Another day—another job, with the sun hanging high in the sky, burning our sweat-soaked bodies under its heat, Jamie suddenly called my name.
"Vincent!" I looked up and stared at him, a cigarette dangling between his lips, as he walked lazily toward me.
"Here, take this." He handed me a piece of paper, and when I opened it, there were some coordinates written in black ink inside.
I looked at Jamie's face again and simply nodded at him, "Alright, let's go."
We walked past several guards until we left the construction site, and they let us go without even glancing at us, probably because I had been going out with Jamie so often over the past two years that when Jamie picked me up, it was no longer strange, which was an advantage for me because as long as Jamie was there, I was free to go to many places on this wall.
Then we walk for a few more minutes until we arrived at some cages with exotic animals inside, things like unicorns and whatnot.
I approached one of the crates marked EX, lifted it, and dug a little into the ground before a package appeared in front of me. I picked up the package, which was quite large this time, probably around five hundred grams.
You might think, "Five hundred grams isn't much." If that's what you think, you're right, it's not much at all. That amount of drugs wouldn't even be enough to meet someone's needs for more than two weeks here, because the people who buy them are super rich. So they can buy as many drugs as they want, and in turn Oliver can sell them for as much as he wants.
However, this particular drug is special because, as far as I know, it's the latest release with a stronger effect—so strong that it can even kill an elephant. And of course, not everyone can use it, and with its price, not everyone can buy it either—even the super-rich ones. As far as I know, this product is specifically for VIPs, or more precisely, a certain CP0 agent.
By the way, I wasn't the one who stored the drugs there, but someone else. I don't know who, but I think Captain Oliver had several people involved in running his little business, and the paper Jamie gave me earlier contained clues as to where I could find the goods.
And about Jamie, since he didn't want any connection to this business, he never asked what I was digging up or where I was sending it. Like now, Jamie wasn't by my side; no, he just dropped me off near the coordinates, never getting too close.
And after picking up the package, we immediately continued our journey to meet our VIP. It had been several months since I last saw him, and I met him almost every week since then. The reason I needed to meet him in person was because he was very cautious about this matter, which made sense since he worked directly under the world government. Substances like this could jeopardize his job, so they prohibited it.
If the world government found out he was an addict, he would be finished.
And my destination this time was different from before. It wasn't the forest surrounding Pangaea Castle, but an alleyway at an unfinished construction site. He always chose his location at random, probably to make it harder for his coworkers or boss to track him down.
"Jamie, can I ask you something?" I started the conversation as we walked toward our second destination.
"What?" he said, sounding uninterested.
"You work for someone, right?" I had a theory in my head about who Jamie was and why he was here, but I needed to ask to be sure.
He stared at me for a few seconds as we walked, his gaze holding nothing but curiosity. After a long silence, he said, "Of course I work for someone. Who do you think pays my bills?"
He avoided my question, didn't he? Not surprising.
"So, is your name really Jamie, just Jamie?" He couldn't lie to this question because of my stat eyes, but of course he can dodge it.
"Hmm…" He stared at the sky as if thinking about something.
"I think you're mistaking me for someone else." This time he smiled at me, but it wasn't a friendly smile, it was a creepy smile, a smile that told me not to dig any deeper.
But who are you to dare tell me not to dig any deeper?
"Indeed, I'm suspicious." I just nodded as if his smile meant nothing to me.
He seemed surprised by my answer, perhaps he never expected me to investigate this matter after he gave me that subtle warning.
"You're a brave kid. I admit that, but why do you want to know?" he said, returning to his indifferent attitude.
"Because I have my own agenda and I need help, maybe an alliance?" Honestly, I don't think I can give Jamie much if my guess about who he works for is correct, but there's no hurt in trying.
"What agenda? Just say you want to escape, and unfortunately I can't help, even if I am an agent of an organization." This time he didn't deny that he was an agent of an organization, and that information alone was enough to convince me.
"It's okay, I'll escape with my own hands, and maybe with the help of others," I said with the conviction that one day I would escape from this hell.
"But I have to live to see that day become a reality." I looked at him again, my eyes still burning with conviction.
"Right," he said briefly, then paused for a moment, as if waiting for me to offer something first.
"I can be your informant. I'm close to one of the Celestial Dragons, and one of the CP0 agents," I said, putting my offer on the table and waiting for his response.
His eyes widened for a moment before returning to normal.
"Do you know the organization I work for?" he asked, now fully open to telling me that he worked for an organization.
"The Revolutionary Army, right?" It was just a guess, but a educated one.
Nothing is perfect, and everyone leaves traces, even if they are cleverly hidden, but I could find some clues here and there to conclude that he worked for the Revolutionary Army.
And with my knowledge of the revolutionary army thanks to the One Piece manga I read back then, I'm 90% sure my guess is correct.
"Huh!? How?" For the first time, he stopped walking, narrowing his eyes at me, as if trying to read my mind.
"You don't need to know, so what if that's the case? I'm pretty good at finding information, you know." I smiled at him, with a smile that said, 'I know all your secrets, so you'd better cooperate with me or else.
"I could kill you right now and get out of this place." He said threateningly, exuding a bloodlust to scare this little me.
"You can, but would you?" I challenged him, as if I wasn't afraid of death, and we stared at each other.
