As Tereza playfully walks up to Alex, he can feel her immense presence. With her now empowered state, he reckons that Tereza would even give himself a lot of trouble if he were to fight her.
How many stat points did she absorb? If I remember correctly, she can only drain Physical stats, namely STR, PHY, and AGI.
"Well... that worked out great... You only briefly sucked his blood. How many stat points did you actually get?" Alex asks, curiously.
"The full amount. It took way too long before he and the others noticed that something was wrong, so I was able to drain a lot. He also managed to withstand and even resist the effects. He was quite strong, I have to admit. So that means I've got the full five plus one per every two levels. Since my skill is stuck at lvl 5 until we finish this mission and I can finally upgrade it, I managed to steal 7 STR, PHY, and AGI," Tereza explains. "Not like I can use them for much longer. The additional stat points will be gone in three hours."
"No wonder you look so powerful. It's a huge boost," Alex says. "Anyway, let's quickly get the hell out of here."
Devil Fruits... no item-related innate skills are extremely powerful. I just realized this, but I am missing out. If I were to fight against someone, even if he were weaker than I, he would probably come ahead if he had an additional item-class innate skill. I don't need to rush, but I should seriously consider getting one sooner rather than later. Of course, since I can only pick one, I can't risk picking trash and then being stuck with it.
Tereza looks scary. However, Princess Jewel is impressed.She likes her beautiful red eyes—however, compared to Jewel's eyes, they simply can't measure up. It's like comparing colored glass to real rubies.
"If you want to praise her," Alex begins to say, rubbing his head in frustration, while his hand also brushes over Jewel's body, "try saying something nice without praising yourself."
Princess Jewel is merely pointing out the obvio—
"Shhhh, little one. We need to hurry," Benezia intervenes. "There are four things we need to do immediately."
"Well, I know one of them at least," Alex says with a smirk as he looks at Sarquiss's dead body and spots a Green Chest, which he quickly grabs with a hint of disappointment.
Meanwhile, Tereza taps his shoulder, grabbing his attention, and points toward Bellamy's body. Alex, following her gesture, notices a Blue Chest lying beside the corpse. He walks over and picks it up as well.
"That's... slightly disappointing," he mutters. "Whatever. A Blue Chest is good enough... for now. What now?" He finally asks.
As Alex pockets the chests, he sees Benezia coldly cutting off Sarquise's head, the motion so brutal that Alex momentarily stares at her in shock before snapping himself out of it with a slap to the cheeks. Along with Bellamy's head, she now holds both of them in her hand.
Wake up... you knew this was coming. It's tough and brutal, but it is how it is. They've killed more people than I can imagine. Fuck them... we need their heads as proof.
Looting the chests was number one—this was number two. I wonder what the other two things are?
Alex collects the heads from Benezia, making sure not to stare too long into their now-empty eyes, and stores them in his inventory. As he turns, his gaze falls on the wrecked gambling table. Scattered across the floor are countless bills—the bettings from the game just played.
"Whoever owns this place," Alex yells loudly. "The money on the ground is yours, consider it your... compensation. If someone troubles you, tell them the Butcher has claimed this place and will kill anyone who robs it!"
"O—of course," a voice echoes from behind the counter.
Alex glances over and spots the barkeeper who served him earlier, now joined by a slightly older, chubby man—probably the owner.
Is that the owner?
"Also..." Alex adds, staring directly at the two of them, "get some more drinks that have cherries in them. It's kind of pathetic to call your bar Wild Cherry and only have two items on your menu with cherries in them. That's called false marketing... or maybe even fraud!"
"O—okay?" the owner responds, clearly unable to fully process what Alex just said.
"It's just a name," Tereza mutters, not sharing Alex's outrage. "Give them a break."
Does that count as number three? Personally, I think it was very important to mention—however, I doubt that Benezia meant that I should lodge a complaint.... I wonder what she meant?
Then, with nothing left to do, Alex—together with Benezia, Tereza, and Jewel—leaves the bar.
Outside, the streets are still in chaos. People keep their distance, most moving away from the center and port, clearly doing their best to avoid the group entirely.
