บท 14: To Kill Royalty
"YOU WHAT!?" Karma's scream pierced through the Transponder Snail, causing Krys to recoil from the sudden, sharp sound.
"I said that I told them about Sabo-"
Karma interrupts. "I know what you said, I'm asking if you understand what you just did!"
"We have two options: we can either keep walking for kilometres on end or find a secure base that even the local militias and guards wouldn't dare to approach. Moreover, it's preferable to inform them about what actually happened to Sabo, even if it may break the fourth wall, as unlikely as that may be."
She could hear Karma's sigh through the communication device. "...I'll discuss the implications of your choice with Larc. Just be sure to come up with a plausible explanation for how you obtained this information - be vague, but give them enough reason to believe you."
"We should meet here. Bring only yourself, Xed, and Larc. There's a lot to discuss in person now that I have a better understanding of the city's political landscape. The only thing left to figure out is how to get inside."
"Kachack!" The Transponder snail announced after Krys ended the call.
Krys prepared to fabricate a story. She had learned about the Revolutionaries from Larc, who had explained it through his beloved anime/manga series, One Piece. According to Larc, Sabo was not biologically related to Luffy and Ace, but he was considered their brother. Ace had been a division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, while Sabo was ranked number two among the Revolutionaries, a group hunted by the World Government.
Smirking at the story she had fabricated in her head, Krys knew that the only thing left to do now was to ensure that the lie was believable enough to pass as the truth.
Krys stepped away from the Transponder Snail, her conversation with Karma having been kept private, as per her terms. "You were all waiting?" she asked, looking around the room at every bandit present, including the leader herself, Dadan.
"Tell us what you know... please," Dadan pleaded, surprising everyone. Though they all shared the same sentiment, no one had ever heard their boss speak in such a way.
Krys obliged. "We had a deal. I'll tell you what happened to Sabo and what I know. First... Sabo is not dead."
Different reactions followed - some took a deep inhale, some twitched their lips, and for Dadan, tears welled up in her eyes.
Krys continued, heartened by the group's emotional response. "Our crew is a kind of splinter group - we're anarchists, a similar enough concept to the Revolutionaries for us to have some overlap."
At the mention of the Revolutionaries, Dadan's gaze sharpened, silently urging Krys to continue.
"Sabo is the second-in-command, outranked only by the leader himself. I heard this from a few people we worked with - the Revolutionaries took him in after he 'died.' He's been with them for years now. Does that explain how I know about Sabo?"
Dadan let out a bitter laugh. "That brat actually did it, didn't he? That dumb kid sailed to his death... and actually lived."
Despite their tough exterior, the bandits showed their softer side, their relief and empathy evident upon hearing that one of their own had survived. Krys left them to their emotions, knowing that the news would take time to sink in.
The night was filled with tears, both mournful and relieved. As a silent gesture of respect, Krys went to sleep without troubling them in a sleeping bag provided for her.
~
Karma slowly stirred from his deep slumber, feeling like he was in heaven after weeks of sleeping on the unsteady deck of their ship. It was a harsh truth that One Piece never portrayed the reality of sailing, with days spent at sea being an arduous journey.
"Damn," Karma muttered as he savoured the feeling of a good night's sleep. He felt no aches, no heavy eyelids, and didn't even need to rub his eyes to wake up fully.
As he stood up and stretched, he saw that warm sunlight had already filled the room. There were three other beds in the room, but only two were occupied. The peaceful expressions on Larc and Xed's faces indicated that they were still in the midst of their rest.
Karma smiled, knowing how precious sleep was to them, especially after their student days when it was hard to come by. He decided to let them have their well-deserved rest and quietly left the room.
…
Nah.
"Good morning motherfuckers!" Karma yelled as he approached Larc's bed, whose calm slumber was interrupted by Karma's sudden intrusion. In a swift motion, Karma used his Devil Fruit abilities to fling Larc off the bed and make him land on the floor with a thud.
