Chapter 102: Webers
Toba's face darkened the instant Webers barged into the hall.
From the way events had turned, he had already sensed that the agreement might not hold after all. He had considered that possibility before, but only as a remote risk. Now that remote risk was walking straight into the center of the room with bloodlust in his eyes.
One of Toba's men, the same one who had stepped forward to act first a moment ago, looked over in alarm.
"Lord Toba, what is this?"
Toba had just opened his mouth to answer when Dominic, who had collapsed earlier, suddenly sprang up as though his life had been stuffed back into him by sheer panic.
"Move! Get out of my way!"
He shoved through the crowd and bolted for the entrance.
People near the middle of the hall recoiled in terror, stumbling aside to clear a path for him. No one wanted to be in the way of a desperate noble.
Toba raised a hand and stopped the subordinate who was about to give chase.
"The man at the door," he said grimly, "has a bounty of eighty eight million Berries."
His subordinate sucked in a sharp breath.
"Eighty eight million?!"
In the North Blue, that number alone was enough to make most people lose their nerve. The Grand Line was full of monsters, but in one of the Four Blues, a pirate with a bounty like that was a nightmare made flesh.
Toba saw the shock on the man's face and shook his head.
"That number alone does not tell the full story. He is Webers, captain of the Fangtooth Pirates."
The subordinate's legs nearly gave out beneath him. He dropped to the floor in fright, all color draining from his face.
Toba did not blame him.
Because he understood that reaction all too well.
His eyes followed Dominic, who was running for the door like a rat fleeing a burning granary, and he murmured to himself, "Webers. Captain of the Fangtooth Pirates. The corpses left in his wake are always torn apart with bite marks all over them. A savage even among pirates. I only hope things do not become as bad as I fear."
Axel, with his eyes still shut, had no idea what expression Webers wore, but he had already picked up several things from the man's voice and the atmosphere around him.
When the pirate had pressed a hand against his head earlier, Axel had felt uncomfortable, but his [reflection] had not reacted. That meant the man had not actually intended to hurt him at that moment.
And from the conversation just now, Axel had pieced together something else.
"So he was supposed to be on Toba's side," Axel thought. "But if that's true, why does this guy sound like he wants to chew through the entire hall?"
Issho remained perfectly calm even with a knife resting near his neck. He tilted his head slightly, his clouded blind gaze fixed in the direction of the blade, as if he were calmly examining it.
Webers mistook that stillness for helplessness.
To him, both Issho and Axel were just blind fools. One old, one young. Neither worth much entertainment. He had wanted a reaction, some trembling, some fear, something he could savor, but they gave him none of it. That displeased him. Since they were dull prey, he lost interest in cutting them down on the spot.
He withdrew the knife from Issho's neck and lifted his hand from Axel's head.
At that very moment, Dominic burst through the crowd and charged straight toward him.
Webers' expression turned savage.
He had recognized Dominic the moment the man appeared. He had gathered information before coming here, and Dominic's name had been among the important pieces. But what truly enraged him was not recognition.
It was audacity.
That noble had actually chosen his path to escape.
As if Webers were an obstacle that could simply be run past.
As if he did not matter.
The thought alone made his blood boil.
He let the knife drop to the floor with a clatter. Steel was unnecessary. Webers was far more dangerous with his bare hands than with any blade.
He took one step.
Dominic was almost upon him, frantic, pale, and gasping.
Then Webers moved sideways and blocked the way completely.
Dominic's eyes widened.
Before he could scream, Webers seized him.
The pirate's arm twisted grotesquely, flesh splitting open into a hideous maw lined with jagged teeth. It clamped down on Dominic with a wet crunch, chewing into him alive.
"AAAAAHHHHH!"
The scream that ripped through the hall was so shrill it made several people go weak at the knees.
There was only Dominic's shrieking, the sickening sound of flesh being torn apart, and Webers' delighted laughter.
No one among Axel's group moved.
Axel had no intention of saving a man like that. He did not need his eyes to know Dominic was filth. If there had been even the slightest reason to intervene, Issho would have acted already. Since Issho remained silent, that alone said enough.
Hawkins stood off to the side, his expression unreadable, as though he were observing a number on one of his tarot spreads rather than a living man being eaten.
The entire thing ended quickly.
Too quickly.
In only a few moments, Dominic was nothing more than a bloodied ruin in Webers' grasp.
The image seared itself into the minds of everyone present.
Even Toba felt a brief chill crawl down his spine.
Dominic had been an enemy, yes, but also a man he had dealt with for years. Had the nobles not let greed consume them, Maturu Island would have remained Maturu Island, and none of this would have happened.
But regrets meant nothing now.
Reality was standing in front of him with blood on its mouth.
Toba stepped forward and lowered his head slightly.
"Captain Webers. It is good to see that our cooperation has proceeded smoothly."
Webers grinned. Blood still stained his teeth and chin, making the expression look even more deranged.
"Smoothly? Hah. More than that. It's been a beautiful arrangement. So much wealth, all from squeezing these worms dry."
He looked back at the pirates behind him and spread his arms.
"Tell me, boys, isn't this wonderful?"
His crew roared back at once.
"Captain Webers!"
"Long live the captain!"
"Captain Webers!"
The hall trembled with their voices.
Only after basking in their cheers for a few moments did Webers turn back to Toba.
"Well then," he said. "Now that I've done what I promised, it should be time for you to fulfill your side of the bargain."
Toba's face tightened, but he still answered steadily.
"As agreed, you would help me eliminate the threat here, and in exchange I would give you the information you wanted, as well as half my fortune."
Even saying the words cost him something.
Half his fortune was no small price.
But it had been a necessary one.
He added in a quieter, sharper tone, "And as I told you before, if you break faith, my people will notify the Marines at once."
That was his safeguard.
Maturu Island had a Marine base. Toba had prepared for betrayal from the beginning and arranged for word to be sent the moment Webers overstepped the line. He had used his information network to lure the pirate here, and that same network was his insurance.
Some might ask why he had not simply used the Marines against Dominic and the kingdom from the start.
Because Toba was not a fool.
The Marines might arrest pirates. They might even beat commoners bloody over disturbances. But they would never lay hands on a noble over something like this. For nobles, trampling merchants and civilians was not a crime. It was privilege.
That was why he had needed pirates to counter nobles in the first place.
Webers laughed.
"No, no, no. That old agreement won't do anymore."
Toba's eyes narrowed.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean," Webers said, licking blood from the corner of his mouth, "that I want to change the terms."
A bad feeling settled heavily in Toba's chest.
"What terms?"
Webers slowly turned and swept his gaze across the hall.
The merchants.
The businessmen.
The guests.
The terrified rich.
The trembling weak.
All of them.
His grin widened until it looked almost monstrous.
"I want everyone here."
…..
Check out my newly released fanfic on my 2nd account: - FanficLord02
One Piece: My Crew Is Full of Monsters