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"..."
Liam was speechless for a moment, then he suddenly heard Robin ask softly, "Ross, what's wrong? You've been trembling ever since we were in the restaurant."
Robin lowered her head slightly, looking at the young princess with gentle concern.
But Ross's eyes were fixed on something far away, at the other end of the street.
Following her gaze, Robin saw what Ross was staring at: a tall man, arms crossed, standing by the roadside, watching as the chaotic crowd that had just scrambled for water began to disperse.
It was Gance, the commander of the royal guard from Ross's homeland, the same voice she'd recognized back in the restaurant.
Gance watched the dispersing townsfolk for a moment before one of his companions urged him, "Let's go, they're calling for us, it's time to head to the palace."
"I know," Gance nodded. He was just about to turn when, across the street and through the flow of pedestrians, a woman turned her head. But what caught his attention wasn't her; it was the man beside her.
The man was tall, more than 2.4 meters, with an upright and striking build that drew the eye immediately, so much so that Gance found himself staring without even realizing it.
Then, as if sensing his gaze, the man looked back at him.
"...?!"
It felt as though that look had pierced straight through him. Gance quickly averted his eyes.
"What's wrong?" his companion asked.
"I saw a pirate," Gance said in a low voice as he strode forward.
"A pirate? It's not unusual for a few to sneak onto the island," his companion replied indifferently.
"That wasn't an ordinary pirate…" Gance muttered. "That was Giorno Chopperna, and his captain, Jolyne Kujo."
His companion froze, thinking for a moment before exclaiming in shock, "Those two?!"
He instinctively tried to glance back, but another man beside him smacked him across the head.
"You stupid? Those two together have a combined bounty of over $\text{730,000,000}$ Berries! You so much as look at them the wrong way and we're all dead! You want to bring trouble down on us?!"
The first man trembled and nodded rapidly. "R-right! Two monsters like that… I've got no business trying to claim their bounty. Best to pretend we never saw them…"
He glanced at Gance, but Gance kept walking, expression unreadable.
Does he think I could actually take down those two pirates? Gance laughed bitterly to himself.
To think that Giorno, the man who'd easily crushed the Sea Emperor's second daughter in the Sword Hero Tournament, defeating that Charlotte family's so-called "Ghost Lady", that was no ordinary human. Not anymore.
"Let's regroup with the Haichi merchants and head to the palace," Gance said curtly.
"Commander Gance?"
Liam and Robin had just listened to Ross's quiet explanation.
When Gance had turned in their direction earlier, Ross had panicked and immediately ducked behind Liam. Seeing her distress, Robin subtly shifted to block the princess from view.
"He's the one who fired the gun outside the restaurant earlier…" Ross whispered, pale as paper. "He's my father's commander of the royal guard. He almost never leaves the palace, or my father's side. Why would he be here? Unless… Father… no, no, those people with him didn't look like palace guards…"
As she murmured frantically to herself, Liam reached out and flicked her forehead.
"Ow!" Ross gasped, clutching her head and looking up at him.
Liam grinned. "You're panicking. What's wrong? Afraid that guy, whatever his name is, might recognize you?"
"It's Gance," Robin corrected calmly.
"The Heavenly Tribute collection for this year is nearly complete," said the youthful but steady Blueno, aged eighteen, somewhere else in the city. "The local Marine branch has already taken up guard duty in the royal palace… If the pirates plan to raid the treasury again, it'll likely happen soon."
"Tch." Jabra clicked his tongue dismissively. "If the Marines could handle it, why would we even be here?"
"Since we've come, we'll see it through to the end," Fukurou murmured beside him. "The Igor Kingdom incident has already angered the higher-ups, rumor has it even the Five Elder Stars took notice. One of the World Government's allied kingdoms collapsing under the weight of Tribute payments and debt… it's unacceptable. If another, or the next, Igor Kingdom were to appear, the government would never tolerate such a massive loss again."
The World Government, a colossal alliance centered around Levely, commanding the Three Great Forces, its authority stretching across the Four Seas and enveloping the Grand Line.
Where did they find the endless wealth to sustain such an enormous system?
The Marines didn't collect "protection fees" from local territories, their military expenses clearly came directly from the World Government.
And where did the World Government's money come from?
The Heavenly Tribute paid by the Allied Kingdom Member States was, without question, one of its major sources of revenue.
Although, in name, this money was said to be an "offering" to the Celestial Dragons…
Since it was the World Government, and not the Celestial Dragons themselves, who dispatched Marine battleships to transport these tributes, who could really say how that money was actually distributed in the end?
"You'd better zip your mouth shut!" Jabra barked.
"..."
Walking beside him, Blueno could only remain utterly speechless.
Thankfully, this mission wasn't a classified espionage operation, otherwise, there was no way someone as loose-lipped as Fukurou would've been allowed anywhere near the front lines.
"By the way," Jabra said casually as they walked down the street, "where's Lucci? Don't tell me that after those lunatic cultists mistook him for some kind of pigeon god last time, he got annoyed and went back to slaughter them all?"
"You're exaggerating," Blueno replied evenly.
The group glanced at the street ahead, the chaotic crowd that had earlier fought over the so-called "charity water" from the Haichi Chamber of Commerce was finally dispersing.
"Lucci went to investigate the Haichi Chamber of Commerce branch here on the island," Blueno said.
"What's there to investigate?" Jabra sneered. "Loan sharks like them are never clean. If it were up to me, that guy would just burn the whole chamber down, grab their money, and toss it to the royal family so they could pay off their Heavenly Tribute already."
After all, when it came to CP9, acting first and explaining later was practically a divine right. If they wanted to, a small-time chamber of commerce was nothing more than a purse lying in the street, they could kill, rob, and destroy with no consequences whatsoever.
"Jabra," Fukurou piped up, "we're government agents, not pirates!"
"I told you to zip it!" Jabra turned and roared, "Keep talking and the higher-ups will make sure that zipper on your mouth becomes real!"
Just then, a piercing scream tore through the air, "Ahhhh!!"
"Help!! Somebody, help!!!"
In an instant, the street exploded into chaos.
Jabra and Fukurou exchanged a glance, while Blueno immediately darted toward the source of the screams.
From a distance, they saw it clearly, at the center of the scattering crowd stood a tall young man, his grotesquely large mouth writhing and twitching non-stop.
Between his teeth… was a pale, severed leg, still dripping fresh blood.
(End Of This Chapter)