"Huh? I didn't want to bother with him, but he's brought himself right to my doorstep," Jerry muttered, suddenly standing up from his chair.
He quickly opened his door and stepped into the hallway just as the sound of shattering glass echoed through the building, followed by the sharp ring of metal striking metal.
"What the—!" came Carrot's startled shout from the adjacent room, though no other voices responded.
The room next door belonged to Carrot and Carina. At that moment, Carina stood at the open doorway, her face pale but alert. It was obvious that an uninvited guest had broken into their room through the window.
Jerry strode down the hallway toward Carina, his expression serious. "How's the situation? Are you both okay?"
"We're fine, thankfully," Carina replied, her voice steady despite the circumstances. "Carrot was alert enough to block the attack immediately when he came through the window."
Jerry nodded approvingly. They should indeed be grateful that Carina had been rooming with Carrot—if she'd been alone, she might have been seriously injured or worse before anyone could respond.
Jerry stepped past Carina into the room, and when he saw the intruder, his suspicions were confirmed. It was indeed the narcissist he'd sensed earlier.
"What happened?"
"Is everyone okay? What's going on?"
The commotion had awakened other guests in nearby rooms, and several people poked their heads out to ask Carina about the situation with obvious concern.
"It's under control," Carina replied calmly. "Some pervert broke in and attracted the attention of our resident problem-solver. It shouldn't be a big issue."
Before she could finish explaining, the stranger in the room moved again, lunging at Carrot with a sword thrust of astonishing speed. His movements were fluid but somehow unnatural, as if he wasn't entirely in control of his own actions.
However, Jerry was faster. The moment the attacker drew his blade, Jerry stepped forward and delivered a devastating kick.
Both moved so quickly that Carina could barely track the details of their exchange. It seemed as though the intruder and Jerry intersected for just an instant, their figures overlapping in a blur of motion, followed by a dull collision sound. When the movement stopped, only Jerry and Carrot remained standing in the room.
"There! Someone's getting away! Chase after him!" voices called from the street below.
It seemed other people in the town had been pursuing the intruder, but before the chase could continue, screams echoed through the night air one after another. From the sounds, it was clear that the pursuers were too weak and had been quickly overwhelmed by their quarry.
"That person looked somewhat familiar," Ace said thoughtfully, blinking as he tried to place the face. Deuce and Skull nodded as if they recognized something as well, but the others looked confused.
"Who was he?" Carrot asked curiously, still catching her breath from the sudden attack.
"A man called Cavendish, if I'm not mistaken," Ace replied uncertainly. "But he looked different somehow—not quite like the pictures I've seen in the newspapers."
After hearing Ace's identification, Jerry realized that the others probably didn't understand Cavendish's specific condition. He raised his chin slightly and turned to address the group.
"I think you're right about the identity. The reason he looks different is probably because that wasn't his usual personality in control."
"You mean he's sleepwalking? Or dealing with some kind of split personality disorder?" Deuce asked, his medical training immediately suggesting several psychological possibilities.
"Something like that," Jerry confirmed with a shrug. "Next time we encounter him, we'll just give him a proper beating and find out for sure."
Everyone murmured their agreement, expressing their desire to teach the intruder a lesson. They'd been just about to rest peacefully when he'd dared to disturb them and nearly injured Carrot. He definitely deserved whatever consequences came his way.
"Forget about him for now," Jerry decided, noticing that the hotel manager Deuce had contacted was sending staff to clean up the broken glass. "Carina, you and Carrot should find another room for tonight. Everyone else, let's get back to rest."
The remainder of the night passed without incident. Early the next morning, the crew split up into their preferred groups once again to explore the festival.
Today marked the official celebration day on the island, and since the early morning hours, businesses and citizens had been bustling about making careful preparations for the grand festivities. The transformation was remarkable—streets that had been simply decorated the day before now bloomed with elaborate displays of colorful flags, fresh flowers, and intricate banners that turned every thoroughfare into a work of art.
