The next morning, Rayleigh arrived early at the Chris and, upon learning that Weiss planned to attend the auction, immediately sped up the coating process.
He had a strong feeling that Weiss was going to leave the Sabaody Archipelago today.
And if his hunch turned out to be wrong? Then… no drinking for three days. No—one day. No—three hours.
Actually, never mind. If the guess was wrong, so be it—no need to punish himself over it.
After leaving the Chris, the group split up, agreeing to meet directly at the auction house in the afternoon. Until then, everyone went about their own business.
As usual, Theodore stuck with Kadun. After all, it was always good to have someone to take the blame if things went south.
Karina and Joanne continued shopping, though this time it was for supplies the ship would need. Their next destination was Fishman Island—and who knew what might happen there?
Jack wandered the streets alone, a rifle slung over his back and a revolver hidden at his waist.
Ever since Weiss had given that gun to him, he'd kept it on him at all times.
A good gunslinger needed to bond with his weapon—otherwise, what would happen if it let him down in a life-or-death moment?
…That'd be embarrassing.
As Jack walked through the streets, he didn't notice a group of people trailing him with murderous intent. If looks could kill, he'd have been dead a hundred times over.
The group surrounded him, and one of them quickly slipped away, presumably to alert someone.
Clatter! Clatter!
The nearby street vendors saw the group closing in on a lone young man and immediately packed up their stalls. A fight was clearly about to break out.
"Kid! You're the one who killed our Blood Wolf Pirates, aren't you?"
A savage-looking man stepped forward, glaring at Jack.
"I've killed a lot of people," Jack replied calmly. "Not sure which ones were yours. Want to jog my memory?"
Despite facing more than twenty people, Jack remained composed. If it came down to it, he could deal with them all in two minutes.
"You're pretty damn cocky," the man growled. "People like you don't last long at sea."
"Let me help you out. It was yesterday morning, right?"
"Oh—those trash mobs?" Jack said, as if remembering at last. His casual tone made the surrounding pirates itch to punch him.
One of them tried.
Someone reached from behind to grab Jack's hair and yank him back, but before their hand even touched him, a sharp pain exploded from their wrist.
"AAAGH!"
The pirate collapsed, clutching his wrist and howling in pain. His hand went limp and useless.
Jack, who had awakened Observation Haki back in the East Blue, didn't even need to rely on it here. He simply twisted around, caught the attacker's hand, and snapped the wrist with a quick jerk.
His opponents didn't even realize what had happened. One second their comrade was going in for a sneak attack—the next, his wrist was shattered.
From their perspective, Jack hadn't even moved.
"Tch. Pirates really are an unreasonable bunch. Just go straight for a sneak attack, huh? No wonder none of you are worth anything. With underlings like this, your captain must be a real scumbag."
Jack spoke as if nothing had happened.
"You don't get to judge my crew," a cold voice growled from the crowd. "You killed my men yesterday, and now you've hurt another. Don't you think you owe me an explanation?"
The pirates parted, making way for a short, wiry figure who stared daggers at Jack.
"Oh my god, isn't that Mad Wolf?! One of this year's Supernovas!"
"Run! That guy doesn't leave a single survivor!"
"I heard he ate a Zoan-type Devil Fruit—Wolf Form!"
Jack frowned as he looked at the man. Is that even human?
He was barely 140 cm tall, with a long, protruding nose, and an unnaturally wide mouth that showed his gums and teeth.
Are we sure he ate the Wolf-Wolf Fruit and not that a wolf ate the Human-Human Fruit?
"Hey... are you really human?" Jack couldn't help but ask.
The pirates around them immediately backed away in unison, clearing a huge space around the two. Even the other pirates ducked into nearby buildings.
"That guy's dead meat. Can't believe he said that to the captain."
"The last person who asked that got chopped up and fed to the dogs."
Mad Wolf's eyes turned blood-red, gleaming with a savage light.
"I was considering recruiting you as my vice-captain, since you seemed strong. But now… you die."
Before the word die even left his mouth, Mad Wolf vanished—and so did Jack.
Bang! Bang!
Jack fired two shots at where he had just been standing. Mad Wolf wasn't dumb—he didn't try to tank the bullets. As he zipped across the battlefield, he twisted his body in strange, unnatural ways to dodge the shots.
But just as he landed, his expression changed.
Bang!
A third shot rang out. A thin line of blood appeared across Mad Wolf's cheek.
Jack had predicted that Mad Wolf would dodge the first two, so he'd aimed the third directly at his head. But true to his name, the "wolf" managed to dodge that too—barely.
Still… that was about as far as he'd go.
"Not bad!" Mad Wolf grinned, licking the blood off his cheek with a wide, toothy smile.
Watching him, Jack briefly considered coating his bullets in poison next time.
Mad Wolf's expression turned serious. "It seems I can't beat you in human form… Guess I'll have to use my Devil Fruit power."
Jack raised his guard. This would be his first time fighting a Devil Fruit user. He gripped his gun tighter and aimed at Blood Wolf's head.
A gust of wind swept through the street, scattering dry leaves across the ground.
Jack waited. And waited.
Is he not going to transform? Is he saying I'm not even worth transforming for?
He sighed. I really do need to get stronger.
"Hey! Are you transforming or not? If you're not, I'm shooting!"
He called out, almost politely. This would be his first time seeing a "Werewolf Transformation" in real life, after all.
"I ALREADY TRANSFORMED!!" Blood Wolf roared. Spit stretched like webbing between his fangs.
"…You did?" Jack raised an eyebrow. "Why doesn't it look any different?"
Maybe it really was a wolf who ate the Human-Human Fruit.
But Blood Wolf had vanished again.
Jack immediately fired three shots into empty air. In the blink of an eye, a shadow flickered into view where nothing had been—then vanished again.
To most people, this speed would be impossible to track. But Jack had Observation Haki. This was his domain.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
"Why the hell can you always block my path?!" Mad Wolf howled.
"Guess," Jack said, pulling the trigger again.
Mad Wolf was now bleeding. He lunged straight at Jack, closing the distance—but he had underestimated Jack's close-combat ability.
BANG!
A powerful kick sent Mad Wolf flying into the wall of a nearby building. Jack looked down at a streak of blood on his leg.
...Maybe I should get a shot or something.
The two were just about to go another round when suddenly a voice rang out through the street:
"The Celestial Dragons are here!!"
In the distance, crowds of people dropped to their knees in waves, bowing as a figure on a slave's back approached.
Jack caught sight of the Celestial Dragon and disappeared in a flash.
The robed figure raised his head just in time to glimpse a blurry afterimage—and thought he was seeing things. Scowling, he kicked the slave beneath him.
"Stupid slave! Move faster! If I don't get my mermaid, I'll feed you to the sharks!"
The slave crawled on, empty-eyed and numb. He had long since lost all hope.