Chapter 60

Chapter 60: The Unreliable CP5 Commander

After listening for a while, Adrian noticed that everyone seemed unsurprised by the explosion in the lawless zone, even finding it reasonable.

As for the house flying in the sky, some witnesses claimed to have seen it, but their accounts were mostly dismissed as exaggerations. If the explosion had that much power, the building would have been blown apart immediately, not floating in the sky.

Witnesses were frustrated; in this day and age, no one believed the truth.

The bell at the entrance rang, and two men in white suits, black ties, and black hats walked in. One had a taller hat, the other a shorter one. Adrian glanced at them and lowered his gaze. Their attire was peculiar yet vaguely familiar.

Rui Mengmeng held a tray and greeted, "Welcome!"

The two men nodded casually, sat in a corner, and whispered to each other after ordering drinks.

When Rui Mengmeng returned to the bar after delivering their drinks, Adrian asked her, "Did you hear what those two were talking about?"

Rui Mengmeng thought for a moment, "One of them was complaining, 'Why do we have to investigate this kind of thing?' The other was advising, 'Stop complaining, sit here for a while, ask a few people, and then write a report when we get back.' That's the gist of it, I didn't catch the rest."

Could this be the CP organization? Adrian felt a bit suspicious.

"Do you want me to eavesdrop again?" Rui Mengmeng asked, noticing Adrian's interest in the two men.

"No need, just focus on what you're doing," Adrian reassured her, then instructed Artoria to keep an eye on the two men.

Artoria scanned the room and commented, "Among these customers, none of them have a 'presence' stronger than yours."

Adrian felt more at ease hearing that.

After a while, the two men leaned against the bar with their glasses, and the taller-hatted one struck up a conversation with Adrian, "Boss, you look unfamiliar."

Adrian put down the newspaper he was pretending to read, "Me? I just took over this tavern a month ago."

The taller-hatted man praised, "I see. In just a short month, it looks much better than when old Bob was running it."

"Oh, you're an old customer. I'm grateful for your support. How about another drink?"

Thanks to the various social interactions over the past month, Adrian had grown accustomed to engaging in small talk with strangers and subtly promoting drinks.

"... Another drink is fine," the taller-hatted man agreed, still wondering why being an old customer meant having to order another drink, but he didn't refuse.

Adrian opened a bottle of the most profitable wine and poured a glass for each of them.

The shorter-hatted man hesitated, thinking, Why is he pouring for me? I never said I wanted another drink...

The two men awkwardly took sips of their drinks and then said, "We want to ask the boss for some information."

Adrian gestured for them to continue, "Go ahead."

Looking around cautiously, the taller-hatted man asked mysteriously, "Have you seen any suspicious individuals recently?"

Adrian blinked, "Yes."

Really? The taller-hatted man became more alert, and the shorter-hatted one leaned in to listen, "Who?"

Adrian pointed casually at the two of them. In this room, they were the most suspicious.

"You..." The shorter-hatted one was about to get angry, but the taller-hatted man stopped him and pulled out an identification card from his clothes.

"We're investigators from the World Government stationed in the Sabaody Archipelago. Please cooperate with our investigation."

Adrian glanced at the ID card, unsure if it was genuine or not. He nodded, "Alright, I'll cooperate."

"Then please recall if you've had any contact with suspicious individuals recently," the taller-hatted man reiterated.

Adrian thought for a moment and then had a sudden idea, "Come to think of it, I did see someone very suspicious before. His name was Bizzness, a merchant."

The taller-hatted man noted down Adrian's key points: Bizzness visited here last month, claimed to be a regular patron, inquired about information, had strength surpassing ordinary pirates, and had bought a ship in the Water 7 Island.

"Thank you for your cooperation." The taller-hatted man paid for the drinks, and both of them left the tavern.

Artoria asked, "Adrian, who were those two?"

"They claimed to be officials from the World Government. I'm not sure which department, but my guess would be CP5." Adrian mentioned the only organization he knew of besides CP0 and CP9, and CP9 and CP0 were definitely not as inexperienced as those two.

"Do you want to use the World Government's power to find that person?" Artoria inquired.

"Not really. You heard what I said, it was all true. Bizzness did seem suspicious, and if we can give him some trouble, that's great. If not, we won't lose anything. Just helping them with their job." Adrian chuckled.

...

After the two men in suits left the tavern, the shorter-hatted one asked, "Didn't you say we could just ask around and then report back? Why are you taking this so seriously?"

The taller-hatted man took out a small notebook and circled the words "Water 7 Island," proudly explaining, "Look, it's an unexpected gain!"

The shorter-hatted man caught on, "You mean..."

The taller-hatted man nodded, "Exactly. Our foolish commander at CP5 is planning to investigate a group of shipwrights on Water 7 Island for evidence of their crimes. This suspicious guy has a connection to Water 7 Island. How could we not look into it?"

As ordinary agents, they were unaware of the Pluton blueprints and only knew that their commander was investigating related information. This intelligence was crucial.

The shorter-hatted man's face lit up, then immediately fell, "You did say our commander is a fool. Even if he accomplishes something, he won't share any credit with us. Why bother putting in so much effort?"

Indeed, their CP5 commander, Spandam, was a glory-seeking fool. While he was in charge, they, as subordinates, would get no recognition even if they contributed. So why bother putting in all that effort?

"That's true, but once he accomplishes something, he'll likely be transferred out of CP5. Then our hard days will be over," the taller-hatted man reasoned.

The shorter-hatted man agreed with his colleague's rationale, "Alright, let's report this immediately." He dialed Spandam's Transponder Snail.

Buzz, buzz, buzz... *crash*.

Instead of the usual "Moshi Moshi" greeting, the first thing they heard after the call connected was a scream of agony, "Ah! Hot hot hot! Damn it! My coffee spilled! Despicable! Why did you call while I was drinking coffee!"

The Transponder Snail was faithfully imitating Spandam's wails of pain and rage, along with the sound of a cup shattering.

The two men exchanged glances; they were already accustomed to their commander's eccentric behavior. Apologetically, they said in

unison, "We're terribly sorry, Commander Spandam. This is Special Agent Teo and Agent Shoot from Sabaody Archipelago. We have important information to report."

Spandam, a man with a power level of only 9, should sound familiar, right?