A Cruel Task #65

One hour later

Inside a dark, empty ally

"You sure know how to make a scene..." Ain said with a troubled smile as she watched me walk into the ally while carrying the pirate I used as a hostage on my shoulder as a sack of potatoes. "I was able to get the boy and slip away unnoticed thanks to it, though..." She added, shaking her head.

"Causing scenes is my specialty," I replied with a grin. "But I prefer to lay low..." I added with a chuckle as I lowered my shoulder and dropped the pirate on the ground.

"In any case... now we only have to wake this guy up and beat the info we need out of him..." I said as I rolled up my sleeves and prepared to beat the pirate out of the land of dreams, only to stop as Ain interjected.

"That won't be necessary..." The blue-haired marine said as she raised a hand to stop me, prompting me to raise an eyebrow. "The boy who attacked you is a part of General Gasparde's crew... an unwilling one at that..." She explained, shaking her head.

"After some questioning and coaxing, he revealed all the information we need to make a move on Gasparde..." She concluded.

"Oh, well... I guess we won't be needing this guy," I calmly remarked, shrugging as I drew one of my revolvers and planted a bullet in the pirate's head, causing his body to spasm as he died. "What?" I said as I raised my head and noticed Ain looking at me with a wide-eyed expression.

"It's nothing..." Aim said as she gathered her bearings and shook her head at me. "I didn't think you'd be this decisive, that's all..." She added, her tone that of a strange mixture of surprise and, surprisingly enough, respect.

"Well, I'm not gonna haul some pirate around the island like a sack of potatos, and we have nowhere to detain him safely..." I said with a chuckle. "Still... I'm a bit curious. Did you find out why that boy attacked me?" I asked, tilting my head.

"The boy needed to prove his worth to Gasparde by killing a pirate... he said he targeted you because you seemed drunk and unable to defend yourself..." Ain replied with a chuckle. "It looks like your act worked too well," She added, her tone genuinely amused as she spoke.

"Talk about failing successfully..." I said as I rubbed the back of my neck and smiled. "What's this about proving his worth, though?" I asked after a brief pause, tilting my head in confusion.

"You know how Gasparde kidnapped people from Foolshout island and forced them to join his crew..." Ain hesitantly said, and I nodded with a frown. "Well, he's been doing that for years... he forces most the people he abducts into stoking the boiler of his steam-powered ship..." She explained.

"The boy who ambushed you was the same... Gasparde and his pirates attacked his hometown, killed his parents, then forced him to work in the ship's boiler..." The blue-haired woman explained, and I could detect hints of anger in her tone, despite her best efforts to hide them.

"Luckily for the boy, Gasparde took a kind elderly man named Biera with him... the old man took care of the boy and kept him safe..." Ain continued, clenching her fist. "But now that man is sick and unable to work..." She added, shaking her head.

"The boy, Anaguma, begged Gasparde to get medicine for the Biera... but he refused, saying he won't help those useless to him," The blue haired-woman said, and the more she spoke, the more she failed to hide her anger.

"Gasparde told the boy he'd only help the old man if he could kill a pirate and prove his worth..." She concluded, letting out a drawn breath and regaining control over her emotions as she put on a calm expression.

"This Gasparde guy is a real piece of work... no wonder they call him the Marines' Greatest Stain back in Marineford..." I said with a sigh, shaking my head. "Well... it doesn't really matter... we already have what we need to take him down," I added with a grin as I shrugged my shoulders.

"Let's go somewhere private and draw a plan of action..."

...

Hannabal's south coast

Inside a small hidden alcove

Aboard the Salamander

"You useless garbage!" Gasparde exclaimed as he extended his hand, unleashing a wave of green gelatinous liquid that engulfed the pirates before him in its sticky embrace.

"Not only did you get defeated in public, before the eyes of many pirates, but you even had the nerve to say you were my underlings!" The pirate captain angrily said as he closed his hand, causing the green syrup to harden around the horrified pirates.

"I have no need for such worthless underlings," Gasparde said, watching as the pirates slowly suffocated before undoing the syrup prison and turning to the rest of his subordinates. "Let this be a lesson to you all... I will not tolerate weakness on my ship..." He added as he swept the dead pirates off the ship and into the waters with his syrup.

"You are all disposable should you disappoint me!" The pirate captain said as he scanned the faces of his underlings, and they could only lower their heads in response. "Oy, Needless," He called as he turned to his first mate.

"Get us out of here... I'm not in the mood to participate in the race thanks to this useless wastes of air..." The pirate captain said with a scowl as he gestured toward the pirate's bodies floating near the ship.

Nedless merely nodded at Gasparde's words as he turned to the other pirates on the main deck. "Raise the anchor... and send someone to get those leeches in the lower deck to start--" He said, pausing halfway through his sentence as a gunshot reverberated in the cove, and he fell to the ground with a bloody hole in his chest.

Gasparde let out a confused grunt as he approached the corpse of his first mate to investigate, only to step back as a blonde young man suddenly appeared from nowhere and landed before him.

"You must be Gasparde..." The young man, Cedric, said as he calmly put a bullet in Needless' head before anyone could react. "How about you save me the trouble and yourself the pain and surrender?" He asked with a pleasant smile.

Surprised as he was, Gasparde quickly gathered his bearings and took a closer look at the young man, noting the many revolvers displayed around his torso. "You must be the brat who beat my men..." The pirate captain said, raising an eyebrow.

"Out of curiosity... what business do you have with me?" Gasparde asked as he rubbed his chin in thought. "I don't remember seeing your face before..." He added, sounding genuinely curious.

"I don't have any business with you. Marine HQ does," The young man said with a grin. "And as a marine commander, I'm only here to conduct Marine HQ's business," He went, suddenly jumping back as the pirate captain turned his arm into a green spike and sent it flying toward him.

"So the fools in Marine HQ finally grew the balls to send someone after me..." Gasparde said with a grin as he withdrew his arm. "Took them long enough..." He added with a chuckle.

"Don't flatter yourself, pal," Cedric said, keeping his smile as he landed some distance away. "HQ never thought too highly of you in the first place..." He added, vehemently shaking his head.

"To the HQ's higher-ups, you're just some guy playing pirates, a stepping stone to test the competence of a new recruit..." The young marine said, pointing at his chest with a grin that instantly rubbed Gasparde wrong.

"You goddamned brat!" The pirate captain exclaimed through gritted teeth as he spoke. "Who the hell do you think you're talking to?!" He added as he charged the young marine without hesitation.

"Looks like I hit a nerve..." Cedric said as he waited for the pirate captain to close the distance and swing before ducking under his punch. "With such a short fuse... It's a wonder you've survived so long in the Grand Line..." He added as he cocked his fist back and punched at Gasparde's shoulder.

The young marine's punch went through the pirate captain's body as the latter's shoulder turned into a green liquid that engulfed Cedric's fist and trapped it within.

"It's no use, brat... I've eaten the ame-ame devil fruit..." Gasparde said with a victorious grin. "It gives me the ability to turn my body into syrup... no matter how powerful your attacks maybe..." He went on as he raised his torso and looked down at Cedric, who was still trying to free his arm.

"They are meaningless to me..." He concluded.

...

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