Chapter 31

Kuina was quite surprised to see that Bonney was not going all out on eating everything in the place. She only ate as much as Sin did, which was a decent portion, but only a fraction for her. And when the Shimotsuki could not help her curiosity, she asked if she was feeling alright, to which Bonney burst out laughing and nodded her head.

"I am fine!"

"We are on a Winter Island, and food is scarce in these places," Sin answered her on Bonney's behalf. "She might seem like she's heartless when it comes to food, but she isn't." He chuckled when the pink-haired girl pouted at his words.

The owner of the restaurant was quite fearful of the presence of Pirates on his premises and was crying tears of blood as he served them the food, thinking that he was going to bear a loss that would take a month to recover. But after Sin paid him generously at the end of the meal, his excitement knew no bounds. He dropped onto his knees and thanked them over and over again before running away to store the money.

"So, if I pretend to be sick, she might show up?" Bepo asked after he used his brains to find out the whereabouts of Kureha.

Right now, the Crew were calmly sitting on a platform in the Town's Square. A group of Soldiers were stationed not far away from them, but none of them dared to step forward and ask them to leave the place. They were just glad that the Pirates were only lounging here, not harming the people. And some mischievous children were sneaking out of their homes to come to take a look at the Pirates who were the talk of the town.

"I don't think that would work." Robin giggled and shook her head. "From the information that we have gathered, she only shows up to treat those that are seriously ill."

"How?" Law asked the question that was looming on everyone's mind. "There are two cities, seven towns, and more than a dozen villages on this Island. "How does she know who is seriously ill or not?"

"Not to mention that thousands of soldiers are searching for her." Hachi folded his arms on his chest. "And she has never been spotted by them."

"Observation Haki." Augur confidently nodded his head.

"Yup." Sin nodded his head. "That makes sense."

"So, how are we going to find her?" Law asked.

"There's no need to search for her. She will find us." Sin smiled at him. "Why do you think I am stirring up trouble by calling out the King of this Kingdom? I will give her a show that she would not want to miss."

"And here I thought you cared about the people and were doing it to save them from their tyrant King." Kuina smiled at him.

"You think too much." He chuckled at her words and shook his head.

In the few hours they had spent in the town, they had managed to gather a lot of information about the Royalty of the Drum Kingdom.

King Wapol's father was hailed and loved by everyone, but he himself was detested for his indifference to his people and his spoiled personality, making him a Corrupt King who only cared for his well-being.

The clock ticked, and just when the Crew were about to get up to explore some places around the Town, Sin and Augur sensed a new battalion of Soldiers headed their way.

"The King is early." Augur light said, but Sin had a frown on his face.

He was not expecting Wapol to respond to his call so soon. It had only been 7 hours since he had asked Bruno to deliver the message. And he felt like something was wrong.

Sin's thoughts were proven right when he saw the new Battalion of Soldiers enter the Plaza, led by a tall and heavily muscular man.

"What's up with them?" Bonney frowned as she clearly felt the determination of these soldiers to fight to the death with them. "Wapol sent them to deal with us? Is he that dumb?"

"Looks like we need to do things the hard way." Law sighed and said.

"Black D. Sin!"

The muscular commander stepped forward, holding a spade in his left hand.

"My name is Dalton, Chief Royal Guard of the Drum Kingdom, and I challenge you to a duel!" He roared, and his eyes were bloodshot in rage.

Sin frowned when he looked at the man.

"Where is your King?" He coldly asked, and the suppression in his voice made the hearts of the people palpitate in fear.

"He's gone." Dalton gritted his teeth and replied.

"You killed him?" Sin playfully smirked and asked.

The question made Dalton lower his head in rage. And mixed emotions passed through his expressions. Even if he was trying to hide the pain, it was still seen through by Sin.

"The King abandoned us and escaped the Island!"

A soldier in the battalion yelled out.

"Shut up!" Dalton roared at the soldiers who had revealed the truth, and the poor soldier cowered in fear, lowering his head in shame.

The revelation took the Blackstar Crew off-guard. This was not how they thought things would progress. A King abandoned his country in fear of Pirates? Was this a joke? Weren't the Marines already informed? Shouldn't he have delayed the time for the Marines to arrive?

"Where is he headed?" Sin lightly asked, but Dalton and the soldiers remained silent.

Under his cold gaze, the soldiers could hear their hearts racing in fear. Everything seemed just so quiet, but then a sound of fire flaring up pulled them out of their trance.

Hancock was malevolently looking at them, and the strange purple flames erupting from her body had already started eating the platform she stood on.

The rest of the crew had already jumped a safe distance away from her, but they were now sweating even in the shivering cold weather of Winter Island.

The heat that suddenly spread around the area did not make people feel warm, instead, it sent chills up their spines.

"I will ask you only once to answer my Captain's questions. If you stay quiet, I will burn down this town until there is no trace of it left." She coldly spoke and used her Conqueror's Haki to deter the soldiers.

The sudden turn of events made all the soldiers anxiously look at Dalton. He was the only one who might know where King Wapol was headed.

"I don't know where he is going." Dalton gritted his teeth and answered, and his deflated posture indicated that he had realised very well that he could not stop these Pirates.

"You are the Chief Royal Guard of the Kingdom." Sin lightly smiled at him. "You are supposed to have your King's Vivre Card on you at all times, right?"

Dalton froze at his words, and his expressions told them that Sin had hit the mark. He did indeed have Wapol's Vivre Card on him.

"Give it to me, and no one present here will be harmed."

"Duel me. If you win, I will give you the Vivre Card, and if I win, you and your Crew will leave this Island." Dalton challengingly wielded his spade after mustering up some courage. "As the Chief Royal Guard of the Kingdom, I can not hand over the Vivre Card to you. You will have to take it from me."

"Heh..." Sin playfully smiled at Dalton's words. He quite liked the man's demeanour, but he was a very simple-minded man and just another fool. "You are negotiating with a Pirate, Chief Royal Guard. Pirates don't play fair."

His words tensed Dalton, but when he saw Sin signal to the beautiful lady, who stopped channelling her Devil Fruit Powers, he calmed down a little. It meant that Sin had accepted his challenge.

"Kuina, Hachi, you two are up against him. Don't lose." Sin playfully said to them, and the two of them did not fail to pick up on the meaning behind his words.

He was warning them that Dalton was strong, and both of them solemnly stepped forward and drew their swords, obeying their Captain's order.

Dalton narrowed his eyes at the two of them, he did not show it on his face, but he was elated in his heart that it was not Sin who had stepped forward.

The rest of the crew came over to stand behind Sin, wearing serious expressions.

Nami and Nojiko were confused as to why everyone seemed so serious. To the two of them, Kuina and Hachi were quite powerful, and the man holding the spade did not look menacing at all. On the other hand, Hachi with his Six Swords looked quite scary.

"Is he strong?" Nami straightforwardly asked.

"He should be as powerful as the two of them combined," Robin answered her. "It won't be easy for Kuina and Hachi to win."

"Oh..."