Gino, who was already somewhat intoxicated from their extended drinking session, stared intently at the shimmering scales in Ace's outstretched palm. For several long moments, he seemed unable to process exactly what he was seeing.
Noticing the gang leader's confusion, Ace leaned in closer and whispered conspiratorially: "These came directly from her tail. Pretty convincing proof, wouldn't you say?"
"Wait... what?!" Gino suddenly snapped to attention and nearly shouted in excitement, but Ace immediately gestured for him to keep his voice down.
"Shh! Do you want the entire bar to hear us?" Ace hissed urgently.
"Sorry, sorry," Gino replied, though his eyes remained wide with amazement. "But are you seriously telling me you've got one of those beauties from the Mermaid Cafe on Fishman Island?"
"This is incredible! You're not pulling my leg, are you?"
To further convince the increasingly excited criminal, Ace produced a second piece of evidence from his other pocket—a photograph of an exceptionally beautiful young mermaid with flowing hair and an radiant smile.
"Does this look fake to you?" Ace asked with practiced confidence.
After receiving Ace's seemingly sincere confirmation, Gino began rubbing his hands together, completely unable to hide his inner excitement and greed.
Beautiful mermaid slaves were among the rarest and most valuable commodities in the entire underworld market. In a place like this, such a prize could easily sell for tens of millions of Berries. If they managed to transport her to the Sabaody Archipelago for auction, the price would be absolutely astronomical—wealthy nobles and even Celestial Dragons would engage in bidding wars for such a rare acquisition.
Of course, the photograph in Ace's possession had actually been obtained by Skull through his extensive collector network on Fishman Island, then transmitted via Den Den Mushi. The scales had been collected by Jerry during one of his underwater fishing expeditions when he had encountered a large sea creature with similar coloration.
"So? What do you think, partner?" Ace continued his performance, adopting a slightly desperate tone. "I didn't have any reliable connections in this business, so I spent days asking around until someone finally directed me to you."
"Plus, I've already received some favors from the Whitebeard Pirates in the past, and I really don't want to violate their code of honor by acting myself. That's why I need someone with local connections to handle the actual transaction."
Ace's fabricated story of moral conflict seemed entirely believable to the gang leader, who was already calculating potential profits in his head.
"Ha! Don't give me that nonsense about honor and morality," Gino scoffed dismissively. "Whitebeard himself is a pirate who's been involved in plenty of violence and destruction over the years. The only difference between him and people like us is that he's got more power and a better reputation. When it comes to making money, everyone's the same deep down."
"Since you're in such a difficult position, just leave everything to me. I'll handle all the complicated arrangements."
Listening to Gino's casual dismissal of Whitebeard's principles and character, Ace made a mental note to remember this conversation for later. This kind of disrespectful attitude toward his father wouldn't go unpunished.
"So about the profit split when this is all finished..." Ace began tentatively.
"Seventy-thirty. I take seventy percent, you get thirty," Gino interrupted, holding up three fingers to emphasize his proposed division of the profits.
"What?! But I'm the one providing the actual merchandise!" Ace protested, though his indignation was entirely for show.
"Listen, kid, do you have any idea what kind of work this involves?" Gino replied with obvious irritation. "I'm the one who has to establish all the connections, take all the real risks, and handle every dangerous aspect of this operation. You just brought me a pretty face in a cage—I'm doing all the hard work here."
"Fine... fine, I suppose you have a point," Ace said with fake reluctance, rolling his eyes at the greedy criminal's transparent attempt to exploit him. "I'm confident the merchandise is high quality anyway, so the final price should be substantial enough for both of us."
"Excellent! Now that I'm hearing you talk like this, I can't wait to get started," Gino said, practically vibrating with anticipation.
"But for a transaction of this magnitude, we'll need Master Corbett personally involved to set the proper price. This isn't the kind of deal I can authorize on my own."
"I see. When would it be possible to arrange a meeting with him?" Ace asked with carefully controlled casualness.
This was exactly the development they had been hoping for. According to their original plan, the entire scheme had been designed specifically to create an opportunity for direct contact with Corbett.
"He'll probably be unavailable until after tonight's celebration concludes," Gino explained. "Today's festival represents a massive money-making opportunity, and he definitely won't let that slip by without maximizing every possible source of profit."
"Of course, once the celebration ends, he'll want to arrange something with your mermaid as quickly as possible. After all, I've never met anyone who loves making money as much as he does—it's like an obsession with him."
"For now, just make sure your merchandise stays secure and wait for my signal. I'll contact you as soon as I've spoken with the boss."
Though Gino was clearly eager to arrange the exchange immediately, he understood that such decisions were far above his authority level. All he could do was agree on a meeting location with Ace and promise to send word once Corbett had made his decision.
After settling their business, Ace paid for their drinks, and the two men parted ways to make their respective preparations for the evening's activities.
Meanwhile, Jerry and Skull had been located by Carrot at one of the festival's outdoor concert venues. Somehow, in a development that surprised everyone, Carina had managed to get herself onto the performance stage, complete with professional makeup and costume, where she had just finished singing two popular songs to an enthusiastic crowd.
As it turned out, Carina's pickpocketing activities along the festival route had led her to target the wallets of various wealthy-looking merchants and disreputable pirates. In her excitement over her successful thefts, she had accidentally wandered into the backstage area of the concert venue.
