Chapter 111: Preparations Before Departure
In a small, dim, and cramped room.
“Name.”
“Wald Biste.”
“Gender.”
“Uh… male.”
“Age.”
“24 years old.”
“What did you do before joining the Beasts Pirates?”
“Was a student.”
“Why become a pirate?”
“At school, na… no, it was, the person I liked was taken by a noble, I got hot-blooded and hit that noble at the time, and then…”
“Alright, I get it. Next question…”
Aoxi set down the roster in her hand, stared into the other’s eyes, and asked word by word:
“Have you ever had the thought of betraying the Beasts Pirates, or actually committed an act of betrayal?”
“Gulp~”
He unconsciously swallowed, and under the gaze of those gold-rimmed eyes, Biste felt like he was seen through completely, from inside to outside, from soul to underwear.
“No, haven’t.”
After struggling to answer the question, he forced himself to look away.
Biste feared that if this continued, even the matter of him stealing a male classmate’s black tea at age eight would be dug up.
“Stare~~”
Aoxi narrowed her eyes and looked at the other carefully for a while before finally withdrawing her gaze and speaking to Ember beside her.
“A bit guilty~”
“Clang!”
The long sword at Ember’s waist suddenly unsheathed an inch.
“But no smell of lying.”
“You pass!”
“Bang!”
The long sword resheathed, and Ember said coldly: “Don’t gasp like that next time you speak.”
“Eh hey~”
“Got it, got it. Next one, uh… Jego.”
Aoxi continued flipping through the roster in her hand and called out the next name.
“Phew~”
Biste finally dared to breathe heavily at this moment; his undershirt was already soaked.
After randomly wiping the sweat from his palms on his shorts, he shakily stood up and left.
When he reached the door, a bald man wearing black-framed glasses happened to pass by him; that was probably the next pirate named “Jego.”
For no reason, after passing each other by a few steps, the two tacitly stopped.
Biste turned his head, only to see Jego also turning his face to look at him; the other adjusted his black-framed glasses and gave Biste a meaningful smile.
Mm, confirmed by the look in his eyes, same type of stand.
“Name.”
“Jego”
“Gender.”
“Male”
“What did you do before?”
“Ran an inn, often took in some children who ran away from home…”
……
『Taking in kids who skipped home, huh. What a nice guy. Should I invite him for black tea sometime~』
Biste’s corner of mouth slightly hooked up; the anxiety in his heart just now miraculously vanished into thin air.
Full of anticipation, he gradually moved away from that small room, completely unaware that a tiny golden figure brushed past his waist.
Sister La turned back and looked at the other strangely; she didn’t understand why the other’s mood suddenly turned from cloudy to sunny without warning.
Humans are truly amazing~
“Ember.”
She knocked on the open wooden door, signaling her arrival to the person inside.
“Oh! Sister La, why are you here?”
Aoxi, sprawled on the table, heard Sister La’s voice, excitedly propped herself up, then waved her hand to dismiss the pirate named “Jego.”
She had already confirmed; the other had no issues.
“I’m here for Ember; there’s a task for him.”
“What are you doing?”
Sister La walked to the table and lightly flipped through the roster on the surface, noticing that many names had checks behind them, with only a few crossed out.
“This? Ember made me screen all the recently joined ones.”
Aoxi pursed her lips and pointed to the tall black figure sitting beside her.
“That’s right. I heard Burufaruto say Aoxi seems to have the ability to see through lies, so I had her help root out some insects within the pirate crew.”
“So far, it’s working well; we’ve caught several Navy and World Government spies. I plan to go interrogate them soon.”
Ember sneered, his tone carrying a hint of eagerness.
“Mm, that should indeed be done.”
Sister La nodded slightly; after all, Aoxi had only recently awakened authority related to souls, so more practice was good.
“By the way, Sister La, what was the task you just mentioned?”
“It’s that incident mentioned before.”
Sister La didn’t answer immediately but lightly tapped the table with her finger.
Light flickered at her fingertip, and the surrounding air instantly began to distort, isolating the three from the outside world.
After setting up this soundproof barrier, Sister La continued:
“Captain Kaido wants you, Ember, to prepare and pick a few trustworthy people to go to ‘Paradise’ together to verify if that legendary Golden Land really exists.”
“Golden Land? You mean the one Skipgate blabbered about back then?” Ember recalled what Skipgate had said when he came seeking help.
“Calling it blabber isn’t accurate; at least the contents of that navigational log don’t seem fabricated. In any case, it’s worth us checking it out personally.”
“Right, remember to bring Wright. He has the translated version of that navigational log and can act as guide.”
“If you really find ‘Shandora,’ just occupy it directly.”
“Got it. When do we set off?”
Hearing it was Captain Kaido’s order, Ember stood up, seeming ready to depart immediately.
“It should be as soon as possible, but finish screening the rest first.”
Sister La glanced at the several blank pages left on the roster and decided they should complete this first.
“Remember to leave a few not-too-bright ones for passing fake intel later; try not to leave any hidden dangers within the organization for the others. After all, this upcoming task is also a secret.”
“Got it.”
……
“Hey~ Ember, take me with you this time~”
In the evening, Aoxi and Ember finished verifying the loyalty of the one hundred pirates planned for today; they planned to wrap up the remaining two hundred on the island tomorrow in one go.
“Why?”
Ember was packing his things, planning to head to the interrogation room after dinner.
“What why? That’s Golden Island! Anyone would want to go see it!”
Aoxi gestured exaggeratedly with her hands.
“Besides, staying on the island always gets you dragged into work; such a great free trip opportunity, why not go?”
“Heh~ That’s the real reason, huh.” Ember rolled his eyes.
“Can take you, but need your sister’s approval first.”
“Eh~ Sister La didn’t explicitly say no, so that’s approval. Do you think my thoughts can hide from her?”
This was true; Sister La not explicitly forbidding Aoxi from going meant she defaulted to allowing it.
“You don’t decide; I still need to check with her.”
“Tsk~ Coward.”