"Gack! Oi!" Larc exclaimed, rubbing the back of his head. "I was having the best dream ever since we came here."
Karma chuckled, satisfied with the stunt he had pulled on his friend. He then turned to Xed, who was still fast asleep. Deciding to take a different approach, he leaned over to Xed's bed and pinched the bridge of his nose, not letting him breathe until he woke up with a startled grunt.
"Hrk! Get off of me!" Xed grumbled, trying to swat Karma's hand away.
Karma couldn't help but laugh at his friend's reaction. "I'm not gonna let you two waste our time, Krys is waiting for us, so get some food and let's head to the mountains. Daylight is going to wane, so better to start early today."
Larc groaned and rubbed his eyes, but eventually got up from the floor, embittered at the situation. Xed slowly sat up, trying to shake off the grogginess from his sleep.
After a short time of getting ready, the trio made their way downstairs to the bar on the lower floor of the inn, which had a homey feel to it.
Xed grumbled, "Why'd you have to wake us up so early? I could've used a few more hours of sleep before we inevitably have to sleep on the Eviction again."
Karma replied, "It's for a good reason. We need to head to the bandit's home to set up a forward base before we try infiltrating the capital city. I don't know about you, but climbing a wall that could block giants isn't an easy thing to execute."
"That's a good point," Larc commented, nodding in agreement.
As they reached the bottom floor, they spotted Makino, the barmaid. Larc approached her and asked, "Hey Makino, do you have breakfast prepared already?"
Makino greeted them with a warm smile. "It's still being prepared but since you four are early, it might just be ready in 10 minutes, until then, we have water you can drink."
"That's fine by us, honestly 10 minutes is quicker than I expected."
The friends sat down at a nearby table, eagerly anticipating their meal. Karma then asked the others if they would ever want a Devil Fruit for themselves, discussing the power they could potentially gain. Larc and Xed agreed, but they also pointed out that it would be difficult to find a Devil Fruit. They could try to buy one, but they are expensive on the black market.
Finally, their breakfast arrived, and they wolfed it down. They then left the inn to start their long trek to Dadan's hideout, which they knew could take hours. They would need to be prepared for whatever awaited them there.
The three pirates were well-rested and fully prepared for their long trek to Dadan's hideout. As they left the dirt path and approached the base of the mountain, Larc warned them of the dangerous wildlife that lurked in the area.
As they walked, Karma suffered under his coat in the scorching sun, while Larc had no problem at all. Xed, on the other hand, complained of heatstroke and blamed it on his animalistic side of being a cat girl... or maybe it was just his imagination.
After several hours of walking, they finally reached the hideout and found Krys talking with Dadan and two other bandits.
One of them was a short and scowling man wearing a turban, similar to the other bandits from the Dadan Family. The other was taller, with a thick moustache and sideburns, and had strange protrusions on his head and chin that made him resemble a chicken, at least from Xed's perspective. His expression was one of a constant worry.
Karma turned to Larc and asked, "Who are they?"
"Dogra is the short one, and Magra is the tall one," Larc replied. "But I have no idea what they're talking about."
Karma admitted, "I don't either. We'll need Krys to fill us in on more details. I tried using the Transponder Snail last night, but I was exhausted and didn't wait to get a response."
"Then how did you know about Krys talking about Sabo?" asked Larc.
"She told me about the walls and the number of guards patrolling before mentioning Sabo," Karma replied. "That was the last thing she said before I fell asleep."
"Got it," Larc said. "So you asked me about whether telling Dadan was the right thing to do after that."
"I still can't shake the feeling that revealing too much is risky. You said it's fine since it's not important, but what if we accidentally let something significant slip?" Karma voiced his concern.
"Relax, Karma. We're not gonna blabber everything we know. Plus, we're smart enough to know what's safe to share and what's not," Larc reassured him with a shrug. "Let's not overthink it and focus on the task at hand."
