have been able to keep up with her.
More importantly, he could not let Carina notice him, and he could not use Observation Haki.
After passing through the corridor and climbing another two floors, Carina reached a concealed door.
The secret door was made of pure gold. It was more wall than door, sealed so completely that it could not be opened.
Short of breaking through it by force, only Gild Tesoro himself or his subordinate Nakata, the Warp-Warp Fruit user, could enter.
Carina hesitated before the Golden Secret Door, as though weighing her options.
"Gild Tesoro shouldn't