Chapter 375: Exploration I
After leaving the back room, the guard pulled a small packet of powder from his clothes and quietly handed it to the woman who had reported Axel's arrival.
"This is the drug. Don't use more than five grams. That's roughly the amount needed before it starts taking effect."
In other words, he wanted her to add only a token amount.
The guard had once been a bounty hunter himself. One mistake, one opponent he should never have challenged, had been enough to turn him into a slave.
That experience had taught him something important.
If ordinary drugs were enough to bring down pirates with hundreds of millions on their heads, the number of bounty hunters on the seas would have doubled long ago.
So he had no intention of seriously drugging Axel.
A symbolic amount would satisfy the boss.
And if Axel had actually come here looking for trouble, perhaps even to kill the owner, then the chaos might become the guard's only chance to escape.
The woman understood what he meant.
She asked no questions.
Helping him deceive the owner was betrayal. If they were discovered, neither of them would survive.
Yet she silently accepted the packet.
Perhaps she had reached the same conclusion.
Or perhaps she simply wanted to avoid making the situation worse.
She moved toward a small preparation area behind the main hall, where the tavern's guards usually rested, and poured a brown-red liquor into a plain glass.
The drink was slightly cloudy.
Her thoughts felt much the same.
She used the edge of a fingernail to collect a tiny amount of powder and flicked it into the glass.
Barely anything.
Someone nearby watched her carefully.
Another guard had already gone back to report to the owner.
The woman noticed both without turning her head.
She lifted the drink and deliberately adopted the uncertain manner of someone still new to this kind of work, someone who had not yet completely learned to hide her discomfort.
It was another mask.
Before she could leave, a large man stepped into her path.
A moment later, the guard who had gone to the owner returned and whispered into his ear.
The woman had barely reacted when the large man seized her shoulder.
His grip tightened.
Pain shot through the joint.
She endured it without making a sound.
"Tch."
The man looked disappointed.
He enjoyed frightening the workers under him, and several had already suffered badly at his hands.
But because he was the strongest enforcer in the establishment, the owner rarely did more than reprimand him.
The workers made money.
The guards protected the owner's life.
There was never any doubt which mattered more.
The woman had understood that long ago.
So she kept her expression under control.
The man leaned closer.
"The boss said not to look so nervous."
His grip tightened again.
"You show anything suspicious, and we'll all have problems."
"...Understood."
Her voice trembled just enough to satisfy him.
The man released her shoulder.
"Good."
He looked her over, pleased by the fear she displayed.
"Come back quickly."
The meaning was clear enough.
The woman lowered her head, hiding whatever she actually felt.
Around them, several other guards laughed.
"Boss, you keep all the good assignments to yourself. Leave something for the rest of us."
"This one's useful," the man replied.
"She's clever, the boss likes using her, and she earns well."
He pointed toward another guard.
"You. Follow her."
The man grimaced.
"Why do I always get these jobs?"
"Because if she does anything suspicious, you report it."
The leader smiled.
"And if she really betrays the boss, maybe he'll let you decide what happens to her."
That immediately improved the guard's mood.
Perhaps too much.
He was already considering whether a false report might accomplish the same thing.
The woman walked back toward the main floor.
The noisy, indulgent atmosphere made her instinctively frown.
The expression vanished almost immediately, replaced by a practiced smile.
She had learned to survive here by changing herself to suit whoever was watching.
She scanned the room.
It did not take long to find Axel.
Her posture shifted again as she approached.
"Sir."
She presented the glass.
"Your drink."
Axel looked up.
His crimson eyes met hers.
For one brief moment, her hand trembled.
Then she steadied herself.
"I don't remember ordering anything."
The woman used the explanation prepared beforehand.
"It's part of a promotion."
She smiled.
"You happened to be the lucky guest."
"Lucky?"
Axel looked at the glass.
"I doubt that."
She blinked.
"Luck is strange."
He spoke casually.
"It can favor someone one moment and abandon them the next."
His gaze returned to her.
"And mine is terrible."
"I'm the kind of person who can roll a die dozens of times before getting a six."
"Whenever something depends entirely on luck, I usually lose."
The woman had no idea why he was telling her this.
Still, she smiled.
"Then perhaps today is where your luck begins to change."
Most customers would have enjoyed hearing that.
Axel instead looked almost regretful.
Then he pushed the glass toward her.
"In that case, you drink it."
The woman froze.
For the first time since she had learned to carefully manage every expression, real panic appeared on her face.
The amount of drug inside was far below the effective dose.
That was exactly the problem.
