"I didn't know you'd be gracing us with your presence. What can I do for you?" Cezar's tone was gentle, adopting the standard air of a businessman.
Unlike Cattleya and Edwina, although Cezar had collaborated with the "Vice Admiral Disease" Tracy before him a few times, it was only for simple transactions. She wasn't even considered a regular. Her sudden personal visit today still surprised Cezar somewhat.
Especially considering "Blazing" Danez had just left this place.
He had heard that "Vice Admiral Disease" and "Vice Admiral Iceberg" were currently at war at sea—if she had come just a little bit earlier, she would have run right into Danez.
"This."
Tracy didn't waste words; she directly pulled a "ripper" from the canvas backpack she carried and placed it on the table.
Cezar glanced at it and said with a smile, "This is indeed a product sold from a shop under my management. Could it be—"
—that there's some quality issue with the firearm itself?"
"If there's a problem, you only need to mention it to the clerk; there's no need to make a special trip for it."
"No, I'm not here to cause trouble over after-sales service." Tracy shook her head, her deep eyes looking directly at Cezar. "I want to ask about this gun's... origin."
"Origin?" Cezar was somewhat surprised. As the seller of this batch of goods, he knew very well that Danez's batch was smuggled goods of unknown origin. However, smuggling firearms was all too common in Bayam.
Most of the gangs and pirates on the island used weapons that were essentially smuggled goods from various channels.
He hadn't expected Tracy to come personally to ask him about such a small matter.
Could it be—she wants to find out exactly who is supplying weapons to the 'Golden Dream'? Does she want to strike at 'Vice Admiral Iceberg's' partners directly at the source?
"It was imported through regular channels, of course," Cezar said, his expression unchanged and his tone confident. "All the paperwork is in order."
"Why? Do you want to order a batch as well?"
Seeing Cezar's standard merchant persona, Tracy's brow furrowed slightly, but she didn't say more.
She knew his style of doing business very well. Having been in this industry for so long, it was impossible for him to easily betray a partner.
However, she didn't care about that. She was just passing by today and stopped in to confirm a few things to verify the results of her recent investigation.
"I heard," Tracy changed her approach, "that the manufacturer of this weapon is in Backlund?"
"Yes, that's the case." Cezar nodded candidly.
Although Danez hadn't said anything, in order to forge appropriate import and export documents, Cezar had indeed researched the manufacturer information of these guns from other legitimate weapon import shops.
"Where in Backlund?" Tracy pressed.
Hmm?
Cezar was a bit surprised. If she wanted to deal with "Vice Admiral Iceberg," shouldn't she be looking for the middleman? What use was knowing the manufacturer's location? That was a legitimate factory. Even if she wanted to investigate from the source, middlemen have countless front companies; the factory might not even know who their goods were ultimately sold to—
Strange—could she simply want to buy weapons to arm her own fleet?
Though puzzled, this wasn't information that required strict secrecy. With Tracy's channels, she could find it herself with a little time and gold pounds.
Aboard the "Black Death."
Tracy, wearing that ill-fitting black men's coat, returned to her captain's cabin.
Just as she reached the door, she keenly sensed a familiar, loathsome spiritual aura.
It's that woman—
With a grim face, Tracy slammed the door open. Sure enough, a familiar, voluptuous figure in a sexy nightgown was lying lazily on her bed.
"Little Tracy, long time no see?" Katarina greeted her with a smile as she saw her daughter enter.
"Mother, why are you here?"
Tracy suppressed the displeasure in her heart and asked in a dry voice.
"What, can't I come to see you?" Katarina replied with a light laugh.
Then, under Tracy's increasingly cold gaze, she slowly pulled the handmade shotgun that Tracy kept by her pillow like a treasure into her arms, gently wiping the cold barrel with her slender palm.
Tracy's heart lurched, and she instinctively wanted to step forward to stop her. That was something Brando had left for her! How could it be held in another woman's arms!
The only one who can hold it is me!
She clenched her fists and was about to speak when she saw Katarina cast a playful look her way.
With just one glance, the rage about to erupt in Tracy's heart was instantly extinguished, as if doused by a bucket of ice water.
Katarina curled her lips, picked up the gun, and brought the muzzle to her nose to sniff it gently.
"There's—the scent of little Tracy on this~"
"It's quite strong. Does little Tracy often—use it to do something? Hmm?"
Hearing this, Tracy felt a wave of embarrassment and quickly lowered her head, not knowing what expression to face her mother with.
After a long while, she looked up again: "Mother, you—what exactly did you come here for this time?"
"Sigh—you really aren't cute at all." Katarina sighed performatively, the flirtatiousness on her face receding slightly. "I heard from the contact that you want to suspend your current mission for a while.
"And, you've been a bit slack lately."
"Why is that?"
"I—I have some private matters to attend to." Tracy glanced to the side.
"Oh~ private matters—" Katarina drawled, her gaze falling once more on the "ripper," her tone playful. "Is it related—to this?"
She lightly tapped the gun body, then raised her eyes to look directly at Tracy, her red lips parting: "Your—'other half'?"
Mother—how did she know? Tracy was momentarily stunned.
Seeing Tracy's bewildered look, Katarina shook her head slightly, a hint of disdain in her eyes.
Tracy's level was still far too low compared to hers. She could almost guess what Tracy was thinking with a single thought.
Moreover, she knew this daughter, whom she had personally twisted, all too well. What else could make her drop an important mission and rush off so urgently if not an emotional matter?
She knew, of course, that the man named Monchi Brando wasn't dead at all. But she hadn't told Tracy. In fact, to make Tracy better experience the despair of losing everything, she had personally taken the forged corpse away and destroyed it, leaving Tracy with no proof—
Originally, she had planned to take advantage of Tracy's grief to personally strike, quickly capturing that interesting little fellow and making him completely succumb to her charm. Then she would choose an "appropriate" time to appear before Tracy with Brando, letting her experience the ultimate despair of falling from heaven to hell—what a beautiful scene that would have been.
Unfortunately, because Brando was impervious to both soft and hard tactics, coupled with a series of subsequent accidents, this plan ultimately failed to be implemented.
Looking at it now, Tracy has likely realized something and wants to investigate personally—
As soon as she received news that Tracy wanted to suspend the mission, she had already guessed ninety percent of the situation.
And she had just happened to receive new instructions from above. So she immediately rushed to the "Black Death."
"I heard that your other half is already—little Tracy, why are you still so persistent?"
"No, he's not!" Tracy instinctively retorted, but meeting Katarina's playful gaze, she swallowed the words at the tip of her tongue back down.
"It's none of your business."
"Fine," Katarina didn't pursue the topic further, "so where do you want to go?"
"Backlund—" Tracy pursed her lips, struggling for a few seconds in the suffocating silence before finally whispering it out.
She knew that even if she didn't say it, her mother would certainly be able to find out with her abilities.
This time—she was indeed a bit impatient; she should have waited until everything was more securely arranged before—
Sigh—
But that's Brando!
The Brando she wanted to see again even in her dreams!
"Backlund, huh—that's fine~ You go ahead." Katarina narrowed her eyes and spoke nonchalantly.
"What?"
"It's true. You can temporarily stop your current mission and go to Backlund to handle your private affairs." Katarina said with a smile.
"I've approved it."
"Good luck to you~"