Sally's lazy eyes contracted sharply when she heard the words "Spade Pirates."
The seductive tavern owner's smile froze.
Her body, which had been leaning against the counter, slowly straightened.
Her full chest rose and fell with her breathing, and within that mature fragrance in the air, a hint of danger appeared.
The tavern fell silent.
The pirates who had been staring with lust a moment earlier now looked at Zaraki as if they were looking at a dead man.
In this stretch of sea, some names were not supposed to be mentioned.
Recently, "Spade" had become one of them.
Sally's gaze remained on Zaraki's overly calm face for three seconds, as though trying to read something from those golden eyes.
But she could see nothing in those eyes except her own reflection.
In the end, Sally smiled again, though this time, there was a merchant's sharp calculation in it.
"I have it."
She stretched out one red-painted finger and lightly tapped the stained counter.
The sound was not loud, but it struck everyone's heart like a drumbeat.
"The newest and most accurate information. But the price... won't be cheap."
"Name it," Zaraki said without any change in tone, as if he were not buying information, but a mug of cheap ale.
Sally raised five fingers, then three more.
Her red lips parted, and she named a figure that froze the air in the entire tavern.
"Eighty million berries."
"Hiss—"
The sound of people sucking in cold breaths rose all around them.
Even the most vicious pirates looked stunned.
Eighty million?
Was she robbing him?
For one piece of information?
That was enough to buy a decent pirate ship and fill it with cannons and rum!
"This is daylight robbery!"
A crisp, angry voice came from behind Zaraki.
Gion could no longer hold back.
She pulled back her hood, revealing a face filled with anger.
She stepped forward, her hand already resting on the hilt of her famed blade, Konpira.
The aura of a Marine Admiral candidate was released without restraint.
"It's only one piece of information, and you dare ask for eighty million? Do you really think there's no law on these seas?"
Sally's gaze landed on Gion, especially sweeping over her Marine uniform.
She even licked her lips with interest and giggled.
"Miss Marine, law? On this island, my rules are the law."
She lazily leaned back against the counter and turned her gaze back to Zaraki, as if Gion were only an unreasonable little girl.
"And the reason this information is worth that price isn't just because of 'Spade.' It's also because it involves another name..."
She deliberately paused, enjoying the way everyone held their breath, then spoke word by word.
"Whitebeard."
Gion's aura faltered at once.
Whitebeard, Edward Newgate.
That name was like a mountain pressing down on everyone's heart.
"Now, do you still think it's expensive?" Sally's smile carried a hint of mockery. "If you want to get close to that Emperor of the Sea, you need to be prepared to pay the proper price for the risk. Miss Marine, aren't you being a little too stiff?"
"You!"
Gion's face instantly flushed red.
The phrase "too stiff" carried enough double meaning that she did not know how to respond for a moment.
"The price is fine."
Just as the atmosphere grew tense, Zaraki's calm voice sounded again, pulling everyone's attention back.
He did not look at Gion beside him, whose chest was rising and falling from anger.
He simply looked calmly at Sally, as if eighty million berries truly meant nothing to him.
Sally's smile became much more sincere.
The way she looked at Zaraki was now like looking at a walking bag of gold!
"Straightforward! Then, will that be cash or—"
"But I don't have money on me."
Zaraki's next words made her smile freeze on her face again.
The temperature in the tavern seemed to drop sharply.
The smile vanished from Sally's face, and her eyes turned cold.
Her beautiful eyes narrowed, flashing with danger.
"No money?" Her voice became low and husky. "You came here to amuse me?"
Bang! Bang!
Beside two tables near the bar, four pirates built like bears suddenly stood up.
They cracked their knuckles with a series of pops, malicious grins on their faces as they slowly surrounded them.
"Boss, want us to show these two 'honored guests' out?"
One of them, a one-eyed pirate, licked his lips while his gaze swept greedily over Gion's graceful body.
Gion's face turned iron-blue, and veins stood out on the hand gripping her sword hilt.
Zaraki, however, acted as if he had not seen the approaching threat.
He raised his eyes, looking past Sally toward a man sitting in the corner of the tavern, drinking quietly all this time.
The man was tall and thin, with a scar running from his brow bone to the corner of his mouth.
He was watching the scene with the eyes of someone enjoying a show.
On his table lay a curved blade shaped like a jackal's fang.
Zaraki's memory was excellent.
Before boarding the ship, he had just looked over the latest bounty posters for this stretch of sea.
"I don't have cash."
The corner of his mouth curved upward as he pointed toward the scar-faced man in the corner.
"But paying with his head should be more than enough."
"Jackal Odd. Under the Beasts Pirates, bounty of ninety-three million berries. Correct?"
