Inside the Spider Café, Sara, code-named Miss Doublefinger, as always went by the alias Paula, running the small shop under the guise of its proprietress.
Because the café was located far from the city and not on any main route, usually the only visitors besides other Baroque Works members were the occasional lost travelers.
There was also another kind of guest—information brokers who sometimes came to sell or buy intelligence.
This was something Huamei Meow had discovered through her own information network. Before that, Sherwin knew nothing about it…
After all, the manga never mentioned such a thing, so that foolish Hunter naturally had no way of knowing.
But today, the Spider Café was unusually lively, filled with quite a few customers—all of them Baroque Works members.
"Yahaha! Today coffee tastes pretty good. Paula, your skills have improved again."
Miss Valentine elegantly sipped her coffee, smiling as she praised.
Her partner, Mr. 5, however, slammed his cup onto the table with dissatisfaction: "Didn't I tell you to add gunpowder?!"
"Sorry, this is a café, not an arms shop." Paula leisurely wiped the cup in her hand, replying without even lifting her head: "If you want gunpowder tea, why don't you just add some of your own boogers?"
"What did you say?!" The hot-tempered Mr. 5 shot to his feet.
"Shut up already! Both of you!" barked an even more hot-tempered, short and stout Miss Merry Christmas.
"Don't disturb my rest! I finally have some free time and I want to loosen up my waist!"
At this moment, she was sprawled across a table in the café, letting her partner Mr. 4 give her a massage.
Then Mr. 5 immediately left Paula alone and turned to quarrel with Miss Merry Christmas instead.
"Aren't you going to stop them?"
Paula glanced toward a figure in the corner. Her partner, Mr. 1, was sitting there quietly sipping his favorite mate tea.
"Let them be," Mr. 1 said flatly. "Lately, there hasn't been much work, so everyone got excess energy. It fine for them to vent a little."
"But it my shop that going to suffer."
Though she complained, Paula propped her chin in one hand and leaned lazily on the bar counter, clearly looking like she was enjoying the show.
Miss Valentine also had a nature that loved stirring trouble rather than stopping it. Not only did she not intervene, she laughed loudly and fanned the flames from the side.
Only Mr. 4 tried to restrain his partner, but with his slow, dragging speech, to the quick-tempered Miss Merry Christmas it only felt like pouring oil on the fire.
As the quarrel between the two grew more intense and they were about to fight, the café door suddenly burst open with a bang, and a small figure rushed in with a cheerful shout.
"Waaah—! A café, meow!" The little plush ignored the standoff between Mr. 5 and Miss Merry Christmas, zipped right between them, then leapt up onto the bar counter.
Poking her furry little head out, she called to Paula: "Do you have ice cream here, meow? Klee wants vanilla flavor!"
Right behind her, Sherwin entered with a group of Felynes.
"Ah-ha! Didn't expect to find a café in such a remote place. This is a huge help!" Sherwin said in a deliberately casual tone.
"Boss lady, give me a cup of iced black tea. Also, may I ask which direction we should head to reach Rainbase? It far too easy to get lost in the desert—before you know it, you've strayed off course."
The other Felynes also chimed in one after another to place their orders.
"I'd like a glass of rum, on the rocks, thanks meow."
"You guys, what your best drink here, meow? Give me one!"
"A cup of mocha coffee, hot, meow."
"I'll have the same as the Admiral—black tea, but without ice, meow."
(=ΦωΦ=)
Link Meow simply raised his paw for a glass of juice.
After a brief moment of surprise, Paula quickly put on her professional smile and said, "Alright, please wait a moment." She then turned around and began preparing behind the bar.
"You're the Hunter?" While the other members of Baroque Works exchanged looks, Mr.1 suddenly stood up and walked to Sherwin. "I've heard you're strong. I want to challenge you."
"But I've got no interest in accepting your challenge." Sherwin shot him a sideways glance and smirked.
"Who the hell are you? Just because you say you want to challenge me, I've gotta accept?"
"Daz Bones. Used to be a famous assassin in West Blue. Bounty—66 million Berries…" Huamei Meow suddenly spoke up. "Admiral, this guy actually seems kinda valuable, meow."
"Huh?" Sherwin finally turned his head and gave him a closer look. He did remember seeing him on a wanted poster, but…
"Changed your hairstyle?"
In the bounty poster photo, this guy had his hair slicked back in the popular West Blue style, but now it was shaved into a monk-like cut, just like in manga.
Normally, with the Baroque Works way of doing things, their members rarely gained fame.
Even by the time three years later when the main story began, their bounties were still low. Right now, it was nearly impossible to even find their wanted posters.
But Mr. 1—better known as Daz Bones—was different. Before being recruited into Baroque Works, he had already made a name for himself in the West Blue. His bounty had long since been issued by the Marines.
So this guy...
Could be killed!
That was clearly the meaning behind what Huamei Meow had just said.
At first, Sherwin and the others hadn't planned to make a move against Baroque Works. Their concern was that attacking without cause might draw Crocodile attention.
But now that they had come across someone with a bounty—and not a small one—then striking him down would be perfectly reasonable.
Even more so since the other side had provoked them first.
Sensing the shift in Sherwin attitude, Daz Bones attacked without hesitation.
"Slice Mastery!"
His palm turned into a blade and slashed toward Sherwin head.
But before his hand even reached halfway, his entire body was suddenly sent flying backward. At the same time, blood burst from his chest.
Miss Valentine and the others, who had been hesitating about whether to help, froze in place. They hadn't even seen when Sherwin drew his Longsword, nor when he pulled the Longsword from his back.
By the time they came back to their senses, all they saw was Sherwin slowly, unhurriedly sliding that oddly-shaped fish longsword back into its sheath.
Only now, no one dared to think of that sword as ridiculous.
"Hm? This guy your companion?"
After sheathing his blade, Sherwin tilted his head toward Miss Valentine and the others, pointing at the half-dead Daz Bones on the ground, asking in a tone that was obviously rhetorical.
"N-no, no, no! We don't know him at all!"
Everyone shook their heads frantically in denial—even the usually slow Mr. 4 was no exception.
Sherwin "believed" them with matching playfulness, then turned his head toward the stunned Paula and continued his act with an apologetic tone:"Sorry, Boss Lady, for dirtying your shop. I'll compensate you."
"No, no need…" As Mr. 1 partner, Paula understood his strength better than anyone.
She didn't dare show even the slightest disrespect toward Sherwin, hurriedly waving her hands. "You helped me get rid of a wanted criminal. I should be thanking you instead."
Then, Paula quickly brought out the drinks Sherwin and his group had ordered, before rushing to clean up the blood Daz Bones had spilled.
As for Miss Valentine and the others, fearful that Sherwin might connect them with Daz Bones, they didn't dare to bolt right away.
Instead, they huddled nervously in the corner, praying Sherwin would leave soon.
And the man lying on the ground, Daz Bones…
Who was that? Never seen him before!