Chapter 34: The Sneaky Shadow of Betrayal

Josh and his group, on their journey to Alabasta, had to make a stop on a nearby island.

They were travelling in two separate boats—Josh and Mikita shared one, while Gem and Melissa were on the other. They didn't need to stay together all the time. With a major battle awaiting them in Alabasta, Josh needed to eat, restock on supplies, and find some fresh clothes—especially since Gem had blown up his.

"Alright, don't cause any trouble," Josh cautioned.

"Worry about yourself. I'm a professional," Gem replied, playing with his nose.

"Gross," Melissa remarked, clearly disgusted by Gem's lack of manners.

"Fuck off," Gem shot back, turning his back on them and wandering off.

"What a rude partner," Melissa snorted.

Josh and Mikita simply rolled their eyes. Josh wasn't too worried about Gem at the moment. After all, Gem had already made a false report to Crocodile, which bound him to their side. Of course, Gem could run or try to escape, but rejoining Crocodile would only lead to his death. The same applied to Melissa.

Josh believed in one thing: you might not be able to trust a man, but you could trust someone forced into a difficult situation. Manipulating people starts with understanding them.

"I'll shop with you," Melissa said, choosing to stay with Mikita rather than following Gem.

Josh suddenly rubbed his head and asked Melissa, "By the way, do you have any money?"

"What happened to your share?" Melissa asked, astonished. "You're number 7! Anyone who hears about you assumes you have plenty of money, especially since you betrayed the boss."

Baroque Works members weren't exactly poor, after all.

"I spent all of it," Josh admitted.

Melissa took a step back, staring at him incredulously. "Why would I share the money I've worked my whole life to earn?"

"Because it'll give you good karma," Josh replied, raising his eyebrows slightly.

Melissa glanced at Mikita. "He's young, isn't he?"

"Yes, around 17 or 18. We don't know his exact birthday," Mikita said, holding onto Josh's arm and smiling. Josh, however, felt embarrassed by the conversation about his age.

"Don't look at my face, look at my heart," Josh joked.

Melissa rolled her eyes but reached into her pocket. "Alright, here's some allowance."

Josh and Mikita's eyes lit up as Melissa handed them a few green bills.

"50,000 berries?" Josh and Mikita frowned in unison. They had gone from spending millions to this.

'My poor life,' Josh thought, sighing.

"I'm not your mommy," Melissa said, rolling her eyes at their disappointment.

"You could adopt me," Josh said, teasing. "If you're into that, I'll call you 'Mommy.' Right, Mikita?"

"Stop," Mikita groaned. "She's old enough to be my mom."

"Hey!" Melissa took a step back, her face flushed with embarrassment.

As the group strolled through the market, they stopped at a clothing store. Josh bought a cheap shirt for 7,000 berries and some food for himself. Mikita spent the rest on fragrance but muttered in disgust, "Cheap perfume."

Meanwhile, Melissa was buying luxurious items worth millions of berries.

"She bought that necklace!" Mikita pointed at Melissa, frustrated. "It's 5 million berries!"

Josh shrugged. "Her money, her choice. Poor people like us can't complain about the system."

"But still," Mikita fumed, clenching her teeth. "She could at least give us some face."

Josh looked at her, confused. "Excuse me?" He shook his head and walked away, muttering, "Women."

-x-X-x-

Miss Golden Week, also known as Marianne, sat quietly in a mall, lost in thought. She was reflecting on someone who had once been part of their organisation. A mistake had cost him his life—Crocodile had discovered Josh's betrayal.

Not long ago, news had spread of Josh meeting with the king and taking a large sum of money. 

'Well, that's what happens when you call me a little child. Karma's a bitch,' Marianne thought with a smirk.

Though tiny compared to most people, Marianne was used to navigating a world where everyone seemed enormous. A nearby woman apologised for almost stepping on her, causing Marianne to boil with anger, but she kept her expression neutral and let the woman go.

As she considered Josh's fate, an image of him teasing her flashed in her mind. He had called her a dwarf. Despite everything, she thought Josh was a nice guy—too bad he had to die so young.

While browsing for colors and paper, her hobby supplies, she suddenly noticed familiar faces passing by. One of them was someone reported dead only a day ago.

"Mikita?" Marianne quickly hid behind a nearby shelf. Due to her small stature, she could easily conceal herself behind the smallest of objects.

'What is she doing here? I thought Mr. 5 took care of them,' she thought.

She peeked around the shelf and saw Mr. 5's partner, Melissa, shopping and chatting with Mikita. They laughed and moved on, seemingly without a care.

'Could it be she survived?' Marianne wondered. She turned her head just in time to see Josh walking past her. Her heart raced in fear that he had seen her.

Josh scratched his head, seemingly unaware of her presence, and muttered, "Noodles for dinner," before calling Mikita and Melissa to leave after paying their bill.

'I have to contact Galdino,' Marianne decided. Though she looked like a little girl, her mind was sharp. Her priority now was to call the boss. Despite her positive impression of Josh, fear of Mr. 0 outweighed any sentiment.

Slipping between the legs of unsuspecting shoppers, Marianne snuck out to a nearby hotel and contacted her partner, Mr. 3, who was busy selling wax statues. 

When Mr. 3 saw her, he blinked in surprise as she told him what she had witnessed.

"So, Miss Liberty has betrayed us too? Did you see Mr. 5?" Mr. 3 asked.

"Yes," Marianne replied.

"Then he's involved too. Let's call the boss."

Mr. 3, with his candle-shaped hair, lit up his wick and made the call. As they watched from a distance, they saw Josh's ship leaving the harbor.

"It's time to follow them," Mr. 3 said, anticipating Crocodile's next orders as he prepared to take a sneaky route to Alabasta—exactly where Josh was headed.