.
..
…
"Pff! Hahahah. Just as I thought, you really are a brave kid." He laughed so hard that his eyes teared up, and after a moment he wiped his eyes while holding his stomach, as if I had just told a joke.
"Of course, then I'll help you, but you have to help me too, okay?" I smiled at those words. Finally, I had gained another ally, though it was still too early and nothing had been proven yet, but it was a good start.
"It's nice to work with you." I extended my hand, and he gripped it firmly and shook it, officially marking our collaboration.
--
After walking quite a distance, we finally arrived at the alley we were looking for. As usual, Jamie was waiting a little way from the alley, smoking somewhere.
When I entered the alley, I saw him standing at the end of it—a man I had gotten to know quite well over the past few months.
"Have you been waiting long?" Now I was no longer afraid of the man in front of me, even though I should have been.
The reason was simple: he was a true addict.
I didn't know what Oliver did to the other workers, but yes, I was his only delivery person, so he was stuck with me.
Therefore, I could play with this fire, but of course, I had to be careful not to get burned. However, the reward was much higher than the consequences. I was the only one who could deliver his drugs, so he wouldn't kill me, at least not yet.
"Give me the stuff." He said that as soon as I stepped into the alley.
Wow, he really was impatient, wasn't he?
"Nuh-uh. What did I say last week?" I waved my index finger in front of his face.
"Here, take this." He threw a bag at my feet. "Now give me the elixir."
"Hehe. Here." I threw the elixir at him, and without saying anything, he instantly vanished, seemingly to enjoy his elixir right away.
Then I turned around, after picked up the bag that person had thrown, and left the alley. There was no point in staying here any longer.
As I exited the alley, I bumped into someone because I was too excited about the bag I was carrying.
"Uh, sorry." Standing in front of me was a large, red fish-man without a shirt, holding several boxes in his hands with a dragon claw mark on his chest.
"No problem." Then, without saying anything else, he continued on his way, who knows where.
When I saw his back, for some reason, I felt something familiar about him, even though I swear I've never seen him before.
And that's normal to never see a particular slave before because there are so many construction sites all over the holy land, and even though I fight in the colosseum once a week, the colosseum seems to be open every day, and maybe our schedules just never overlap.
But that raises another question: if I don't remember ever seeing him, why does his face feel familiar? Is he a character from the One-Piece manga?
Damn, it's been so long since I last read it, and now I've forgotten so many things.
"Hah," I sighed deeply. Meeting that fishman made me realize that I had to quickly write down everything I could still remember about One Piece, and what I was holding now was the key.
Yes, what CP0 gave me was a notebook and a pen, and with these I could write down the events I still remembered. It might not be much, but this information was still valuable.
The reason I didn't ask Oliver for the notes was because of security. I don't trust Oliver, and if he knew I was writing something, he might ask me to show him what I had written. That CP0 agent, on the other hand? He wouldn't dare mess with me, or even care about me at all.
I immediately looked for Jamie and found him sitting on one of the crates as usual, smoking casually.
"Are you done?" he asked casually.
"Yes, let's go." we walked straight to my next destination, the guard's canteen, to get my meal.
"By the way, now that we're working together, what's your real name?" I asked Jamie, because to me it wasn't just a name, but also information, and that information was valuable.
"Why are you so curious about my name? Besides, how do you know my name isn't Jamie?" he asked me again.
"I have my own ways, but I'm sure your name isn't Jamie."
"All right, all right, my name is Liam Torsten. Satisfied?" And with that, a new set of information appeared before my eyes.
[Liam Torsten – Age: 27 | Male]
Strength: B+
Speed: SS
Stamina: A
Devil Fruit: A+
Armament Haki: A+
Observation Haki: A+
Conqueror's Haki: N/A
Intelligence: SS
Charisma: B+
Leadership: C
Combat Skill: S
Huh? The stats are pretty good, with three stats above S and most others above B+, with only the leadership stat hovering around C grade.
And even judging from his stats, it seems like he has eaten a Devil Fruit.
"Have you ever eaten a Devil Fruit?" Rather than guessing, it's better to ask him directly.
"Why are you asking me that? I'm not going to tell you." He turned his face away, which only made his situation worse.
How is it possible that this person still hasn't been caught?
"So what kind of Devil Fruit did you eat? Logia, Paramecia, or Zoan?" This time he didn't answer and just walked past me.
"Hey, wait! Answer me!" I jogged to catch up with him.
And before we knew it, we had arrived in front of the guard's canteen. Jamie or to be precise Liam went straight in without saying a word.
A few moments later, he came out carrying a large bag filled with food, as usual.
"You know, even though we're working together, I still don't trust you. It's true that we've known each other for a long time, but that's only as 'coworkers', so don't ask me personal questions." He handed me the bag while grumbling about me asking him so many questions during the trip here.
"Okay, sir." I could only nod in agreement, because what he said was true; we weren't that close.
With that, we walked again, this time to my prison cell. During the journey, the atmosphere became a little awkward, and even after I was inside the cell, we didn't speak again.
Only when he was about to leave did he wave his hand as he walked away.
When his figure was no longer in sight, I took a small bag out of my inside pocket, which was next to my folding knife.
Rubbing my hands together, I said to myself, "All right, it's time to write."