Chapter 101

"Fine, keep your secrets, but I'm keeping your hat," Elly said in with a pout that quickly turned into a beaming smile. "Still, I can see how that connection could be useful, but how do you plan to make use of it, captain?" she asked while nodding her head.

"It's too early to talk about that," I replied with a shrug. "We haven't even met the guy, after all," I added with a smile.

"So, even you can't see that far into the future, captain," Elly said with a playful tone. "I suppose that makes sense," she concluded.

"Hey, I don't see into the future," I replied while wagging my index finger at her. "I predict it," I added, earning a chuckle from Elly as she rolled her eyes at me.

-0-

It's been several hours since my conversation with Elly, and I'm listening to Kozue's report about the happenings in the town. "Not much happened. The town's people basically kept running around like headless chickens, trying and failing to come up with a solution to their dilemma," Kozue explained while shaking her head.

"Still, that Rudd person seems to have thought of something," she added, causing me to raise an eyebrow while gesturing for her to elaborate.

"Laffite spotted him leaving the town and heading towards the forest, so he asked me to report back to you," Kozue said. "Laffite thinks that he's going to get help for that inventor, Wolf, or possibly even Trafalgar Law," she added.

"Do you want me to go after him to find out where Wolf is living?" she asked. "If I go now, I'll still be able to follow his tracks," she concluded, pointing her finger at the forest.

"Hmm," I hummed, rubbing my chin thoughtfully. "You do that, but keep yourself hidden and don't make contact," I instructed while nodding my head.

"If Rudd went to get wolf's help, then we'll meet him here, but I need to know where he lives just in case," I concluded, causing her to nod, saying, "On it, captain," as she jumped off the ship rushing towards the forest.

-0-

Third person's point of view:

"This should be the place," Rudd murmurs to himself while standing in front of a cave, promptly making his way inside.

The beginning of the cave was a dark tunnel that led to a vast clearing inside the swallow-shaped mountain, which surprisingly had a house and a farming area right next to it.

Even more surprising is that the place was well lit, and the light was no different than actual sunshine, which reached the clearing through a small hole in its roof.

Still, such a small hole wasn't enough to allow so much light through, but it was a strange device strapped to that hole that amplified the sunlight to such a degree instead. That not only made the clearing livable with a proper day-night circle, it also made the clearing suitable for farming.

"Wolf, are you there?" Rudd exclaimed in an anxious tone while standing in front of the house. "Oh, is that you, Rudd?" said an elderly man with slicked-back gray hair, who wore a strangely patterned aloha shirt, short pants, and a red sun visor as he made his way out of the house.

"It's rare for you to visit me here," the elderly man, wolf, said with an amiable smile. "What can I do for you?" he asked, still smiling as he gestured for Rudd to come inside.

"There's no time for pleasantries, Wolf," the police officer replied in a hurried tone, dismissively waving his hand at the offer. "Artur Bacca is back, and he's going to kill everyone if we don't give him the treasure in twenty-four hours," he added with a complicated expression.

"Goddamnit!" Wolf swore with a scowl. "Wait here for a moment. I'll be right back," he added, quickly making his way back into the house.

Wold came out of the house roughly thirty seconds later, carrying a mirror that had a strange contraption attached to its back. "Let's go," Wolf said, walking past the policeman without waiting for a reply. "There's no time to waste,"

-0-

Johnny's point of view:

"Hmm, so he's actually smart enough to invent something like a sunlight amplifier?" I ask, not bothering to hide the fact that I was impressed.

"That's right, captain," Kozue replied while nodding her head. "I would have never believed that such a place could exist inside a mountain if I had I not seen it for myself," she added with a smile.

"Interesting," I remark with a smile of my own. 'So that's why even Laffite and Kozue couldn't find the slippery old coot,' I think to myself in amusement.

"So, what happened next?" I ask in a serious tone, focusing on the matter at hand. "Rudd informed Wolf about the situation in the town, and they're making their way towards the town with a strange contraption that looks like a mirror as we speak," Kozue explained.

"I wonder what that contraption is for," I remark with a smile. "But I guess we'll figure out, sooner rather than later," I say while gesturing towards the inventor and policeman as they rush into the town to confront the pirate captain.

"So an inventor, a policeman, and a pirate captain," I said in an amused tone. "I wonder what's going to happen if they walk into a bar," I add while chuckling lightly.

"Let's just see for ourselves, captain," Kozue replied, rolling her eyes with a smile as she did.

-0-

"Artur, you bastard, there's no treasure for you here!" Wold said as he stood in front of the pirate captain, who was surrounded by his subordinates.

"Wolf, haven't you learned your lesson already from last time?" the pirate captain said with a scowl. "Or do I have to destroy this filthy town again for you people to cough up the treasure," he added while pointing at the surrounding buildings.

"There is no treasure to give, you fool," the inventor said in a firm tone. "I already found it a year after you left and used it to rebuild the town," Wolf added with a frown.

"So take your men and leave already. There's nothing for you here," the invent said, bravely standing his ground without flinching as the pirate captain's face turned murderous.

"Did you really I'll simply leave after hearing that?" the pirate captain asked, rage dripping from his tone. "If I can't get that treasure, then no one can," he added, his face twisting in anger.

"So I will destroy this town that you rebuilt using MY TREASURE," he concluded, turning to look at one of the buildings, preparing to shoot one of his eye beams.

Still, he didn't get the chance to do it as he suddenly had to dodge a punch that came from Wolf, who rushed towards him with a scowl.

"You'll have to get through me first, you ungrateful piece of shit," the inventor said, quickly raising the small mirror gadget in his hand to deflect a liquefying beam that was heading straight for his torso.

"So be it, old man," the pirate captain said in a sinister tone. "I will have to first walk over your cold dead body first, then," he added, not showing any surprise at the gadget.

"This trinket of yours might counter my devil fruit ability, but I'm still stronger than you," he remarked, taking a deep breath to calm himself.

"You guys don't interfere," Artur said with a blank expression. "I'll take care of this old bastard myself," he concluded, charging towards Wolf.

I really wish I could say that the ensuing fight was interesting or worth talking about, but it, unfortunately, wasn't. The battle began with both of them punching and dodging each other's attacks, and they seemed reasonably well-matched, with no one getting the advantage.

Still, the fight quickly turned advantageous for the pirate captain because he was younger and thus had more stamina, and so he began pushing back the old inventor further and further as the fight continued.

Still, something interesting did actually happen, and it wasn't a fight itself, but it was two young men who wore oversized hats that covered their eyes coming out of the forest, only to rush back inside after watching Wolf fighting the pirate captain.

'Those two should be Penguin and Shachi if I'm not mistaken,' I thought to myself with a smile. 'I can only assume that they're going back to call law for help,'

'Now is the best time for me to act and get the proper gratitude,' I concluded as I watched Wolf falling on the ground with a bloodied face, gasping for breath.