The Terror of the Pirates

Taking advantage of the auction's chaos to fish in troubled waters was something Alex had decided on over half a month ago.

If his previous hunts hadn't gone smoothly, he would have given up on the idea.

But the hunts had gone well, and he had plenty of weapons. How could he possibly heed Sunny's warning?

After returning to his room, Alex changed into dark-colored clothes and then took out the disguise items he had prepared earlier.

An armband with the character for "death," and a face-covering mask.

The inspiration for this preparation came from the undertaker, Arthur.

As a result, the mask Alex made himself bore some resemblance to Arthur's.

The only regret was that he couldn't replicate Arthur's bright and distinctive work uniform. Otherwise, he might have been able to pin the blame on Arthur.

Alex quickly tied on the death armband, put on the mask that only revealed his mouth and eyes, and then looked in the mirror.

"Hmm, not bad."

Alex nodded in satisfaction.

Disguising himself as an undertaker with a mask was the best way to conceal his identity for now.

After finishing his disguise, Alex checked his weapons and ammunition.

Two flintlock pistols, a dagger, and most importantly, [Usopp].

"Thirty lead bullets should be enough."

Alex carefully inspected his ammunition pouch.

Once everything was ready, Alex couldn't wait to head out.

With practiced ease, he climbed onto the rooftop and made his way toward the nearest tallest building.

Soon, Alex arrived on the rooftop of a five-story building.

His gaze swept over the brightly lit streets, finding it hard to believe that such a bustling night scene could exist in a lawless zone filled with pirates.

"The auction starts at nine. There are still two hours left."

Alex sat down unhurriedly.

From the beginning, he had never planned to enter the auction house.

It wasn't because he was afraid of running into Thor, but because he felt the potential risks inside the auction house were higher than outside.

So, as long as he could catch a few fish on the periphery, he would be satisfied.

Before the auction started, Alex didn't plan to take any action.

With time to spare, he took out the notebook Sunny had given him and began flipping through it under the moonlight.

The contents of the notebook weren't as extensive as he had imagined. The main targets were mostly pirates who were long-term residents of Mad Hatter Town.

Alex read through it word by word.

Perhaps due to Sunny's habits, before recording the strength and intelligence of each target, she would use a few simple phrases to describe their appearance.

Although it wasn't as detailed as the information on their "neighbors," it was enough for Alex to quickly identify the targets based on their features.

Rustle—

Alex flipped through the pages from time to time.

He couldn't memorize everything in a short time, but leaving an impression was enough.

"Huh, Kid's in here too."

When he reached Kid's page, Alex was slightly surprised.

Upon closer inspection, the information was more speculative.

For example, based on Kid's obsession with buying guns, it was speculated that he was an excellent marksman.

After reading through it, Alex realized there was a lot of guesswork involved, as most of the information was based on speculation.

It was likely because Sunny had never heard of or seen Kid's strength, and since Kid was from outside the West Sea, there wasn't much information available.

"Kid probably hasn't eaten a Devil Fruit yet, and his overall strength is still in its growth phase."

Alex recalled his memories of Kid.

If there was a chance to take down Kid now, Alex might hesitate, but he definitely wouldn't miss the opportunity.

Because, no matter how much Kid's experience value might increase in a few years, in Alex's eyes, it wouldn't be as important as the experience value he could gain now.

Flipping to the next page, Alex continued reading.

After a few more pages, he suddenly saw his own name, with several lines of description below it.

However, all the words had been crossed out with two thick black lines.

At the bottom of the information, several large question marks stood out.

And these question marks were also mercilessly struck through with black lines.

"These black lines make it look like I'm already dead."

Looking at the straight black lines crossing out the text, Alex shook his head slightly and continued flipping through the notebook.

Soon, he reached the end of the notebook.

Then, Alex began a second pass to deepen his impression.

After spending about an hour reading, he finally had a rough idea and put the notebook away.

Surprisingly, the most memorable part wasn't the dangerous individuals Sunny had specifically marked, but the Spiked Bull Pirates, which Reed had been a part of.

Among all the previous targets, Reed was the only one connected to a larger group. The other targets were mostly scattered, drifting pirates.

"The Spiked Bull Pirates..."

Alex stood up, gazing at the distant lights, his thoughts stirring.

The reason he paid attention to the Spiked Bull Pirates wasn't just because of Reed.

The main reason was that the captain of the Spiked Bull Pirates was a Zoan-type Devil Fruit user.

From the confirmed information Sunny had recorded, Alex only knew it was one of the Ox-Ox Fruit types.

One of the characteristics of Zoan-type Devil Fruit users was a significant enhancement in physical abilities, which was exactly the kind of target that could bring Alex the greatest gains.

From this, Alex could roughly infer the strengths of the Spiked Bull Pirates' captain, Kazit.

Most likely, he had immense strength, high defense, and formidable close-combat abilities.

To consider such a target as prey, breaking through his defenses would be a key point to focus on.

"Too bad there's no wanted poster for Kazit."

Alex muttered to himself, thinking that he needed to find time to collect wanted posters of various pirates.

Otherwise, as it was now, even though he wanted to record Kazit's name in the Hunter's Notebook in advance, he couldn't do it without a [face image].

In this regard, the wanted posters issued by the Marines made things much easier for Alex.

Not only did they have photos, but they also provided full names.

Although there was a small chance the names might be wrong, the probability was extremely low.

"It's about time."

Seeing that there was only an hour left before the auction started, Alex no longer waited and headed straight for Lookout Street.

Bar Street, inside an alleyway bar.

The Spiked Bull Pirates, led by Kazit, arrived at the entrance of a bar called [Nightfall].

The alley wasn't wide, and the gathering of nearly a hundred men instantly clogged the passage.

Kazit glanced at the bar's sign and then led thirty of his men inside.

The rest surrounded the bar, blocking all exits.

Inside the bar, the bartender Tatamu and Wolf Rat, who was technically a guest, both watched Kazit and his men with expressionless faces.

From the distinctive spiked helmet and the thick beard, Wolf Rat immediately recognized Kazit—the captain of the Spiked Bull Pirates.

As for why Kazit had brought his men here, Wolf Rat could guess with his eyes closed, and he had long been mentally prepared.

Slowly swirling his glass, Wolf Rat glanced at the stoic Tatamu.

"Sorry about this."

A half-hearted apology.

Tatamu remained silent.

Kazit coldly stared at Wolf Rat and said in a deep voice, "Wolf Rat, right? I'm not one for beating around the bush."

"Oh, I can tell."

Wolf Rat glanced at Kazit's spiked helmet.

But he wasn't the least bit nervous.