Chương 23: An Unwanted Journey

The job seemed simple. It seemed way too simple, and probably was leading to either a trap or would have no payment. Had Dante been thinking about anything other than money, he would have quite easily realised that Doflamingo has more than enough reasons to hold a grudge and would sleep soundly with Dante dead.

'Man, I can't wait! I'm finally gonna get a boat, I'm gonna get an office, I'm gonna get actual heating and electricity!' Instead though, Dante was fantasising about the future, of creating an international Devil May Cry 'delivery' branch that would allow for global service and maximise customers. Of enjoying the luxuries that come with financial stability - and perhaps even enjoy the opulence of hot water.

Though, he had more than enough reason to want such things. His Mr Miyagi training with Rayleigh meant he had to skip out on the luxuries afforded by such lavish lifestyle, and resort to breaking and entering unoccupied hotel rooms around Sabaody to ensure he had a place to sleep. Food was easy, thankfully. Though he would happily say that he was growing tired of snacking on snake meat.

It was at this exact moment however that Dante ran into a minor roadblock. Doflamingo had told him absolutely nothing about the actual job. All he knew was that the Beast Pirates were shacking up to buy something at an auction house, and that he would be paid to cause a disruption.

He had no idea what Grove it was on. No clue which auction house, either. What was the limit of disruption? Full scale demolition, or minor hissy fit? Thankfully, he had the solution. The elderly.

"Hey, Rayleigh, what would you say is the most high class auction house on Sabaody?"

"Huh? What, you collecting trinkets now? Hmm... I'd say probably the Setting Sun Auction House, over in Grove 54. Right next to a dock, so easy exit if Marines show up, plus it's ran by Joker and his boys, so it has the highest quality merchandise around."

"Pause. Joker? You're telling me there's a black market merchant who calls himself Joker? What kind of goofy name is that?"

Laughing for a moment at Dante's incredulous expression, Rayleigh once more brandished his flask and took a few deep gulps.

"I didn't make the name, don't ask me. I'm just a humble old man, I got no toes in the underworld. Speaking of, you sure this is a good idea? You could make a lot of enemies doing this, let alone the possible Marine intervention. Much as I hate to admit it, I'd feel a tiny bit of remorse seeing you croak."

Looking at Rayleigh as if he were some form of extraterrestrial, or perhaps as though he were walking upside down, Dante couldn't help but scoff.

"Did you forget that I literally just broke into Marineford itself and ate lunch? Or are we just forgetting that? And besides, making enemies isn't an issue. I've already got one to deal with and he's a lot worse than any clown with a fancy fruit and a grudge."

Dante laid down the logic quite simply, and Rayleigh didn't have the strength to admit that he agreed with it, as it would simply make him look stupid, and pride is the one thing an ex-pirate in hiding from a tyrannical government cannot lose.

"Fine, fine. You win. Just... don't die, yeah? Kaido isn't someone you tangle yourself with on a whim. Plus, I ain't in the mood for getting a new student. You're already enough of a pain in the ass."

Patting Rayleigh on the shoulder as he got up and dusted his coat, Dante gave the only answer he knew.

"On the miniscule chance any of these ass monkeys manage to bring me down, they'll have a lot more coming for them than my ghost. Cause I doubt my brother would enjoy a participation medal."

And with that, Dante summoned the Cavaliere and vegan his journey towards the Setting Sun, eager to cause total mayhem and get paid handsomely for it. He hopes.

'Man, I probably should've gotten more details about the job. Oh well, what could go wrong?'

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Aside from Dante's immense jinxing of fate, the journey to the auction house was rather peaceful. He even got his hands on the newspaper, though that brought with it a great amount of laughter, enough that he had to park the Cavaliere and heave for a moment after he saw Vergil's bounty.

Anyways, upon reaching the Grove on which the auction house was located, Dante came to the startling realisation that he hadn't really got any idea what it looked like. Given the black market nature of the house, he doubted they would place a sign on the front door, 'Illegal Goods Sold Here!', because that would just make things too easy.

So, he hatched a plan. A plan that would involve an old friend. After all, he had more than enough time. Auctions usually go on for hours, and Cavaliere had made his journey minutes long. Oh, he could see it now. The reunion would be wonderful.

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Ducking underneath a table he had flipped over, barely avoiding the gunfire at his previous position, Dante unholstered his trusty sidearms and began to make demands.

"Jilky! I just wanna talk! We don't need the guns, we can be civil, like civilised men!"

"Fuck you Dante! I don't want nothing to do with you. God, do you have any idea how terrible business is when your bar is essentially just the Red Devils Lair to the rest of the world? Do you!? No, of course you don't, because you're a bastard thief who couldn't own a bar as long as he could hold a thumb up his ass without going bankrupt, you lousy sack of shit!"

Spliced between Jilky's speech, which sent a few jabs at Dante's feelings, was the occasional sound of gunfire, as both he and Dante were blind-firing around cover at each other. Jilky was fighting for his life, while Dante was enjoying his time as a negotiator.

