The two were precisely the senior agents of Baroque Works that Chrollo had been looking for:
Mr. 3, Galdino, and his partner, Miss Goldenweek, Marianne.
"It's decided! Our hunting targets this time will be them-gane!"
Mr. 3 rested his elbow on his knee and propped his chin on his palm, perfectly replicating the pose of "The Thinker." His face was brimming with the confidence of a mastermind.
"Uh... are you crazy?" Miss Goldenweek looked at him askance, like she was looking at an idiot.
"The combined bounty of these two is almost a billion berries! How could we possibly be their match?"
She added in a whisper, "Why don't we... stick to the original plan and go to Little Garden to deal with those two giants?"
"Hmph," Mr. 3 shook his head and pushed up his glasses, a gleam of "wisdom" flashing across the lenses.
"To defeat an enemy, why rely solely on brute force? The key lies here—this!" He tapped his temple triumphantly with his fingertip.
"You have to use my genius brain!"
"Two hundred million versus one billion, even a fool knows which side to choose-gane~"
Mr. 3 glanced at Chrollo and Bonney out of the corner of his eye, his eyes shining with confidence.
"They don't know our identity as bounty hunters. No one refuses the kindness of a friendly stranger."
"When it comes to intellect, no one can compare to me!"
"Just watch me. True hunting is defeating the enemy without fighting-gane!"
Saying this, he stood up and walked towards Chrollo and Bonney with full confidence. Miss Goldenweek followed behind him doubtfully.
Little did they know, their actions had long been noticed by Chrollo not far away...
Chrollo had a very good habit: when exploring a new map, he always kept his En active.
A circle with a diameter of two kilometers allowed Chrollo to discover them long ago, which was why he chose this place.
He didn't want to recognize Mr. 3 immediately, as there was a certain difference between the manga and real life.
But Mr. 3's hairstyle was just too recognizable!
Mr. 3, the future "Emperor's First Commander" of Buggy the Clown, and user of the Paramecia-type: Wax-Wax Fruit.
The user could melt their own body and change its shape at will.
When activating the ability, the chonmage on Mr. 3's head would also catch fire. He could produce wax from his body that became as hard as steel when solidified.
This fruit ability could create objects and could also turn the user's body into wax like a Logia type to dodge attacks.
If developed well, it could even rival Katakuri's Mochi-Mochi Fruit. It was quite powerful.
Listening to Mr. 3 muttering to himself over there, Chrollo almost couldn't hold back his laughter...
Trying to out-con me? Don't you know I'm the mentor of mentors in this field?
It really takes no effort to get what you want~
Mr. 3 coming to him meant:
Not only did he have intelligence on Baroque Works,
He also had the Wax-Wax Fruit ability, reputation points,
And Bonney's meal expenses were covered!
Mr. 3 is such a good guy~
---
"My dear travelers-gane~ From your looks, you must be from out of town, right?"
Mr. 3 leaned in, keenly catching Chrollo's embarrassment when paying the bill. He pushed a glass of rum in front of him, piling a smile on his face that he thought was impeccably kind.
"Is it... a bit tight on cash-gane?"
Before Chrollo could respond, Bonney beside him already had green lights in her eyes.
She snatched the glass of wine with lightning speed and downed it in one go—glug, glug.
Then she exhaled a breath of alcohol contentedly, her small face full of satisfaction.
Watching this scene, a glint of a successful scheme flashed across Mr. 3's glasses, and the corners of his mouth lifted imperceptibly.
Chrollo looked at him apologetically. "Sorry, my companion here is a bit of a glutton."
"It's okay. Did you encounter some difficulties?" Mr. 3 asked calmly, then pushed another glass of rum in front of Chrollo.
Bonney snatched it again and drank it all, looking unsatisfied!
"???"
Mr. 3's eye twitched slightly. Not giving up, he ordered a third glass. Just as he made the motion to hand it over—
Swish! The glass changed owners again, falling into Bonney's hand and instantly emptied.
"..."
Chrollo suppressed his laughter and pretended to sigh: "Sorry, she... is starving."
He continued with the story: "We are indeed from out of town."
"Our ship encountered a storm at sea, and all our treasures were swept into the ocean. That's why we ended up penniless..."
Hearing this, Mr. 3's glasses lit up. Isn't this the perfect time for me to use poison!
"That is truly unfortunate-gane~" He squeezed out a face full of sympathy, then waved his hand magnanimously.
"The weather in this area is indeed harsh, and storms are frequent visitors. Meeting is fate! How about this, this meal is on me!"
He emphasized his tone: "As. A. Friend."
Before Chrollo could speak, Bonney beside him acted like a drowning person grabbing a straw, or a wanderer seeing a fellow villager.
Her eyes were like two searchlights. She grabbed Mr. 3's hand. "Really?~ Really?~"
"Bonney!" Chrollo scolded Bonney, then scratched his head with an embarrassed expression and looked at Mr. 3.
"I made you laugh."
"Are you really willing to help us? But my companion can eat quite a lot~"
Mr. 3 waved his hand nonchalantly. "Just a little girl. Meeting is fate, what's wrong with having a meal together~"
He thought to himself: Besides... this Bonney is obviously a slender little girl, how much can she eat~
Probably the other party just doesn't trust me!
As expected of a great pirate with a combined bounty of nearly 1 billion berries, their vigilance is strong!
He immediately increased his offensive, his smile becoming more "sincere": "It's okay! Food is cheap in this place, eat as much as you want!"
Hearing this, Bonney's face instantly blossomed with a radiance like seeing the Savior.
"Eat as much as I want... Eat as much as I want... Eat as much as I want..."
Right now, only these words were playing on loop in her ears.
This was the first time someone had said the words "eat as much as you want" to her!
These words were second only to "free" in Bonney's book!
Isn't this so much better than that stingy guy Chrollo!
"You are such a good person!"
"You are simply an angel—"
Bonney was moved to tears, drool flowing from the corner of her mouth, and she held Mr. 3's hand tightly again.
"Shopkeeper, bring everything I just ordered again!"
Mr. 3's face was brimming with a "generous" smile, and Chrollo smiled and complimented him from the side.
For a moment, the atmosphere among the three was harmonious, as if old friends were reuniting.
Only Miss Goldenweek still looked suspicious, completely out of place with the three.
She didn't know why, but she felt something was wrong...
Isn't this going a little too smoothly...
---
Wrong. Something was ten times, twelve times wrong!
Mr. 3 stared blankly at the mountain of dishes piled up in front of Bonney, then looked at his shriveled wallet...
How can she eat so much!
Bonney burped. Mr. 3 quietly breathed a sigh of relief. Finally done eating, right? Calculating the time, the poison should be taking effect...
Bonney raised her hand. "Boss, another round of the dishes from just now!"
Thud—
Mr. 3 stumbled and almost fell off his chair.
"What's wrong?" Bonney looked over in confusion.
"No... nothing. Eat as much as you want..."
Mr. 3 forced a smile and scratched his head awkwardly.
But the dark side of his heart was raging.
Why isn't it working yet! Why isn't the poison working yet?!!
If it doesn't work soon, forget about the billion berries, I'm going to lose all my money!!
...