Chapter 103: Let's Talk About Trading
Webers' arrogant declaration sent a ripple of unrest through the hall.
The merchants below had only just watched one wolf bare its fangs, and now a tiger had stepped into the room. Even though Webers had not yet turned his brutality on them, the speed and indifference with which he had killed Dominic told them everything they needed to know.
This man was worse.
Some immediately began regretting ever setting foot inside this cursed gathering hall. Had they known it would turn into a bloodstained trap, they would have feigned illness, sunk their own ships, or done anything else to stay away.
Toba saw their expressions and knew that if he did not seize control of the moment, then everything he had planned would collapse into nonsense.
He had organized this gathering because he had already guessed Dominic's intentions. His original goal had been simple. Expose the true face of the nobles, crush the merchants' remaining illusions once the new policy was laid bare, and then naturally rise as the leader of the island's commercial class. From there, influence, profit, and the foundation for a greater merchant empire would all fall into his hands.
That had been the plan.
Now a mad pirate had stomped into the middle of it, and if Toba did not handle this carefully, those same merchants would not follow him. They would scatter in terror or even turn on him.
So he stepped forward.
He slowly walked down from the stage and approached Webers.
He had always suspected the pirates might demand more after the job was done, so he had prepared a line of negotiation in advance. His last real card was the Marine presence on Maturu Island. That, and only that, was something he could use to rein in a beast like Webers.
Keeping his voice as even as possible, Toba said, "Captain Webers, this is Maturu Island. A Marine Rear Admiral is stationed here. Why not take what belongs to you and leave?"
His tone was mild, almost courteous. But beneath that calm there was a clear warning.
A Rear Admiral was not a title to be ignored.
Surely even a pirate like Webers would think twice.
"Rear Admiral?" Webers repeated softly.
He knew exactly what that meant.
With his current strength, he was no match for a Marine Rear Admiral in a direct fight. His bounty was high, but not because he was some invincible monster. It was because he had slaughtered too many civilians and caused too much destruction. Strip away the infamy, and in a fair contest, he could not win against a Rear Admiral.
But then his lips curled.
"So what?"
He laughed, harsh and wild.
"If I can't beat him, I'll run. I'm a pirate. I take what I want."
That answer made Toba's heart sink.
This was precisely what he had feared most.
Pirates were not merchants. You could not weigh risk against profit and expect reason to prevail every time. Some of them were too feral to be led by logic.
Still, Toba tried once more.
"If you choose to drag this out, my people will notify the Marines immediately. Even if you escape alive, how much treasure do you think you'll be able to take while being hunted? If fortune smiles on you, you get away with some wealth. If not, you lose your lives here. It is better to leave with profit than die with empty hands. We can offer you a portion of our wealth willingly. Consider it a gift."
That struck a chord in the merchants behind him.
At once, they hurried to echo him.
"Yes, yes! As long as you spare us, I can offer a quarter of my fortune. No, half!"
"I'll do the same!"
"I'll pay too!"
Fear loosened purses faster than greed ever could.
This was another reason Toba had remained calm until now. He knew human nature. Everything in this world revolved around profit. If the pirates could be made to understand that the safer road was also the richer road, then surely they would take it.
That was how merchants thought.
That was how nobles thought.
That was how most men thought.
But Webers was not most men.
He looked at the hall full of trembling merchants, then at his own crew, and grinned like a rabid beast.
"Well?" he called to them. "What do you boys think?"
The pirates licked their lips, their eyes filling with bloodthirst.
Swords slid from scabbards. Guns were raised. One by one, they bared their intentions without saying a word.
That alone told the whole story.
Most normal pirates would have taken the offer. Easy money, easy exit, no Rear Admiral to worry about.
But Webers was not normal, and neither were the men he kept around him. He had long since weeded out anyone with too much sense or too little cruelty. The ones who remained were all cut from the same savage cloth.
Webers admired their reaction, then turned back to Toba.
"I want the treasure," he said, voice low and delighted, "but I don't want it handed to me like alms. I'm a pirate. I take what I want by force."
Toba's face darkened completely.
So his preparations had still failed.
He had accounted for greed. He had accounted for ambition. He had even accounted for betrayal.
But there was no negotiating with a man who preferred blood over Berries.
Inwardly, Toba cursed him as an animal, a beast in human skin. He began to edge back, measuring the distance, already thinking of contingencies.
"Do it," Webers ordered.
"Wait."
Another voice cut cleanly across the hall, drowning out Webers' command.
The sound was not loud in the normal sense. Yet it struck with such force that every other voice in the room seemed to vanish.
Issho, who had already tapped his cane once and was about to make his move, paused.
The moment Webers gave the order, Issho had been ready to act. The merchants were rotten in their own ways, yes, but there were also ordinary civilians here. He could not stand aside and watch slaughter begin.
But just as he moved, Axel's hand lightly stopped him.
Issho was taken aback, though only slightly. Out of trust, he set the cane back down and chose to wait.
Axel then stepped forward.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
His rough wooden sword struck the floor in steady rhythm, guiding him as he walked. With his eyes still shut, he moved calmly through the tense silence, each tap seeming to knock against the nerves of everyone present.
All eyes turned toward him.
Even the pirates paused to stare.
The blind child was walking straight toward the most dangerous man in the room.
When he reached roughly the right spot, Axel lifted his head and called out, "Mr. Toba."
A strange silence followed.
Webers' face twitched.
"I'm not Toba," he said, already irritated.
"Oh." Axel tilted his head. "Then who are you?"
"…I'm Webers."
"You could've just said that from the beginning," Axel said, sounding faintly annoyed. "So where's Toba?"
A few people in the crowd nearly choked on their own breath.
Even in that suffocating atmosphere, the absurdity of the exchange was enough to leave everyone speechless.
From the side, Toba finally answered, "I'm here."
"Good," Axel said, turning toward the voice. "Mr. Toba, I'd like to talk business."
Webers' veins bulged.
"I was going to let you live," he snarled, "but now you've pissed me off. Since you want to run your mouth so badly, I'll let you experience what it feels like to be torn apart by the Bite Bite Fruit."
One of his arms suddenly transformed.
His hand spread wide and distorted into a massive maw lined with jagged teeth. It lunged at Axel, intending to swallow him whole in a single bite.
The merchants gasped in horror.
Several of them flinched and looked away, unwilling to watch a child be chewed apart in front of them.
The teeth closed.
But then, before the shock could even settle, the expression on Webers' face changed.
Something was wrong.
He had bitten down, yet there was no satisfying crunch of flesh, no scream, no resistance.
The giant mouth around Axel began to force itself apart.
Bit by bit, those razor teeth were pushed open.
Then Axel emerged from the center completely unharmed, still standing there with his eyes closed and his wooden sword in hand, as though nothing at all had happened.
He did not even spare Webers a glance.
Instead, he turned toward Toba's voice and repeated, calm and composed:
"Mr. Toba, shall we talk about trading?"
.....
[If you don't want to wait for the next update, read 50 chapters ahead on P@treon.]
[[email protected]/FanficLord03]