The buildings lining each street had been carefully decorated as well, their facades shining with vibrant colors that perfectly complemented the joyful atmosphere of the celebration. Everywhere they looked, there were signs of meticulous planning and community pride.
As the morning progressed, the number of people on the streets gradually increased. Visitors and local residents emerged from their accommodations in waves, all eager to participate in the day's events. The celebration's various activities, performances, and competitions would fill the entire day, giving people numerous options for entertainment at any time they chose to participate.
More importantly, during many of these events, participants were provided with abundant free food samples, allowing them to taste unique local specialties they might never have encountered otherwise. Meanwhile, spectators had opportunities to purchase special festival foods and take advantage of shopping discounts that were only available during the celebration, often at incredibly low prices.
This generous approach had motivated several crew members to sign up for various competitions. Ace had enthusiastically registered for multiple competitive eating contests, while the rest of the group had chosen events that matched their particular interests and talents.
By noon, Jerry and Skull had caught up with Brook to congratulate him on his morning performance.
"Not bad at all, Brook!" Jerry said with genuine appreciation. "You actually won the music competition you entered."
Brook touched his distinctive afro with obvious pride, his skeletal features somehow managing to convey satisfaction. "Well, I do have decades of accumulated experience in the musical field. After all, when I was drifting alone on the sea for all those years, music was the most important element that kept me company and maintained my sanity."
He struck a theatrical pose, his bony fingers dancing through the air as if playing an invisible instrument. "Every note and melody, all my tremolos and falsettos—I've mastered them all through countless hours of practice! Yohohoho!"
Skull raised his right thumb in an enthusiastic gesture of praise, his eye sockets glowing with their characteristic green light as he grinned at Brook with obvious excitement.
"Excellent, absolutely excellent!" Skull exclaimed. "Since you're in such a good mood, would you consider my request during this happy moment?"
His tone became slightly wheedling as he continued, "Look, you drink milk and your bones heal incredibly quickly, right? So theoretically..."
Brook immediately shuddered and waved his hands frantically in front of him. "Absolutely not! Do you still want to turn me into some kind of specimen for your collection?!"
"Oh, haha! It's not as serious as you're making it sound," Skull protested with exaggerated innocence. "I just want a few small bone fragments from your body—nothing that would actually harm you!"
As expected, he was rejected again. Skull tried to comfort himself with the knowledge that this was just another attempt in his ongoing campaign, but he had no intention of giving up his goal. He remained incredibly eager to add Brook's skeleton to his collection, though he would never resort to taking bones by force.
Instead, he constantly looked for opportunities to convince Brook through persuasion and negotiation. After all, he had encountered countless skeletons throughout his travels and collecting career, but such a magical existence—a skeleton that had become a living being after consuming a Devil Fruit—represented a completely blank space in his extensive collection.
Over the past few days, Skull had tried his absolute best to convince Brook to agree to his request, but every attempt had failed. He'd finally resigned himself to waiting for future opportunities, thinking that at worst he could collect some bone fragments that might fall naturally during their upcoming battles and adventures.
"Hahaha, Skull, you need to show some restraint," Jerry laughed, shaking his head at his intelligence officer's persistent obsession.
He stretched his arms above his head and looked toward the competition areas with confidence. "Let's grab some food first—we should definitely try the special festival offerings. Then, this afternoon, you can all watch me demonstrate my skills and claim the fishing championship."
Skull tilted his head back and squinted his eyes in his characteristic pose of skepticism and amusement.
"Boss Jerry," he asked with barely contained laughter, "are you planning to wait until all the other contestants have finished competing, then just punch your way to the championship?"
Jerry frowned and squinted back at Skull with a genuinely puzzled expression. "Huh? Why would I need to win the championship that way?"
Hearing this confident response, Brook joined Skull's squinting skeptical stance, and the two said in perfect unison: "Because that's usually how you solve problems!"
Support me at [email protected]/goldengaruda and check out more chapter of this or more early access chapter of my other fanfic translation.