Drip. Drop. It's the sound of the droplets of water that echoes in this secluded alley. It's dark, devoid of any humans save for a certain someone standing beside the trashcan whose face is hidden behind a blue mask and a hood.
This person is none other than Sab, or more precisely, it's Blue.
She looks up to glance at the World Government branch in the area, in Kaido's territory. Given this is the outskirts of the territory and quite far away from Kaido's headquarters, it's still quite bold of the World Government to put a branch in one of the most brutal cities in Grandline. Sab heard a lot of stories from this city, some were exaggerated but she knows that almost all of them are true.
Murder is frequent, often they will find news of a dead body found in the area but, no one will tell the police officers who did it, too scared to get themselves into a graveyard should they present as crime witnesses.
The murder cases will never get justified, dismissed by the World Government branch in this city due to the lack of proper evidence and no witnesses to tell them who the culprits are. Sab handled a few of the cases in this city before, but all of them are pointless, nothing she can do.
There's nothing she can do as a lawyer, as Atty. Sab Regor, but as Blue, there are things she certainly can do.
Kaido's known for his cruelty and greed. The information about his battles and squabbles with Roger's group before is widely-known. Most squabbles will end up with several deaths from each side.
Who knows how many mafia members died at that time.
But, in the conflicts against Roger's group, Kaido's group had never tasted a victory, always finding themselves falling short, receding a territory because of a loss.
The odd thing about Roger's group is that they never took any territories as their own, roaming Grandline freely.
The wildest Mafia Group in history - as described by everyone.
With the conflict between the World Government and Roger's group, there's no doubt that most of his rivals will jump the gun to attack him from all sides, Kaido included.
Sab took the task to initiate their attacks against Kaido. Coincidentally, the Revolutionary Army sent her an order to disrupt Kaido and the World Government's deals.
Should the World Government gain access to a few of the resources that the Kaido's group can offer, it may be detrimental for the Revolutionary Army. Last time, one of their hideouts had been discovered by Kaido's group and a later time was raided by the World Government. Luckily, the Revolutionary army abandoned the hideout before the World Government arrived. They cleaned the warehouse, free of any evidence that the World Government will use to track their members down.
And the best way to do that is to burn the building. Sab can imagine the deep regret the World Government must have felt when they arrived at the supposed hideout of their biggest enemy only to be welcomed by the scorching building with nothing to salvage.
And here she is, in the middle of the enemy's territory to kill a few of Kaido's men.
Killing is not something she's fond of doing, but if it will achieve everything they wanted, she will do it without hesitation.
Her hand tentatively reaches for the gun strapped on her side, readying herself for another bloody kill she will do.
With precise movements, she navigated the area with ease until she finds herself in a neutral part of the city. Between dealings from the World Government Officials and the Mafia Group Officials, this unspoken rule is always implemented, that the two parties will meet in neutral territory.
It makes things easier for Sab because she can interrupt whatever deal they had and, at the same time, decrease Kaido's essential members. Getting revenge by killing the members may sound so brutal, but the three of them vowed to do it no matter what.
The members that they killed from the enemy mafia groups are the upper echelons. They do not want to massacre the people who do not have anything to do with the events involving their father years ago.
Sab stopped dead on her tracks to hide when she heard noises a few meters from where she is, which confirms that she must have arrived at the location where Kaido's group is about to meet with the World Government Officials. Sticking her head to sneak, her eyes went wide-eyed when she discovered Kurozumi Orochi standing in front of two of Kaido's men.
Sab doesn't know their names, but from what they were called, they are part of the sub-group called Tobiroppo. That was a funny name, or at least that's what Luffia thinks when she heard Sab mentioned it once. It didn't take a minute before the twins found their youngest sister laughing on the floor.
"How much do we get this time?" Orochi asked, smiling so horrendously that Sab can't help wincing. Behind such a smile is nothing but disgusting thoughts, a person whose moral conscience is buried deep down the abyss of nothingness, nothing is redeeming about this man at all. Why he is still an official of the World Government leaves room for more questions about the organization's choice of men.
"60/40. We get 60." A blond woman named Maria answered. This is the only information Sab has. Finding information about Kaido's upper echelons is like finding a missing needle on the floor. It's scarce, almost nothing, no doubt their group had been careful about their whereabouts, going as far as destroying traces of their past.
