As evening approached, the broken-down ship that Rorschach and the others were on had been sailing for over three hours before finally reaching their destination.
It was the base of the Bounty Hunters Guild, located in the royal capital of the Saint Poplar Kingdom—a prosperous metropolis among the seven main routes of the Grand Line, known as Spring Queen City.
The port here was massive, filled with ships from all over the world.
Yet Rorschach didn't see a single pirate ship.
Noticing his surprised expression, Sella puffed out her chest proudly. "You noticed too? There's not a single pirate ship here. Heh, that's all thanks to the fact that the headquarters of our Bounty Hunters Guild is based in this city. It's said to be the fourth safest island in the Grand Line."
"The first three are...?"
"You dummy! Of course they're Marineford, Sabaody, and Enies Lobby."
Sella rolled her eyes at Rorschach, then took the lead and jumped off the rickety, waterlogged ship that had already started to sink.
If not for Rorschach keeping it afloat with his powers along the way, it would've sunk long ago.
That's also why it took them over three hours to arrive.
"What are you guys waiting for? Get over here—I'll take you to the headquarters. It's basically a fortress on par with a Marine base!"
Sella waved from the shore at Rorschach and Lucci.
Rorschach turned his head slightly toward Lucci, then jerked his chin toward the excited woman on the shore. "Hey, Lucci, seriously not interested? That woman's the granddaughter of the Hunter King, a billionaire heiress."
"She's into you. Don't drag me into this, Commodore Rorschach," Lucci replied without looking, leaping up past him.
Rorschach shrugged and climbed ashore as well, gripping his halberd.
At the port, fully armed soldiers were patrolling back and forth.
When the patrol noticed their large group, two squads quickly moved in with visible tension.
But upon confirming that Sella and the others were bounty hunters, the soldiers immediately smiled and began chatting warmly with those they knew.
That harmonious atmosphere reminded Rorschach of the bond between shipwrights and civilians in Water 7.
Maybe bounty hunters here were seen as city protectors, much like the workers of the Galley-La Company.
However, the scale of this city was far beyond that of Water 7.
Judging by the area alone, it was nearly four times larger.
Farther inland from the port were wide streets and rows of five- to six-story buildings.
As evening neared, the windows of the buildings glowed warmly with lights, illuminating the entire city.
From this, it was clear that the population density here was very high.
Rorschach instinctively activated his Observation Haki, spreading it across the entire island.
"Hm?"
But the moment his Haki expanded to scan the city, his expression changed.
He suddenly looked toward the brightly lit area on the right.
In the city center in that direction, there were two overwhelming auras—so intense that even he felt a chill run through him.
They were so powerful that they reminded Rorschach of the Admirals at Navy Headquarters.
One aura in particular, vast and heavy like the earth itself, felt almost on par with Aokiji or Kizaru.
"Sorry, I'll excuse myself for a bit. Lucci, you go ahead with Miss Sella."
With that, Rorschach vanished like a gust of wind before the stunned Sella and the frowning Lucci could even respond.
"Where... where'd he go?" Sella asked, confused.
"Bathroom emergency," Lucci replied flatly.
Main Street, Royal Capital
The wide street was lined with bright gas lamps at regular intervals, lighting up the road.
Even at night, the avenue was bustling with pedestrians.
Vendors had stalls on either side of the road, selling all kinds of goods.
Couples cuddled on benches, whispering sweet nothings.
Grilled food vendors shouted to attract customers.
The atmosphere almost made Rorschach feel like he was dreaming, as if he'd returned to his old world.
The style of this city was completely different from anywhere else Rorschach had been—be it Prince Kingdom, Marineford, or Water 7.
Aside from the lack of electronics, it was practically identical to a small county town from his previous life.
At this moment, Rorschach clearly wasn't in the mood to stroll around.
His gaze followed the flow of the crowd and landed on a tavern along the street.
Inside the tavern.
"Old man, are you betting big or small? Hurry up and place your bet."
At a round table in the center, a group of men with cheerful smiles were noisily shouting and laughing, drawing annoyed glances from nearby drinkers.
On the table, a burly man with broad shoulders and a wide waist opened his palm to reveal three dice in his hand.
On the tabletop, two characters—one for "big" and one for "small"—were scrawled in crooked red ink.
The men held varying amounts of Beli in their hands, grinning as they stared at a tall, brawny old man.
The old man was smiling too.
In his hands, he tightly clutched a thick wad of Beli, all appearing to be high-value 10,000 Beli bills.
The stack was worth at least several hundred thousand, drawing the focused stares of all the men around him.
"I'm betting small this time. Jonathan, help me out—tell me if it's big or small. I don't believe my luck is really this bad tonight."
The old man flicked the wad of Beli, pulled out two notes, and placed them on the table in front of him.
He opened his scar-covered eyes and turned to speak to the right.
"N-no problem..."
A frail, elderly voice replied from his right.
A scrawny old man, looking to be at least in his seventies or eighties, struggled to open his cloudy eyes to look at the table.
He pushed the two crisp 10,000 Beli notes onto the crookedly written word "small."
"Twenty thousand Beli, on small."
The men gathered around the table saw the two crisp 10,000 Beli notes and began breathing heavily.
"Place your bets, hurry up, I'm about to roll!"
"I'm betting big!"
"Me too—big!"
One after another, the men placed their own Beli on the "big" side.
Then the burly man with the dice chuckled and rolled the three dice across the table.
They clattered a few times before coming to a stop, revealing their values.
"It's a 3, 5, and 6—big, it's big! Old man, you lost again!"
The burly man burst into laughter, scooped up the blind old man's 20,000 Beli bet from the "small" side, and, under the eager eyes of the others, pulled out 16,000 Beli in smaller bills from in front of him, distributing them to the surrounding bettors with a grin.
Almost everyone got a bill.
"Ah? I lost again? Ugh, my luck is just awful tonight."
The blind old man's face wrinkled up in frustration, his features twisted in annoyance.
"Wait... I think the dice you rolled just now were 1, 1, and 3—it should've been small."
Suddenly, the frail old man beside him spoke in his weak, trembling voice.
The burly man—just stuffing the crisp 10,000 Beli bills into his chest—froze, eyes wide. He slammed a heavy palm onto the table with a loud thud.
"You old coot, can you even see clearly with those ancient eyes of yours? That was clearly 3, 5, 6 just now! Ask anyone here. What, you think a guy like me would cheat two old men?"
The gamblers around them immediately chimed in:
"Old man! You saw it wrong! Ramon rolled 3, 5, 6—we all saw it."
"Yeah, grandpa, your eyes must be failing you. And think about it—this is the royal capital. Who'd dare cheat here? They'd be dragged off in a heartbeat."
Some scolded the frail old man, while others tried to explain kindly.
The frail old man cowered under the accusations, fear plain on his face.
"Heh, everyone calm down, calm down. My old friend really is getting on in years—his eyesight might be going. I believe in everyone's honesty. No one would cheat a poor blind man like me. If it's just a misunderstanding, let's move on. This time, I'm betting big."
The blind old man, hearing the growing commotion, hurried to smooth things over. He fished out two more bills and laid them on the table again.
"Hmph! You better watch closely next time, old man!"
Ramon, the burly guy, leaned close to the frail old man, flashing a menacing grin that made the old man tremble.
Suddenly, the frail old man's cloudy eyes turned toward the tavern entrance. He raised his bony arm and pointed:
"My grandson is here. He's young and has good eyesight—he'll help us keep an eye on things."
(End of Chapter)
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