As they entered the house, they received curious stares, but no one seemed hostile. Karma, Krys, Xed, and Larc were finally reunited after Krys had scouted the mountain and Gray Terminal, the region between the main capital and Mt. Colombo.
After greeting each other, they quickly moved to an isolated room to ensure privacy.
Karma led the conversation. "So... what did you tell them?"
Krys answered honestly and specifically. "I told them we were close to the Revolutionaries and that we've interacted with many members, eventually finding out about Sabo and how he was taken in."
"Close to the Revolutionaries?" Karma repeated, confused. "What did you say to make us... close?"
"We're now anarchists," Krys stated bluntly.
Larc chimed in, "Well, it's not entirely untrue. The Reaper's Bones kind of are fighting for true freedom, which means no government, i.e., anarchy. So Krys just stretched the truth a bit."
Xed tried to differentiate their pirate group, saying, "Hey now, we're 'reasonable' anarchists."
Everyone looked puzzled, and Xed explained, "One is a job, and the other is a mental sickness."
"So are we the ones with a job?" Larc asked.
"No," Xed replied. "We're with the mental sickness."
"Alright, enough about that," declared Karma. "Let's start discussing what we could do. We have a general idea, but now it's time for the specifics. I know we tackled this whole 'assassinating the heirs of a royal family' while we were out at sea on the Eviction, but since we're here, we should learn more."
Krys spoke first, "So, the wall is pretty high and there are plenty of guards patrolling it. There's a lot of attention on the walls because Edge Town is right next to it, so we need to be careful in our approach."
Karma nodded in agreement. "Yeah, we can't risk being seen. How about we wait until night and use my Devil Fruit ability to create platforms from the ground? Maybe something along the lines of commanding wood to create semi-stable steps."
Krys quickly responded, "That's still too risky. The guards will spot us eventually, and we'll be caught."
Larc jumped in, "I have an idea. I'll create a commotion to distract the guards, like a small protest by the people in Gray Terminal, so Karma can use his ability without being noticed."
Krys was hesitant. "But we can't put innocent people in danger."
"Then... I won't involve anyone else. I'll just heckle the guards enough to make a big commotion, and they won't even notice what Karma is doing."
Karma then asked, "Okay, but how will we get you inside once you finish distracting them?"
"I won't join you. Just bring a Transponder Snail. It'll help us communicate and coordinate our actions outside the walls. If something needs to be done on the outside, it'll be easier with me on the other side of the wall." Larc suggested.
Krys agreed. "That sounds like a good plan. But remember, our main goal is to gather information on the political nature of the nobles inside the city. So we have to find a place to stay in Edge Town, which is not that hard to come by. We can maybe steal a few articles of clothing and money to help us blend in and get deeper into the city."
The group nodded in agreement. Karma then followed up after determining the first phase. "We need to get from the outer edge towards the inner ones. Krys, what do you know about them?"
"From what I can gather, the nobles are at each other's throats, but not in public since that would 'tarnish' their image. They don't cooperate and much like everyone else, look down on each other. I need more to be specific, but it's clear that the nobles aren't a cohesive people and would probably tear each other down if it gives them more wealth and especially prestige."
"So exploiting that deep mistrust is going to help. What's left of their mutual understanding will crumble if we introduce a little problem and sow chaos and misunderstandings. If we can get nobles to fight or at least hate each other, an assassination of the heir would make everyone blame each other in the hopes that the current king would strip them of their titles and money."
"Is it okay to assume that would happen, though?"
"As I said before, plans change, and a single idea might not survive direct confrontation. After all this, we need to escape without being noticed and get on a leaving ship. If not, then we find another way."
"Hold on," Larc raised a question. "How exactly do we sow discontent?"
"We use our knowledge of the noble's relationships and attitudes to one another and to do false flag attacks. If we get relations going with a particular family, we abuse that. If more movement comes from nobles, we react accordingly."
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