When the stage manager discovered her presence and demanded to know what she was doing in a restricted area, Carina had quickly claimed she was a part-time performer who had just been scheduled for an impromptu set. Fortunately, her natural talents as both a singer and a quick-thinking con artist allowed her to pull off the deception without arousing suspicion.
Carrot watched Carina's impromptu performance with obvious amazement and growing admiration. Perhaps it was because Zou had never hosted such elaborate musical entertainments, or maybe it was simply that most young girls secretly dreamed of experiencing that kind of spotlight and adoration.
"Come on, let's go find something to eat," Jerry suggested as Carina finally rejoined their group, having noticed that the sky was already beginning to darken. "I think our friends should be ready to put their plan into action soon."
Both he and Skull had managed to collect substantial amounts of useful information throughout the day, and there were quite a few members in Ace's group as well, so their combined intelligence should be more than sufficient for the evening's operation.
After enjoying a leisurely dinner at one of the festival's food stalls, Jerry's group located Ace, Deuce and his disguised Whitebeard Pirates friends. Once both teams had reconvened, they shared all the information they had gathered during their separate reconnaissance missions.
By combining their accumulated intelligence with the specific details of the transaction that Ace had already arranged with Gino, the entire group began making their final preparations for the night's activities.
At the stroke of midnight, after the official celebration had concluded and the last of the performances had ended, the various entertainment venues and commercial streets quickly emptied of visitors. Large numbers of both local civilians and visiting tourists either returned to their accommodations to rest or continued their festivities at the island's numerous bars and nighttime establishments.
The location they had chosen for their clandestine meeting was a side street near the town center, in an area where traveling circuses typically made camp after their performances.
Far removed from both residential neighborhoods and the bustling bar district, this particular area became eerily quiet and deserted once night fell. The only sounds were the gentle whispers of ocean breeze moving through the empty streets.
The distinctive sound of wooden wheels rolling across cobblestones could be heard clearly from a considerable distance in the still night air.
Ace and Jerry, both wearing concealing disguises, led Wallace—who was bound in authentic-looking handcuffs as part of their cover story—along with several other Whitebeard Pirates members who were similarly disguised as rough traders. Together, they pushed and pulled a large cart that was completely covered by a heavy canvas tarpaulin.
Beneath the covering, the shape of their cargo created a tall, rectangular silhouette that strongly resembled a large box or cage.
Gino, who had been waiting patiently in a nearby alley with several of his own men, emerged from the shadows as soon as he spotted the approaching group.
The two teams moved toward each other across the empty street before coming to a halt several meters apart. Gino and Ace both stepped forward to close the remaining distance between them.
"Well? How did it go? Is Corbett coming?" Ace asked without preamble.
"He's not here yet, but I sent him word about the meeting as we discussed. Your merchandise is still secure, right?"
"Absolutely no problems whatsoever," Ace assured him.
"Good, but I need to inspect the goods with my own eyes before we proceed any further," Gino said with obvious caution, then began walking toward the covered cart.
"Impressive! You've even got a Fishman slave as a bonus? That's excellent added value," he commented approvingly upon noticing Wallace's distinctive appearance.
"We aim to please," Jerry replied with mock pride.
When Gino reached the cart and lifted one corner of the heavy tarpaulin to peer inside, his eyes immediately widened to an almost comical degree.
"Hey! Are you people trying to make a fool out of me? What in the world is this supposed to be?!" he sputtered in complete disbelief.
"What do you mean? That's obviously a mermaid, just like we promised," Ace replied with perfectly straight-faced innocence.
The gang leader's reaction was exactly what Ace and his friends had anticipated. Gino scratched his head in confusion, unable to reconcile what he was seeing with what he had been expecting.
He turned to stare at Ace with an expression of utter incredulity, as if the words "are you completely insane?" were written across his face in bold letters. Taking several steps backward, Gino retrieved the photograph that Ace had shown him earlier, and without even bothering to make a detailed comparison, threw it disgustedly onto the cobblestones.
"This is absolutely ridiculous! You've obviously committed some kind of massive fraud here—what you're showing me now is completely different from what was in that picture!"
"Are you blind or something? This is clearly the same individual!" Jerry interjected with complete seriousness, his expression suggesting he was utterly baffled by Gino's inability to see the obvious resemblance. "She's just aged a little bit since that photograph was taken."
But sitting inside the cage on their cart was none other than Banshee, former brewmaster of the Spade Pirates. She was wearing an elaborate mermaid costume consisting of a decorative bikini top and incredibly realistic artificial tail fins that had been crafted to look authentic. The entire ensemble was so convincing that it might have fooled someone in poor lighting conditions.
After hearing Jerry's completely deadpan explanation, Gino looked up again at Banshee, who had been made up with heavy theatrical makeup, bright red lipstick, and elaborate hair styling. Despite these cosmetic enhancements, she still looked exactly like what she was—a cheerful middle-aged woman who spent most of her time brewing alcoholic beverages.
Gino's gaze shifted between the obviously mature woman in the cart and the photograph on the ground, which clearly showed a genuinely young and beautiful mermaid with radiant skin and flowing hair. He covered his forehead with both hands, staggered backward, and appeared to be on the verge of fainting from pure exasperation.