What confused Dante though was how a pistol, one that was clearly a flintlock, was capable of firing so many rounds so quickly. He chalked it up to New World New Rules.

"...Okay, the thief thing may be true, but I didn't exactly have many other options! Besides, you're the jackass who decided to start a bar in the most shady part of town only criminals work in. Your entire customer base is the dregs of society, what made you think they wouldn't scurry when they see a big fish?"

"You wouldn't know the first thing about dregs of society, you're a goddamn Sinner! I wouldn't be caught dead working with you, get the fuck out of my bar already!"

Dante was beginning to lose his patience. All he wanted was to ask a simple question, though at this point he still hadn't tried to ask it. He didn't have much of a chance, considering he was shot at the second he walked into the building.

"Look, all I want is to ask a question, then I'll be out of your hair. Where can I find the Setting Sun?"

The gunshots intensified.

"I should've known you were a degenerate the second I laid eyes on you! First you slaughter a World Noble in the Criminal Capitol of the world, and now you wanna get into human trafficking too? You're sick."

'Alright, enough of the games.' Dante thought, officially having grown tired of this conversation. He wanted his cash, and he wanted it now, so he would do everything in his power to achieve it.

Spinning around the makeshift cover he had made, Dante stood at full height and unloaded two shots at Jilky, the first was aimed at his pistol to disarm him, and the second at his hand to make the message clear that he was no longer in the mood for this charade.

In this period, Jilky had managed to get a shot off on Dante, to his credit, but his inhuman reaction time allowed for Dante to dodge to the side before it had any chance of connecting, avoiding a bullet to the chest. It wasn't the bodily damage he worried about, but rather the possibility of spending money on repairing his outfit which spurred him into avoiding the shot.

"Agh! You slippery bastard!"

"Alright Jilky, that's enough of the foul language. All I want to know is where I can find the Setting Sun. Then, you'll never see me again."

Dante moved forward into Jilky's personal space, with the broker falling onto his knees in a mix of shock and pain, cradling his heavily damaged hand.

"And how the hell am I supposed to trust that? You're about as reliable as the Marines are when it comes to enforcing the law."

"..."

"It means you're not very fucking reliable!"

"Yeah, I got that. Just tell me where the damn auction house is so I can get on with my day."

"You gotta pay me first. I make a living off of this, you know?"

Sighing, Dante placed the barrel of Ivory against Jilky's forehead and leaned down to make eye contact the man.

"Do you take a .45 to the head as payment? Cause that's about all I'm willing to give you."

"Alright, I get it! I'm sorry, okay? Fuck, man. Setting Sun is down Marlemagne Street, number 23 Marlemagne. Knock 6 times and they'll let you in. That's all there is to it."

Slapping the man's head a couple times, Dante smiled and and stood up straight, making his way towards the exit.

"That wasn't so hard now, was it? Pleasure doing business, Jilky. I'll be back soon."

Jilky did not respond with a cohesive sentence rather than a string of curses that Dante didn't even know existed. In all honesty, he was impressed with the man's knowledge of derogatory terminology.

'That certainly could have gone better.' Dante thought to himself awkwardly.

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Finally, after such a harrowing journey and the forging of unbreakable bonds, of finding the friends we made along the way, Dante had located the Setting Sun. He reminded himself to punch Doflamingo square in those trashy glasses he always wears after this.

Six swift knocks to the door, and now Dante waited. A few moments passed, until an arm reached out from the door, barely opened fully, and dragged Dante inside.

He expected a large man of the bouncer type to be responsible, but was instead met by the giddy face of a young woman, holding a pen and paper to him. Her hair was seemingly done in a mix of ponytail and pigtail, incredibly greasy as well, and an odd shade of yellow. Not blonde, no, but yellow. She looked much more like a manchild than a career criminal, but Dante wasn't one to judge.

"Ah! I cannot believe it, it's really you! The Red Devil, in my auction house!? This is a dream come true! Can I get your autograph sir? Please?"

Confused beyond all notion of disbelief, Dante hesitantly took the pen, signing off on the paper as he listened to the woman ramble.

"Oh, I forgot introductions are in order. You can call me Rockhi, and I am a great fan of your work! The way you shot that World Noble, straight between the eyes? Mm, brings a tear to my eye. Anyhow, what're you doing here?"

"Well, Rockhi, I'm looking to buy. Heard there's an auction coming up, and I wanted to get my hands on some goods. I got more than enough Berries for anything you have for sale."

"Oh, that is simply wonderful! We have a lot of high grade customers tonight, so I hope you'll be willing to part ways with that cash. If you'll follow me, I can get you seated right away. Auction begins in a few hours, so just enjoy yourself while you wait."

Nodding at the woman, Dante followed behind her and zoned out until he finally sat down at a seat located towards the back of the room, sighing in relief that he had finally made it to the auction house after too much faffing around. All tension drained from his body right then and there.

Now, all he had to do was wait for the auction to start. Then, hell would break loose.