Chapter 160: A Dead Man Is More Useful Than a Living One
In the night, Luo En and Danitz, one on each side, supported the unconscious "Bloodhand" Luca. They silently passed through several secluded alleys and arrived at a newly rented, even more remote bungalow.
For safety reasons, they did not return to the previous inn. After all, that was the Golden Dream's safe house, and if it were exposed, it would become very troublesome.
"Bang!"
Luca was roughly thrown onto the cold, damp floor.
"What do we do with him now?" Danitz took a breath, looked at the pirate on the ground, and asked.
"No rush."
Luo En did not act immediately. Instead, he took a coin from his pocket and tossed it into the air.
When he saw the coin land face up in his palm, he made up his mind.
This fellow named Luca was indeed a scoundrel who deserved to die.
"Let's do it."
"How do you plan to do it?" Danitz asked. "Of course, as planned – make a substitute." Luo En pulled out the faintly glowing "Disguise" charm from his pocket and toyed with it between his fingers for a while.
After a few seconds of silence, he no longer hesitated and injected his spirituality into it. The patterns on the charm instantly lit up, emitting a dazzling light.
He squatted down and, with a hardened heart, pressed the charm directly onto Luca's face.
"Sizzle—"
Accompanied by a sound similar to raw meat being branded with a hot iron, a blinding white light erupted from the point of contact between the charm and his cheek!
"Ah ah ah—!"
Luca, still unconscious, suddenly woke up with a heart-wrenching, inhuman scream, his limbs convulsing violently.
Wisps of white smoke, mixed with the smell of burnt flesh, rose from his face.
A moment later, the white light dissipated. The face that originally belonged to "Bloodhand" Luca had disappeared; he now looked exactly like Luo En's previous appearance.
"Shit," Danitz exclaimed, looking at the eerie and miraculous scene before him. He couldn't help but take half a step back, marveling, "This charm, its effect is so powerful?"
A thought uncontrollably popped into his head: If I knew what kind of face the captain liked, wouldn't I be able to—
No, no, no, that's too painful! Smelling the burnt odor in the air, Danitz decisively abandoned the idea.
"Not bad, the effect is really good." Luo En also marveled. He stood up and carefully observed, "But looking at him, although he's not dead, he doesn't seem to be feeling too good."
He squatted down, carefully examined the "substitute," and then handled some details. For certain areas that couldn't be perfectly disguised, he also directly damaged them with a dagger, creating some old scars consistent with an "adventurer's" identity.
"What now?" Danitz asked, looking at the freshly made "Monqi Brando," "Should we just take this substitute to claim the reward?"
"No," Luo En shook his head.
"My goal has never been about money." He stood up, looked at Danitz, and said, word by word, "It's about completely getting rid of the Disease Maiden."
He was right. Danitz knew Luo En's main objective, and the reason he was so enthusiastic about helping, besides their friendship, was also because Luo En had painted a grand picture for him. If the plan succeeded, all the money would go to Danitz.
Luo En knew very well that necessary benefits had to be given. As a pirate, Danitz's ability to resist turning him in for the 10,000 pound bounty was already quite loyal.
His main goal was Tracy, so when it came to money, he could afford to be generous.
Under Danitz's slightly surprised gaze, Luo En continued:
"A living substitute definitely can't fool Tracy. As a pirate famous in the Five Seas, she's not that easy to deceive. Even if she could fool her subordinates, she definitely couldn't fool herself."
"But a dead man, that's a different story."
"A dead man?" Danitz's heart skipped a beat.
"Exactly, a dead man." Luo En's voice became somewhat cold. "A dead man won't speak, won't expose flaws. Sometimes a dead man is much more useful than a living one."
He pointed at the unconscious "substitute" on the ground: "Once Monqi Brando dies, and the body is handed over, it cannot be disproven, and Tracy can't find my true whereabouts.
Then, this matter becomes a case with no witnesses. At that time, even if she's still suspicious, she can only believe that I'm dead.
Otherwise, as long as she still believes I'm alive, I won't be able to act peacefully on the sea again."
After listening to Luo En's explanation, Danitz hesitated for a moment and raised a key question: "I heard that the bounty notice requires a live capture."
"Don't worry, that's not a big problem." Luo En analyzed, "Tracy's main goal is to silence me. Whether I'm alive or dead makes little difference to her; it's just that she wants to torture me herself and experience that pleasure.
A corpse, at most, means a little less bounty, but it's better than nothing."
"But - your Pathways are different, right?" Danitz raised another question. "He's a Lunatic, you're a Monster.
Even if we extract his Beyonder characteristic, it might still expose a flaw—"
"That's fine." Luo En interrupted him, confidently stating, "While drifting at sea, Tracy only knew I was a Beyonder, but she didn't know which Pathway or Sequence I was from.
From beginning to end, I never displayed any Beyonder abilities in front of her."
Although a Lucky One didn't have many Beyonder abilities to display anyway, Luo En silently thought to himself.
"Generally speaking, Sequence 9 and sequence 8 don't have any intuitive Beyonder abilities. This substitute is sequence 8, which perfectly matches my situation of never having displayed abilities.
If I treat him with some spiritual materials to create some false impressions, there shouldn't be any major problems."
After explaining, Luo En looked at Danitz: "Are you and that Alger guy on good terms?"
"No." Danitz shook his head. "That guy is also a pirate, but we only know each other; we've only met a few times."
Hmm... a pirate... Luo En mused thoughtfully.
"This plan needs an intermediary. Someone who can access the bounty channels and hand over the 'corpse'."
"The risk of this matter is not small, and we absolutely cannot do it ourselves. Considering your reputation, it also cannot be given to your acquaintances or contacts to do."
"That guy named Alger is quite suitable—he knows you know me, but he doesn't have much of a relationship with you. Most importantly, he also wants to cooperate with you to harm me—"
"Then he's the one." Danitz was a bit eager. As a pirate, he didn't feel much guilt about such things.
Besides, he had already offended the Disease Maiden by saving Luo En back then, so adding more to it wasn't a big deal.
What he cared most about now was that 10,000 pounds!
Just as Danitz was excited, Luo En poured a bucket of cold water on him.
"But that guy is quite meticulous," Luo En recalled Alger's past performance.
"Although he knows you have a chance to hunt me, if you rashly go to him, he might not believe you."
"Just say it's to thank him for telling me about the bounty." Danitz came up with a reason.
"No, you're pirates. Do you even believe that reason yourself?" Luo En shook his head. "An intermediary definitely needs a cut. It's one thing if you don't claim the reward yourself, but to just give a money-making opportunity to someone you're not close with is too suspicious."
"Then what should we do?"
Luo En pondered for a moment, then slowly spoke:
"Danitz, why don't you let him take advantage of the situation once?"