"Tsk. Why do we get - "
"Careful now. You don't want to anger the boss by demanding more than what we can provide. Be thankful that we're giving you 40 instead of 30." A man with pale-pink hair spoke, looking down on Orochi threateningly.
"Getting the slaves into the warehouse is a hard thing to do. You can do better than 40. Make it 50!"
Patience is a virtue, Sab knows this. Calmness is needed in all situations, but this can be an exemption. Sab is about to lose her composure after hearing the word slaves.
Slavery has always been part of other mafia groups' businesses, earning millions from selling a slave to rich families, nobles, elites as what they're called. For the past few years since working as one of the upper echelons of the Revolutionary Army, Sab encountered several situations where the World Government is involved in such transactions. It's hard to see young people chained, bruised, abused and most of them are teenagers.
While the two sides are busy arguing, Sab navigated, careful to not make a noise to alert them about her presence. With the manpower each side has, she's afraid that taking them out is difficult, almost impossible. She cannot risk getting caught or injured now.
With careful movements, she finds herself in front of the warehouse where the slaves could be. There's a window nearby. Utilizing the barrel nearby, she managed to look past the window. The inside of this raggedy building is dark, save for the streetlights passing through the glass window. No poor lighting can prevent her from discerning the situation.
Dozens of crying people, caged, chained, and bruised are inside the building. Saving them now is an utmost priority for her even if this is not her mission.
Her mission is to investigate, disrupt, and kill a member of Kaido's group, only if the situation allows it, not save the slaves that can get her killed if they catch her.
Well, if they catch her.
With determination, she got off the barrel and started walking to the entrance to kill the guard. She's thankful that the transaction between Orochi and Kaido's men are on the other side. They may be preventing any information leak should one of the slaves be a spy. A well-thought decision but something she can take advantage of.
A few meters before she arrives at the entrance of the warehouse, she heard footsteps from behind. Her heart quickens, a hand automatically reaches for her gun and, with a quick movement, pointed it to whoever was behind her.
Her breath hitches upon recognizing the three men standing in front, especially the tall red-haired man.
"Look who we have here." His voice resonates in her ears, such a familiar accent she never heard for a long time. This is how he usually is, his voice is mocking, sounding so arrogant that makes you want to punch the living daylights out of him.
And one of the reasons she fell in love with him.
Sab didn't lower the gun, still pointing it at her ex-lover. A part of her is quite afraid that he will find out her identity.
"Blue from the Revolutionary Army. I didn't expect to see a big-shot here, all alone." He's now a few meters away from Sab, his voice is low that only those nearby can hear.
"Neither do I." she answers. For once, she's thankful for wearing a voice-changer mask, saving her from a catastrophe should Eustass Kidd finds out that Blue is none other than Sab.
"You can lower your gun. We're not after you."
Kidd is with Killer and Wire, a step behind him. He's still using that same old fur coat of his that safely covers the numerous guns he has strapped on his body. Sab can bet her money that it will be the same collection.
"We're here for the heads of those bastards. Lower it unless you want us to treat you an enemy." It's a threat to Blue, but since when did Kidd stopped being threatening to those who he doesn't trust? Never.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Three consecutive gunshots reverberated, startling Sab. The shouts soon followed.
"It's showtime." Kidd and his three men walked past Blue to join the fray.
"There are slaves in this warehouse." This made Kidd stopped.
"So?"
"You're endangering them. They could have installed - "
"Lives of others do not matter to me. I did not come here for them. I came here to kill Kaido's men."
Sab shouldn't be surprised. This is how Kidd is, nothing has changed, not after all these years.
After saying that, he takes out his gun and proceeds to join the fray. More gunshots echoed in the area, no doubt alerting anyone in the vicinity. The method he used is crude, tactless, reckless.
Standing there will earn her nothing, so she takes advantage of the situation. Turning right, she's greeted by two guards standing in front of the entrance, guns ready.
They pointed it in Sab's direction but before they can pull the trigger, she is quick to dodge it by getting down on the floor, pointing the gun at them.
Bang! Bang!
One shot for each guard.
