Chapter 72: The Difference Between Two and Stupid
On the Shampoo Islands, in the 70th Red Tree District, inside a somewhat shabby inn.
Loud, boisterous arguments came from within the inn. A group of pirates surrounded a bald middle-aged man. The bald man was speaking with great animation, spittle flying everywhere, and the pirates around him occasionally burst into loud laughter.
In a place like the Shampoo Islands, pirates were the most common guests. The bald middle-aged man was the owner of this inn. He was very skilled at dealing with these rough-mannered but generous pirates.
Before long, the pirates around the bald middle-aged man dispersed. The warm smile on his face vanished. He let out a light snort, then turned and walked back behind the bar counter.
Compared to these sweat-soaked pirates, the innkeeper was more concerned about the guest who had arrived earlier. It was normal for a man to bring a woman to the inn, but the bloodstains on that man's body made the innkeeper uneasy.
Inside a room on the third floor of the inn, Su Xiao sat leaning against the headboard. His upper body was bare, almost entirely wrapped in bandages.
"You still haven't told me how you dodged the siege of those contractors."
Xiao Mantou held a checkers piece in her hand, looking at Su Xiao with wide-eyed amazement. Just an hour ago, she had thought Su Xiao was as good as dead.
"..."
Su Xiao let out a long breath. He didn't want to deal with Xiao Mantou for now. This scatterbrained chatterbox—if you replied to her once, she'd have ten sentences waiting for you.
"Woof."
Bubu Wang barked, meaning: "What are you thinking? Hurry up and make your move. One game costs 200 Paradise Coins, and you're about to lose."
Although Xiao Mantou didn't understand Bubu Wang's meaning, she knew she was about to lose this game of checkers, being utterly crushed by a 'husky.'
Under Xiao Mantou's despairing gaze, Bubu Wang picked up a piece.
"Such a disgrace..."
Xiao Mantou's hand twisted through her hair, her expression crumbling. She had lost to a dog, and lost eight games in a row. That meant she had been swindled out of 1,600 Paradise Coins.
Su Xiao, sitting on the bed, tried moving his arm. The soreness all over his body had disappeared. Within a day at most, he would be able to regain his combat strength.
The previous battle against Mask + Lanzuo + numerous lone wolves had left Su Xiao heavily injured. After the Demon Hunting Hour ended, he had nearly collapsed from exhaustion.
Su Xiao now needed to recover as quickly as possible. Fortunately, there was still plenty of time remaining for the promotion/main mission.
The contractors he had killed earlier earned Su Xiao a large amount of Pirate Prestige. In fact, compared to killing enemies in Dressrosa, fighting contractors yielded Pirate Prestige much faster.
Su Xiao opened the Pirate Prestige ranking. After seeing the current standings, he felt relieved.
[First Place: Bai Ye (Third Rank), Pirate Prestige 20,258 points.]
[Second Place: Qian Meng (Fifth Rank), Pirate Prestige 18,950 points.]
[Third Place: Ku Tu (Fifth Rank), Pirate Prestige 18,875 points.]
...
Su Xiao had surged back to the top spot. Qian Meng and Ku Tu were hot on his heels. The three of them gained Pirate Prestige at different rates.
Su Xiao's method was erratic; he would often suddenly gain a large chunk. Qian Meng's pace varied between fast and slow. Earlier, after she had let loose, she gained over 6,000 Pirate Prestige in just two hours.
Ku Tu was more steady; his Pirate Prestige rarely showed sudden jumps.
As for the fourth-place player, Yanzoushou, he could no longer compete with Su Xiao's trio. The difference in prestige was over 10,000 points.
Although Qian Meng and Ku Tu were closing in, Su Xiao had a trump card. The Roger's Pistol in his hand was worth 10,000 Pirate Prestige. This was Su Xiao's 'fatal blow' against Qian Meng and Ku Tu.
Of course, right now, Roger's Pistol wasn't worth 10,000 Pirate Prestige. He still needed to complete the third ring of the hidden mission: Fencing the Goods, to make this gun valuable.
The Appraiser, Todd Anderson, was the plot character needed to complete the third ring of the hidden mission. He originally lived in District 21. After the great free-for-all broke out in District 21, this appraiser had gone into hiding somewhere.
The Shampoo Islands weren't small, with a total of 79 districts. Searching house by house for this appraiser was clearly impractical.
What was the most important thing when trying to find someone you had never met? The answer, of course, was an intelligence network.
Su Xiao needed to find someone in the Shampoo Islands who had far-reaching connections and a well-established underground intelligence organization. In the entire world of One Piece, only one person could do this.
Bolu, bolu, bolu...
Su Xiao held a Den Den Mushi in his hand, and a strange sound came from its mouth.
This Den Den Mushi rang for a full half minute, but no one answered.
Kacha.
"What is it?"
Doflamingo's voice came from the Den Den Mushi.
"How is Amu doing over there?"
Su Xiao didn't immediately bring up the matter of finding someone.
"Hmm?"
Doflamingo, who was in the underground port of Dressrosa, was clearly taken aback. His eyes narrowed behind his sunglasses.
"Barring any accidents, he should have arrived at Fish-Man Island."
"Is that so? Perfect timing. I happen to be in the waters near the Shampoo Islands."
Hearing Su Xiao's words, Doflamingo became even more puzzled. He felt that Su Xiao contacting him wasn't just to ask about Amu's progress.
"You're contacting me, not just to ask about this matter, are you?"
Doflamingo seemed to have heard something about the situation on the Shampoo Islands.
"That's right. Help me find someone."
"Find someone?"
"An appraiser."
"Is he a Marine? Or connected to the four Emperors in the New World?"
"No connection at all."
"Ten minutes. I'll have Disco contact you."
"Alright."
Su Xiao hung up the Den Den Mushi. Although they had only exchanged a few words, Su Xiao noticed one thing: Doflamingo seemed to no longer care about the situation on the Shampoo Islands.
Thinking about it, it made sense. Doflamingo, who now controlled the technology for artificial Devil Fruits, had no interest in the slave trading business anymore. The profits were incomparable.
Moreover, selling slaves attracted a lot of hatred. Because of the slave auction house on the Shampoo Islands, the Don Quixote Family had been retaliated against countless times.
For this reason, Doflamingo agreed to the matter so easily. Otherwise, given Doflamingo's personality, he would have definitely demanded a great deal of benefits from Su Xiao.
Half an hour later, a man wearing a yellow top hat, with an unsteady gait, walked down the street. Behind him followed several guards clad in full-body armor.
The unsteady man was Disco. He was barely considered a subordinate of Doflamingo, helping him manage the slave auction house.
Disco combined the 'virtues' of cowardice, cunning, and a love for bullying the weak. But he wasn't without real merits; he had a decent head for business.
Managing the slave auction house for Doflamingo, to some extent, made Disco Doflamingo's representative on the Shampoo Islands. It was easy to imagine that, starting years ago, this over-40-year-old Disco had let it go to his head.
Disco paraded through the streets with his guards. He was notorious on the Shampoo Islands. Apart from the Celestial Dragons and the Marines, he looked down on everyone else. Disco held most pirates in contempt, even though his boss was originally a pirate himself.