"Tereza, you'll accompany me—we are heading towards the port, and we will find Bellamy's ship," Benezia explains as she strides forward.
"I get it," Alex says, quickly catching on to what Benezia has in mind. "I'll head to the Tropical Hotel and check if they've stashed anything there. Or am I wrong?"
"You are correct indeed," Benezia confirms with a hint of amusement, already running toward the port while Tereza lifts off and flies above her.
"..."
Alex sighs. "Guess we'd better move as well, Jewel. Hold on tight!"
Princess Jewel is securely seated in her favorite spot!
With his destination set, Alex dashes away from the port, sprinting toward the large structure nestled at the far end of town.
The Tropical Hotel looks almost like a modern, luxurious beach resort—grand stone buildings, spacious balconies, even outdoor pools. Built right on the coast, it stands apart from the port and boasts a private wooden pier, clearly meant for a wealthy clientele, in this case, pirates with a lot of Belly.
Alex doesn't slow down. He ignores the estate and its luxurious decorations entirely and darts straight inside.
"Anyone in here is either an intruder or one of Bellamy's remaining thugs," Alex mutters as he charges through the entryway.
To his surprise, he finds only a single person inside—an elderly man wearing a long turban.
Alex immediately draws his [Executioner's Blade R2] and points it at him.
"Identify yourself!" he commands.
The man stammers before finding his voice. "P—please! You can have all my money! I'm just the owner of this tiny, insignificant hotel. I am lower than a bug. My name is Spector. It's all Bellamy's fault. He and his crew—they took over everything!"
Alex gives a slight nod. "Stay calm. Bellamy is dead. Show me to his and his crew's rooms."
"I... I don't believe it," the man whispers. "He will kill me if I do that."
Alex sighs, turns around, and pulls out Bellamy's severed head.
"Wrong... I will kill you if you do not obey my order," Alex threatens him casually.
The sight nearly makes the man puke. But after a few seconds, his expression changes entirely. His face, initially pale, suddenly regains its vigor before the man breaks out into a wild, creepy smile.
"Finally!" he shouts, spinning in a clumsy circle of joy. "Hahahaha, I have prayed for this day! Thank you! I can finally reopen!"
"Now..." Alex says, his tone getting more serious, his annoyance growing, "if you don't want to join our acquaintance here... show me his room and all of his possessions... now! Or I'll demonstrate how I killed him."
To amplify his threat and to speed up things, Alex briefly taps into [Shepard's Promise R2], without losing control.
Spector, now blinking in confusion, slowly focuses his gaze on Alex, his face growing pale again, even paler than before. His eyes linger on the bloodied sword before realization finally sets in.
"B-Butcher..." he gasps as he falls onto his knees. "I... I am so sorry. Please spare me!"
Alex, clearly growing tired of the dramatics, raises his voice. "Show me the fucking room and calm down. If you do that, this hotel will be back in your hands soon enough. Hell, I might even offer you protection."
"Follow me, please!" Spector says quickly, bowing as he rushes ahead, leading Alex toward one of the most extravagant wings of the hotel.
Inside, the place is a mess. Barrels of alcohol, scattered weapons, discarded clothing, and half-eaten food are strewn everywhere.
Suddenly, Alex sees a man emerging from one of the rooms—hauling a heavy wooden box in his arms, filled with various random loot like watches, jewelry, pistols, and coins. The man walks straight toward him, unaware of what's going on.
"Jewel..." Alex says flatly, "wrap him up. The normal web, please."
Despite her injuries, Jewel jumps from Alex's head and lands squarely on the man's shoulder, swiftly scuttling around him. With agile movements, she spins layer after layer of silk, binding him up completely. The webbing wraps around his limbs, chest, and even the box he carries—turning him into a giant cocoon. The man tries to resist but stumbles forward and crashes to the floor. The box, still wrapped around his body, slams down on top of him with a thud, drawing a pained groan.
"Ouch," Alex says, imagining the pain. "Let's get to work then, Jewel."
Princess Jewel will find a lot of treasure!
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