After two days of rest, Law's injuries were still not fully healed, but at least they no longer stopped him from moving around.
Even that eye-catching spotted hat of his had been wrapped in cloth and stuffed inside his clothes under August's strong insistence.
And it was not just the hat. August had simply used extra bandages from elsewhere to wrap up Law's whole face too, leaving only his eyes exposed.
Then he draped a piece of black cloth over him like a cloak.
There was no helping it. The outfit looked a little strange, but it was still better than letting anyone notice the white patches on his face.
This time, when August entered town, he noticed that there were clearly far more soldiers patrolling the streets than before.
It was probably because of yesterday's huge battle at the harbor. The atmosphere everywhere felt tense.
But in a way, that was a good thing. Now that something so big had happened and drawn everyone's attention, hardly anyone was likely to care anymore about those few dead beggars from before.
Inside a clothing store, Senor Pink was trying on a new suit.
The female shop owner and even a noblewoman who had come shopping with her husband both wore lovestruck expressions, completely captivated by the sheer masculinity radiating off him.
"I'll take all of these. Wrap them up."
"Sir, may I know your name?"
"Sorry. I am destined to be nothing more than a passerby in your life, so... forget me."
With the swelling on his face not yet gone down, Senor Pink placed the money on the table, lit a cigarette, and walked away under the worshipful gazes of every woman present.
He was simply... simply too charming.
The female shop owner flushed red and fainted on the spot.
After walking only a short distance away, Senor Pink suddenly stopped.
He had just remembered that he had been so focused on rejecting that woman as gently as possible that he had forgotten to take the new suits he had just bought.
"Sigh... forget it. I'd better head back as soon as possible."
He wanted to go back for the clothes, but he could not bear the thought of those women falling in love with him all over again just from seeing him one more time.
So he gave up.
Meanwhile, the area around the harbor was full of frantic activity.
A large number of workers were hurrying to repair and rebuild the buildings destroyed in yesterday's battle. Every extra day of delay meant a major financial loss, and no merchant could tolerate that.
Then there was the fact that the remaining weapons on the Donquixote Family smuggling ship had all been used up during the fighting, so with no more trade goods left on hand, Senor Pink had no choice but to prepare for the return trip.
Because of the Donquixote Family's fearsome reputation, the rest of the supplies that had not yet been gathered were rushed over at top speed and piled up directly at the harbor.
As a result, other ships that wanted to leave could only wait in silence.
And with so many different people mixed together in one place, the situation undoubtedly gave August and Law's plan a great deal of convenience.
"Are all the supplies here yet?"
"Most of them have already been handed over. The only thing still missing is the alcohol that was originally supposed to be delivered."
"Then why the hell haven't you gone to push them yet?"
"Yes, sir!"
But not long after, the crewman who had gone to hurry the supplier came back with bad news.
"What? There's none left?"
"He said his wine cellar got cleaned out yesterday by who knows who. They didn't leave him even a single barrel of wheat beer. At this point, there's no way he can fulfill the deal with us in time."
"And you just believed him?"
"I..."
"See that flag? In the North Blue, nobody gets to withhold the Donquixote Family's goods. I don't care whether what he said was true or false. By noon, I want to see at least one hundred barrels of alcohol stacked here. Do you understand?!"
"Yes, sir! It'll be done!"
...
"Move it! Take all the alcohol in this place!"
At the order of a short, fat man, more than a dozen vicious-looking pirates immediately stormed into a tavern.
"Gorlan! What exactly are you trying to do? There are patrol soldiers everywhere outside. Do you have a death wish?!"
"Heh, Old Drunk, don't bother trying to scare me. If I can't deliver the Donquixote Family's shipment today, then I'm dead for sure anyway. If death is waiting for me either way, why shouldn't I drag a few more people down with me?!"
Old Drunk was instantly both shocked and furious. A few of his men tried to resist, only to be knocked to the ground immediately.
He had already heard about the other man's wine cellar being looted. He had even taken some pleasure in the misfortune at the time.
Who would have thought that the joke would circle right back around onto him?
That fat bastard Gorlan did not have this many thugs under him. The men had to have been sent by the Donquixote Family.
The moment he thought of the two pirate crews that had been annihilated, Old Drunk lost his nerve too. Lowering his voice, he said, "What exactly do you want? Say it clearly. If I can help, I will. But if you go too far, then I'd rather smash every bottle in this place and die together with you, you bastard!"
Hearing that, Gorlan finally relaxed, and a smile appeared on his face.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to make things hard for you, old brother. Just let me take half the alcohol in your place today... hold on, let me finish."
"I'm not taking it for free. I'll pay you at purchase price plus an extra five percent."
"And don't think that's too little. The next place won't be getting the same offer, so think carefully."
The moment Old Drunk heard there was a next place, he immediately understood what the other man meant.
"Really?"
"Of course it's real. Don't you think there are a few too many taverns around the harbor right now?"
"Good! Just for that line alone, I'll help you."
In the blink of an eye, the two old foxes completed a perfectly tacit dirty deal.
And the result was that every other tavern around the harbor got dragged into disaster.
The lucky ones merely got shaken down hard.
As for the unlucky fools who could not read the situation, the lighter punishment was having every drop of alcohol in their stores carried off, while the worse cases ended with them getting beaten half to death and nearly losing their lives.
What had started as a major crisis for that fat man somehow got twisted into an opportunity instead. Waving the Donquixote Family's banner like a borrowed tiger's skin, he began openly wiping out his competition in broad daylight.
Even the soldiers outside, the moment they heard that Donquixote Family people were conducting business, immediately pretended they had seen nothing and hurried off with their men.
Seeing that, the grin on Gorlan's fat face grew even wider with satisfaction.
What he did not know was that, right under his nose, two boys had already quietly hidden themselves inside one of the empty wooden barrels.
When those pirates were moving the liquor, they never paid attention to small differences in weight. As long as the barrel was not empty, they hauled it away.
Without realizing it, they had helped out immensely.
Even August himself probably never would have imagined that his free-for-all looting yesterday would trigger such a massive chain reaction.
At last, before noon, more than two hundred barrels of alcohol were loaded onto the ship.
Since Senor Pink had no idea where all that alcohol had actually come from, he very straightforwardly settled the payment with Gorlan, then boarded the ship and prepared to leave.
Having turned disaster into fortune, Gorlan's fat face bloomed into a smile as wide as a chrysanthemum.
(End of Chapter)
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