The floor is stained with their blood as their body is sprawled on the floor, eyes are wide-open and breathless - dead. Every time she kills, Sab knows there's a part of her that died alongside the people she killed. She does not sympathize with her enemies, but rather with the family they left behind.
She used to be one of them, just a family of a Mafia Member. Losing someone you loved will never be easy. She knows how it feels to lose someone, of how painful it is, traumatizing. Yet here she is, killing a mafia member that might have a family waiting for him at home.
A soft smile formed on her lips as she steps past the dead bodies. There's no time to feel remorseful in this situation. They are enemies, after all.
Panicked shouts can still be heard, even when Sab is inside the warehouse. She turned on the lights of the building, her heart almost crumbled at what she saw.
Drops of blood everywhere, some of the slaves are wounded. An open wound like this is at risk of being infected but none of the bastards even cared. They are treated like livestock, like animals.
All of them are staring at Sab with emotions of fear, helplessness, resignation to their fate.
"The goods! We have to get the goods!" One person shouted from outside and this prompted Sab to turn around and shot Orochi's men with no qualms.
Yet another two to add to the list of people she killed.
Brushing off the thoughts, she approached a teenager nearby. The boy scrambled away, afraid of her.
"Don't be afraid." She said. Her eyes wander to the chains attached to their necks before she curses out loud. It's the kind that is controlled by a remote system. One press of the button is all it will take before some kind of drug will be injected into their necks, poisoning them to death.
"Damn bastards." Clenching her fist, she started walking out of the building to find anyone from Orochi or Kaido's side, whoever is holding the key to free the slaves.
It's chaotic. She sees a few of Kaido's men shooting at Kidd and the others. From the earlier conversation she heard, she deduces that Orochi should be holding the key to the chains.
Ignoring them, she searches for Orochi and his men.
Kidd and his group never cared about Orochi because they are just allies of Kaido, nothing but corrupt World Government official. It is not smooth-sailing for Sab who has to fend herself off from the enemies' attempt to kill her. Anyone not in the group will be treated as an enemy, and as soon as they recognized the blue coat she's wearing, they knew she's not here as their friend.
"Hurry! Hurry!" Sab is quick to catch the hurried and panicked voice of a man not too far from where she is. When she turned to where the voices are coming from, she's not surprised to see Orochi and three of his men getting into the car.
'Not on my watch' she told herself. Without hesitation, she pulled her gun and shot in Orochi's direction, muttering curses when it only hit one of the men, not Orochi himself.
"Quick! Get him out and replace him!" Orochi was referring to the now-dead driver of the car.
Sab runs while loading more bullets for her gun, stopping to roll on the floor, avoiding the gunshots aimed at her. She takes cover at a barrel, bracing herself to fire back.
That is her plan. Let it be known that Sab aka Blue, is always meticulous when it comes to her goals and plans. She can be reckless at times, but she knows what she came here for - to save the slaves and disrupt the deal.
The disruption that Kidd and his men did earlier made things easier for Sab. The lack of manpower proves to be difficult even for her. Now, she must save the children and the only way to do it is to get the keys from Orochi.
"Shit." She mutters while still taking cover behind a barrel while looking at Eustass Kidd who is busy beating the hell out of Kaido's men. He's winning, yes, but he might die at this point because one of Kaido's injured men took his gun out and points it in Kidd's direction. The man is injured, bloodied, but his loyalty to Kaido must have run deep in his soul for him to use every ounce of energy he had left to take out Kidd Eustass.
Sab could have ignored this, but she can't. Not when there's another enemy behind Kidd. Two enemies are now focusing on him. Torn between chasing an enemy and saving a lover, Sab closes her eyes.
"Kidd, watch out!" Killer shouted as a warning. And this is when Sab pulled the trigger to kill the enemies targeting Kidd.
A minute of distraction, but this distraction led to something crucial. Orochi escaped along with the keys to the chains. She immediately woke up from her musings and realized a mistake she did. Chasing after Orochi will do her no good. If she gets the keys, by the time she returns, this place will be swarmed with enemies, either World Government officers or Kaido's men.
She's left there, watching Orochi's car moving at a fast speed.
The red-haired man looked in Blue's direction, a little confused why this person helped but didn't put much thought about it. The enemy of your enemy is your friend. For now, the Revolutionary Army's second-in-command is an ally.
