Dead or Alive

~interlude two~

Words in Shadows

The man was leaning in the shadows under the massive wooden staircase against the wall, a splotch of black in the darkness. Sand trickled down at him like rain through the cracks and gaps in the roughly timbered steps, as some recruits hastily run up to the second floor. A parade was coming up, one of the admirals wanted to inspect the troops, it seemed. As expected, there was a flurry of activity at the base, the corridors were full of people who had important things to do or at least made an effort to look like they did. But that was quite alright with him, since it also meant that no one had the time to pay him or his suspicious behavior any particular attention. The man glanced to the left and right to make sure he was alone, and then stared at the softly snoring snail in his hand. A possible (very attentive) observer might would have described his demeanor as nervous. Perhaps he would have even gone so far as to call it outright worried. But of course this was utter nonsense. He did not get nervous. Never.

And yet...

Suppressing a frustrated growl, he lifted the Den Den Mushi at eye level and picked up the receiver before he had time to think about it differently. With a clunk the animal awoke and a lazy grin spread across its face. At a snail it seemed somehow out of place... Something that had no teeth just shouldn't have been able to look this much like a shark.

"Ah, I already feared, you had forgotten about me and our little appointment. Was about to send someone to you and help you... remember. "

"... I see."

"Very well. So? "

"I have everything under control. Sir. "

"So?"

"I put the commander on the little bitch. Since yesterday morning, every single bounty hunter in the Grand Line knows her face and in a few hours, the messengers should reach the remaining seas. There will be no place to run for her and…"

"Bounty hunters?"

"Yes. I almost forgot! That's the best part: We get a hold of the thief and at the same time someone is taking the blame for this ... other thing. The citizens were getting restless, but that should give us a short breather before the government will be forced to take action and find the real culprit. "

"Mhm. Dead or alive?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"The bounty hunters. To my knowledge, this is their catch phrase. Dead or alive. Living people tend to talk. That would be extremely unpleasant. "

"Well, I had no choice. I had to offer any explanation for the loss of the note and why not take advantage of the available resources and rout out the bitch while at the same time diverting the Navy's attention from us. Besides... I'm pretty sure that she did not even know what she took there. She probably does not even have it anymore. And wasn't that what you wanted? The note disappearing before they can use it against you? If you want me to, of course I could... "

"Alright. Alright. But do not forget: Accidents happen on the high seas all the time~ "

"Indeed…?"

It was only when he had hung up already and stuffed the snail in his coat, that he realized that he wasn't all that sure who his conversational partner had just meant with his last remark.


A/N: little bit faster this time, but also only a short chapter. Hope you don't mind and it is not getting to confusing. The "other thing" aka Nami's supposed crime, will be revealed in the following two chapters.

Constructive critisim is still very encouraged (thanks for all the feedback and advice so far) !

One Piece belongs to Oda Eiichirō (...maybe the crew hired him as some kind of ...fund manager or something.)