"Vinsmoke Judge: 'This Attack Was Not Just Against Germa — It Was Against Science Itself'"
Lucien read the headline twice, then set the paper flat on the table. Judge, playing the victim. That was one way to do it. He had expected Judge to absorb the loss quietly. Instead, the article ran three columns and included a reward offer, alongside a description of the culprit vague enough that it could fit half the port towns in North Blue.
Lucien finished eating and walked out of the bar. After escaping from Germa he had made his way to a trading town to get a new ship and, if possible, start a couple of bounties. He had nothing on him now. Most of his things were left back at Germa — he had wanted to be light while escaping.
Walking into the Marine Base, he found a bounty that seemed challenging but achievable and took it from the board before walking out.
Cassian "Ledger Ghost" Virex. Bounty: 1,000,000 Berries.
Virex ran the Black Ledger Pirates out of these waters. He hit merchant ships, cleared them out, and vanished. The posting noted no fixed pattern and no fixed base. Just the same stretch of sea and the same result each time.
The posted notes recommended attaching to a merchant convoy and waiting. Virex always came to the ship. The ship just needed to be worth coming to. The variables were straightforward enough.
Finding the right ship was not difficult. He picked the largest one in port, on the basis that a loud owner usually meant a cargo worth protecting. Walking up to the boat, the presumable owner looked at Lucien and asked.
"What do you want? We don't need any guards; we already have a few, and I don't want to be held responsible for killing a child by forcing him to guard the boat. The last time that happened, that damned Virex killed many of ours. So just go away."
"I don't need a job. I am hunting Virex for his bounty. You don't need to pay or feed me, just let me ride your ship. It looks like Virex got you guys before, so he might come after you again."
The large merchant stared at Lucien for a while and clicked his tongue before replying, "Where are all these kids coming from? The second one today who is after Virex and doesn't fear death. Alright, you come on board, we'll give you a small room to stay along with another of your kind, we won't provide any food, so go and prepare some yourself, we are leaving in an hour," and turned around to continue ordering his workers.
Lucien turned back toward the market. The merchant had said the second. Someone else his age, already aboard, after the same target.
Picking up some food and supplies, Lucien went back and boarded the ship. He followed one of the workers to his room and was left alone at the door. He could already hear noise from inside and knew it was the other bounty hunter, so he opened the door to see a pistol right at his face.
"Let's not be pointing pistols at each other now. We are hunting the same guy; it would be helpful if you don't kill me," said Lucien as he moved the pistol out of his face with his hand and finally saw the guy.
He was roughly the same height, maybe a year or two older. Angular face, sharp through the jaw and cheekbones. Long black hair tied back, not a strand displaced. Dark eyes behind thin, round glasses that made him look like he read contracts before signing them.
He looked at Lucien for a moment, then stepped aside and went back to the lower bunk without a word. The room had a bunk bed and a single cupboard, and not much else to say for itself.
He took out a pristine white cloth and his rifle and began cleaning it slowly. Lucien put his things on the top bunk and climbed up. There was nothing to bother the man about. For the next hour or so, the only sound between them was the rifle being dismantled, wiped down, and reassembled, and just as he finished, the boat started to move out of the docks.
"Want to introduce ourselves? We'll be after the same guy; it's better to know who we're working with," said Lucien as he dropped down from the top bunk. The man had the same settled expression he'd walked in with. There was no immediate response. Just a stare. Lucien introduced himself anyway.
"Alright, I'll go first. Lucien Vosgrave, 16, been bounty hunting for almost four years. This will be my first seven-figure bounty. Now what about you?"
"Idris Vane. 18. Three years of bounty hunting. This will be my second."
"You already took down a seven-figure target?"
Idris nodded slowly. "Managed to shoot him when he docked at a port town half a year ago."
"A seven-figure man, just docked at a port?"
"He had people with him. They ran once he had a bullet through his forehead."
"One bullet at a port. That's clean work. I tend to end up closer than that, sword or hands, depending on the day." Lucien moved toward the door. "Let's go up. It's suffocating in here, and Virex isn't going to find himself."
Idris slung his rifle over his shoulder and followed him out.
************************************
1 Chapter For Every 50 Power Stones. Please Do Support.