"Get everything worth the money!" Kidd shouted at his men. Maria, one of the Tobiroppos is injured, groaning on the floor as Killer manhandles her, cuffing her wrists. She will be taken to their hideout where she will be tortured until she spills all information they need. Her companion, a fellow Tobiroppo member is now dead.
They are quite lucky that there are no more than 12 men in Kaido's group, Had there been more than that, Kidd and his group may find themselves in a difficult situation.
The confidence they have in this transaction is high since they are dealing with their allies in the World Government Office branch, little did they know that Kidd and his men have been there for hours to ambush them.
He knows that this is nothing, that this is not enough to make Kaido or Apoo fall on their knees, but Kidd is getting a sense of satisfaction in knowing that he delivered damage not easily repairable.
And more to come on their way. He's nowhere near done serving his revenge. It will be sweeter than they expected, and bloody - this he promises.
The fray and chaos earlier must have alerted enemies nearby. Leaving the vicinity is their utmost priority now that their mission has been accomplished.
"Time to move out. Bring this bitch. Make sure she stays alive." Kidd commands, and while his men are preparing to get out before more enemies join in, the red-haired man's eyes darted to Blue.
"We need to go now." Killer reminded Kidd.
"A minute. Let's see what that man will do." He nods to Blue's side, waiting for him to make a move.
"There's nothing but slaves inside. They're chained."
"Huh. Chained, huh?"
"Yes."
"The keys?" he asks.
"I am not sure, but this must be the keys." Killer hands over a set of keys along with a remote control to Kidd who smiles deviously. An idea passing by his head when he took it from Killer's hand.
Without much thought, he follows Blue inside the warehouse.
"Hey." He calls out. The moment his voice resonates, the children in the warehouse flinched, scurrying off as far away as possible. Their situation did not surprise Kidd at all. He pities them, but that's the extent of what he can feel towards strangers. "You want to save them, right?"
"Orochi is gone. He has the - " Blue stops, eyes darted to the raised set of keys in Kidd's hand.
"Seems you're in luck."
"Will you give me that key? You will not benefit from keeping that." Blue sounds convincing and Kidd would have said yes because it is true, he will not benefit from keeping the useless keys on him.
"Yes. You're right. But you want this, right?"
Seeing her ex-lover this close is overwhelming Sab with so many emotions. After two years since the imprisonment, she never had a chance to hold a conversation with him like this, a conversation without his threats or his desires to kill her.
"What do you want?" She knows him from the back of her mind. He always wants something in return. Always.
"It's a rare opportunity to see Blue of the Revolutionary Army. A mysterious being, if I may say so." he drags his sentence, thinking of the right words to say, eyes still curious as to what this person looks like beneath the hood and the mask. "Let's trade. The keys in exchange for information."
"Information about what?"
"I still do not know, but how about we form a deal? I ask you for information, you will get information about the World Government as well along with these keys." To emphasize his point, he wiggles the keys in front of Blue, a temptation.
"Bold of you to assume that I lack information." Sab plays it casually, wanting to keep her identity a secret as much as possible.
"Fine. I assumed that you won't be needing these anymore? I can throw it away - "
"Wait!" Sab clenches her teeth when she said that. This attitude of his never failed to get to her nerves even before. "Fine. A deal. An exchange."
"Good. Then we will leave you to do what you want. Let's meet one of these days for the payment of these keys." Kidd said as he threw the keys to Blue. "Don't ever think of escaping from this deal. Otherwise, we will track you down. We noted the bike you were using. Gaining a Mafia Group as an enemy is not worth all the trouble."
"I know. You do not have to tell me." Blue answers. It's simple, straight to the point, but it held a deeper meaning that Kidd may never have a chance to know.
"Contact us in two days. I would assume you have that kind of information since you said you were not lacking any." That was all he said before walking away.
Watching his retreating form, Sab cannot help but sigh in frustration. Things may get more complicated with this deal.
===XXX===XXX===XXX===
"Ooohhh~~~ Nice! Nice!" Luffia's expressions sounded like a child's. It may seem cute, however, it is inappropriate in this kind of environment. People are eyeing her from head to toe with furrowed eyebrows, disbelief is written in their eyes because no sane person will express their appreciation in a childlike manner in a battle arena.
