The sound of the two men pushing the door open was not loud, yet it pierced the clamor like an invisible icicle.
The choking smoke of cheap tobacco, the sour stink of ale, the mercenaries' raucous drinking games... every sound abruptly froze.
Silence was Cambridge tonight...
Only the dusty kerosene lamp hanging above the bar still swayed faintly, casting patches of yellow light over faces that had suddenly gone rigid.
Everyone's gaze locked onto the figure in the doorway as though drawn by a magnet.
White hair, black clothes, abyssal eyes that swept casually across the room, as if he had merely stepped into an empty house.
Behind him followed a tall man with a ragged white cloth wrapped around his head, carrying the Golden Staff and a white plastic chair.
Clatter!
Both cigars clenched between Smoker's teeth fell at once, rolling across the wooden tabletop and scattering sparks.
His arms remained folded across his chest, but his pupils shrank to pinpoints. "What's this guy doing here...?!"
Amid his shock, his gray-white eyebrows knotted tightly together, as though he had seen the gates of hell swing open before him.
"Cough! Cough, cough, cough!" Across from him, Luffy was gnawing furiously on a massive roasted lizard leg.
The sudden, deathly silence made him choke. A chunk of meat lodged in his throat, his face flushed red, and his hands slapped wildly at the table.
"It's him again... the D... D... Demon King!"
Usopp was frightened stiff, even his long nose going rigid. His only movement was the uncontrollable chattering of his teeth, which made faint clicking sounds. He wished he could shrink into Luffy's straw hat.
"It... it's him?!" Tashigi's hand shook, and the mug of ale she had just lifted slammed uncontrollably onto the table.
The murky ale splashed onto