"So Hawkeye really went all the way to Alabasta to find that Mr. 1?"
When Rui Meng Meng returned from shopping, Zhang Da Ye and Artoria had just finished dropping off gifts at Goodman's house and were back at the tavern.
That was when they saw the newspaper Rui Meng Meng had brought back.
Unfortunately, the report was vague. It only mentioned that a few days ago, the Shichibukai Dracule Mihawk arrived in Alabasta and briefly clashed with Crocodile, who was also a Shichibukai.
No details were given—just that the two parted on bad terms. From the photo, Mihawk's expression was as calm as ever, while Crocodile's face was dark, almost sulking. Perhaps he had been humiliated.
"These two both look terrifying," Rui Meng Meng said. "That reporter must be fearless to get so close."
"Reporters are a strange breed," Zhang Da Ye chuckled. A random bit of trivia popped into his head. "Do you know where the pictures on bounty posters come from?"
Artoria set down her teacup. "I've always wondered that. Those wanted criminals are vicious pirates. Not everyone would want their photo taken."
Rui Meng Meng nodded. "Yeah, barging up to take pictures could get you killed."
"There's a department in the Marines specifically for that. It's called the Photo Division. They're made up of people who aren't good at fighting, but are experts at sneaking around and running away. The best among them was nicknamed the 'Flame Photographer.' He could always get the perfect shot."
Zhang Da Ye wasn't making this up—it was true. That man's skills were so impressive he rose to become the division head.
But he had one fatal flaw: he often forgot to remove the lens cap. He repeated this mistake 57 times before finally being fired. Sanji's hand-drawn bounty poster was one of those mistakes.
Artoria asked, "With talents like that, wouldn't it make more sense to use them for gathering intelligence?"
"Maybe not. Their nerves probably aren't strong enough for espionage. Maybe their ability only works when they're taking photos." Zhang Da Ye shrugged.
"What a strange person," Rui Meng Meng said.
"This world is full of strange people," Zhang Da Ye muttered. "Like how I can't figure out why Mihawk would bother going to Alabasta. He doesn't strike me as someone who'd act just because of a few words from me."
Rui Meng Meng thought for a moment. "Didn't he say he was bored? Maybe it was just a whim."
"Maybe. Hah, I wonder if Mr. 1 survived. Hopefully Mihawk cut him down." Zhang Da Ye couldn't help laughing when he saw Crocodile's sour expression in the photo. Serves him right for trying to send people after Tom.
Knock knock knock. Someone rapped on the door.
"Who could it be at this hour?" Zhang Da Ye went to open it. An old man and a middle-aged man stood outside. "Oh, it's you."
It was the owner of the fish market and his son. The old man was one of the regulars who fished with Old Bob.
Zhang Da Ye welcomed them in.
The old man grinned. "We heard you were back, so we came to bring you your payment."
His son set a small chest on the table and opened it, revealing stacks of banknotes. "Thank you for your help."
The whole scene looked like they were paying protection money. Zhang Da Ye was confused—he didn't run that kind of business. "You certainly get news fast. But why give me money?"
"Did you forget? Before you left, you told us about a Sea King and left it for us to handle. You said we could settle the money when you returned."
"Oh, right. I'd forgotten about that." Zhang Da Ye recalled that hunting the Sea King had led to meeting Princess Otohime. "But you didn't need to rush all the way here. No need for the elder to trouble himself."
"My son's not so good at explaining things. I figured I'd better come myself."
"Why? Was there some accident?" Zhang Da Ye frowned. Don't tell me that Sea King came back to life. In this world, some creatures treated sit-ups as a natural skill.
"It's like this," the old man explained. "When we gathered our men and went to collect the body, we found sharks had already eaten a lot of it. Then more sea beasts showed up, drawn by the blood. With our strength, we could only snatch what little meat was left. So the profit in the end was…"
Zhang Da Ye tried to picture fishermen snatching meat from swarms of sharks. Was this like The Old Man and the Sea? And was that meat even edible afterward?
It wasn't really their fault. The place was quite far from Sabaody Archipelago.
"No problem. I should've thought of that at the time." Zhang Da Ye didn't blame them. "And this still looks like a decent sum."
"Compared to the Sea King's original size, less than ten million berries is really nothing," the old man sighed. Losing such a huge business deal pained him.
But after explaining things clearly, he felt relieved. Even though he casually called Zhang Da Ye "little brother," deep down he was nervous. Someone powerful enough to take down a Sea King could easily crush his little shop.
If it had been someone less reasonable, they could've insisted on full payment regardless of what happened, blaming the fishermen for losing goods in transport.
That was why the old man had been keeping an eye out for Zhang Da Ye's return—so he could explain immediately. In truth, they hadn't earned a cent on the deal and had even lost money on labor.
Maybe Zhang Da Ye himself didn't realize it, but the old man already treated him as someone not to be offended, like dealing with a big shot.
After sitting for a while, the old man carefully steered the conversation toward their travels.
Seeing that Zhang Da Ye was in a good mood and even talked about Fishman Island, he finally relaxed. After chatting a bit longer, the two left.
"Another unexpected windfall," Zhang Da Ye said as he closed the chest and headed upstairs. "I should call Tom down to cook. Haven't you stared at that statue long enough?"
A minute later, his screams echoed from upstairs.
"Ahh, my foot!"
"Tom! Why did you put so many mousetraps here?"
"Are you guarding against thieves, or against me?"
"You little—get back here, see if I don't wring your neck!"
Tom darted downstairs like lightning. He knew better than to stand still when punishment was coming.
But Zhang Da Ye's hand reached around the corner, grabbed Tom's tail, and yanked. Tom sprinted forward desperately, but only treaded in place before getting pulled backward and dragged upstairs.
Artoria and Rui Meng Meng exchanged looks. "Boss has finally lost it, hasn't he?"
…
A/N:
That man, by the way, really was called the Photo King, or "Flame Photographer." (His real name was Fire Attach. How that turned into Flame Photographer is anyone's guess.)
After being expelled from the Marines, Morgans of the World Economy News hired him and gave him a camera without a lens cap.
So really, the Marines never knew how to use talent properly.
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