Zoro can only facepalm, slightly regretting that he brought Luffia in this kind of place. He'd been thinking about delaying it but Luffia's insistence won coupled with a lot of begging and that infamous puppy-dog eyes that she knows Zoro won't say no to.
Here they are, in one of Akagami's battle arena. Zoro chose this because he knows that out of the Emperors or Mafia Leaders out there, Akagami's battle arena is less brutal. It's still illegal but the mad had been adamant in keeping the rules strictly followed.
No deaths in the arena. And certainly no murders or assassinations.
Technically speaking, Zoro shouldn't be in this kind of place, it's full of Mafia members, most of them his enemies. Who knows when someone will attack him to avenge a friend or a fellow member?
The only reason it's okay for him to be here is that he had a few deals with the Akagami group before. It may be outstretched to say they are friends, but there's a mutual trust that had been established. Add to that, Akagami is never lenient when it comes to assassination attempts inside his arena.
"Luffia, stop pointing at people, it's rude." And dangerous.
"Eeeh? Okay. But it looks so cool!"
"I know. Come on, let's take a seat over there." Zoro points at the bench in front of the arena where there are fewer people. The eyes that are following them are making him aware of how this is a big mistake. He's deliberately putting Luffia at risk.
Several people they passed by are looking so incredulous while staring at Luffia. The only thing that kept them from staring for too long is the fact that Zoro is glaring daggers at them, his arm is on Luffia's back. It's an act of protection against anyone who may try to do something with her. They know not to mess with the Mafia Hunter.
They walked towards the empty seats and when they are a few meters away, Zoro almost groaned because he spotted a few of the big shots present in the arena.
Who could have thought that Whitebeard's second-in-command is here along with Akagami? Zoro planned to just sit at the far corner of the arena to avoid any unnecessary attention. He's not afraid to face these people when he's alone, he just doesn't want Luffia to make a contact with any of them.
Everything has gone awry in Zoro's taste. Everything he had planned didn't go as well as he pictured it in his mind. Why did he let himself get scammed by Luffia?
Six men are walking in their direction, all of them immediately noticed Zoro and his companion but none of them ever said anything. The green-haired man was about to ignore them and just drag Luffia to the seat when she just went and said: "Hi!" to them.
The greeting is so cheerful, so casual, so friendly that it's nauseating Zoro. Who in their right mind will greet Mafia members as Luffia does?
Her greeting shocked the six men that consisted of Marco Newgate, Thatch, and Izou from Whitebeard's Group as well as Akagami Shanks, Benn, and Yasopp.
But she's nowhere near done with the greeting.
"Oohh~ His hair looks like a pineapple!" She shouted while pointing her fingers at Marco. Zoro quickly covers her mouth before she said anything more offending.
"Luffia." His voice is firm, reprimanding her.
"Hmmp. Hmmpp..." Whatever she wants to say, Zoro knows that it's just pure nonsense debates.
"Sorry about that." He said to Marco who had been shocked at what he just heard. Zoro didn't wait too long for Marco to respond before he drags Luffia away from them.
Thank goodness that the man had been forgiving with that insult. Otherwise, Luffia would have found herself in deep shit, and Zoro too, for bringing this disastrous woman with him.
===XXX===XXX===XXX===
In a closed room where only three men are inside, Akagami Shanks is laughing his ass off because of the earlier encounter.
"Boss, you gotta stop laughing like an idiot." Yasopp reminds the red-haired Mafia leader. Even if it's just the three of them, they are still visible from the people outside. This is a VIP viewing area after all.
"You gotta admit that was funny." He reasoned out.
"It is. Although I never thought that she will be here with that man, nonetheless." Benn puffed out a cloud of smoke from his mouth, a little amused but in deep thoughts as well.
"She got him wrapped on her fingers, doesn't she?"
"That she does." Benn and Yasopp agreed with Shanks' words, resigned because one of the most infamous Mafia Leaders in Grandline is on a date with the famous Mafia Hunter, in a battle arena.
What a sight indeed.
===XXX===XXX===XXX===
AN: Finally managed to write a chapter for this before the year ends. I've been enjoying my writing break and the holidays. Hope you are staying safe and enjoying your holidays too!