In an instant, it was as if all the air had been sucked out of the tavern.
Everyone's movements froze, including the four burly pirates who had been surrounding him.
Time seemed to solidify for two seconds.
"Pfft—"
Someone could not hold back and spat out a mouthful of liquor.
In the next moment, the heavy silence was torn apart by thunderous laughter.
"Hahahahahaha!"
"What did I just hear? He wants to pay with Odd's head?"
"Is this brat insane? Does he know who Odd is? He's one of Lord Kaido's men!"
"Hahahaha, I can't take it! My stomach hurts! That's the funniest joke I've heard all year!"
Jackal Odd himself, the man whose name had been called, froze for a moment before laughing along with them.
His laughter was especially arrogant.
He placed his cup down and slowly stood. His tall, thin body seemed to hide explosive strength.
"Kid, you've got guts."
He laughed as he wiped the corner of his mouth with his thumb, though his eyes had become vicious and cold.
"The last person who dared speak to me like that had his bones fed to the Sea Kings."
Gion's face had already turned extremely ugly.
As a Marine, being mocked like this with a fellow officer inside a pirate den was unbearable.
Clang!
Konpira slid half an inch from its sheath, and the sharp sword energy instantly weakened the laughter around them.
"Don't move."
Zaraki did not look back. His voice was not loud, but it carried an unquestionable command.
"This is my business."
He ignored Jackal Odd, who had already walked up to him and was radiating killing intent.
His gaze remained fixed on Sally behind the bar, whose expression was now shifting uncertainly.
"Eighty million for the information. I'll pay with a head worth ninety-three million."
His voice clearly entered everyone's ears.
"You run this kind of place. Don't tell me you don't have channels to turn a pirate's head into money. The extra thirteen million is your labor fee, and the hush money to keep everyone here quiet."
Sally's pupils shrank sharply.
Thirteen million in pure profit!
This deal...
Her heart began beating faster despite herself.
"Interesting."
Jackal Odd grinned viciously as he walked up to Zaraki.
He was a full head taller, looking down from above as a thick stench of blood rushed forward.
"Boss, I'll take this deal! Let's see whether this little brother has the ability to take it from my neck!"
Sally's breathing quickened.
She looked at Zaraki's calm eyes, then at Jackal Odd, whose expression was cruel and whose hand had already settled on his sword hilt.
In her heart, greed overwhelmed caution.
Sally licked her dry lips and took half a step back. T
hat tiny movement was equivalent to silently approving this bloody transaction.
The air in the tavern instantly dropped from noisy to freezing.
No one laughed anymore.
The pirates who had been laughing, mocking, and watching the show earlier all quieted down.
Their eyes moved between Zaraki, Jackal Odd, and Gion behind Zaraki like a pack of hyenas that had caught the scent of blood.
One greedy and disgusting gaze after another landed openly on Gion.
In their eyes, the ending of this farce had already been decided.
This ignorant brat would be torn apart by Odd, and the exquisite woman beside him would naturally become the victor's prize.
Some of them were already calculating whether they might get a share after Brother Odd grew tired of her.
Zaraki clearly felt those sticky, filthy gazes. He also sensed Gion's body trembling slightly behind him from shame and anger.
He did not turn around to comfort her.
Because when dealing with wild dogs, comfort was useless.
The only way was to beat them, cripple them, and make them so afraid they would kneel and wag their tails.
"Kid, ready to go meet the sea god?"
Jackal Odd grinned and took a stance.
He rested that strange curved blade on his shoulder.
The edge reflected the lamplight, giving off an ominous chill.
He did not attack immediately. Like a patient beast, he enjoyed the fear of prey before death.
The surrounding pirates also tacitly backed away, forming a circle and leaving the center open for the bloody show about to unfold.
They crossed their arms, cruel smiles on their faces, blocking every possible escape route.
They wanted to see panic on this brat's face.
They wanted to see him abandon the woman and flee in disgrace!
However, the reaction they wanted never appeared.
From beginning to end, Zaraki's expression barely changed.
His eyes remained calm and faintly bored, reflecting the twisted faces around him as if he were looking at a swarm of noisy insects rather than a circle of pirates closing in for blood.
He slowly raised his eyelids.
His gaze finally moved away from Sally behind the bar, but it did not land on the murderous Jackal Odd in front of him.
Instead, his eyes passed over Odd's shoulder and swept slowly, inch by inch, across the face of every pirate around them.
That gaze was light and faint, yet it carried the scrutiny of something standing at the top of the food chain.
Every pirate who met his eyes felt a chill in their heart, and the smiles on their faces stiffened unconsciously for an instant.
Only then did his gaze return to Jackal Odd.
"Just you?" he asked softly, as though confirming something trivial. "That won't be enough."