Chapter Eighty-One: Life Awakens in the Night

"The venue here has already descended into complete chaos... Yes, the Devil Fruit has already been sent your way."

The more turbulent the place where chaos erupts, the more illuminated its surroundings become, for people hope and pray that the light might stop the spread of such disorder.

Yet the issue lies in the hour—it's midnight, and even under the moonlight, darkness reigns over the city, with lamplight reaching only a minuscule fraction of the space.

Ain placed the receiver of the Den Den Mushi close to her lips, explaining the current situation to Qiubai on the other end of the waves. At this moment, she stood atop a clock tower, her figure hidden behind the massive hour hand... If one wished to overlook the scene, this was an excellent vantage point.

Below her gaze, the vast auction house had originally sprawled, but now it had been reduced to a heap of ruins. In the night, such crumbling shadows resembled beasts capable of devouring human lives... And indeed, within, battles and death unfolded ceaselessly.

All Ain and Qiubai required was this chaos itself, so once the incident broke out, she left the scene as swiftly as possible.

It was a clever move, distinct from the path chosen by most villains—there were always some who tried to profit further from chaos, still fighting over scraps in the ruins, while others kept arriving from all directions... Had things not unfolded as they had, they would never have had a chance to step foot inside the "auction venue."

Thus, chaos is opportunity.

The cause of the current situation had nothing whatsoever to do with "Hawk Eyes" Mihawk; it was simply that Ain had activated her ability, causing the foundations of the buildings to regress en masse to raw materials or earlier states. It was a burdensome task for her, but given some preparation time, it was far from impossible.

Her aim wasn't to destroy the entire foundation of the structure—buildings always had so-called "load-bearing points," so focusing her limited power on critical spots sufficed.

As a result, her work was beautifully executed—even if Qiubai, who prided himself as an "output unit" and large-scale destructive weapon, had been tasked with it, he could not have achieved such precision.

Most times, when it comes to breaking down man-made structures, Ain's ability is nearly invincible—unless everything is made of sea stone, it's hard to fully resist the erosion of the "Regression Fruit."

Of course, her ability's range is limited, but destroying the building's crucial load-bearing points posed no problem.

Thus, thanks to the unknown actions of an unremarkable individual, the world's greatest swordsman had been caught in the crossfire... The significance of producing a counterfeit "Black Blade: Night" lay here. No one could prevent the spread of wild speculation, especially since the host had eagerly hyped up the sword's importance and connection to Mihawk beforehand.

"Alright, then don't make any rash moves on your end. The next step is mine," Qiubai said from the other end of the line.

"Understood. If anything changes out here, I'll notify you immediately," Ain replied.

To be honest, it was her first time escalating matters so dramatically, and she felt a bit unsettled. In effect, two people and a bear had turned half the city upside down.

"Then, for now—" Qiubai was about to end the call, but Ain stopped him suddenly.

"Wait, there's something new. The Navy... has mobilized."

The Navy's response was so swift? Was there surveillance beforehand after all? Qiubai hesitated for a moment, then said, "It's fine, everything is still within expectations. No matter what, chaos allows the weaker side to make temporary allies and drive out foes; the Navy... must be counted as comrades, too."

Though he spoke thus, Qiubai knew he had to act quickly. With the Navy involved, conflicts might spike and chaos intensify for a time, but it was only a transient phenomenon. After all, they represented the "lawful good" faction; once the Navy moved en masse, the situation would inevitably settle soon. When that happened, any further operations would become extremely difficult.

After ending the call, Qiubai estimated the distance between himself and the auction venue, considered possible delays if the Toy Fruit encountered attacks along the way... In short, he began to count the minutes, quietly awaiting the arrival of the fruit.

There would surely be pursuers trailing the Devil Fruit, but the Vladimir family wouldn't be caught unprepared, so interception seemed unlikely... probably, maybe, most likely, the odds were good.

Still, if some reckless pirate crew kept attacking even after the Devil Fruit entered this place... Qiubai hoped his "support" would embolden them.

"It's here!"

Guided by a carriage racing at the forefront, this once peaceful side of the city erupted into noise.

The carriage, without hesitation, charged straight through the main gates, while the pirates trailing behind hesitated before the sprawling estate.

"Looks like my fellow travelers need a little help," Qiubai mused.

"Shall I show you my swordsmanship?"

As his words faded, a flash of silvery sword light traced a graceful arc through the night sky and struck the gate dead on.

Then—

"Boom!"

A blast at point-blank range sent the entire gate flying, opening wide the doors of this aristocratic mansion.

"Come, after a little adventure comes a great reward."

Sometimes timid, sometimes savage, sometimes hesitant, sometimes decisive, pirates—especially when acting as a group—were always prone to agitation.

Qiubai thought, Someone's already opened the door for you, just charge in. Stupid pirates shouldn't overthink it. But in fact, not only did they have brains, but their thoughts ran the opposite way. Faced with the sudden explosion, someone in the crowd shouted,

"Artillery fire!"

"Run!"

And sure enough, some pirates turned and fled...

Qiubai: "..."

Damn, aren't they a bit too cautious?

No choice—though reluctant, Qiubai had to unleash several more sword strikes... There was artillery fire, yes, but look closer, that's your own side's firepower, isn't it?

No doubt, Qiubai's swordsmanship was far more accurate than any archery.

The explosions in the night sky caused fresh commotion and chaos, and the pirates finally figured out who was fighting whom... Though most were utterly confused, at least now they could charge in, right?

At last, the situation was bent back on track. Qiubai shook his head in mild displeasure as he ran toward the vault... Though he had been providing fire support to his allies, his eyes remained fixed on that carriage from start to finish.

As expected, the carriage pulled up at the vault.

Then, as familiar faces busied themselves hauling precious cargo into the vault, they saw a red-haired girl clutching her skirt, rushing over like a whirlwind.

"Need a hand with the haul... Come on, pay attention, I'm your clever, hardworking, courageous, and shapely ally!"

Yet when she dashed over, their response was... "Close the door! Close it now!"

"No helping it, seems like at times like these, what’s needed is still swordsmanship!"

As he ran, a constellation of starlight swirled behind Qiubai.

With a thunderous sound and violent tremor, the vault's heavy metal doors were blasted apart.

Qiubai's attack was incredibly effective, but... damn it, this was definitely not swordsmanship—this was spellcraft!

Amid flames and smoke, a figure shot forth like a thunderbolt... Monkey Liquor Xiao Qiu, at your service.

Born at dawn, the youth planted one foot on the steel floor, bent down, and picked up a round, plump object...

"Devil Fruit... Would it still work if I roasted it?"

Hopefully... he wished someone would answer him.

But no one did.