If she drank it and nothing happened, the owner would eventually wonder why.
There were only a few explanations.
The drug was defective.
Or she had tampered with the dosage.
The owner was unlikely to confront the supplier over one failed attempt.
He would simply test the same batch again.
And once he discovered the powder worked normally, suspicion would fall entirely on her.
She knew exactly what that would mean.
"I... don't handle alcohol very well."
Axel looked at her.
"A woman working in a place like this who can't drink?"
His tone remained mild.
"You should be careful."
"People might take advantage of that."
Then he lifted the glass himself and took a sip.
The woman watched intently.
Axel had already noticed something strange about both the drink and the person delivering it.
He simply did not care.
His Reflection filtered harmful influences automatically. Alcohol itself could be excluded from affecting his body, and the same principle applied to substances intended to damage him.
Whatever had been added to the drink posed no real threat.
He took another sip.
"Not bad."
Half the glass was gone when he finally set it down.
Then he noticed her staring.
"Something wrong?"
She quickly recovered.
"You drink very well."
Her tone became lighter.
"That liquor is strong. Even people who drink often usually wouldn't finish that much so quickly."
"To me, alcohol is basically water."
Axel shrugged.
"I can taste it, but that's about all."
Her expression shifted into carefully performed curiosity.
"How?"
Axel could tell it was an act.
He simply chose to play along.
"You can think of my ability as something similar to a Devil Fruit."
Her eyes sharpened slightly.
Axel continued,
"My body rejects harmful things."
"Alcohol."
"Poisons."
"Drugs."
He glanced meaningfully at the half-empty glass.
"If this were filled with something dangerous, it still wouldn't do much."
The woman's heart tightened.
Was that a casual explanation?
Or had he already realized everything?
She forced herself to smile.
"I've heard Devil Fruits are treasures of the sea."
"They sell for enormous amounts of money, don't they?"
A deliberately shallow question.
A safer subject.
"They can."
Axel leaned back.
"But an ability like mine would either be worthless or priceless."
She blinked.
"How can it be both?"
"Because its value depends on the person using it."
For the first time, some of her curiosity was genuine.
Axel noticed.
"How should I explain it..."
He tapped his temple.
"My ability depends heavily on the brain."
"The smarter the user, the more frightening it becomes."
He looked around the tavern.
"For example, destroying this entire place would be easy."
His voice lowered.
"Is that what you want?"
The woman went still.
Inside, the answer came immediately.
Yes.
But she smiled instead.
"You've misunderstood me."
"How could I want something so frightening?"
Yet the thought had already taken root.
Would destroying this place really save anyone?
Perhaps not.
This was the Lawless Zone.
If one organization fell, others would arrive to divide what remained.
Some of the women here might simply pass from one owner to another.
As terrible as this establishment was, the owner at least understood that healthy workers made more money.
For some of them, it might already be the least terrible life available here.
The woman knew that.
And she still wanted out.
Even if only one person among a hundred managed to escape, that was still a chance.
She refused to surrender completely to whatever fate had chosen for her.
But revealing that desire too easily would be foolish.
She did not even know what Axel truly was.
The owner had claimed he was a former four-hundred-million-Berry wanted criminal.
That could be true.
It could also be another trap.
Or perhaps Axel had some hidden relationship with the people running the tavern.
Until she knew more, she would reveal nothing.
She moved closer, maintaining the role expected of her.
Axel suddenly caught her by the chin and pushed her backward against the lounge chair.
"You seem impatient."
The woman's eyes changed.
The mask slipped.
Not into panic.
Into something darker.
"Do you know what people do when they're too weak to change anything?"
Her body trembled, but her gaze remained fixed on his.
A bitter smile crossed her face.
Behind the darkness in her eyes, Axel caught something else.
Resistance.
The stubborn desire to fight against the fate forced upon her.
His expression changed slightly.
This woman might be useful.
"You bastard!"
A furious voice exploded from the side.
Sanji's kick came flying.
There was almost no restraint behind it.
Observation Haki warned Axel an instant before the strike arrived.
He released the woman and raised one arm.
Sanji's heel crashed into it.
Boom!
The impact sent a violent gust ripping through the room.
Nearby partitions tore loose from their fittings, and several neighboring customers were thrown backward.
The woman remained untouched.
Axel had redirected the force away from her.
Simply relying on Reflection would have sent the impact back through Sanji's leg and likely broken bone.
Instead, Axel diverted the force behind him while making sure none of it reached the women nearby.
He lowered his arm and stared at Sanji.
"What the hell is wrong with you?"
…..
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